![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/82f0ff0733924dfd186768a6c5f8dd09.webp?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nRock and fellow performers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett looked to give conservatives an alternative to the actual Super Bowl halftime performer Bad Bunny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kid Rock headlined Turning Point USA\u2019s MAGA-friendly \u201cAll American\u201d Halftime Show alternative on Sunday, with the right-wing organization airing the concert in tandem with Bad Bunny\u2019s official performance in protest over the Puerto Rican superstar\u2019s show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With about as much subtlety as one would expect from a TPUSA-promoted Kid Rock show, Rock and fellow performers Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett delivered nearly half an hour of religiously charged, star-spangled country music veering on jingoism and cringe. The show opened at just past 8 p.m. ET with a Jimi Hendrix-style electric guitar-led \u201cStar Spangled Banner\u201d before Gilbert, wearing a \u201cGod Family Country\u201d T-shirt, took the stag,e declaring\u00a0\u201cthis\u00a0is real America\u201d as he started with the song \u201cReal American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee Brice, meanwhile, paid tribute to assassinated TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk, saying that the right-wing figure \u201cgave people microphones so they could say what\u2019s on their mind, this is what\u2019s on mine,\u201d before he started his song \u201cCountry Nowadays,\u201d which includes lyrics like \u201clittle boys ain\u2019t little girls\u201d and further details the difficulties of having \u201csmall-town views\u201d in today\u2019s America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock finally came out in the last few minutes, starting with \u201cBawitdaba,\u201d though he didn\u2019t sing much of the song himself as the recording played in the background. After an extended performance from a string duo, Rock, introduced again as Robert Ritchie, came out again, performing a cover of Cody Johnson\u2019s \u201cTil You Can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The show ended with another commemoration for Kirk, with some of his previous quotes playing alongside videos of him with his family and before crowds at his events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the show, TPUSA had promised the show would have \u201cno agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re approaching this show like David and Goliath,\u201d Kid Rock said in a statement earlier this week about the show. \u201cCompeting with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible \u2026 or is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Super Bowl is the most-watched TV event of the year, and Bad Bunny has 90.5 million Spotify listeners to Kid Rock\u2019s 5.3 million, making the notion that this event would be any viable competitor to the Super Bowl dubious at best. The live stream peaked at nearly 5 million viewers. Hours before the show, TPUSA encouraged viewers to tune in on YouTube as they couldn\u2019t get licensing secured to livestream on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TPUSA first announced plans for an alternative halftime show in October, not long after the NFL had revealed Bad Bunny as this year\u2019s performer to significant right-wing backlash from the likes of President Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, who\u2019d criticized the booking, which marked the first Spanish-language performance in the Super Bowl\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bad Bunny, himself an American citizen as a native of Puerto Rico, is arguably the\u00a0biggest artist on the planet,\u00a0and his selection reflects the NFL\u2019s desire to reach audiences around the globe. Along with many other pop stars, he\u2019s been a vocal critic of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies, calling for \u201cICE Out\u201d during a Grammy acceptance speech last week.\u00a0He\u2019d also said in an interview that he avoided touring in the States, citing fears of ICE raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not savages, we\u2019re not animals, we\u2019re not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans,\u201d the performer said last week. \u201cThe hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don\u2019t hate them. We love our people. We love our family, and that\u2019s the way to do it with love. Don\u2019t forget that, please. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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