The surprising new collaboration between Kid Rock and Eminem on the former’s equally surprising new faith-based album Halfway 2 Jesus has taken some, well, surprising turns during the days before its Oct. 17 release.
When the album was announced earlier this month, accompanied by the single “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King),” Eminem was listed on the track “7 Sins.” Now he’s part of “Heal My Faith,” while Lil Wayne became a replacement for “7 Sins” — following some last-minute maneuvering.
“It’s a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety, but it’s so good,” Rock (real name Bob Ritchie) told Billboard during a visit this week with other reporters to his Dixie Ridge farm spread in Nashville, in the hills overlooking downtown (and next door to a new golf course built by Justin Timberlake).
“It’s giving me the exact record I wanted,” he says of the last-minute change. “I am so frickin’ stoked, and I feel like the biggest weight I have ever felt (doing an album) has been lifted. I have never experienced good anxiety and stress before.”
The switch-up came with a bit of comic, manic machinations that Rock said reminded him of making Devil Without a Cause, his 1998 breakthrough. “There was a lot of last minute (stuff) on that record, too,” Rock recalled. “I didn’t scream ‘My name is Kid!’ until we were mixing the song (‘Bawitaba’), ’til we were in the mix room.”
What went down is that, despite their widely differing — and publicly expressed — political postures, Rock first approached Eminem about a year ago with “Heal My Faith,” previously titled “Lord Above” and “Show Me Love.” It continues a recording relationship that includes Eminem appearing on “F-ck Off” from Devil Without a Cause; Rock popping into the 2013 video for Eminem’s “Berzerk”; and both appearing on Trick Trick’s “From the D” remix.
“We’ve been friends for, like, 40 years,” said Rock, an avowed friend and outspoken supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and many in his administration. “I really didn’t want to drag him into my political world…. We talk about (politics) a little bit, not a ton. There’s a lot of stuff we agree on, and we can have a laugh about what (we don’t). That’s why I asked him to write a verse for me.”
Subsequently, however, Eminem heard “7 Sins” and decided he would rather rap on that. “We agreed we didn’t need two songs together…people are going to think we’re dating,” Rock said with a laugh. So Eminem cut a verse for that and the song was placed in the finished queue — only to have him reach out to Rock earlier this month, after the Halfway 2 Jesus tracklist was revealed. “He’s like, ‘Hey man, when’s the last time you listened to that first song we were working on?’” Rock said. “I’m like, ‘It’s been a minute…I’ve been so focused on this record.’ I know I always loved it…and he listens to it and goes, ‘I think we should switch songs.’ Which is a blessing. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is unbelievable.’
“He sends me back a verse wrapping up our whole history from like, day one — living at the Oakwood Apartments together, how I came to his Slim Shady release (show) when he was nobody and told him to keep going and how much that meant to him back then. He nails the line, ‘He’s my brother, not my political enemy,’ and it just sent these chills. I’m like, ‘Man, this is so important.’ I heard the (finished) mix, and grandpa was crying.”
That arrived on Oct. 11 and set off a scramble to fill the void in “7 Sins,” though Rock resisted the temptation to rap something himself; “Once (Eminem has) done something, I’m like, even if it’s OK…it’s not even close to what this kid does.” He had also created “a great musical break” for “7 Sins” but nevertheless reached out to both Lil Wayne and Chuck D; the latter couldn’t do it, but Wayne — also a friend of long-standing — assured Rock that, “I’ll knock it out today” and did, in fact deliver in relatively short order.
Keeping The Faith
So all’s well that ends well, and frantic, for Halfway 2 Jesus, Rock’s 13th album and the follow-up to 2022’s angry, politically charged Bad Reputation. “I said back then, in a social post, ‘I’m going to do this record. I’m going hard… and the one after this I’m gonna try to lower the tone and get back to some things that matter,’” he said. “So I was even thinking of it back then.” Rock feels the idea of he and Eminem putting aside their political differences to collaborate on Halfway 2 Jesus is a microcosm of the new album’s intent.
“This (album) is about forgiveness and second chances,” Rock said, “trying to heal some of the division in our country. I’m just putting a positive message out there in the world…showing a little more grace, trying to kill some of the division. I am not without sin, and I can’t say I ever will be. But I’m making a conscious effort to spread this better message — and I’m also still Kid motherf–king Rock. At the end of the day, I’m both of those guys. I’m not fundamentally changed, you know? I’m still Kid Rock; I’m gonna drink a beer, smoke a cigar… I’m just on the journey. I feel halfway to Jesus; I hope to be all the way there, but I’m not sure. I don’t know where it all leads. It’s almost as new as me as it is to everyone else.”
Rock — who was raised and still considers himself Catholic but is drawn more to the non-denominational Christian churches he occasionally visits in Nashville — noted that despite his prevailing American Badass posture he’s always incorporated faith into his songs, most notably “Only God Knows Why,” “Amen,” “Lonely Road of Faith” and “When U Love Someone.” (He also declared himself Rock n Roll Jesus on his Billboard 200-topping 2007 album, but that’s another matter.)
“I had a lot of friends pushing me to make a gospel record, and I always thought it’d be cool. I always loved when Johnny Cash did it, and Elvis (Presley) did it,” he said. He was already working on a more straightforward album — “I’ve got some of those great, crazy-ass Kid Rock songs sitting there and some crazy rap sh-t” — but was inspired to focused on Halfway 2 Jesus by a confluence of events: the widow of the late Charlie Kirk forgiving his killer; longtime Twisted Brown Trucker band keyboardist Jimmie “Bones” Trombly retiring due to ALS; and Rock’s father’s death in February.
“The time feels right,” Rock said. “I think people have had enough of the polarization, being so divided. And I think I can do my little part to help.”
Not Backing Down
He remains divisive, however — and fully acknowledges that. Since he announced the album, Rock appeared on Fox News with Lara Trump, slamming Michigan Democratic senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and declaring that “I don’t want my grandkids to one day have to fight some civil war over religious ideology.” A few days later Rock introduced Trump at an Oct. 10 rally in Clarksville, Tenn., where he spoke about “Islamic extremists whose goal is to impose Sharia law on this nation” and noted that Trump was “probably the 46th” president, echoing Trump’s false contention that he actually won the 2020 election over Joe Biden.
“Lord knows, I’ve been one of the most polarizing figures in the country,” Rock said, while nevertheless maintaining that “I’m trying to make a conscious effort to be less polarizing. It’s hard. I watched (the speech) back, ’cause everyone really loved it. But I’m like, ‘Man, I’m still angry and stuff, really passionate.’ I still have my beliefs. I’m gonna stand up for them. But I’m trying to give people more grace on their beliefs. The time feels right. I think people have had enough of the polarization, being so divided. We can think differently, but we have to talk to one another. Nothing gets solved if we just shut off and are like, ‘Oh, f—k those people.’”
He added that, “I’ll talk to anybody. If Dylan Mulvaney wants to sit down and have a conversation, I’m like, ‘Come for lunch. Come for dinner. No problem.’ I’m always down to have a conversation about anything, with anyone — especially if it’s a constructive conversation. If someone wants to get in a pissing match, I’m really good at that, too. I can go pretty hard in the paint. My tongue is a dagger — which I have to be careful of, and not just musically and publicly.”
Rock cites relationships with actor Sean Penn and TV host Bill Maher as proof of that openness; he famously coordinated a dinner between Maher and Trump early during the latter’s second term in office, which they’ll repeat later this month before Rock returns to Real Time with Bill Maher on Oct. 30 on HBO.
“You can always find common ground somewhere, with everybody,” says Rock, who received a Bob Hope Award for Entertainment this year from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society his year for his services performing for the American military. “I still love a lot of Bruce Springsteen’s music. No, I don’t like his politics, but I’m not gonna boycott him. We think differently. I think that’s perfectly fine. But the just fly-off-the-handle reactions — which I’ve been guilty of — there needs to be less of that.”
Halfway There
Rock recorded Halfway 2 Jesus at his Dixie Ridge Studios on the 200-acre spread, with Nashville sessions musicians and Twisted Brown Trucker members — as well as the AI program Suno, mostly to craft full choir arrangements and some orchestrations. “I really do view it as another tool…like how I would love to use different samples,” says Rock. “It lets me get what I hear in my head to my audience…without (AI) writing the song. I agree it can be a huge problem down the line. I think it’s to be determined. Until then… you can build a house with pound of nails and a rock, or you can get a nail gun. So it’s another tool.”
He wrote most of the album’s material, collaborating with longtime friend Uncle Kracker, John Eddie and a variety of other writers. Trombly, meanwhile, penned “Into the Setting Sun,” a moving elegy about facing mortality. Rock also chose some complementary covers such as Tom T. Hall’s “Me and Jesus” and Larry Norman’s “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus,” famously recorded by Janis Joplin. And he ends the album with a dramatically stripped-down, Bob Seger-style rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
“A couple off very famous friends of mine encouraged me to do that,” Rock said. “One of them is a very famous guitar player who came over and helped me work it out, That’s one of those songs you probably shouldn’t take a stab at unless you can really do something different — that’s not just for the sake of being different. I think this breathes new life in it. That was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, and I’m glad I did it.”
Finishing The Climb
As Halfway 2 Jesus arrives, Rock plans to finish the other album as well as make another faith-based album he says will be “stripped-down, acoustic, with a big-name producer. This vision he has is campfire…just kind of sit around, jamming.” He’s also eyeballing what he says will be a “revival” style live presentation for the album, “just positive messages, people being moved, but still a big rock n’ roll show. We’re probably not gonna do ‘So Hott,’ ‘Motherf-cker Like Me,’ but maybe ‘All Summer Long’ and ‘Picture’ sneak in. I don’t know if it’s huge churches, huge stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters…maybe a residency at the Ryman (Auditorium). I had that in my head while I was doing this record.”
The timetable for touring is to be determined; Rock said he was planning to take 2027 off the road, partly due to a wrist issue that may require surgery. In the meantime, however, he plans to make as much hay for Halfway 2 Jesus as he can. “I’m extremely proud of it — probably as proud as I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m as confident as when I was screaming, ‘I’m going platinum!’”
