Why is Kid Rock the hottest ticket at the State Fair grandstand?
Like Johnny Cash, Kid Rock walks the line -- between rock and country, bad boy and good guy, rock star and assembly line, trailer trash and hip-hop head.
The 38-year-old son of a Michigan car dealer knows how to party -- in overdrive. And he is one of popular music's most underrated entertainers. No one leaves his concerts without a laugh and a smile.
The North's best known redneck also can sell records by the millions (at a time when a million-seller is as rare as a Brett Favre touchdown pass) and tickets by the thousands (Saturday's concert is virtually sold out).
Here are 10 reasons why Kid Rock is cool:
1 He was clever enough to mash up "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon (howl if you like this song) and "Sweet Home Alabama" by his State Fair opening act Lynyrd Skynyrd (even Neil Young knows this is an American anthem) into one of the biggest songs of 2008, "All Summer Long."
2 He never forgets where he came from. This year, he's been singing "In These Times," an acoustic ode to hard times in his beloved, depressed Detroit.
3 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame asked him to induct Aerosmith, Bob Seger and Skynyrd. Who doesn't like those three classic rockers?
4 He married Pamela Anderson and recorded a hit duet with Sheryl Crow. Now he's reportedly dating Kellie Pickler, the "American Idol" finalist turned country starlet.
5 Who else has worked with both Metallica and Phish? In the same year, no less. In 2000, Kid Rock sang with Metallica live for a few nights when its singer, James Hetfield, was having vocal problems, and he invited Phish's Trey Anastasio to play with him on "Saturday Night Live."
6 He somehow made the fedora-and-muscle-shirt look fashionable.
7 He takes strippers to breakfast. At the Waffle House, of course.
8 He's an equal-opportunity redneck. In concert, he salutes the U.S. flag, the Confederate flag, U.S. troops, strippers, God, whiskey, beer, "The Dukes of Hazzard," Sly Stone, the Rolling Stones, Ted Nugent and Merle Haggard. And he's had a black woman drummer, Stefanie Eulinberg, since 1998.
9 He hates Twitter. He recently told Rolling Stone: "I don't have anything to say, and what I have to say is not that relevant. Anything that is relevant, I'm going to bottle it up and then squeeze it onto a record somewhere." Btw, his quote was Tweet-able, coming in at fewer than 140 characters.
10 This year, Mr. Redneck launched his own green beer. American Badass Beer is made at a Lansing, Mich., brewery that uses biodiesel to power its generators. Al Gore would approve even if Tipper might not.
Jon Bream • 612-673-1719
