Kid Rock Releases Single, Plans First Christian Album
Kid Rock got out of bed around 2 a.m. one morning and about thirty minutes later had a song. Robert James Ritchie told the story on X the day the track went out as a single. “I got out of bed around 2 a.m. one morning and about 30 minutes later, I had this song,” he said. On October 1, 2026, that song arrived under the title “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King).”
Three details sat inside the name. James 1:17 is a verse from the Bible. James is Ritchie’s middle name. January 17 is his birthday. He had already framed those three as a calling—the verse, the name, and the date running together. The song written before dawn took that title without delay.
He did not stop at the single. The same post pointed to a video and to the album behind it. “There are some very special people in this video and a real significance to this song and the album to follow,” he said.
On Instagram that October 1, 2026, Kid Rock posted the cover art for Halfway 2 Jesus and the complete seventeen-song tracklist. The album was set for October 17, 2026. The songs ran rock, country, and hip-hop from the opener “Freedom” through the closer “God Bless The USA,” with the new single locked in at track two. Track three carried “7 Sins,” featuring Eminem—Marshall Bruce Mathers III.
Fans on Reddit and X met the listing with disappointment, boycott threats, and skepticism that the anti-Trump rapper would really appear beside a MAGA headliner. Some doubted the name was even a fresh verse. The post gave no verse, no comment, and no clarification—only the cover, the seventeen titles, the street date, and those two names printed together on a Christian album’s third track.
Complex obtained an excerpt from the album’s foreword and published the passage. In it Kid Rock wrote about the guests who joined him on Halfway 2 Jesus and put one name ahead of the rest. “I’m proud of the guests who joined me, especially my old friend Eminem,” he wrote. “His verse speaks to something we’ve talked about and that really needs to be heard: we differ politically and on other things, but we’ve stayed friends through it all.” He closed the passage with the hope he attached to the pairing. “We hope that sets an example for people who’ve lost friends or stopped talking to family because they think differently.”
That bond had been formed years earlier between two artists out of Detroit and Michigan. Eminem appeared on a cut from Kid Rock’s 1998 album Devil Without a Cause. Kid Rock later showed up in the music video for Eminem’s 2013 single “Berzerk.”
In October 2024 a shirtless Kid Rock posted a video on X and put the friendship in plain words. “I love Eminem. We’ve been friends for many years. I don’t agree with his politics, but I do give credit to him and people like Taylor Swift for standing up and not being afraid to be vocal for that which they believe,” he said. “Thinking differently and having the freedom to do so is what makes this country great. My stance is unequivocally MAGA as I know in my heart, mind, body and soul that President Trump will make America great again. God bless the U.S.A.”
In 2024 the political split went public—Eminem backing Harris, Kid Rock backing Trump—without breaking the tie. The X video left both the disagreement and the loyalty on the record.
Halfway 2 Jesus was Kid Rock’s first Christian-themed album. Seventeen tracks blended rock, country, and hip-hop; the title cut sat at track six and featured Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts and Jimmie Allen. Around it the list carried “Water Into Wine,” “I Don’t Drink The Whiskey Anymore,” “Me And Jesus,” “God Is Good,” “’Til You Can’t,” and “Procession.”
The path in had already been marked on the charts. Earlier in 2026 his cover of Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs after he premiered it at Turning Point USA’s February 2026 All-American Halftime Show, the program counterprogrammed to the Super Bowl. The new single stood as the lead from the full project that followed.
The music video for “James 1:17 (Jesus Is King)” was shot at his Honky Tonk bar in Nashville and premiered on YouTube at 7 p.m. on October 1, 2026. The clip is dedicated to keyboardist Jimmie Bones, diagnosed with ALS in 2024.
Halfway 2 Jesus reaches release on October 17, 2026. “Basically, I have another Kid Rock record ready to go after that. A lot of music this next year. Stay tuned.”
