Kid Rock Opens Up About What Inspired His New Gospel Album, and It's Quite the Story
Kid Rock’s new Christian album “Halfway 2 Jesus” will be released on Saturday, 10/17, at 10:17 a.m., and he explained on Friday the reason why.
Taste of Country reported that it’s customary for a new album to drop on Friday morning at midnight Eastern Time.
But Rock’s choice of Saturday, given the date, is very intentional.
The singer recounted on the Fox News program “Outnumbered” on Friday that he has been seeing ones and sevens his whole life, which he thinks is a message from God.
“My birthday is 1-17-71, so there’s that, and I see these combinations of ones and sevens, and I have forever,” he said.
The artist lives off Exit 17, Rock noted as another example, and the speed limit on his street is 17 miles per hour.
“And when I started getting into this spiritual journey, seeing these numbers in the craziest of places,” Rock said.
“I look up the passage of James, my middle name, 1:17, which basically says, ‘All good things come from God.’”
The passage specifically reads, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
.@KidRock reveals the powerful significance behind the number 117 and its connection to Jesus and his new album, saying leaning into his faith made it the easiest record he’s ever written.
From his January 17 birthday to James 1:17, Kid Rock says he’s seen the significance of that number throughout his life.
“I looked up the passage of James, my middle name — James 1:17 — which basically says, ‘All good things come from God.’ I’m like, dude, you got my attention. I started to listen, and I started to write words to paper, and some of this stuff just came.” | @OutnumberedFNC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2026
“I’m like, alright dude, you’ve got my attention. I’ve been seeing this my whole life. I’m listening. And I started to listen, and I started to write words to paper, and some of this stuff came,” Rock shared.
“I can think of one song, a popular song that I’ve had that came quick to me. And these just popped out,” he said.
A song already released from the album, entitled “James 1:17 (Jesus is King),” definitely has an old-time gospel flair to it.
@KidRock Your winning when you make the devil mad! Keep the awesome glorious Jesus Music coming! We are listening! https://t.co/8TFTcnYAtR
— Mrs American Pie (@kk_koons) October 9, 2026
Rock told Fox News that it’s been quite a journey from 30 years ago in the 1990s, with his album “Devil Without a Cause” to his latest one, “Halfway 2 Jesus.”
Interestingly, fellow Michigander Eminem is a guest artist on both projects.
“After Charlie Kirk was assassinated, like a lot of people, I started to become closer to my faith. So I started writing these songs, and the next thing you know, they were just coming to me,” Rock said.
JUST NOW: Kid Rock says “I’m still Kid Rock” with a new album called “Halfway to Jesus,” inspired after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
On President Trump: “There is nobody I would rather have in that office fighting for this country.” He says no matter how many times Trump is knocked down and dragged through the mud, he gets back up and fights for us.
On Hollywood, he says the stage is no place for politics and we should give each other more grace.
On the album, he says it’s been a journey of almost 30 years from “Devil Without a Cause” to “Halfway to Jesus,” and that after Charlie’s death he got closer to his faith and the songs just came.
Don’t call it a conversion: “I’m still Kid Rock. I’m going to drink a beer and smoke a cigar.”
A man of faith, a friend of the President, and never fake.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 11, 2026
Kid Rock, also known as Robert Ritchie, honored Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, by adding a stanza about the Bible and Jesus Christ to his rendition of Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t” during an alternative Super Bowl halftime show hosted by TPUSA in February.
Ritchie introduced the addition, saying, “You know I awoke one Sunday morning all alone with this song stuck in my head.”
“And in that moment, something or someone spoke to me, they said there was still a verse that needed to be written for this song, and to get up and to write it down.”
“There’s a book that’s sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off. There’s a man who died for all our sins hanging from the cross. You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance, ’til you can’t, ’til you can’t,” Ritchie sang.
KID ROCK: “There’s a book that’s sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off. There’s a man who died for all our sins hanging from the cross. You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance…”
CHILLS ✝️🙏🏻
https://t.co/NP2gOU0lOP— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 9, 2026
The singer acknowledged that people may be skeptical about his faith, given his party-hard reputation. “Kid Rock got saved?” they may ask, he told Fox News.
“I didn’t get saved. I’m still Kid Rock. I’ll drink a beer, smoke a cigar,” he said. “I feel like I’ve always been right with God.”
Rock referred to the old Tom T. Hall song “Me and Jesus” and stated, “Me and Jesus got our own thing going, we don’t need anybody to tell us what it’s all about.”
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