In a new interview with The Guardian, Kid Rock reveals being in the music industry has paid off big time.
"I'm not just wealthy, I’m loaded," says the 43-year-old "Cowboy" singer. "I can say that because I’m not embarrassed — I’ve made a f--k-ton of money, but I’ve never made a dishonest dollar. I try to do right by the people around me."
The singer-actor-record producer is worth an estimated $80 million. His hit 1998 album "Devil Without a Cause" sold over 13 million albums worldwide. Rock has sold over 27 million albums worldwide throughout his career, making him one of the most successful American musicians of the last 15 years.
In 2013, Rock capped his summer concert ticket prices at $20 to ensure his fans could see him perform live.
"Instead of taking a big upfront fee from the promoter, the 'guarantee' an act receives even if attendance is poor, he shouldered more risk by sharing ticket sales with Live Nation,"The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. “In exchange, the promoter agreed to share revenue from food, drinks and parking—house earnings in which entertainers rarely get a stake."
The approach paid off, with venues selling out and more shows being added to the tour.
"I'm lucky enough that I can afford to take a pay cut,"Rock said when he announced the tour.
"Let's give the fans the best deal, then us rich motherf------ can go fight about how to divvy up the money," he told WSJ. "Because even at $20, there's plenty of money there. I said to Live Nation, look at these past tours that I've done. Some nights you make a lot of money, some nights you lose a lot of money. Why don't we just be on the up and up and divide the money fairly? Then the profit is going to be in the number of people who turn out. And thank the Lord that it's working."
So what does Rock spend his money on?
"I’m always buying more guns," he recently told The Guardian. "I have everything from a Civil War cannon to an MP5 machine gun and old police guns. If someone invades your house, yeah, you can shoot them. I don’t think crazy people should have guns."
Rock is also very vocal about his politics.
"I played Barack Obama’s inauguration even though I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t agree with his policies, but there was an exciting sense of change in the air. That promise hasn’t been fulfilled – the country is more divided than ever," he told The Guardian.
Rock added: "I am definitely a Republican on fiscal issues and the military, but I lean to the middle on social issues. I am no fan of abortion, but it’s not up to a man to tell a woman what to do. As an ordained minister I don’t look forward to marrying gay people, but I’m not opposed to it."
But don't expect Rock to be expressing his views via social media.
"I don’t FaceTweet or whatever people do. I understand that I’m the old guy now. I turn on my computer and look at porn a little bit, see what’s going on in the news, but that’s about it. I’m comfortable with that."
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