Kid Rock has meltdown after Nashville crowd refuses to clap: 'I'm gone'

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Kid Rock was caught on video having a meltdown and storming off the stage at Jon Bon Jovi’s Nashville bar after the audience didn’t clap enthusiastically enough when he asked them to.

The Only God Knows Why singer was on the mic alongside Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan for the keyboardist’s birthday bash when he lost his cool with the lacklustre patrons during a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary.

“F— them. F— them. Hey, hey, stop,” Rock said, abruptly halting the song midway through his performance. “If you ain’t gonna clap, we ain’t gonna sing. That’s how it’s gonna work,” Rock continued in the viral video. 

Rock then started clapping his hands over his head, urging the audience to follow along. “Don’t get too fast,” he instructed.

Some people in the crowd half-heartedly started to give it up to the musicians, but the reception didn’t satisfy Rock.

“You know what, f— y’all. You ain’t gonna clap, I’m gone,” the five-time Grammy nominee seethed before storming off the stage.

The band kept the show going after Rock exited the stage, but on social media the musician’s antics were widely mocked.

“‘I’m outta here’ and that’s when the audience started cheering,” one person joked on TikTok, with another adding on X, “That performance sets music back 1,000 years.”

“Damn. If we only knew 20 years ago how to get him off of a stage,” another wondered, while other critics called him an assortment of insults — including “loser,” “washed up,” “no longer relevant,” “manbaby” and others.

But despite the interruption, Bryan enjoyed the rest of night’s celebration, later taking to Instagram to write, “THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! Rocking at @jbjsnash last night with @bigkennytv!”

mdaniell@postmedia.com