Kid Rock Takes Role of Fatherhood Seriously

Kid Rock is known to millions of fans as an outspoken rocker and rapper from Detroit, who has a reputation for partying hard, both on and off stage. But when he isn't playing rock star, Kid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie, can be found filling his favorite role of all: father to his teenage son, Junior.

"Kenny Chesney called me," Kid recalls to Esquire magazine. "We were talking about a tour or something. He texted me real early -- must have been six in the morning. And I texted him back. And he asked me, 'Were you up all night?' I said, 'No, no, I'm getting up for my son.' He said, 'Holy sh--, don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody you were up this early, because it'll ruin your image.' I go, 'You can't ruin my image.' Make no mistake: Bob Ritchie's up early in the morning taking pictures of his son on the first day of his senior year. Kid Rock is passed out in a hotel room somewhere with four scantily clad women."

The role of a parent is one the entertainer doesn't take lightly, but he readily admits that he has made a few mistakes along the way. "When Junior was young, it was Christmastime," he remembers. "I had a gig the night before, and I was sh--t-faced, just beyond. Drugs and alcohol. I passed out in my bathroom, dead weight. My son comes in, he's like, 'Grandma, something's wrong with Dad!' So my mom tries to get me to make this big excuse up. 'Tell him you came home and you were tired and this that and the other.' I'm sitting there at breakfast and I say, 'Your dad got trashed last night.' I'm going to sit here and lie to this kid? He's like seven. I'm like, 'Big concert, party afterward, I drank too much and passed out. I'm not proud of it, but that's what happens when you do that.'"

The incident on the bathroom floor isn't the only one the singer-songwriter regrets. "The Waffle House [incident] will be a cloud hanging over me forever," he admits, referring to his 2007 arrest after a fight at an Atlanta Waffle House. "But not the worst cloud. Could have been worse. What if we were in a f--ing Ruth's Chris [steakhouse]? That would have hurt my image."

Kid Rock will head to the New Orleans Jazz Festival this weekend, and will play several solo dates this spring before kicking off his summer tour with Sheryl Crow on July 2. Keep track of his tour schedule here.