Kid Rock lip syncing slammed amid backlash against TPUSA Super Bowl halftime show; 'Gabby Barrett did better'

Kid Rock's performance, headlining the Turning Point USA Super Bowl halftime show, was panned, with many pointing out he couldn't lip sync properly.

Updated on: Feb 09, 2026 9:39 AM IST

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Kid Rock is catching a lot of flak for his Super Bowl halftime performance. The singer was headlining the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) All-American halftime show, which Charlie Kirk's organization came up with as an alternative to NFL's program featuring Bad Bunny.

Kid Rock was slammed for his TPUSA halftime show performance while Gabby Barrett earned praise. (X/@factpostnews, X/@GabbyBarrett_)

While many might have been outraged with Bad Bunny's comments about ICE and hearing mostly non-English songs, they did not spare Kid Rock either. Robert James Ritchie, 55, was accused of not being able to lip sync properly to his own songs. Meanwhile, fellow TPUSA halftime show performer Gabby Barrett won high praise.

Kid Rock slammed after TPUSA performance

Kid Rock, known for songs like All Summer Long and Born Free, was heavily criticized after his performance. “Wow! Kid Rock may be the worst Lip syncer I have ever seen. If you're just going to lip sync it, why not have Mike Lindell or Dr. Phil do it for you?,” Republican Jack Kimble wrote.

Also Read | Candace Owens slams 'flop' TPUSA Super Bowl half-time show; 'not even Trump tuned in'

Another added, “Kid Rock showed up for one minute and lip sync’d every third bar from the first verse of Bawitdabawkbawkchickenhead while tweaking in jorts and playing with his fedora and then it awkwardly cut to a classical performance.”

A conservative news outlet quipped on X “Charlie Kirk would not have approved of Kid Rock's pre-recorded Lip Sync Super Bowl performance,” sharing a video of the performance.

Gabby Barrett earns high praise

While Kid Rock was slammed, many praised Barrett's performance, with some even commenting that she was ‘better’ than Kid Rock.

“Gabby Barrett is KILLING IT right now,” a person wrote, sharing her video on X.

Another added, “GABBY BARRETT JUST BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN at the TPUSA All-American Halftime Show! Her voice hit like thunder, pure power, heart, and zero apologies. The crowd lost it, phones up, singing along, chills everywhere.”

Yet another said, “Gabby Barrett is slaying the dragon on TBN All-American HT Superbowl show.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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