Kid Rock announced the passing of his father on social media. In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, the rocker wrote: “My Dad, Bill Ritchie Sr, moved on to be with Jesus yesterday. He was an incredible father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so much more, none shy of being quite the character! Thank you for your condolences in advance. God Bless you and I love you Pop!” The post was made live on Feb. 16. He shared a link to his YouTube channel, which currently has a little of 2 million subscribers, of a lyric video to his single, “Drinking Beer With Dad.” The video was uploaded to the channel eight years ago, and is from his album, First Kiss. His father reportedly passed away peacefully at his home in Florida after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Rock’s father a prominent metro Detroit auto dealer. He later became a close advisor to his son throughout his career.
After graduating from Michigan State University, he became an owner of Crest Lincoln-Mercury in the area before and became a huge part of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA), which also included tenure as the organization’s regional representative to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
“He was spellbinding in a meeting. He was an inspirational speaker. His son inherited that,” Rod Alberts, current DADA executive director said in a statement on Bill’s death. “I thought the world of him.”
Rock publicly credited his father for setting an example of hard work and entrepreneurship. He said without his father’s example, he wouldn’t have been able to monopolize on his music career with merchandize and marketing.
Bill is survived by his wife, Susan Ritchie. He also leaves behind daughters Carol Ritchie and Jill Haas; sons Billy Ritchie Jr. and Kid Rock (real name Robert Ritchie), three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.