Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse, located in Nashville, is apparently now closing down as a result of public pressure, despite vowing to stay open in the face of city officials' orders to shut down.
Rock and co-owner Steve Smith insisted that the eatery would stay open even after Nashville mayor John Cooper ordered all bars and restaurants on the city's Lower Broadway and throughout Davidson County to close until further notice.
Smith said in a statement, “We appreciate the efforts of Mayor Cooper to combat the COVID-19 virus, but unless there’s a statewide mandate that directs all bars and restaurants to be closed, the request made by Mayor Cooper is unconstitutional as he is targeting a select group of businesses.”
But Smith has now relented to a public outcry and said he will shut down Kid Rock's along with all his other bars and restaurants in the area. Smith owns four other establishments.
Rock, a native of Michigan, has lived in Nashville for years and told us a while back he has a special place in his heart for the city: “It's so much better in Nashville. People are nicer, best food, better barbecue, you know? Better people, you know? Just being in Music City like that, you go to any bar, and really see people jamming and getting down on any type of music you can think of — blues, rock-and-roll, country, bluegrass. I really dig it down there a lot. I love Nashville.”
At press time, 39 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Tennessee, while nearly 4,000 are infected and 70 have died in the United States.