"Born Free" is a song by

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

from his eighth studio album of the same name. It was released as the lead single for the album on October 29, 2010, which was released on November 16, 2010.

Music video

A music video was also filmed for the single, filming took place in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

. It features Rock driving through the valleys in his car and on his motorcycle throughout the video. The farm he is standing in the field of is Cook's Farm Dairy in Ortonville. At the end of the video, Kid Rock is seen on a beach along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior finishing up the song.

Chart performance

Mitt Romney campaign

It was announced on December 7, 2011, that Republican hopeful

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

would use the song as his campaign theme song. Kid Rock subsequently issued a statement saying "He and anyone else who wants to use my song do not need my permission. I said he could use it and I would say the same for any other candidate." On February 27, 2012, Kid Rock joined Romney at a campaign rally in Detroit and performed the song. "He loves Michigan and Detroit and so do I," Romney said. The rally occurred on the eve of the Michigan Republican primary, which saw Romney defeat

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...

. Kid Rock also performed the song at

Red Rocks, Colorado Red Rocks Park is a mountain park in Jefferson County, Colorado, owned and maintained by the city of Denver as part of the Denver Mountain Parks system. The park is known for its very large red sandstone outcrops. Many of these rock formations w ...

during the Romney campaign for a Rally. He also performed it at the

Verizon Wireless Arena The SNHU Arena (Southern New Hampshire University Arena) is an indoor events arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and seats 9,852 for ice hockey, 11,140 for basketball and up to 11,770 for concerts. The facility was originally known during cons ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

at an "Election Eve Rally" with Romney which was the largest political event in New Hampshire history.

In other uses

"Born Free" was featured in the TBS cable network's 2010 Major League Baseball postseason coverage and is touted as an ode to American troops. He also performed it at the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Thanksgiving Day game in 2010. Beginning on July 8, 2014,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

-based

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

used the song to promote their summer sales.

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

used the song for their annual ''

Tribute to the Troops ''WWE Tribute to the Troops'' is an American annual professional wrestling event held by WWE and Armed Forces Entertainment. Since 2003, the show airs as a television special during the month of December (specifically during the holiday season), ...

'' special.

References

{{authority control 2010 singles Kid Rock songs Songs written by Kid Rock Atlantic Records singles Music videos directed by Marc Klasfeld Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign Songs used as jingles 2010 songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin