Walmart Customers React After Kid Rock Pays off Their Christmas Layaway Balances

Kid Rock was a not-so-secret Santa in Nashville, Tennessee over the weekend, when he paid off layaway orders for 350 extremely grateful families at a Walmart store.

The musician paid off all of the remaining layaway balances at the Dickerson Pike Walmart, the store told CNN, “bringing incredible joy to about 350 families in Nashville.”

“I love you, Kid Rock. Keep up the good work,” shopper Henrietta Lewis told The Tennessean. “I got a text on my phone that said an anonymous person had paid all my layaway. I was like, ‘What?’ So I was so excited for my grandkids.”

Lewis said that if she could say something to the rocker, she would say, “I appreciate it. I’m very grateful to him. I just want him to know that I’m very grateful that he done this for the community. Thanks so much.”

According to WBIR, Rock called to pay off the layaway accounts, totaling $81,000.

“Kudos to Kid Rock for making such a gesture in our community,” store manager Tom Meyer said. “I think that’s a pretty Nashville proud moment.”

Meyer said Rock came into the store himself later that day to make the payment. Meyer said that he has enjoyed telling customers that their balance was paid off and that he has been passing around a card explaining that Rock was the one who paid it.

“Merry Christmas from your neighbor,” the card reads. It’s signed, “Kid Rock.”

Rock said he was inspired by actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry, who recently did the same at an Atlanta Walmart, totaling more than $430,000.

“Great idea!” Kid Rock, whose real name is Bob Ritchie, tweeted at Perry. “I followed your lead and paid off the layaway at my local Walmart in Nashville. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!”

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson also paid off more than 400 layaways items at a New Orleans Walmart, totaling nearly $100,000 in items, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

But celebrities aren’t the only ones spreading holiday cheer at Walmart; Anonymous Secret Santas in Derby, Vermont; Uniondale, New York; Longmont, Colorado; and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania have all paid off layaway orders at those cities’ Walmart stores. The layaways at those four stores totals more than $130,000.

Kid Rock’s kind gesture comes after his recent controversial comments about The View host Joy Behar, which led to him being removed as the grand marshal of the Nashville Christmas parade earlier this month. But one door closing led to another door opening for Rock, who was invited to walk in Leiper’s Park, Tennessee’s Christmas parade on Friday. That parade, which features Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider as its grand marshal, was postponed to Dec. 12 due to rain.