Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd join forces this summer

Kid Rock [ tickets ] and Lynyrd Skynyrd [ tickets ] will merge their road parties for the first time on this summer's "Rock and Rebels" tour.The nine-show outing is set to kick off Aug. 8 in Oklahoma City, OK, and roll though the South and eastern US through the end of the month, with a stop in Toronto. Details are listed below.Fans will get a taste of what's to come when Rock and Skynyrd take the stage together May 15 for a special performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden. That sold-out show will mark Skynyrd's first-ever gig at the historic venue.Rock is in the midst of his "Rock and Roll Revival Tour," a revue-style outing that features the Detroit rap-rocker and his Twisted Brown Trucker Band playing a medley of hits with guests including Run D.M.C.'s Reverend Run, former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts and J. Giles Band frontman Peter Wolf. Rock will wrap the current US leg later this month and then head out for a brief European jaunt before returning to North America in early July for a Canadian run and a three-night stand in the Detroit area. Rock's full itinerary can be found at his website.The performer continues to back his October release, "Rock N Roll Jesus," which topped The Billboard 200 and has spawned mainstream- and modern-rock hits "So Hott," "Amen" and "All Summer Long." Rock and his band are scheduled to play "All Summer Long"--a mash-up of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"--on the May 14 episode of CBS-TV's "Late Show with David Letterman."Lynyrd Skynyrd is currently making its way around the US on the "Rowdy Frynds Tour" with Hank Williams Jr. That outing stretches through mid-June, after which time the band will play another round of dates across the country before joining up with Rock. Skynyrd's full itinerary can be found at its website.The veteran Southern rockers released their latest set of new material, "Vicious Cycle," in 2003, the same year they offered up the double album/DVD collection "Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve" and "Thyrty," a best-of compilation marking their 30th anniversary. The band recently dropped a deluxe edition of "Street Survivors," the 1977 best-seller released shortly before the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines. The two-CD set includes the never-before-issued last-known recording of the original band--five songs performed at a Fresno, CA, concert less than two months before the tragic plane crash.Skynyrd is currently working on its next studio album, which is due in early 2009, according to Billboard."Rock and Rebels" tour featuring Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd: