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James Shaw Jr. hopped into a horse-drawn carriage Saturday to lead the parade, news outlets reported. Kid Rock was nowhere to be seen as the parade started along its route, according to The Tennessean.
Shaw was hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun away from the shooter during a Nashville Waffle House shooting in April that killed four people and injured four others. On Saturday, Shaw was joined in the carriage by relatives of Akilah Dasilva, a musician who was killed in the shooting.
"It warms the heart to be here with the Dasilva family," Shaw said.
Kid Rock posted on Instagram that his parade "had been rained on" and he would instead spend the day with his family.
"Sending well wishes for a break in the rain and a successful parade," he wrote. "I love Nashville and the people she holds. But remember ... Rock 'n Roll never forgets!"
Kid Rock was ousted after using an expletive to describe television personality Joy Behar during an interview Friday on "Fox & Friends." He did the interview from his bar in Nashville, where the musician swigged bourbon while tending bar on camera and said he had been drinking coffee and Irish cream liqueur.
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"God forbid you say something a little wrong; you're racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, this that and the other. People need to calm down, get a little less politically correct," Kid Rock said. "And I would say, you know, love everybody. Except, I'd say screw that Joy Behar (expletive)."
Multiple "Fox & Friends" personalities apologized on air afterward. Kid Rock apologized for the language but "not the sentiment."
Behar, a host on The View, is a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, while Kid Rock is a Trump supporter.
Several parade organizers announced Friday evening that the parade would no longer feature Kid Rock, who had volunteered to be the grand marshal.
Proceeds from the parade are going to the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.