Mom and Pop

Kid Rock, who’ll be hosting the Oscars at the end of this month, was recently asked by Vanity Fair who his heroes are in real life.

“My parents, Julius and Rose. Two kids from South Carolina that came to New York, raised a family, and their kids are able to take care of themselves and their kids — it doesn’t get much better. Six boys, one girl raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in the middle of the crack epidemic. Nobody in jail, nobody in rehab, not one kid out of wedlock. Best parents ever.”

His heartwarming reply reminded me of what JK Simmons said during his acceptance speech last year and Sean Connery some years ago. I think it’s high time more celebs talked about their parents — warts and all — because we often tend to neglect them while talking about these famous achievers. We want to dig deep into the mind of Steve Jobs or the genius of Lionel Messi but we don’t wish to know the role their parents played in their upcoming. We just assume they were there behind the scenes but it’s much thicker than that. Also, their stories don’t have to be boring just because we find the sacrifices made by ours banal.