Kid Rock arrives at Warner Music Group post-Grammy party in this, Feb. 10, 2008, file photo, in Los Angeles. [Agencies]

Kid Rock has pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery from a fight at a Waffle House in Atlanta.

Robert James Ritchie, better known as the musician Kid Rock, was not present for the plea. His attorney, Darryl Cohen, waived an arraignment hearing and entered the plea on Ritchie's behalf in DeKalb County State Court, according to Cohen's office.

Ritchie and five members of his entourage were arrested October 21st on a misdemeanor charge of simple battery. The charges stem from a fight at a a metro-Atlanta Waffle House, where they had stopped following his performance at The Tabernacle.

Officials say a fight broke out after another customer recognized a woman in Kid Rock's party and exchanged words with her, prompting Ritchie to exchange words, too.

(China Daily/Agencies March 4, 2008)