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Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan), is known by his stage name Kid Rock, is a American musician and actor and rapper. He has sold over 23 million albums since the release of his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast in 1990. He is currently enjoying huge success in Europe with his latest release All Summer Long which reached number one in the UK charts in 2008, as well as similar success across Europe.[1][2]
Grits Sandwiches for BreakfastRitchie's career began at age 11 when his high school friend Randy Handlovsky found a group for him to join, he danced at a mall for the fun of it as a member of the b-boy group The Furious Funkers. After the success of Run-D.M.C. and The Beastie Boys, he bought a cheap belt-driven turntable and honed his craft. In high school, Ritchie DJed at parties for beer. He eventually joined Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan for a few shows. It was then that he was given his stage name; club goers dubbed him with the moniker "Kid Rock" after they had enjoyed watching "that white kid rock." In addition to DJing, Rock started rapping and joined hip hop group The Beast Crew comprised of The Blackman, Champtown, KDC, Crisp and Doc Rounce Cee. Rock also became friends with producer D-Nice of the legendary hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions. When Rock opened for BDP one night, D-Nice invited an A&R representative from Jive Records to see him perform. This meeting led to a demo deal, which developed into a full record contract. Against his parents' wishes, Rock signed the deal at the age of seventeen. Despite his new record deal, he had a falling out with The Beast Crew when he signed over fellow member Champtown (the two have since made amends). Rock later became part of the Straight From The Underground Tour, where he found himself alongside several heavyweights of rap including Ice Cube, Too Short, D-Nice, and Yo-Yo. In December 1990, Kid Rock released his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast on Jive Records. The lead single "Yo Da Lin In The Valley" was banned by the FCC for its fixation on oral sex, and received at the time the largest non-commercial radio fine of all time at $23,750 fined to SUNY Cortland Radio (WSUC-FM).[3] Because of this Jive sat on the record and then released Kid Rock from their roster in 1991.[4] Restarting on an independent labelIn 1992, Kid Rock was picked up by an independent record label, Continuum Records, which released his second album The Polyfuze Method the following year. While the album saw some local college radio success at Central Michigan University with the track "Back From The Dead", the lead single, "U Don't Know Me", failed to chart, and the music video received little airplay on any major music video channels. After releasing an EP called Fire It Up! in 1994, Continuum went bankrupt and Rock was left again without a record deal. Rock started his own label, Top Dog Records, and released monthly demo tapes dubbed The Bootleg Series, which featured demos of him and other up-and-coming rappers in the Detroit area. He signed on Curt Hauer, Dave Long, and the Cook twins to be his "Top Dog Interns". The interns would help him promote his shows and design his own merchandise line in the Detroit area. Around the same time, Rock formed his back-up band Twisted Brown Trucker, later recruiting Joe C, who he met at a 1994 concert, as part of the group. In 1995, Rock took a job as a janitor at Whiterooms Studios in order to pay studio fees. When he wasn't working, Kid would record the material that would eventually make up his fourth album, Early Morning Stoned Pimp. The album was released in 1996 and Rock sold 14,000 copies out of the trunk of his car and after concerts. While Rock was now popular in Michigan and controlling his own label, he felt he needed to get attention from a major label. In December 1996, Lava/Atlantic Records A&R man Andy Karp, traveled to Cleveland to see Rock perform at a small club called The Grog Shop. On March 30, 1997, Rock performed a special showcase concert, with Jason Krause on guitar, to attract major label attention. While many of the major labels were invited, the only attendees were Karp and Lava President Jason Flom (Lava/Atlantic Records). Following the performance, record executives said they loved him but expressed doubts about the strength of his material. Kid Rock returned to the studio and cut a six song demo tape; the first two songs on the tape were "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One For Ya". After hearing the two songs, Jason Flom supported Karp in signing Kid Rock to a record deal for $100,000, without even hearing the rest.[5] Devil Without a CauseIn 1997, Kid Rock added drummer/vocalist Stefanie Eulinberg to his band, joining Kenny Olson, Jason Krause, Jimmie Bones, Uncle Kracker, Mike Bradford, and Joe C. In August 1998, Atlantic released Devil Without a Cause behind the single "Welcome 2 The Party". Kid Rock went on the Vans Warped Tour to support the album. Audiences ignored "Welcome 2 The Party" and Devil sat on the shelves collecting dust for eight months. While sales nationwide lagged, his performance on the 1998 Warped Tour in Northampton, Massachusetts stimulated regional interest in Massachusetts and New England. This led to substantial airplay in the summer and fall of 1998 on rock staples in Massachusetts WZLX and WAAF. In December 1998, after meeting Carson Daly, he got an offer to perform on MTV Fashionably Loud in Miami, giving the nation its first taste of Kid Rock. From there, MTV took him under their wing as he performed on MTV's Wanna B A VJ and was the DJ for TRL on the Spring Break Special as well as a judge on Say What Karaoke. This sparked him to gold status by April 1999.[6] In May 1999, he released the song "Bawitdaba" to radio outlets, and proceeded to blow up overnight. By June, the album had gone platinum.[6] Kid Rock gave away a free download of "Bawitdaba]]".[7] in July 2008. Kid Rock went on the Limptropolis Tour with fellow rap-rockers Limp Bizkit and Staind in the same month, his first major tour. By the time he made his career defining performance at Woodstock 1999 on July 27 1999, he was double platinum.[6] The following single "Cowboy" was an even bigger hit. It was an oddball mix of southern rock and old school rap that found its way into the Top 40. Rock helped create one of the most memorable moments in MTV history with his 1999 Video Music Awards medley with Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith who rejoined to perform the seminal rap-rock version of "Walk This Way", the same song that revived Aerosmith's career in the 1980s. Rock's next single, the southern rock ballad "Only God Knows Why", became a top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 Charts and a Top 10 on the Top 40 Charts. After the final single "Wasting Time" was released, Devil Without A Cause had gone seven times platinum and was nominated for three Grammy Awards. It was certified 11 times platinum by the RIAA on April 17 2003.[6] The History of RockAfter reacquiring the rights to his early material in 2000, Rock released The History of Rock, a collection of remixed and re-recorded songs. The only new track, "American Bad Ass", sampled the Metallica track "Sad But True". The song was later used as pro wrestler The Undertaker's entrance song in the World Wrestling Federation. In mid-2000, Rock joined the Summer Sanitarium Tour with Metallica, Korn, Powerman 5000, and System of a Down. Kid Rock filled in for James Hetfield of Metallica, singing vocals on the songs "Enter Sandman", "Sad But True", and "Nothing Else Matters" and the turntables for "Fuel", for three shows after Hetfield injured his spine riding a jet ski on Lake Lanier the day before the Atlanta concert. Later that year, he joined Phish on stage for several cover songs at a concert in Las Vegas. Kid Rock recorded a few songs with the legendary blues artist Robert Bradley and Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise in 2000 on their album Time To Discover. In early 2001, Rock inducted Aerosmith into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Emotion" at the induction ceremony. The same year, Rock landed his first acting role in the David Spade white trash comedy Joe Dirt. Cocky
Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock in 2003 However, the release of "Picture", a country-influenced duet with Sheryl Crow, introduced Rock to a wider audience. "Picture" was ultimately the most successful single on the album, and was eventually certified gold, with album sales reaching 5 million.[6] Interestingly, neither his record company nor Sheryl Crow's wanted anything to do with "Picture" as a single. Allison Moorer remade the song for the single version after Rock released the song against his label's wishes. Once it began to climb the country charts, Sheryl Crow's label caved and the original version was released. [9] On December 14, 2001, CMT aired an episode of Crossroads featuring Rock with Hank Williams, Jr. The episode drew 2.1 million viewers, a record on CMT.[10] At the end of 2002, Uncle Kracker left the band to pursue a solo career and Detroit underground rapper Paradime replaced him. Kid Rock also made his second movie, Biker Boyz, with Laurence Fishburne. A New DirectionIn 2003, Kid Rock returned with an eponymous album, almost stripping away the accustomed rap rock sound that he had created, opting for southern rock and country ballads instead. The album's lead single was a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love". A media blitz accompanied the single capped off by the VH-1 special called A Kid Rock Christmas, which aired on December 14 2003. He released the country ballad "Cold And Empty" and the blues rocker "Jackson, Mississippi" as dual singles. He followed the same path with "I Am" and the David Allan Coe penned "Single Father". "Single Father" became his second charting country song.[6] Kid Rock was involved in the halftime show controversy at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Texas on February 3, 2005. He was criticized by war veterans for his choice of wearing the American flag as a poncho. The following month, Kid inducted Bob Seger into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In September, Kid Rock filled in for Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the band's hit Sweet Home Alabama at the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert.[11] Live Trucker
Kid Rock in concert on September 16, 2006 in Denver, Colorado. Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson resumed their on-again, off-again relationship, culminating in a surprise wedding in July 2006 after it was reported Anderson was pregnant. They divorced five months later after Anderson lied that she had a miscarriage. [12] Rock N Roll JesusRock N Roll Jesus was released on October 9, 2007. The album became Kid Rock's first album to go number 1 in his career, selling 172,000 copies in its first week.[13] He made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for the second time of his career,[14] and appeared for the first time ever on Larry King Live to discuss the new album. The album's lead single "So Hott", described as a strip club banger by Rolling Stone magazine, was his best charting rock song of his career, as it climbed all the way to Number 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and Number 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks. "Amen" was the second released single off the album, peaking at number 11 on Mainstream Rock and number 27 on Modern Rock. Kid Rock boasted it was the greatest song he had ever written.[15] "All Summer Long" is the third single from Rock N Roll Jesus. The song samples the music from Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", with new lyrics by Kid Rock. The song has become Kid Rock's biggest hit to date charting on every major U.S. and Canadian chart (outside of the Rap and R&B charts), as well as going number one in Europe, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The song has also placed in the Top 10 in Sweden and the Netherlands. It is currently at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also his highest charting song in the United Kingdom charting at #1 four weeks after its release. The song was used as the WWE's theme song for Backlash 2008. Rock N Roll Jesus took home the award for Most Outstanding National Album at the 2008 Detroit Music Awards, the first time he has won that award since Devil Without A Cause in 1999. Kid Rock is currently on his Rock N Roll Revival Tour. The tour has been done in a revue style with the J. Geils Band's Peter Wolf, The Allman Brothers' Dickey Betts and Rev Run of Run-D.M.C. all joining him on stage to perform their classic hits between Kid Rock's own hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd will co-headline the Rock and Rebels Tour starting in August. In the worksKid Rock and TBT cut a new song entitled "Warrior" for a National Guard commercial. It will be able to be downloaded in its entirety on the National Guard's website once the commercial airs. Reverend Run has confirmed an album with Kid Rock called Running With the Kid, a play on Eric Clapton and B. B. King's Riding With The King collaboration. The release date is yet to be determined. Kid Rock will appear on Lil Jon's 2008 album, Crunk Rock and will also be on the track "Together Forever" with Trick Trick on his forthcoming album. Kid Rock has stated for his follow up album to Rock N Roll Jesus he will be going back to his roots to make a hip-hop album, after his side project with Rev Run. Legal troublesKid Rock is known for having multiple run-ins with law enforcement. In February 2005, Kid was arrested on assault charges for punching DJ Jay Campos in 'Christies Cabaret' strip club. Rock pled no contest and was sued for $575,000 by Campos.[16] Kid Rock was cited for assault on Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on September 9th, 2007 at MTV's Video Music Awards.[17] In October 2007, Kid Rock was involved in a brawl at a Waffle House in Atlanta.[18] Kid is required to perform 80 hours of community service and must complete a course on anger management.[19] Twisted Brown TruckerTwisted Brown Trucker is Kid Rock's band, formed in 1994, with Bob Ebeling in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The original lineup included Kenny Olson on lead guitar, Uncle Kracker on turntables, Jeff Hall and Andy Gould on guitar and Bob Ebeling on drums. The band's first involvement was on the 1994 demo of Dark & Grey. Trucker became both Rock's studio and live band in 1997. Dubbed by Kid Rock as "The Loudest Band In America Today", they are well known for their hodge-podge of genres, sometimes mixing many in a single song. The lineup went through a change up on Devil Without a Cause: Stephanie Eulinberg became the new drummer and Mike Bradford as the new bass player. Trucker since saw three major changes with Uncle Kracker going solo full-time in 2002, Kenny Olson leaving in 2005, and Smith Curry in 2006. The new 2007 line up includes Marlon Young (Lead Guitar);replacing Kenny Tudrick, Larry Fratangelo (Bongos and Percussion), Rayse Biggs (Trumpet) and David McMurray (Saxophone), who were with the 1980s group Was (Not Was). Kenny Olson went on to form a band called The Flask, who later switched singers and changed their name to Five Star Carnie. MembersCurrent members
Former members
Discography
Tours
Filmography
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