Kid Rock

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Kid Rock
Singer Kid Rock performs for military men and women as part of a USO show on board Camp Phoenix.
Singer Kid Rock performs for military men and women as part of a USO show on board Camp Phoenix.
Background information
Birth name Robert James Ritchie
Born January 17, 1971 (1971-01-17) (age 37)
Romeo, Michigan, United States
Genre(s) Rapcore
Southern rock
Hard rock
Country rock
Alternative Hip Hop
Old School Hip hop (early)
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, actor
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, banjo, keyboards, drums, harmonica, turntables
Years active 1982-present
Label(s) Atlantic
Jive
Top Dog
Continuum Records
Website www.KidRock.com

Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American musician and actor. He has sold over 23 million albums since the release of his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast in 1990. Jive Records released him from his contract in 1991, and in 1992 he signed with Continuum Records. He released 1993's "The Polyfuze Method" and the 1994 EP "Fire It Up!". Continuum Records didn't have the resources to push him and eventually went bankrupt. Kid Rock then started his own label in 1994 called Top Dog Records. After releasing demo tapes and working as a janitor to pay for studio fees, he released "Early Mornin Stoned Pimp" in 1996, which become a local smash hit. He held a special showcase concert, with only Atlantic Records showing up. Luckily they signed them to a record contract. He released his major label debut in 1998, Devil Without A Cause, which sold 11 million albums behind the hit songs "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy", "I Am The Bullgod" and "Only God Knows Why." He released "History of Rock" in 2000, yielding the hit "American Bad Ass." In 2001 he was a tabloid headliner as he began dating actress Pamela Anderson. He released "Cocky" in 2001 and the crossover hit "Picture" with Sheryl Crow. He released a self-titled album in 2003 and "'Live' Trucker" in 2006. In 2006, Kid Rock married Pamela Anderson, and divorced her 5 months later. In 2007, Rock N Roll Jesus revived his career; it was his first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, on the strength of its hit singles "So Hott","Amen" and "All Summer Long". The album was certified platinum by the RIAA on May 29,2008. He and Rev Run of Run DMC fame will release an album together called "Running With The Kid", the date hasn't been determined. Kid Rock is backed by his 11 piece Twisted Brown Trucker Band formed in 1994.

Contents

[edit] Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast

Ritchie's career began at age 11, as a member of the b-boy group 'The Furious Funkers'. After the success of Run DMC and The Beastie Boys, he bought a cheap belt-driven turntable and honed his craft. In high school, Ritchie would DJ 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'd enjoy watching "that white kid rock."

In addition to DJ'ing, Kid started rapping and joined hip hop group The Beast Crew comprised of The Blackman, Champtown, KDC, Crisp and Doc Rounce Cee. Kid 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 Kid Rock perform. This meeting led to a demo deal, which developed into a full record contract. Against his parents' wishes, Kid signed the deal at the age of seventeen. Despite his new record deal, Kid had a falling out with The Beast Crew since he signed over fellow member Champtown (the two have since made amends). Kid 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 of 1990, Kid Rock released his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast on Jive Records. The lead single "Yo Da Lin In The Valley" would be banned by the FCC for its fixation on oral sex, and receive at the time the largest non-commercial radio fine of all time at $23,700 fined to SUNY Cortland Radio . The bad times would continue after fellow white rapper Vanilla Ice, was outcasted by the hip-hop community for his claimed "gangsta" upbringing. Because of this Jive sat on the record and then released Kid Rock from their roster in 1991.

[edit] Restarting on an independent label

In 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.

Kid Rock started his own label, Top Dog, and released monthly demo tapes dubbed The Bootleg Series, which featured demos of him and other up-an-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, Kid 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. Released in 1996 and Kid 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. On March 30, 1997, he 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 attendee was 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 were "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One For Ya". After hearing the two songs, Jason Flom, then-president of Atlantic Records, signed Kid Rock to a record deal for $100,000 without hearing the rest[citation needed].

[edit] Devil Without a Cause

In 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.

"Welcome 2 The Party" was ignored by audiences 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 WLZX and WAAF. In December of 1998, after meeting Carson Daly he got a gig to perform on MTV Fashionably Loud in Miami, giving the nation the 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 Karoke. This sparked him to gold status by April of 1999.

In May of 1999 he released the song Bawitdaba to radio outlets, and preceded to blow up overnight. By June the album went platinum.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 99 on July 27,1999 he was double platinum. The momentum wouldn't stop their the following single "Cowboy" was even a bigger hit it was an odd ball mix of southern rock and old school rap that found its way into the top 40. He would help create one of the most memorable moments in MTV History with his 1999 Video Music Awards Medley with Run DMC and Aerosmith who rejoined to perform the seminal rap rock version of "Walk This Way", that revived Aerosmith's career in the 80's. Kid Rock still wasn't done attacking the charts has he released a southern rock ballad "Only God Knows Why" it 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 was sitting 7 times platinum and nominated for 3 Grammy awards. The album would eventually go on to sell 11 million albums to date.

[edit] The History of Rock

After reacquiring the rights to his early material in 2000, Kid 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 World Wrestling Entertainment. In the summer of 2000, Kid 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 for three shows after Hetfield was injured at Kid Rock's house while riding a four wheeler. Later that year, he joined Phish on stage for several songs at a concert in Las Vegas.

Joe C would die November 16,2000 of Celiac Disease at his home in Taylor,MI. He was 26 years of age.

In early 2001, Kid Rock inducted Aerosmith into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Emotion". The same year, Kid landed his first acting role in the David Spade white trash comedy Joe Dirt.

[edit] Cocky

In the spring of 2001, Kid began dating Playboy playmate and actress Pamela Anderson, after the two met at a VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin. By April 2002, Kid and Anderson were engaged, but the engagement was later called off.[1] In November, Kid Rock released Cocky, which was marketed as the official follow up to Devil Without a Cause. The first single was his standard rap rock sound, in the song "Forever. The second single showed a glimpse of the future. Lonely Road Of Faith, a country ballad, received some minor airplay on CMT. That was followed by the southern rocker "You Never Met A Motherfucker Quite Like Me", by November of 2002 album sales lagged far behind Devil Without A Cause.

However, the release of "Picture", a country-influenced duet with Sheryl Crow, introduced Kid Rock to a wider audience. "Picture" was ultimately the most successful single on the album, and would eventually be certified gold and album sales eventually reached 5 million. 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 Kid Rock released the song against his labels wishes. Once it began to climb the country charts, Sheryl Crow's label caved and the original version was released.[citation needed]

On December 14, 2001, CMT aired an episode of Crossroads featuring Kid with Hank Williams, Jr.. The episode drew 2.1 million people viewers, a record on CMT. 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.

[edit] A New Direction

In 2003, Kid Rock returned with an eponymous album,almost stripping away the accustomed rap rock sound that he created. He opted for southern rock and country ballads instead. The albums lead single was a cover of Bad Company's, "Feel Like Makin' Love". A media blitz would accompany the single capped off by the VH-1 special A Kid Rock Christmas, which aired on December 14,2003. He would release the country ballad "Cold And Empty" and the blues rocker " Jackson, Mississippi" as duel singles. He would follow the same path with " I Am" and the David Allan Coe penned "Single Father". "Single Father", would become his second charting country song.

Kid Rock was involved in the half time fiasco at Super Bowl 38 in Houston, Texas on February 3, 2005. He was criticized by war veterans, for his choice of wearing the American flag as a poncho.

Kid Rock was arrested later that month on assault charges for punching DJ Jay Campos in 'Christies Cabaret' strip club. Rock plead no contest and was sued for a million dollars by Campos.[2] 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.[3]

[edit] Live Trucker

Kid Rock in concert on September 16, 2006 in Denver, Colorado.
Kid Rock in concert on September 16, 2006 in Denver, Colorado.

On February 28, 2006, Kid Rock released his first live album, Live Trucker, comprising songs from his homestand performances in Clarkston (on September 1, 2000, and August 26 through August 28, 2004), and Detroit's Cobo Hall (March 26, 2004). The album contained the last two performances of Joe C on "Devil Without a Cause" and "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp", as well as Kid duetting with country star Gretchen Wilson on "Picture". Other highlights included "Only God Knows Why", the medley of "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "Fist Of Rage" bridged by a thrash metal take on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". He brought Detroit's favorite son Bob Seger back from semi-retirement during his Super Bowl concerts on February 2 and 3, 2006. The two performed a rousing version of Seger's "Rock 'N' Roll Never Forgets" on both nights. Kid Rock would appear on Bob Seger's much anticipated, 10 years in the waiting, Face The Promise, as well as on a Vince Gill cover of "Real Mean Bottle", a tribute to country legend Merle Haggard.

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 5 months later after Anderson reportedly had a miscarriage. Kid Rock says the pregnancy was false and he was used as a baby sitter for her kids to go out and party without him. The movie Borat might have been the final straw as Kid was angered over her part in the film and stormed out of a personal screening with a group of friends.

[edit] Rock N Roll Jesus

Rock N Roll Jesus was released on October 9, 2007. The album would become Kid Rock's first album to go number 1 in his career, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. He made the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine for the 2nd time of his career 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 No 11 on Mainstream Rock and No 27 on Modern Rock. Kid Rock boasted it was the greatest song he had ever written.

All Summer Long is the current single off of " Rock N Roll Jesus". The song was used as the WWE's theme song for the Backlash 2008. The song is a mash up of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".

"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 Peter Wolf, The Allman Brothers Dickey Betts and Rev Run of Run DMC all joining him on stage to perform their classic hits between Kid Rock's own hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd will join the tour on March 15 th, their first show will be the first time they've ever played Madison Square Garden in New York City,NY. The tour includes dates in Europe and Canada. Lynyrd Skynyrd will co-headline the Rock And Rebels Tour starting in August.

Kid Rock and TBT cut a new song for a National Guard Commercial the new song is entitled "Warrior". It will be able to be downloaded in its entirety on the National Guard's website once the commercial airs.

[edit] In the works

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.

[edit] Twisted Brown Trucker

Twisted 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 80's 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.

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

  • Uncle Kracker: Turntables, vocals (1997-2002)
  • Kenny Olson: Lead guitar (1997-2005)
  • Joe C: Vocals, rapping (1997-2000, deceased)
  • Kenny Tudrick: Lead guitar (1997-1998, 2006-2007)
  • Bob Ebeling: Drums, percussion (1997-1998)
  • Mike Bradford: Bass guitar (1999-2001)
  • Smith Curry: Steel guitar, dobro (2005-2006)
  • Matt O'Brien: Bass (1997-1998)
  • Chris Zuccaro: Drums, percussion
  • Jeff Hall: Gutair (1994-1995)
  • Andy Gould: Gutair (1994-1995)
  • Lonnie Moxley:Bass (1995-1997)

Various musicians jammed with Kid Rock, appeared on recordings, and played live with him prior to the official forming of his Rock band in 1997.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Kid Rock discography

[edit] Tours

[edit] Filmography

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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[edit] Inline

  1. ^ Pamela Anderson, Kid Rock Tie the Knot - Marriage, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson : People.com
  2. ^ Kid Rock Photos - Kid Rock News - Kid Rock Information
  3. ^ Many concerts to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims | Deseret News (Salt Lake City) | Find Articles at BNET.com

[edit] General

[edit] External links

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v • d • e
Kid Rock
Twisted Brown Trucker
Former members
Uncle Kracker | Bob Ebeling | Kenny Olson | Joe C. | Mike Bradford | Lonnie Moxley | Bobby East | Chris Labroux | Smith Curry
Studio albums
Live albums