Redfoo

Redfoo
Redfoo in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Stefan Kendal Gordy
Born	(1975-09-03) 3 September 1975 Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Hip hop, pop, electropop, house
Occupations	Rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, television presenter
Instruments	Vocals, keytar
Years active	1996–present
Labels	will.i.am Music, Cherrytree Records, Interscope Records
Associated acts	LMFAO, will.i.am, David Guetta, Far East Movement, GoonRock, Lauren Bennett, Psy, Steve Aoki, Flo Rida

Stefan Kendal Gordy (born September 3, 1975), better known by his stage name Redfoo, is an American singer, dancer, record producer, DJ and rapper best known as part of the musical duo LMFAO. He formed the duo with his nephew, SkyBlu in 2006 and they released two studio albums before going on hiatus in 2012. He is the youngest son of Motown Record Company founder Berry Gordy, Jr.

Early life

Redfoo was born on September 3, 1975 to Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of the Motown record label,^[1] and writer-producer Nancy Leiviska. He attended junior high school with will.i.am and GoonRock.^[2] Redfoo graduated from Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California in 1995.^[3]

Personal life

Foo has been dating former #1^[4] ranked tennis player Victoria Azarenka since 2012. He attended the 2012 US Open, 2013 Australian Open, 2013 Wimbledon Championships and 2014 Australian Open as a member of Azarenka's player box.^[5] He attempted to qualify for the 2013 US Open as a wild-card entry. He entered the USTA Northern California Sectional qualifying tournament in June and was knocked out 6-1, 6-2 in his first match.^[6]

Music career

2006–12: LMFAO

He formed the electropop band LMFAO with his nephew SkyBlu in 2006. The duo started building a local buzz through their shows and radio play.^[7] Once they had recorded some demos, Redfoo's best friend will.i.am introduced them to Interscope head Jimmy Iovine who gave the green light for them to be signed to Interscope/will.i.am Music.^[7] Interscope A&R and will.i.am manager Neil Jacobson told HitQuarters that the demos sounded like "finished records" and that so little artist development work was needed it was essentially a "turnkey operation" for the label.^[7]

LMFAO released Party Rock EP on the iTunes music store on July 1, 2008 and released their full album on July 7, 2009. The album charted at number 33 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the U.S Dance Chart. Los Angeles Times described Party Rock as "14 virtually interchangeable odes to night life."^[8] Their first single was "I'm in Miami Bitch", which was released in December 2008, and peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 37 in Canada. In early 2009, a little known DJ/producer 'DJ Inphinity' created a bootleg using the Silvio Ecomo remix of DJ Chuckie's 2008 hit "Let the Bass Kick" and the a cappella of LMFAO, creating "Bass Kick in Miami". The bootleg was spread across the internet and became a massive success at the Miami Winter Music Conference 2009. Weeks later the song became the theme song for the E! television show Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami and "Get Crazy" was used for the television show Jersey Shore in 2009. LMFAO were a featured storyline on MTV's The Real World: Cancun in August 2009, which covered the group's appearance in Cancun during 2009 Spring break. That same year, LMFAO was featured in The Crystal Method's song "Sine Language".^[9]

In 2010, they were featured in David Guetta's song "Gettin' Over You", which was an international hit, peaking in the top ten in eleven countries and at number one in three of them, including in the United Kingdom. It also peaked at number 31 on the U.S. Hot 100 and at number 12 in Canada. The duo then recorded their second album, Sorry for Party Rocking late in 2010 and released it on June 17, 2011, in the U.S. The first single taken from the album, "Party Rock Anthem", was released on January 1, 2011 and features British singer Lauren Bennett formerly of the girl pop group, "Paradiso Girls" and producer GoonRock, and showcases the Melbourne Shuffle dance style in its popular video. The song is so far the most successful of their career, peaking at number-one in the United States,^[10] Canada, the UK, and over ten other countries, as well as the top ten in many others. The second single from Sorry for Party Rocking was released on May 27, 2011, and is titled, "Champagne Showers," and it features English singer-songwriter Natalia Kills.^[11] The third single, "Sexy and I Know It", was released on October 3, 2011 and reached #1 on the iTunes charts worldwide and #1 on the Australian and Canadian Hot 100. Also in 2011, LMFAO embarked on their first Asian tour. They performed in Singapore; Manila, Philippines; Taipei, Taiwan, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, among other cities.^[12] Also, on June 30, 2011, LMFAO performed a set on the Isle of MTV 2011 Malta Special on the Fosos (Granaries) in Floriana, Malta, in front of a crowd of 50,000, together with Far East Movement and Snoop Dogg.^[13]

Furthermore, the group LMFAO was focused on growing their Party Rock clothing line and was also one of the opening acts for American singer Kesha's "Get Sleazy Tour", along with Spank Rock and Natalia Kills, for the third and fifth legs of the tour in 2011. On August 13, 2011, they opened for Kesha at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu hot air balloon festival in Quebec, Canada, attracting close to 100,000 fans. On August 29, 2011, LMFAO filmed a video for their single "Sexy and I Know It" in Venice Beach, California.^[14] Pornographic actor Ron Jeremy is featured in the video, which focuses thematically on male genitalia. Actors Simon Rex and Wilmer Valderramaand mixed martial artist Alistair Overeem also make cameo appearances. The song achieved success similar to that of "Party Rock Anthem", topping charts all over the world. “Sexy and I Know it” became the duo's second number one in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The group guested on the first elimination show of the 13th series of Dancing with the Stars on September 20, 2011, which was broadcast live.

In October 2011, LMFAO's song "Party Rock Anthem" was used in a Halloween house light show when a Southern California man timed lights to the popular song. After the YouTube video of the house went viral, even receiving news coverage, the duo visited the house and recorded a Kia commercial featuring the house.^[15] In December 2011, the group played "Party Rock Anthem" on live national television broadcast of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve".

On February 5, 2012, the group appeared with Madonna at the Super Bowl XLVI during the Bridgestone Halftime Show. They performed during her song "Music" which contained a mash-up with "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It". During the commercial break they also appeared in a Budweiser ad featuring their remix of Madonna's single "Give Me All Your Luvin'", which is included on the video game FIFA Street and on the deluxe edition of her album MDNA.^[16] Also in 2012, Redfoo was sued by a previous management company for $7 million, claiming breach of contract.^[17]

On September 21, 2012, the duo released a statement announcing their hiatus. Redfoo said, "I feel like we've been doing this for so long, five or six years," and that he and SkyBlu won’t be performing together anytime soon as they will be taking their careers in different directions.^[18] Once the news surfaced that band members Redfoo and SkyBlu split, the group went to MTV News to set the record straight. SkyBlu said, "Well, you know, first of all, we're not breaking up. I know that for sure. We're family and stuff, so it's always love," he said. "It's interesting because somebody will say one thing [and] it's just like high school, then all of a sudden [it's] 'They're breaking up. They're fighting.'"^[19] However, it has been revealed by SkyBlu that their plan is for fans to see the band as individuals and then come back stronger than ever.^[20]

2012–present: Solo career

In December 2012, he released his first solo single "Bring Out the Bottles" after LMFAO announced their hiatus in September 2012. The song is also used as soundtrack in the Hollywood feature production Last Vegas, starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline. Redfoo also appeared in the film (as himself).

On April 21, 2013, Redfoo was confirmed as Guy Sebastian's replacement for the fifth series of the Australian version of singing talent television show The X Factor, joining Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and fellow debuting judge Dannii Minogue, who replaced Melanie Brown.

In September 2013, Redfoo released a new single titled "Let's Get Ridiculous" which he premiered on The X Factor Australia where he performed live during the third live show. The single debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 140,000 copies.

On January 8th 2014, Redfoo performed under the LMFAO moniker at FACE club located in Guangzhou, China.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

Production and songwriting discography

Music video appearances

References

Notes

• ^{^[A]} "Bring Out the Bottles" did not chart on the Ultratop's Belgian Flanders Single's Chart, but it did chart at number 12 on the Ultratip chart, the top-100 songs which haven't made the Ultratop 50.
• ^{^[B]} "Bring Out the Bottles" did not chart on the Ultratop's Belgian Wallonia Single's Chart, but it did chart at number 2 on the Ultratip chart, the top-50 songs which haven't made the Ultratop 40.
• ^{^[C]} "I'll Award You With My Body" did not chart on the Ultratop's Belgian Wallonia Single's Chart, but it did chart at number 26 on the Ultratip chart, the top-50 songs which haven't made the Ultratop 40.

Citations

External links

• Redfoo's YouTube Channel
• https://twitter.com/RedFoo
• http://www.facebook.com/Redfoo
• Redfoo at the Internet Movie Database