Kid Rock

Kid Rock (real name Robert James Ritchie, born January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan) is a performer who combines many genres of music together ranging from hard rock to rap and even country.

History

Early Years

Kid Rock derives his name from his early years of rapping in parking lots and bars, when, so Kid Rock says, people in the audience would remark, "Look at that white kid rock." He dropped "white," and his stage name was born. He began his hip-hop career at the age of 15. He became well-known in a Mount Clemens, Michigan housing project because of his unique style of rapping. He later moved to New York City, where he was said to have lived just below Queen Latifah. He got to know a lot of the area's rappers and landed a tour deal with Ice Cube and Too $hort when he was only 18 years old.

Related Topics:
Mount Clemens, Michigan - New York City - Queen Latifah - Ice Cube - Too $hort

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First Albums

In 1989, his first album, on the Jive label, was Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast, produced by Too $hort, D Nice and others. This defined his outlandish attitude, although the album was not a success. When a college DJ played the song from his album "Yodelin' in the Valley," he was fined $25,000 by the FCC. The president of the university described the song as "the most indecent thing ever heard". After the release of his first album, Rock attended an autograph signing at Record Time in Roseville, Michigan to promote his CD. While there, a young musician got into an argument with him over his rise to fame. This young musician was a 17 year old Marshall Mathers III, who later became famous under the name of Eminem. The two formed a friendship that exists to this day, with each appearing on the others' first successful albums (Eminem doing the last verse of Fuck Off on Devil Without A Cause and Rock doing the cuts on Just Don't Give A Fuck from The Slim Shady LP).

Related Topics:
1989 - Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast - Too $hort - D Nice - FCC - Eminem

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In 1993 The Polyfuze Method was released.

Related Topics:
1993 - The Polyfuze Method

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In 1996, Early Morning Stoned Pimp dropped along with the EP, Fire it Up.

Related Topics:
1996 - Early Morning Stoned Pimp - Fire it Up

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Mainstream Success

After a whole decade from his first demo, in 1998, he joined Atlantic Records and released his famous album Devil Without a Cause. This was his first real success with the album going 11 times platinum in the US, almost becoming one of the top 50 top selling albums ever. The Detroit Red Wings, after their victory, chose the opening phrase from "Early Morning Stoned Pimp" as their victory chant.

Related Topics:
1998 - Atlantic Records - Devil Without a Cause - Detroit Red Wings

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From 2000

In 2000, Kid Rock released his album The History of Rock. He had acquired the rights to his indie-label recordings and remixed or re-recorded the best material for the album. The only new track was "American Bad Ass" which was his first single from the album.

Related Topics:
2000 - American Bad Ass

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In 2001 he released his album Cocky which was marketed as the follow up to his 1998 success. It featured all new songs, but did not reach the same level of success due to many fans not appreciating his fusion of country music into many of the tracks. However, his most successful single on the album was infact the most country influenced. Rock has gained country music acclaim for such notable performances as "Picture", a duet with Sheryl Crow; his performance of "Luckenbach, Texas" on the Waylon Jennings tribute album I've Always Been Crazy; and his appearance on Country Music Television's Crossroads episode with Hank Williams, Jr..

Related Topics:
2001 - Cocky - Country music - Sheryl Crow - Luckenbach, Texas - Waylon Jennings - I've Always Been Crazy - Country Music Television's - Hank Williams, Jr.

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In 2003, Kid Rock returned with a self-titled album which delved even more into country music. A cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" marked the first single.

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His talent can be shown by the fact that on his albums he is credited for not only vocals but guitar (steel, rhythm, electric and acoustic), bass, percussion, mixing, mellotron, keyboard, backing vocals, slide guitar, scratching, programming, producer and even banjo. He is famous for his high-energy personality on and off stage. Kid rock's music has evolved considerably over time which has caused him to lose and gain millions of fans.

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A new album is expected to be released sometime before 2005 ends.

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Recently, he has made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Charlie Daniels, and Hank Williams Jr. in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up", whose album will be released at the end of September.

Related Topics:
Larry the Cable Guy - Charlie Daniels - Hank Williams Jr. - Gretchen Wilson

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