Kid Rock

Future musician Kid Rock was born on January 17, 1971, in a small rural town of Romeo in state Michigan, the USA, and got the name of Robert James Ritchie. The only advantage of living in such a place like Romeo for a boy, interested in music, was its close location to Detroit. Inspired by music of Beastie Boys and Run -d.m.c. Rock tried to make his own music since childhood. In high school he disc-jockeyed the parties for beer and finally joined the band of Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions in a neighbour town. It was the time when at some show Kid Rock got his nickname. A representative of Jive Records accidentally saw Kid at a concert and they became interested in the guy. In spite of the parents' strong disapprove Rock signed a contract with the label at age 17. In 1990 he released the debut album, featuring the mix of rap and hard rock. Its lead-single's too sexual lyrics Yodelin' In The Valley was the reason for a scandal. Rock did not answer the expectations of Jive, and the parties parted. For several years Kid Rock recorded and released albums for a small auditory of devoted fans, having a contract with an independent label Continuum. Rock's sophomore attempt The Polyfuze Method was finished in 1993, it was praized by critics for humour and eclectic approach to styles though bringing no big success to the author.

In 1994 the artist opened his lablel Top Dog and released an EP Fire It Up. Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp saw light in 1996, recorded with an extreme lack of money. Rock's financial side of life was so dark that he had to find accidental works and sell bootleg copies of his own albums to pay debts for the studio. Nevertheless he managed to make his own band by that time, which he called Twisted Brown Trucker. One of the first band members, Joe C, was an old fan of Rock, famous for the encyclopedic knowledge of Rock's texts. By that time such hard rock teams like Korn, Limp Bizkit and alike were dominating the scene and Atlantic Records became interested in Rock. The musician did not disappoint them - he released his cult work Devil Without A Cause in 1998. Due to big promotion by the label and MTV the first single Bawitdaba became a national hit of the summer. The next winding track, Cowboy, wonderfully featuring country, rap and rock music, helped the album to become 7 times platinum. By the end of the year Rock was nominated for two Grammies and headed to his first tour with the kings of rock scene Metallica.

Striking while the iron is hot, Rock re-released his old material with a new song, American Bad Ass, in The History Of Rock in 2000. Though the album did not become as big as Devil Without A Cause, it sold well. At the end of the year Kid was deeply upset by the death of the oldest Twisted Brown Trucker member Joe C. In the spring of 2001 Rock became the victim to paparazzi due to his relations with the scandalous Playboy model and actress Pamela Anderson. In April 2002 they married but soon the engagement was called off. In November of the same year Rock presented his eighth edition Cocky with the singles You Never Met A Motherfucker Quite Like Me, fulfilled in the Southern rock style, and a beautiful blues ballad Lownly Road Of Faith. But the real success and the breakthrough to the new auditory were brought by the country style ballad with Sheryl Crow Picture. The same year Rock had to search for a new DJ, as his former one went solo. In 2003 the artist released the self-titled album Kid Rock, featuring a handful of hits: Jackson, Mississippi, Cold And Empty, I Am and Single Father. 2004 became the year of the rocker's first live record, Live Trucker, containing moslty his two last performaces. In 2006 Rock again married Pamela Anderson after an issue of her pregnancy. This time they needed 5 months to divorse. In October 2007 Rock finished his new disc, Rock N Roll Jesus, becoming the first Rock's album to debut in charts number one. Three years later the rocker’s discography was enlarged by a strong long play Born Free (2010). During the record process Rock collaborated with famous rock, country and rap-performers, thereby Born Free got powerful and at the same time harmonic sound. Numerous experts agreed that Born Free became one of Kid’s best works since the release of Devil Without A Cause.