Hailing from Romeo, MI, Kid Rock (James “Bob” Ritchie) is a rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, among other things. He began listening to rap music at a young age and fell in love in wanting to combine rap and rock like the band he idolized, The Beastie Boys.
When he was seventeen he signed his first recording contract with Jive Records and released, Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast. The album returns were very disappointing so Jive soon propped Richie from their artist list.
Kid Rock signed with an independent label soon after and released 3 albums. With the little success of those albums it wasn’t long until Atlantic Records came calling and investing in a record called, A Devil Without A Cause. The album got off to a slow start but after a chance meeting with Carson Daly (MTV VJ), Rock began making appearances on the MTV daytime show. Soon after, his album sales climbed eventually selling more than 11 million copies and rocketing the Kid Rock brand into superstardom.
Kid Rock is a five-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold 25 million albums in the U.S. He has sold over 35 million records worldwide and he was Soundscan’s number-one selling male solo musician of the 2000s, selling 17.6 million albums.