Kid Rock

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• Genre: Hard Rock
• Hometown: Detroit
• Kid Rock Website

About

Struggling through nearly a decade of obscurity and label troubles, Kid Rock became a global institution in 1998 with the massive success of Devil Without A Cause, which spawned the mega-singles "Cowboy" and "Bawitdaba," went platinum 11 times over, and established Robert James Ritchie as the reigning king of his very own genre, a hybrid of rock, rap, metal and country. With 2001's Cocky, Rock delved deeper into his mix of classic rock moves and gold chain-draped rapper posturing, but by 2003's Kid Rock, the Detroit-bred champion of hicks had transitioned away from hip-hop and more toward rock, covering Bad Company and pushing the guitars (even acoustic ones sometimes) way up front. Kid's interest in this modern version of the classic rock he grew up with deepened on 2006's "Live" Trucker (featuring album art that paid homage to Bob Seger's Live Bullet) and culminated in 2007's Rock N Roll Jesus, which went so far as to mash up Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" for the hit single "All Summer Long."

- Mike McGuirk