Kid Rock was born Robert James Ritchie on January
17th, 1971. Being born on Super Bowl Sunday as
the third of four children, Kid Rock was destined
to become an entertainer. Bob’s parents liked to
throw parties and hayrides. Usually by midnight,
when the whole party was pretty loaded, Kid Rock
would be awoken and asked to come entertain.
Kid didn’t hesitate. He would grab his cowboy
hat, put on his leather Indian vest, slip on his
cowboy boots with no socks, and head for the center
of the party. Mind you, this is taking place
at the impressionable young age of six and seven
years old. One of Kid’s earliest memorable
performances was the legendary classic “Bad,
Bad, Leroy Brown”, written by the late Jim Croce.
Some wonder how Bob Ritchie became Kid Rock?
It wasn’t one specific event; Kid’s first
record deal, the birth of his son, family tragedy,
or his upbringing, but all had impact and helped
Bob Ritchie evolve into what all fans have come
to love and embrace, KID MOTHER FUCKING ROCK!

Kid Rock grew up in Romeo, Michigan, located forty
miles north of Detroit where there was not a whole
hell of a lot to do. Therefore, he had to basically
create his own fun. Having one of their children
getting into trouble was nothing new to Kid’s
parents. Kid got into his share,
(playing with
matches and denying it, lackluster performance
in grades and citizenship, running away from
home at 17, hiding in the bushes and throwing
apples at passing cars and the school bus, smashing
mailboxes with baseball bats, threatening
the babysitter and her boyfriend who came to
straighten Kid out) but this is all pretty normal to
any kid growing up. Kid would not go unpunished.
Kid was raised in a catholic household
where going to church every Sunday was expected and
the sound of shit, fuck or god damn were all
punishable with a bar of soap. With high moral expectations
came the responsibility of hard work. Kid’s early
chores included feeding horses, cleaning all the
shit up, getting up at six in the morning when it
was 20 fucking below zero to drag unfrozen water
down to the horses. Kid then went on to dominate
a push lawn mower. This is long before the days
of self propelled push mowers. Up and down steep
fucking hills and around about a gazillion apple
trees. In the song “I Am The Bullgod”,
Kid states “I go behind the garage and fire it up.”
Well, getting tweeked is synonymous with any
substantial lawn-mowing quest.

Kid started out performing for his parent’s drunken
friends as stated earlier. Kid then went on to
break dancing when it became popular in the mid
eighties. Krush Groove seemed to be on the beta
machine all the time; Run D-M-C was spinning on
two turntables located in the center of his
bedroom all hours permitted. The transformation
from break dancing was a natural move. Kid is
actually a very good dancer. The windmill was no
problem; four rotations on his head and the
electric robot were all crowd favorites. But the
early rock and roll of Jim Croce and Bob Seger
were now taking a back seat to this new phenomenon—Rap
Music. Kid signed his first contract with Jive
Records in 1990. Kid felt this was a great label
with such acts as Boogie Down Productions, Tribe
Called Quest, Kool Moe Dee, and Whodini. But
being seventeen and not knowing shit about the business
made for one hell of a learning experience.
Rather than shoot a video to support
“Grit Sandwiches For Breakfast”:
(1990), Kid received
the opening act on the 40 city national tour
of Ice-Cube and Too Short. The tour was successful,
exposing Kid to a national audience for
the first time in his career. Kid then went on
to sign with Continuum Records, a smaller label
who featured such acts as the Charlie Watts
Band and solo projects from David Gillmore and Ron
Wood. Kid received almost total freedom in the
writing and recording of “The Polyfuze Method”:

(1993). This is where Kid really started
writing about what was going on in his everyday
life and probably the start of connecting with
the honesty and realness of the music his fans
today have come to expect. Song like “My Oedipus
Complex” were precursors for the song “Black Chick,
White Guy” on “Devil Without A Cause”:
(1998).
Kid is deadly accurate about the statement, “If
it’s real you’ll feel it!” Add to the mix Twisted
Brown Trucker, which developed over the years
with various players coming and going. By August
of 1998, Kid Rock and Twisted Brown Trucker
have solidified into one of America’s
favorite groups. Whether it is Kid Rock at Woodstock
giving homage to Jimi Hendrix or opening the
1999 MTV Music Awards with Run D-M-C and Aerosmith,
Kid realizes that others have inspired him
to work hard towards his dreams and everyone along
the way who helped out deserves recognition.
As I am writing this I just returned from Kid’s house
where he is preparing for his first headlining
national tour. He informed me that “Devil
Without A Cause” just passed the eight million copies,
and he is on his way this week to shoot a video
with the legendary Hank Williams Jr. for Hank’s
upcoming album. Kid wants to say a personal
thanks to all who have written. All letters are read.
It is humbling reading all the encouragement.
Kid just released his new single American Bad Ass
from his upcoming CD History Of Rock .