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Duffy Biography

Aimee Ann Duffy (born June 23, 1984 in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales), known professionally as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. In 2008, she debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts with her album Rockferry, so far, selling over 3.4 million copies worldwide. Duffy is the first Welsh female to achieve a number one pop single in the past 25 years with her second single "Mercy".

Early life

Raised in Nefyn on the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales, with her twin sister, Katy Ann, and older sister Kelly, Aimée Duffy grew up speaking Welsh as her mother tongue.  Her parents had divorced when she was 10, and she moved to Pembrokeshire with her mother and sisters. She dropped her first name at the age of 19, calling herself Duffy professionally and personally.

Duffy's introduction to soul music and inspiration to get in the music industry occurred while watching Whoopi Goldberg's performance in the movie Sister Act.  It is known that Duffy's watched father's videotape of the 1960s television rock show Ready Steady Go!   – she says she grew up without a record collection of her own. Duffy started singing at age 6 and at that age carried around a notebook in which she scribbled lyrics. She was asked to leave her school choir because her voice was "too big" and she "didn't fit in."

In 1998 (aged 13), Duffy was briefly put in a police safe house when police uncovered a plot by her stepfather's ex-wife to pay a hitman £3000 to kill her stepfather, identified as Philip Smith. Smith's ex-wife, Dawn Watson, was sentenced that year to a 3½ year jail term for soliciting to murder. "I was so terrified. I felt so ill," Duffy recounted in 2008, as reported by the NME magazine and The Sun. A 1998 article in the Daily Mirror, another British tabloid, quotes a man identified as Philip Smith describing similar circumstances, though the stepdaughter's name is spelled Aimy — not Aimée — and the surname Duffy is not mentioned.

Duffy has admitted to smoking "not just cigarettes" during her teenage years at a time when she was "quite mischievous" and always looking for trouble. These activities with mates occurred as a result of boredom. Duffy cites the effects of her stepfather's ex-wife's alcoholism as well as her desire not to become a "celebrity" as reasons she does not use drugs or alcohol currently.

Early career

After finishing her GCSEs in Pembrokeshire, Duffy returned to Nefyn when she was 15, and started singing in various local bands. Following a 1-year long music project in Switzerland with co-writer and producer Soren Mounir under the name of Soulego, Duffy returned to Wales in 2003 and was invited to appear on Wawffactor, a Welsh television show on S4C, which has been compared to Pop Idol. She was expected to win, but came second to winner Lisa Pedrig. Duffy claims that she was conned into the appearance; she later called it "the unhappiest time in my life."

In her teens Duffy wanted (and expected) to be a world famous pop star, and as such felt that she let others use her "as a vehicle for their vision not mine." At age 18, thinking her dreams were not going to come true, she "became almost a quite withdrawn singer." After a re-evaluation she decided to just make music for no other purposes than her own fulfilment.

Duffy was elected president of the Students' union at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor in Pwllheli, North Wales before transferring to the University of Chester in England. Advised by a lecturer to "Go on the dole, love, and become a singer," she left and worked for an optician, while building up a following at Alexander's, a local jazz and blues club, performing with guitarist David Burton from the band The Invisible Wires.

She recorded a three-song Welsh EP in 2004 written and produced by Paul Eastham of "Coast" and also appeared on two tracks on the album See You in the Morning by Mint Royale while working as a waitress and in a fishery. Owen Powell of Catatonia and Richard J. Parfitt of Newport band 60ft Dolls, introduced Duffy in August 2004 to Jeanette Lee, former Public Image Ltd. member turned music manager and part-owner of Rough Trade Records. Lee moved Duffy to Crouch End in London, and orchestrated a meeting between Duffy and Suede's ex-guitar player Bernard Butler.

After Butler had given Duffy a soul music "education" by downloading tracks on to her iPod that she could listen to while around London or travelling back to Wales—including Al Green, Bettye Swann, Ann Peebles, Beyoncé, Doris Duke, Scott Walker, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach —the pair then co-wrote with her and helped create a new retro sound.

Breakthrough

Duffy was contracted to A&M Records on November 23, 2007.
Duffy performed on the BBC Two television show Later with Jools Holland, which resulted in a second appearance on the related New Year's Eve show Hootenanny, on which, among other things, she performed with soul legend Eddie Floyd. On February 22, 2008, she appeared on Later with Jools Holland for a third time and performed "Rockferry," "Mercy," and "Stepping Stone." She also appeared on the BBC Two television programme The Culture Show on February 23, 2008 and performed "Mercy."

In January 2008, she came second in the annual BBC News Online poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year. In Wales, she seems set to become the "pop" equivalent of mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins. A number of commentators have remarked on her unaffected personality and natural charm. She reached the number 1 spot on Siart C2 with her Welsh language EP entitled simply Aimée Duffy. A review of her first major tour's stop at the respected King Tut's venue in Glasgow noted "her quiet assurance obviously stems from talent. When she let loose, her voice was awesome."

Rockferry

Butler and his musical partner David McAlmont, and a number of other musicians have formed the backbone of Duffy's band for her debut album entitled Rockferry, which was released on Polydor Records on March 3, 2008.

According to Duffy, "The album took nearly four years to make. We had to hire cheap, tiny studios and sometimes there would be three-week periods between writing and recording." Bernard Butler who was not initially paid, produced four songs for the album, including the single, Rockferry, which peaked at 45 in the UK charts. The big hits, Mercy, and Stepping Stone, were produced by Steve Brooker, and the Hit Warwick Avenue, by Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White. After releasing the debut limited edition single, "Rockferry" in November 2007, Duffy then released the Steve Brooker produced single, "Mercy", which went straight to number one on download sales on February 17, 2008. She was not expecting this much popularity, as she said to Fearne and Reggie (presenters of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show) she was aiming for the top 40. Duffy is the first Welsh female to achieve a number one pop single in the past 25 years, and the only female from the Llŷn Peninsula to ever top the UK music singles charts. "Mercy" spent a second week at number one on February 24, 2008, and set its full physical release on February 25, 2008.

She has revealed that "Rockferry" is written about the place Rock Ferry on The Wirral, where her father is from. She also has revealed that both "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone" are autobiographical. "Mercy" is about "sexual liberty" and "not doing something somebody else wants you to do" and "Stepping Stone" is about not expressing her feelings to a person she fell in love with.

On April 21, 2008, Duffy was at the top of the Pan-European Album chart for Rockferry and the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart for "Mercy". The second single from the album, Warwick Avenue was at the number 3 position on the U.K. singles charts on June 1. The video for the song was filmed at Warwick Avenue underground station and Merrick Square, London.

By May "Mercy" was a staple on VH1 and a hot Adult Contemporary radio hit, and had been featured in television shows ER, Smallville and the season finale of Grey's Anatomy as well as the soundtrack album for Sex and the City: The Movie. On May 10, Duffy released a remix of "Mercy", featuring rap artist The Game. On May 13 Rockferry was released in the United States to positive reviews. and debuted at number 4. In addition a billboard of her has been displayed in Times Square. By the week of May 22, "Mercy" was at the number 27 position on the Billboard Top 100 propelled by digital downloads.

Duffy won the 2008 Song of the Year MOJO Award for "Mercy". She was also nominated for Album of the Year and Breakthrough Act. The three nominations were the largest amount of nominations for any one act.

By the end of May Rockferry had sold more than 700,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In France, Rockferry had sold 159,583 copies between March 3 (release date) and the end of June. As of June 9 the album was at the number 2 position and had been on the charts for 14 weeks. On June 12 the album topped the European albums charts with Mercy at number 2 on the European singles chart. As of July 7 the album was set to become the first album of 2008 to sell one million copies.

Duffy was the fifth best selling artist worldwide in the first half of 2008 selling 2.25 million copies.

As of July 9, 2008, Rockferry has become the best selling album in 2008 in the UK so far. The Official UK Charts Company has confirmed it has already sold over 1 million copies.

By August 21 Rockferry had reached number one in 11 markets. By early September the album had sold over 3 million copies worldwide causing Duffy to be "gobsmacked". Because of its cheap production values the album is reaping Duffy substantial financial benefits. On 30 October Rockferry had been in the top 100 on Billboards Euro Albums chart for 34 straight weeks and was residing at the number 10 position.

Duffy received a 2008 Q Award in the category of Breakthrough Act  and a nomination for the category of Best Track for "Mercy" as well as a Music of Black Origin Award nomination for Best UK Female. Duffy is scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards where she has received three nominations in the categories of Album of the Year’’,’’Most Addictive Track’’, and ‘’New Act’’.

Duffy's "Mercy" is on a three disk sixty song compilation album entitled Now That's What I Call 25 Years released in October 2008.

By November 500,000 copies of "Rockferry" had been sold in the United States but she was not a household name. Attempts to associate Duffy with more established American stars with the exception of Stevie Nicks did not seem to be going down well with her. Duffy was quoted as saying “I don’t like how big American stars consider themselves an exception from humanity".

Deluxe Edition

On 24 November 2008 the deluxe edition of Rockferry was released. In addition to the material on the original album are the songs Rain on Your Parade, two songs written with Bernard Butler, and a cover of a Drifters song written by Burt Bacharach entitled Please Stay which will be on the soundtrack for the movie Telstar a biopic about produced Joe Meek. Duffy was quoted as saying recording "Please Stay" was her highlight of 2008.

In November 2008 the single Rain On Your Parade was released. The song was first released on download sales only on 10 November 2008, and debuted at Number 22 in the UK Top 40 before being released physically on 17 November 2008.  The single was residing at the the 15 position on 24 November. Duffy describes this song as "a big, disco-y dance song."

Comparisons with others

Duffy is the most prominent of the so-called "new Amys" (a reference to singer Amy Winehouse). Under the sub-title, "The New Amys," Adam Thompson wrote in The Times on 30 December 2007 that "Duffy, Gabriella Cilmi and Adele lead the charge to be the next Winehouse. First sightings seem to indicate that they are all bright-eyed innocents with bags of talent—a familiar starting point, no?" Duffy herself dislikes being referred to as "the new Dusty Springfield." She said at first she did not understand the comparisons to Springfield and believes the comparisons with others or putting her in a movement is "a gimmick" and noted that "nobody is replaceable". Singer-songwriter Alison Goldfrapp said while Duffy has a great voice she was trained to sound essentially like Amy Winehouse as part of a business plan, mistakenly believing that Duffy had attended the Brit School.

British hip hop singer Estelle criticized Duffy and Adele for misrepresenting genuine soul music. Duffy partially agreed with the criticism in that she is not trying to “define” soul music but disputed the assertion that race should be an issue.
In North America Duffy is seen as part of a recent wave of British singers or "British invaders" consisting of females with a unique take on writing and performing songs. This has been compared to the original "wave" led by The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Lulu and The Rolling Stones. Motown has been seen as an influence in this wave.

Touring

March 2008 saw her first American performances at the SXSW conference and in New York City. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was her first festival gig. The performance started off with sound problems but she "delighted the crowd with 'Rockferry', 'Serious', 'Warwick Avenue' and 'Mercy'." On May 10 Duffy performed a selection of songs from Rockferry at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Mote Park, Maidstone. To coincide with the release of Rockferry Duffy performed at New York's historic Apollo Theater and made a number of television appearances. Duffy commented "Every time I'm in America, I feel there's some atmosphere -- I can't put my finger on it -- but there's some excitement that exists nowhere else. And I think it's because soul music, black music, is basically what started pop music".

Duffy has played a number of festivals in Europe, including the Vieilles Charrues Festival in France, the Hove Festival in Norway the Accelerator Festival in Sweden, Glastonbury and Evolution Festival's in England, the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland , Connect Festival in Scotland on Sunday 31st August, Wakestock in her native Wales, the V Festival on August 16 and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark.  She also performed at Rock Werchter in Belgium. In North America she has performed at Lollapalooza on August 1 in Chicago and the All Points West Music and Arts Festival at Liberty State Park, on the August 8. She played the Virgin Mobile Festival at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on August 10.

On 3 September Duffy played an intimate club gig and then answered questions at New York's China Club.

On 4 September Duffy performed on The Late Show With David Letterman; she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on September 27 where she performed "Mercy" and "Stepping Stone". Her 45 minute concert at a East End of London church was aired on BBC1 on 12 October. During the show she performed a new song "Rain on Your Parade". On the 28 October Duffy sang "Stepping Stone" on The View. The singer became star struck when she was interviewed by co-host Whoopi Goldberg whose performance in Sister Act introduced Duffy to soul music.

Duffy is currently on a fourteen-city North American tour. Plans call for her to open for Coldplay on six of the dates. A performance at the Quicken Loans Arena left The Cleveland Leader to wonder why Duffy was not the headlining act. Duffy is using the tour to test new songs including "Rain in Your Parade" and "Fool for You". She is currently on a two month tour of the United Kingdom. She performed at the Live In London concert at the O2 Arena on 26 November.
Duffy accidentally set her entire left side of her hair on fire in a Cleveland dressing room. The incident occurred when after blowing out a candle that was melting she bent down not realizing the candle was still lit. The incident did not cause more harm than embarrassment.

At New York's Webster Hall Duffy apologized to the audience after briefly bursting in to tears for reasons she did not understand.

Duffy was quoted in a British tabloid as saying she is proud to represent the British Music Scene abroad and to explain that Great Britain encompasses more than London.

Future projects

As of July 2008 Duffy has been constantly writing material for a second album, compiling "loads of books" of song ideas. Duffy said that she will not constantly reinvent herself for each album. Duffy with several other artists are working on the soundtrack to an upcoming independent film about the British northern soul scene of the early 1970s entitled Souled Out.

Duffy has recorded a cover of Paul McCartney's James Bond theme song "Live and Let Die" to be used in the War Child charity album entitled Heroes, to be released in February 2009. McCartney said that Duffy's version "is great - I was really impressed".

Duffy will be among several performers singing for Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall at London Palladium 11 December.
According to Duffy's website the singer will tour Australia where she will perform at the V Festival and Japan in 2009.

Endorsements

In August 2008 it was reported that Duffy will appear in a advertisement in Fashion Rocks Magazine for Nivea endorsing their new line of skin care and body care products.

Duffy says that she does not mind people illegally downloading her music because she believes most people who do are kids who cannot afford the CDs and will buy them when they get older. Duffy's single "Mercy" is in EA Sports FIFA 09.
Duffy performed at a BBC sponsored Children in Need benefit concert, singing her new single Rain on your parade and Mercy.

Mental health

In September of 2008, Duffy mentioned that she was "on the borderline of a nervous breakdown" because of the pressure that fame has brought her. She also said that she had considered becoming a recluse, but eventually decided against the idea for the sake of her fans. Although acknowledging that most people do mean well, she finds it "scary" when people recognize her in the street, and has been fearful of her image possibly changing the person she truly is.

Johnny Rotten incident

Duffy's lowest point of 2008 was sparked by an incident at an awards show. Duffy attempted to say hello to Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten when, according to the singer, "I was literally slammed against the wall, pinned by his arm at my throat. He called me a cunt". She spent the whole night crying over the incident and felt awful about the incident for the following week.

Kid Rock Biography

Robert James Ritchie (born January 17 1971 in Romeo, Michigan), better known as Kid Rock, is an American musician.

Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast Era 1987-1991

Ritchie's career started at the age of 11, as a member of the b-boy group 'The Furious Funkers'. After the success of Run DMC and The Beastie Boys, he bought a cheap belt driven turntable and honed his craft. In high school, Ritchie would DJ parties for beer. He eventually joined Bo Wisdom of Groove Time Productions, in Mt. Clemens, where he played a few shows. It was during these shows that he was given his stage name; Wisdom dubbed him with the moniker 'Kid Rock' after fans had enjoyed watching "that white kid rock."

In addition to DJ'ing, Kid started emceeing and would go on to join the Detroit hip hop group, The Beast Crew. The Beast Crew was comprised of The Blackman, Champtown, KDC, Crisp and Doc Rounce Cee. Kid also became friends with producer D-Nice of the legendary Hip-Hop group Boogie Down Productions. When Rock opened for BDP one night, D-Nice invited an A&R from Jive Records to see Kid perform. This meeting eventually led to a demo deal, which developed into a full record contract. Against his parents' wishes, Kid signed the deal at the age of seventeen. Despite his new record deal, Kid had a falling out with The Beast Crew when he got signed over fellow member Champtown (the two have since made amends). He later became part of the Straight From The Underground Tour, where he found himself alongside several heavyweights of rap including Ice Cube, Too $hort, D-Nice, and Yo-Yo.

In 1990, Kid Rock released his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast on Jive Records. The first single, "Yo Da Lin In The Valley", was banned by the FCC because of its raunchy subject matter, and the State University of New York at Cortland was fined $23,700 for airing it. In 1991, controversy hit the hip hop community when it was discovered that another white rapper, Vanilla Ice, had exaggerated his upbringing in an attempt to bolster his street credibility. The deception was widely condemned, and a backlash began. In an attempt to distance themselves from the controversy, Jive dropped Kid Rock from their label.

The Independent Days Era 1992-1997

In 1992, Kid Rock was picked up by an independent record label, Continuum Records, recording and releasing his second album The Polyfuze Method in 1993. While the album saw some college radio success at Central Michigan University, "Back From The Dead" was a top 20 hit. Its first official single, "U Don't Know Me", failed to chart, and the music video received no airplay on any of the major music video channels. After releasing an EP called Fire It Up, in 1994, Continuum went bankrupt and Rock was left without a record deal again.
Kid Rock then started his own label, Top Dog, and would release monthly demo tapes that he dubbed The Bootleg Series, which feature demos of him and other unknowns in the Detroit area. He signed on Curt Hauer, Dave Long, and the Cook twins to be his "Top Dog Interns". The interns would helped him promote his shows and design his own merchandise line in the Detroit area. Around the same time, Rock formed his back-up band Twisted Brown Trucker, later recruiting Joe C, who he met at a 1994, as part of the group. In 1995, Kid Rock took a job as a janitor at Whiterooms Studios in order to pay studio fees. When he wasn't working, Kid would record the material that would eventually make up his third album, Early Morning Stoned Pimp. The album was released in 1996 and Kid would sell 14,000 copies of out of the trunk of his car and after concerts.

While Rock was now a household name in Michigan, he felt he still needed to get his name out there for the major labels. On March 30, 1997, he performed a special showcase concert, with Jason Krause on guitar, hours before the show to attract major label attention. While many of the major record labels were invited, the only label that showed up was Atlantic Records. Following the performance, record executives said they loved him but expressed doubts about the strength of his material. Kid Rock returned to the studio and cut a six song demo tape; the first two were "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "I Got One For Ya". After hearing the two songs, Jason Flom (President of Atlantic Records at the time) signed Kid Rock to a record deal for $100,000 without hearing the rest.

Devil Without a Cause Era 1997-2000

In 1997, Kid Rock added drummer/vocalist Stefanie Eulinberg to his band, joining Kenny Olson, Jason Krause, Jimmie Bones, Uncle Kracker, Mike Bradford, and Joe C. In August 1998, Atlantic released Devil Without a Cause behind the single "Welcome 2 The Party". Kid Rock went on the Vans Warped Tour to support the album.

"Welcome 2 The Party" was ignored by audiences and Devil sat on the shelves collecting dust for eight months. A chance meeting at a New York nightclub with MTV VJ Carson Daly led to the video for "I Am The Bullgod" being aired on MTV. The song, originally on 1994's Fire It Up EP, became a minor rock hit. After two notable live performances at MTV's Fashionably Loud and Wanna Be a VJ, Kid released the single, "Bawitdaba", to renewed interest and sales. His performance of the song at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards provided further exposure and a boost to album sales.

Kid Rock went on the Limptropolis Tour with Limp Bizkit and Staind soon after Bawitdaba was released. He performed a medley of "King Of Rock", "Rock Box", "Bawitdaba", and "Walk This Way" with Aerosmith and Run DMC at MTV's 1999 Video Music Awards, as well as at Woodstock 1999. He released three more singles from the album: "Cowboy", which fused country and folk music with rap, "Only God Knows Why", a Lynyrd Skynyrd-style ballad, and "Wasting Time", a playful ode to getting stoned and drunk. Devil Without a Cause eventually sold 11 million copies, and currently ranks as the 60th best selling album of all time. By years end, Kid was nominated for two Grammy Awards and began the first of two tours with Metallica.

The History Of Rock Era 2000-2001

After reacquiring the rights to his early material in 2000, he released The History of Rock, a collection of remixed and re-recorded songs. The only new track, "American Bad Ass", sampled the Metallica track "Sad But True". The song was later used as pro wrestler The Undertaker's entrance song in World Wrestling Entertainment. In the summer of 2000, Kid Rock joined the Summer Sanitarium Tour with Metallica, Korn, Powerman 5000, and System of a Down. Kid Rock filled in for James Hetfield of Metallica for three shows after Hetfield was injured. Later that year, he joined Phish on stage for several songs at a concert in Las Vegas.

At the end of 2000, Joe C, a member of Kid's backup band, Twisted Brown Trucker, died of Celiac disease.
In early 2001, Kid Rock inducted Aerosmith into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed "Sweet Emotion". The same year, Kid landed his first acting role in David Spade comedy "Joe Dirt".

The Cocky Era 2001-2003

In the spring of 2001, Kid began dating Playboy playmate and actress Pamela Anderson, after the two met at a VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin. In April of 2002 Kid and Pamela Anderson were engaged, but the engagement was later called off. In November of that year, Kid Rock released Cocky, which was marketed as the official follow up to Devil Without a Cause. The first single released was titled "Forever", followed by the country blues ballad "Lonely Road of Faith", and the southern rock styled "You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me". Despite the new tunes, it was initially a disappointing album that sold just over 2 million copies.

However, the release of "Picture", a country-influenced duet with Sheryl Crow, introduced Kid Rock to a new audience. "Picture" was ultimately the most successful single on the album, and would eventually be certified gold. Following "Picture", sales of Cocky eventually reached 5 million. Interestingly, neither his record company nor Sheryl Crow's wanted anything to do with "Picture" as a single. Allison Moorer remade the song for the single version after Kid Rock released the song against his labels wishes; as it began climbing the country charts, Sheryl Crow's label caved and the original version was finally released.
On December 14, 2001, CMT aired an episode of Crossroads with Hank Williams, Jr.. The episode drew 2.1 million people viewers, a record on CMT. On January 1, 2002, Kid Rock was featured on MTV's USO Special performing "American Bad Ass" and "Lonely Road Of Faith", for troops stationed at Germany's Rammstein Airbase. At the end of 2002, Uncle Kracker left the band to pursue a solo career. Detroit underground rapper Paradime replaced him. Kid Rock also made his second movie, Biker Boyz, with Laurence Fishburne.
The year ended on a sad note at VH1's Big In '02 Awards where Kid, along with Chuck D and Grandmaster Flash, performed a tribute medley to Run DMC and murdered member Jason Mizell also known as Jam Master Jay.

A New Direction 2003-2006

In 2003, Kid Rock returned with an eponymous album which delved even deeper into country music. The first single was a country/hard rock cover of Bad Company's, "Feel Like Makin' Love". Other hits included the blues-influenced "Jackson, Mississippi" about heroin addiction; "Cold and Empty" about losing a love interest to the road life; the patriotic ballad "I Am"; and the ode to his son "Single Father", which would become his second country hit in 2004.
On December 14, 2003, VH1 aired A VH1 Kid Rock Christmas. The program featured Rock performing classic tracks along with several new tunes from his self-titled release. On February 1, 2004, Kid Rock performed at Super Bowl XXXVIII and received criticism for his choice to wear the American flag as a poncho.

Later that year, Kid Rock appeared later in Jesse James' documentary, Motorcycle Mania 3. During a pit stop at a Mexican hotel, he performed a cover of Charlie Daniels' "A Long Haired Country Boy". In October of 2004, Kid Rock continued his move towards country music with a performance of "Rock 'N Roll Pain Train", and a country take on Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls", on CMT Outlaws In 2005, Kid attended Spike TV's Autorox awards. Kid took a shot at the people who had him and Twisted Brown Trucker removed from playing at the presidential inauguration concert.

In February of 2005, Kid was arrested on assault charges for punching DJ Jay Campos in 'Christies Cabaret' stripclub. Rock plead 'No Contest' and was sued for a million dollars by Mr. Campos. The following month, he inducted Bob Seger into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In September, Kid Rock filled in for Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the band's hit Sweet HomeAlabama at the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert.

Live' Trucker Era 2006-2007

On February 28, 2006, Kid Rock released his first live album, Live Trucker, comprising songs from his homestands of Clarkston (on September 1, 2000, and August 26 through August 28, 2004), and Detroit's Cobo Hall (March 26, 2004). The album contained the last two performances of Joe C on "Devil Without a Cause" and "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp", as well as duetting with Gretchen Wilson on "Picture". Other highlights included "Only God Knows Why", the medley of "Somebody's Gotta Feel This" and "Fist Of Rage", bridged by a thrash metal take on Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". He brought Bob 'the King Of Detroit' Seger back from semi-retirement during his Super Bowl concerts on February 2 and 3, 2006. The two performed a rousing "Rock 'N' Roll Never Forgets" on both nights. Kid Rock would appear on Bob Seger much anticipated, 10 years in the waiting, Face The Promise on a Vince Gill cover "Real Mean Bottle", a tribute to Merle Haggard.

Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson had a surprise wedding in July of 2006 after it was reported Anderson was pregnant. They divorced 5 months later after Anderson reportedly had a miscarriage. Kid Rock says the pregnancy was false and he was used as a baby sitter for her kids to go out and party without him. The movie Borat might have been the final straw as Kid was angered over her part and stormed out of a personal screening with a group of friends.
In November of 2006, Kid Rock performed his classic, "I Am the Bullgod", and reaching deep into the catalog "Baby Come Home", on a TBS USO Special, the following month he along with Billy Gibbons and Nickleback performed ZZ Top's classic, "Tush", at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards. Kid Rock spent Christmas with the troops stationed in Iraq. In his blog on his MySpace page, he said he sadly witnessed 9 soldiers die.

In January of 2007, Kid Rock and Jerry Lee Lewis made a music video for their single "Honky Tonk Women" and later performed together on The Tonight Show. Jerry Lee Lewis would release a DVD of Last Man Standing, in March of 2007 with the two performing another live version of "Honky Tonk Women" as well as Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie".
On April 7, 2007, Kid Rock presented ZZ Top with a star at the Southwest Texas Hall of Fame.

Rock N Roll Jesus

Kid Rock's new album was set for release on October 9, 2007. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo. "So Hott" was the first single off the album released August 9, 2007. Billboard Magazine gave a preview of the album on their August 4th issue with Kid Rock on the cover. Best Buy will offer 2 bonus tracks in the rap song "Guilty" and a live version of "Jackson, Mississippi". Wal Mart will offer a VH-1 DVD and the bonus track "Lowlife (Living The Highlife)" which is a John Eddie cover.

During an attempt for press for the album at the September 9th MTV VMA's Kid Rock and Tommy Lee got into a scuffle. Tommy Lee started the fight when he took Kid Rock's seat and refused to get up and began teasing him. Rock landed a back hand and a punch before security broke it up. Kid Rock was allowed to stay while Tommy Lee was escorted out. Kid Rock was cited for misdemeanor battery, and could face up to 6 months in jail. Tommy Lee's left cheek was red and swollen from the result of the fight from picture taking from the awards.

Rock N Roll Jesus debut and became Kid Rock's 1st number one album of his career selling 172,000 copies in its first week. On the same day he and his manager of 7 years, Ed "Punch" Andrews, split ways, it is believed Andrews is retiring.

Kid Rock Projects In The Works

Rappers Beanie Siege, MURS, Trick Trick, and DMC have all expressed interest with working with Bob on their 2007 forthcoming albums.
Legendary rap pioneer Reverend Run has confirmed an album with Kid Rock called Running With the Kid, a play off of Eric Clapton and B. B. King's "Riding With The King". The release date is unknown, but Run says they are going to work on it by the end of April 2007. Kid Rock will appear on Lil' John's 2007 album, Crunk Rock.

Twisted Brown Trucker

Twisted Brown Trucker is Kid Rock's band, formed in 1994, with Bob Ebeling in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The bands first involvement was on the 1994 demo of Dark & Grey. "Trucker" became both Rock's studio and live back up band in 1997. Dubbed by Kid Rock as "The Loudest Band In America Today", they are well known for the hodge podge of multiple genres, sometimes mixing them in a single song. The line up went through a change for the 1st album with Atlantic on Devil Without a Cause, its since seen two major changes with Uncle Kracker going solo full time in 2002 and Kenny Olson and Smith Curry leaving in 2005. The background singers for the live shows have worked with Bob Seger (Karen Newman) and The Faces (Lauren Creamer), respectively. Misty Love, Shirly Hayden and Thornetta Davis are the studio background vocalists.

Current members

• Marlon Young: Lead Guitar (2007)
• Jason Krause: Electric guitar, metal guitar, acoustic guitar (1997-Present)
• Jimmie "Bones" Trombley: Keyboard, organ, piano, clavinet, wurlitzer, harp, Jew's harp, synthesizer, synth bass, programming, vocals (1996-Present)
• Stefanie Eulinberg: Drums & vocals (1998-Present)
• Aaron Julison: Bass, vocals (2003-Present)
• Paradime: Turntables & vocals (2002-Present)
• Larry Fratangelo: Congo Drums & Percussion
• Rayse Biggs and David McMurray:Horn Section
• Barbera Payton, Stacy Plunk:Background Singers

Former members

• Uncle Kracker: Turntables & vocals (1987-2002)
• Bobby East: Lead guitar, bass guitar, slide guitar (2001-2005)
• Kenny Olson: Lead guitar (1994-2005)
• Joe C: Vocals (1994-2000, deceased)
• Kenny Tudrick: Lead guitar (2006-2007)
• Bob Ebeling: Drums (1993-1997)
• Mike Bradford: Bass guitar (1999-2001)
• Lonnie Moxley: Bass guitar (1995-1997)
• Chris Labroux: Bongo drums (1997)
• Smith Curry: Steel guitar & dobro (2005)

The Script Biography

The Script are a three-piece Irish rock band from Dublin, Ireland. They are currently based in London after signing to RCA Label Group imprint Phonogenic, and their debut album "The Script" was released in August 2008.

Mark and Danny are former producers who worked with Rodney Jerkins, the Neptunes, Teddy Reilly and Dallas Austin. They were based in the US, but moved back to Dublin where they recruited Glen for their new band. The band signed to Phonogenic in spring 2007, and released an EP on Last.FM.
Their debut single "We Cry" received 'Single of the Week' on RTÉ 2FM, Today FM and by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, and was Kevin Hughes' tune of the week on GCap Media's The One Network show Music Control. Their second single, The Man Who Can't Be Moved, was also Kevin Hughes Tune Of The Week on Music Control Radio, as well as Jo Wiley's pet sound. Their debut album The Script reached number 1 in the UK and Ireland the week it came out.

Danny and Mark met in their early teens in the run down James Street area of Dublin, near the Guinness brewery, gravitating to each other through a shared obsession with music, and in particular a love of American black music. "At that time, MTV only came on in Dublin after midnight, it was the fuzzy channel, and for my generation black culture was just a wave through us all," explains Mark. "It wasn't about gangs and guns; it was fashion and fun, singing and dancing."

Striking up a songwriting and production partnership, Danny and Mark's exceptional talent was recognised early, and, to their astonishment, they found themselves invited to the States to collaborate with some of their production heroes, including such legends of modern R'n'B as Dallas Austin, Teddy Riley, The Neptunes and Rodney Jerkins. "It was a wonderful opportunity to see how these guys build songs," admits Mark, who always carried a little computer drive around and charmed his heroes into swapping libraries of sounds and samples.

Danny and Mark started as a backroom team, making demos for other artists, but when they met fellow Dublin drummer Glen, the dynamic shifted. Although they had never actually heard him play, such was the connection they made that Mark invited Glen on a working holiday to LA. "He just whipped the ass off all these LA session musos," enthuses Mark. "He is the funkiest drummer around with real energy and swing but Glen is also a fantastic guitarist, a fantastic keyboard player and he sings his ass off too."

Glen had been playing sessions from fifteen years old, using the money to work on a solo project in his home studio. But that went on hold when his collaboration with Mark and Danny produced three songs in one week. "It was like I found my home playing with these guys," says Glen. "I had never had a chance with any other band to express myself with such freedom." And so The Script went into production.