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| Birth Name(s) : Frederick Jay Rubin |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Record producer |
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Full Rick Rubin Biography
Frederick Jay (Rick) Rubin (born March 10, 1963 in Lido Beach, New York) is an American record producer and is currently the co-head of Columbia Records. He is given credit for merging rap and heavy metal (now known as rapcore), as well as the "American series" albums with Johnny Cash. MTV called him "the most important producer of the last 20 years."
In addition to being a producer, he is a musician serving as the original DJ of the Beastie Boys, and a head of a record label, co-founding Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons, and later founding American Recordings. In 2007, Rubin was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Rubin was recently appointed as co-chairman of Columbia Records.
Rubin grew up in Lido Beach, New York. His father was a shoe wholesaler and his mother a housewife. While a student at Long Beach High School he befriended the school's AV Director Steve Freeman who gave him a few lessons in guitar playing and songwriting and helped him create a punk band called "The Pricks". During his senior year Rubin founded Def Jam records using the school's four track recorder. Moving on to New York University he played guitar in a New York University art-punk band called "Hose", influenced by San Francisco's Flipper. In 1982, Hose became Def Jam release #1, a 45 rpm 7" vinyl single in a brown paper bag, and no label. The band played in and around the NYC punk scene, toured the Midwest and California, and played with seminal punk bands like the Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, the Circle Jerks and the Butthole Surfers. The band broke up in 1986 as Rubin's passion moved towards the NYC Hip Hop scene.
Jazzy Jay introduced Rubin to concert promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons in a club, and Rubin explained he needed help getting Def Jam off the ground. Simmons and Rubin edged out Jazzy Jay and the official Def Jam record label was founded while Rubin was still attending New York University in 1984. Their first record released was LL Cool J's "I Need a Beat". Rubin went on to find more hip-hop acts outside The Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem including rappers from Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, which eventually led to Def Jam's signing of Public Enemy. "Rock Hard"/"Party's Gettin' Rough"/"Beastie Groove" EP by the Beastie Boys came out on the success of Rubin's production work with breakthrough act Run-D.M.C.. His productions were characterized by occasionally fusing rap with heavy rock.
It was Rubin's idea to have Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith collaborate on a cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" in 1986, a production credited with both introducing rap-hard rock to mainstream ears and revitalizing Aerosmith's career.
In 1988, Simmons and Rubin went their separate ways, partly due to a power struggle that Rubin lost with Def Jam president Lyor Cohen. Simmons stayed in New York with Def Jam, and Rubin left for Los Angeles, California, where he created Def American Records. In Los Angeles, he signed a number of heavy rock acts, including Slayer, Danzig, Masters of Reality, and Wolfsbane, as well as the indie rockers The Jesus and Mary Chain and controversial stand up comedian Andrew Dice Clay. Rubin also produced the Red Hot Chili Peppers' breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He retained a close association with rap, signing the Geto Boys and continuing to work with Public Enemy, LL Cool J and Run-DMC among others.
Rubin originally had given his label the name "Def Jam". The term "def" in African American Vernacular English was a term used in the hip hop community at the time to mean "great". The word "Jam" in urban culture is slang for a song or musical composition that is well liked for its attractive rhythm and dance appeal. Nine years later, Rubin found that the word "def" had been accepted into the standardized dictionary; in 1993, Rubin held an actual funeral, complete with a casket and a grave, for the word "def". Def American became American Recordings.
In 2007, Rubin won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his work with The Dixie Chicks, Justin Timberlake, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, and Johnny Cash released in 2006.
His previous style began with his very first production effort, LL Cool J's Radio, which consisted of little more than rapping and percussive beats (the liner notes credit for the album read "Reduced by Rick Rubin" rather than the usual "Produced by Rick Rubin"). He later gained a reputation for being able to restore the careers of veteran singers and bands, as somebody who could help them break out of the commercial rut they were currently in. He did this most notably with Johnny Cash, achieving this with Tom Petty and Neil Diamond (on 12 Songs) as well.
Another trademark has been having artists cover songs where the covering band's style is different from the original version of the song. Rubin produced Slayer's cover of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", and produced Rage Against the Machine's 2000 covers album, Renegades. He also united the members of the band Audioslave and produced their first two albums, Audioslave and Out Of Exile.
2007:
- Record of the Year- Not Ready to Make Nice, Dixie Chicks
- Album of the Year- Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
- Best Rock Album- Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Best Country Album- Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
- Producer of the Year, Non-Classical |
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