Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American multi-instrumentalist, music producer and actor. His 1998 studio album Devil Without a Cause sold 13 million copies worldwide. He is a five-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold 25 million albums in the U.S. according to soundscan. The RIAA certified him selling 23.5 million albums. He was Soundscan's number one selling male solo musician of the 2000s, selling 17.6 million albums; he was 17th overall for the decade.
Rock was a rapper and hip hop performer with five releases between 1990 and 1997, including a reissue and an EP. After signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1998, he gained commercial success in the rap-rock genre behind the singles "Bawitdaba", "Cowboy" and "Only God Knows Why" (the latter foreshadowing his move into country rock). After Devil Without a Causes success in 2000, he released The History of Rock, a compilation of remixed and remastered versions of songs from previous albums as well as the hit rock single, "American Bad Ass".
Rock's follow-up records became more rock-, country-, and blues-oriented, starting with 2001's Cocky. His collaboration with Sheryl Crow on the song "Picture" was his first country hit and biggest pop hit in the US to date charting at No. 4 on the Hot 100. After 2003's Kid Rock and 2006's Live Trucker sales declined from the previous releases, he then released Rock n Roll Jesus in 2007. The album featured the song "All Summer Long", which charted at No. 1 in eight countries across Europe and Australia. In 2010, he released Born Free, which featured an eponymous song that became the political campaign theme of Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.
Rock released Rebel Soul on November 19, 2012. "Let's Ride", a war anthem to the United States military, charted at No 105 on the Billboard Charts and No 8 on the rock charts. The album was certified gold in April 2013.
Kid Rock released his entire Atlantic Records catalog to iTunes in January 2013, with the exception "Racing Father Time EP". Three of the albums recharted on the Billboard 200. "Devil Without A Cause (No. 61), "Rock N Roll Jesus" (No. 142) and "Cocky" (No. 160). His old hits also re-entered the charts on the Rock Digital Songs Chart. They included " All Summer Long" (No. 16), "Cowboy" (No. 19), "Bawitdaba" (No. 21), "Picture" (No. 22), "Only God Knows Why" (No. 25) and "American Bad Ass" (No. 47). "All Summer Long charted at No. 18 and " Picture" charted at No. 26 on the Hot Digital Country sales chart as well. "Cocky" stayed on the Billboard 200 for nearly an entire year after being released on iTunes, sales jumped from 5.1 million to nearly 5.4 million in that time frame.