Kevin Winston Rudolf (born February 17, 1983) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He is best known for his 2008 debut single "Let It Rock" (featuring Lil Wayne), which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
As a record producer for other artists, Rudolf has amassed production credits on albums for fellow pop or alternative rock acts including Lifehouse, Cobra Starship, Hollywood Undead, Jesse McCartney, Big Time Rush, Selena Gomez & the Scene, Keith Urban, Gavin DeGraw, and My Darkest Days, among others.
Kevin Winston Rudolf was born on February 17, 1983, in New York City to Ellyn, an American singer, and Stephen, a DJ originally from the United Kingdom and of English extraction.
Taking matters into his own hands, Rudolf began creating his own beats and musical tracks, as well as writing the material.
[2] In 2000, Rudolf began work on the group of songs that, nine months later, would form the basis for his major label debut Binocular.
[5] Rudolf's solo career took a detour in 2003, when recording engineer Jimmy Douglass introduced him to producer Timbaland.
Rudolf was invited to watch a recording session, but, at Timbaland's urging, soon found himself participating, by playing guitar on Lil' Kim's 2003 hit "The Jump Off."
"[6] He would go on to collaborate with Timbaland on many songs, including those by The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and David Banner.
CEO Slim Williams explained, "we love one-of-a-kind artists, and Kevin rolls that way in everything he does...we are always looking at the next step, the next level we can take our audience.
Written and produced by Rudolf, and featuring Lil Wayne, the song met with immediate success, debuting at number 5 on Billboard magazine's influential Hot 100 chart.
"It's about taking rock attitude vocally, hip hop drums, synths, and guitars and sharpening the edges of everything in a sense.
[16] Throughout most of 2009, Rudolf performed songs from In the City live, including appearances on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, Dancing with the Stars, the Miss USA 2009 peageant and the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.
Critical reviews were mixed, with one saying, "this is In the City evolved...to a higher level,[18] while others noted the "good songwriting," but lamented that "without a worthy "Let It Rock" successor, this is hard to recommend over his debut.
"[19] Responding to a question about his song, "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)", Rudolf elaborated on his own feelings regarding success.
[22] On January 13, 2015, Kevin Rudolf announced that he had completed his contract with Cash Money Records and now he was an independent artist.
On June 22, 2015, Rudolf released a song called "Blaze Of Glory", featured on the WWE Tough Enough soundtrack.
In September 2009, having finished two solo albums, Rudolf moved from Miami to Los Angeles to concentrate on co-writing and producing records for several LA-based artists, including Amanda Kay (now Ava Max), Cobra Starship, Leona Lewis, Lifehouse, Natasha Bedingfield, Selena Gomez and Weezer.
After relocating to Los Angeles in 2010 while writing and producing for several artists, Rudolf returned to New York for a brief time in 2012 to begin work on his upcoming album, then moved permanently to Miami.