Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indigenous Australians.

[9][10] While in primary school, Rudd used his mother's vacuum cleaner as a makeshift didgeridoo and began playing his brother's guitar.

[18] Rudd felt "spun out" watching the American media coverage, including graphic imagery of the destruction of the World Trade Center.

[25] "Black Water" the first track on Rudd's 2008 album Dark Shades of Blue was named after one of Lutken-Rudd's paintings.

[27] Reflecting on Dark Shades of Blue, Rudd told media he felt the heavier sound was a "precursor for things that might come...

After the failure of his marriage, Rudd was supported in his grief and recovery by new South African bandmates, bassist Tio Moloantoa and percussionist Andile Nqubezelo.

[32] In 2011, Rudd underwent emergency back surgery,[33] to repair three herniated disks, bone spurs and nerve damage.

[34] Rudd wrote the track Comfortable in My Skin, on his 2012 album Spirit Bird, when he was suffering from major nerve pain before his surgery.

[38]Nanna, the 2015 album Rudd released in collaboration with the United Nations, champions cultural understanding and condemns racism and intolerance.

[40] In an interview published in The Aspen Times, Rudd shared that Nanna had given him a chance to focus on his vocal performance.

[42][43][44] Rudd had previously declared his support for Goodes addressing the AFL Players' Association 2014 Season Launch.

[8] In late 2015, Rudd was forced to cut his North American tour for Nanna short to have disc replacement and fusion surgery in his lower back, having experienced chronic pain over several months.

[46] In November 2015, Rudd's song "Let Me Be" featured in an Australian TV commercial promoting KFC, a large fast food restaurant chain specialising in factory farmed[47] fried chicken.

[54] On 17 June 2021, Rudd released "Stoney Creek", the lead single from his forthcoming tenth studio album.

[55] In January 2022, Rudd released "Ball and Chain", the third single from his tenth studio album, Jan Juc Moon.

Rudd became a vegetarian after passing Harris Ranch,[73] California's largest factory farm, during a United States tour.

[74][18] Rudd described in an interview with PETA how the experience made him change his diet, saying: [The animals] stood crammed together on this piece of land.

[79] In January 2010, Rudd was one of the last passengers aboard Sea Shepherd ship Ady Gil, days before it sank after a collision with the MV Shōnan Maru 2 Japanese whaling security vessel.

[83][84] In 2014, Rudd performed at the Bentley (unrelated to the car company of the same name) anti-gas blockade campsite,[85] in support of the Lock the Gate Alliance.

"[87] The protestor's actions at the Bentley Blockade, where they blocked the delivery of oil- and gas-drilling equipment for weeks, led the New South Wales Government to suspend Metgasco's drilling licence.

[88][89] In 2015, Rudd was criticised for selling the rights to his song "Let me Be" to the multi-national company KFC, well known for their factory-farmed chicken, in a television advertisement.

The advertising campaign was widely criticised by fans, and the absence of a response or explanation by Rudd served to undermine his integrity relative to his activism.

He has toured with artists including Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, Good Old War, G. Love & Special Sauce, and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

The Environmental Music Prize is a quest to find a theme song to inspire action on climate and conservation.