Born James Robert Richie in Romeo, Michigan, Kid Rock didn't earn his stage name until he started performing for local clubs in the Detroit area. Although his upbringing was mostly rural, the young Kid Rock was inspired by rap artists such as the Beastie Boys, white MCs who had succeed in the traditionally urban, black genre of hip hop. Kid Rock turned a love of music and dancing as a kid into a DJ gig by the time he was a teenager, then slowly built a following around his hometown, and watched as the crowds got larger and larger.By the time his breakout hit record Devil Without a Cause hit the music world by storm in 1998, Kid Rock had nearly ten years of hard labor as a struggling musician under his belt. Of course, that might have been a good thing, as the artist developed somewhat of a finished product by that time- a sound that was at once white trash, hip hop and metal. The sound would evolve and change over the years, but the in-your-face, over the top cowboy rapper would always be his go-to act. Because of the environment in which he grew up and the music that inspired him, Kid Rock is a kind of, as he calls it, chameleon. He feels just as comfortable with a Texas-sized belt buckle around his waist as he does with a humongous platinum clock swinging from his neck.In addition to being one of the most prolific rock stars in music today, Kid Rock's celebrity status has always garnered attention outside of his musical career. Kid Rock was married to actress Pamela Anderson briefly in the early 2000s. The two were gossip magazine cover regulars for years. He has also acted in films and lent his voice talent to multiple animated television shows, including The Simpsons, King of the Hill and South Park.