Kid Rock and Jon Pardi

Growing up in the small rural town of Romeo, north of Detroit, US, Ritchie found a love for hip hop, finding the music and lifestyle to provide an escape from the banality of small town life, creating his own rap music as well as breakdancing. Influenced by Beastie Boys' fusion of rap and rock, Ritchie developed his own style under the name of Kid Rock, eventually gaining a record contract with Jive Records in 1990, after impressing through a support slot performance for Boogie Down Productions. His debut album, "Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast" arrived shortly after, which was heavily indebted to Beastie Boys "License to Ill," achieving notoriety through the profanity-heavy single, "Yodelin' in the Valley." Kid Rock toured with Too Short and Ice Cube following the album's release, although Jive Records dropped him from their roster shortly after.

A move to Brooklyn, US, helped to reignite his career, signing to Continuum for 1993's "The Polyfuze Method," which moved towards a harder rock sound. The release received mixed reviews yet gave Ritchie the encouragement to continue making music. Another album, "Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp," arrived in 1996, with Kid Rock forming a band shortly after, having returned to Detroit, US. The band featured Joseph Calleja (vocals), Kenny Olson (guitar), Jason Krause (guitar), Jimmy Bones (keyboards), Stefanie Eulinberg (drums), Uncle Kracker (DJ/Turntablist) and Misty Love and Shirley Hayden (backing vocals).

With the rise in popularity of Nu-Metal, Kid Rock received interest from Atlantic Records, who decided to sign the artist for his 1998 release, "Devil Without a Cause." Extensive airplay on MTV helped bolster Kid Rock's popularity, becoming a superstar with a Top Five, Multi-Platinum selling album. Ritchie also became famous for his much publicized relationship with Pamela Anderson, receiving significant interest from the tabloid press.

Kid Rock returned in 2001 with "Cocky," featuring the hit single, "Forever." Rock gained a number one album with "Rock N Roll Jesus" in 2007, selling 172,000 copies in its first week. The hit single, "All Summer Long" became a massive success, a mashup of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic, "Sweet Home Alabama." 2010's "Born Free" also charted well at number five, an album that featured a number of artists, including Bob Seger, Trace Adkins, Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow and T.I. Kid Rock continued to tour relentlessly, not returning to the studio until 2012, for "Rebel Soul."

Born and raised in Dixon, California, Jon Pardi was introduced to country music while still in nappies; endeared to the music of George Jones and Hank Williams Jr. Making use of his grandmother’s country karaoke machine, the young singer made his debut at the age of seven at his father’s 30th birthday party with the single “Friends in Low Places”. By the age of 12 Pardi was writing his own songs with musical accompaniment, and subsequently joined his first band aged 14. After graduating from high school Jon, alongside friend Chase McGrew, Pardi formed a country music duo who played the regional club circuit, before enrolling in Butte Junior College and performing with the group Northern Comfort.

With the unshakeable dream of finding success in the country music capital, Pardi moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2008 and worked as a life guard. It wasn’t long before the musician’s name was generating attention, notably for his songwriting, and by 2010 inked his first publishing deal. The deal enabled Pardi to work with a host of successful artists, promote his name further, and ultimately led the musician to sign with Capitol Records Nashville in 2011.

Featuring friend and producer Bart Butler at the production reigns, the singer begun work on his debut album, the first single of which “Missin’ You Crazy” arrived in March 2012. Marking his debut on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, it was his second, Top 10 single “Up All Night” which exposed Pardi to a large country music audience. In January 2014 the singer-songwriter issued his debut full-length album “Write You a Song”. Peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. Country Album Chart and No. 14 on the Billboard 200, the record proved a critically acclaimed, cohesive country album, and spawned the subsequent singles “What I Can’t Put Down” and “When I’ve Been Drinking”.