Joe C.

Joseph "Joe C." Calleja (November 9, 1974 – November 16, 2000) was an American rapper and musician. His popularity and fame were based on his relationship as hype man and comic relief for fellow rapper Kid Rock.

Condition

Calleja was born in Taylor, Michigan. He had coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease that may cause stunting and dwarfism and some complications in rare cases. Because of this, he had a maximum height of 3 ft 9 in (1.1 m) at adult age. His dwarfism resulted in multiple medical problems. In 2000, he said in an interview with John Norris from MTV that he had to take 60 pills daily and required constant medical treatment.

Career

Calleja first met fellow Michigan musician Kid Rock at a concert by the latter in Roseville, Michigan in 1994. Joe C. was first featured on the demo "Cool Daddy Cool" in 1995.

He appeared on television, including a guest role with Kid Rock on the animated series The Simpsons, on the Season 11 episode "Kill The Alligator And Run". Joe C. was a World Wrestling Federation fan and made various references to the WWF stable D-Generation X during concerts. He appeared on the May 18, 2000 edition of WWF Smackdown during a taping in Detroit to drink beer with The Acolytes, and on the May 29 edition of Raw Is War, helping Too Cool win their only WWF Tag Team Championship in 2000 from Edge and Christian.

Kid Rock

Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, 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 Nielsen 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, and he has sold over 35 Million Records Worldwide.

Rock performed rap and hip hop 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 the success of Devil Without a Cause 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".