The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Frederick “Rick” Jay Rubin was born in Long Beach, New York, on March 10, 1963. In high school, he played in a punk-rock band called The Pricks. In one performance, the band was kicked off the stage for their behavior. After high school, he attended New York University (NYU). While at NYU, he founded Def Jam Records and started learning how to produce hip-hop music. To help in this pursuit, he teamed up with Russell Simmons, who became cofounder of Def Jam, and went on to a successful career as an executive and record producer for hip-hop music. In the early years, Rubin and Def Jam produced music for notable acts like LL Cool J, Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, and Jay-Z. Eventually, Rubin broke off from Def Jam and moved to Los Angeles to start another recording company. He also started to produce music for heavy metal, rock, and punk-rock bands. Notably, in 1994, he recorded Johnny Cash’s comeback album, American Recordings, to commercial and critical success. In this period, he produced for the Red Hot Chili Peppers (on six studio albums), Nine Inch Nails, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, while garnering numerous awards. In the 21st century, Rubin assumed the role of co-head at Columbia Records.