Richard Rudolph
{{Short description|American songwriter, musician, music publisher, and producer}}
{{Other people}}
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{{BLP sources|date=January 2017}}
{{original research|date=January 2017}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Richard Rudolph
| image =
| birth_name = Richard James Rudolph
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|10|27}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| alias = R.J. Rudolph
Richard J. Rudolph
Dick Rudolph
| origin = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| instrument = Guitar
| genre =
| occupation = {{hlist|Composer|guitarist|musician|songwriter|producer}}
| years_active = 1966–present
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Minnie Riperton|1970|1979|reason=died}}
- {{marriage|Kimiko Kasai|1990}}
}}
| label = Atlantic
| module = {{Infobox person|child=yes
| children = 2, including Maya Rudolph
}}
}}
Richard James Rudolph (born October 27, 1946) is an American songwriter, musician, music publisher, and producer.
Life and career
Richard Rudolph is the son of Muriel Eileen (Neufeld) and Sidney J. Rudolph. Rudolph is of Jewish descent.{{Cite web |date=2016-01-19 |title=Maya Rudolph Traces Her Roots — All the Way Back to Vilna |url=https://forward.com/schmooze/330454/maya-rudolph-traces-her-roots-all-the-way-back-to-vilna/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=The Forward |language=en}} His grandfather, Julius Abraham Rudashevsky, changed his surname from "Rudashevsky" to "Rudolph," and was one of the founding members of Congregation Beth Shalom in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.Stated on the Finding Your Roots episode, "In Search of Freedom," January 19, 2016, PBS Rudolph graduated from Tulane University's School of Arts and Sciences in 1968.{{Cite web|title=Why We Give: Howard Freedman, School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University|url=https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/newsletter/freedman-donor-spotlight-feb-2018|access-date=2021-07-26|website=School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University|language=en}} He started in the music business as a songwriter at Chess Records in 1969. One of his first compositions to be recorded was the title song for Minnie Riperton’s debut solo album, Come to My Garden. This began a multi-song collaboration with Charles Stepney, the producer of Earth, Wind and Fire fame. Together they wrote many songs for Riperton and Rotary Connection.
Rudolph’s career as a record producer began when he and Stevie Wonder jointly produced Minnie Riperton’s second album, Perfect Angel. Included in this album was the song, "Lovin' You", written by Rudolph and Minnie Riperton, which went on to become a No. 1 song around the world and has turned out to be one of the most performed songs of all time. He has written well over two hundred songs in the course of his songwriting career; his many production and writing credits include recordings by Minnie Riperton, Stevie Wonder, Teena Marie, The Manhattan Transfer, A Tribe Called Quest, Michael McDonald, Jermaine Jackson, New Edition, 2Pac, Shanice Wilson, Michael Sembello, The Rotary Connection, The Temptations, Julian Lennon, Patti Austin, Timothy B. Schmit, Chaka Khan, Lara Fabian, Nuyorican Soul, Kimiko Kasai, and Dawn Robinson.
Besides producing music for and music supervising several feature films such as Cocoon, Running Scared, Black Rain, Flatliners, Weekend at Bernie's, The Black Dahlia, Virtuosity, and Duets, Rudolph has also overseen films for cable, mini series, and movies made for television. He served as Executive Music Producer on the Whitney Houston film project, Whitney, for Lifetime Movies. Rudolph has also served as the exclusive music consultant to HBO Pictures and was President of the Atlantic Records distributed label Third Stone Records, a company he co-founded with partner (actor/producer) Michael Douglas.[https://books.google.com/books?id=2REEAAAAMBAJ&dq=michael+douglas+third+stone+records&pg=PA12 Billboard Magazine - October 24, 1992]{{cite web|last1=Texeira|first1=Erin|title=Rapper, 2 Others Are Found Slain|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-27-me-29279-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=January 27, 1996 |access-date=2017-02-12}} Rudolph’s various musical endeavors as a songwriter, record producer, music supervisor and label executive have contributed to worldwide sales in excess of 30 million albums and countless song placements in film, television, and advertising.
Personal life
In 1967, Rudolph met singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton and co-wrote many of her songs, including "Lovin' You", "Inside My Love", "Adventures in Paradise", "Les Fleurs", and "Memory Lane." Rudolph and Riperton were married from August 1970 until her death in 1979. They had two children, son Marc (b. 1968) and daughter Maya (b. 1972). Rudolph married jazz singer Kimiko Kasai on October 20, 1990, and they reside in Santa Monica and Tokyo.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs artist}}
- {{IMDb name|748938}}
- [http://musicsalesfilmtv.us/Composers/ComposerDetailsView.aspx?composerId=46&PlaylistId Music Sales Film TV - Composers]
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Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh
Category:Record producers from Pennsylvania
Category:American male television actors
Category:Jewish American songwriters
Category:Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:Tulane University School of Liberal Arts alumni