Dr. Luke

Early life

Gottwald was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His father, Janusz Jerzy Gottwald, was an architect who was born in Łask, Poland. Growing up, Gottwald identified as Jewish and spent many of his formative years in New York City. He wanted to be a drummer, but his parents refused to allow a drum kit in the house. At 13, he picked up his older sister's guitar and taught himself to play. As a teenager, Gottwald would "listen to bad music over and over, if there was a guitar part [he] admired, so [he] could figure out what the guitar player was doing right."

Career

Gottwald attended the Manhattan School of Music for two years. He was the lead guitarist in the Saturday Night Live Band from 1996 to 2007.

He produced tracks and remixes for various artists including Arrested Development and Nappy Roots. He released the 12" single "Wet Lapse", under the name Kasz, for Rawkus Records, and remixed the theme from the film Mortal Kombat. While deejaying at a house party, Gottwald met producer Max Martin and subsequently gave Martin a tour of New York clubs when Martin arrived in the city.

In 2004, he co-wrote and co-produced the Kelly Clarkson Billboard Hot 100 number two song, "Since U Been Gone" with Max Martin Subsequent songs by Pink, "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" reached the top ten in the US. He would go on to co-produce a number one for Avril Lavigne with the song "Girlfriend" as well as seven other songs on Lavigne's album. He also achieved a UK number one with the 2007 song "About You Now" for the Sugababes. Gottwald contributed two songs to Katy Perry's second album, One of the Boys in 2008. US Billboard number one, "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold", as well as three songs to Britney Spears' 2008 album, Circus, including the title track. He also co-produced the US number one song "Right Round" by Flo Rida. His third co-production for Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" reached the top of the Hot 100 as well. In late 2009, his song for Miley Cyrus, "Party in the U.S.A.", co-written by Jessie J, reached number two on the chart. In December 2009, Billboard named him as one of the top 10 producers of the decade.

In 2010, Gottwald was named Songwriter of the Year at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards and received 10 ASCAP Pop Music Awards for the year as the songwriter and publisher. Gottwald's co-production for Katy Perry's "California Gurls" debuted at number two on the Hot 100 and later reached number one. The second single "Teenage Dream" would follow suit. Taio Cruz's "Dynamite", co-produced by Gottwald, reached number one in the UK and number two in the US. He contributed to three more top ten songs, "Magic" for B.o.B, "My First Kiss" for 3OH!3, and "Take It Off" for Kesha, as well as a top five song, "Your Love Is My Drug", by the latter on the Hot 100.

In 2010, he was named both the Number One Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year and Number One Producer of the Year by Billboard. At the start of 2011, Advertising Age called Gottwald "the year's most successful producer and songwriter in terms of chart longevity."

In 2011 Gottwald co-executive produced Britney Spears' seventh studio album Femme Fatale alongside Max Martin.

On the week ending March 3, 2012, Gottwald's co-production for Katy Perry's "Part of Me" became the 20th song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100. He also produced Perry's single "Wide Awake", which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, whilst topping the US Pop Songs chart.

In October 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against Gottwald, claiming sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, civil harassment, violation of California's laws against unfair business practices, infliction of emotional distress (both intentional and negligent), and negligent retention and supervision. Gottwald responded by filing a countersuit alleging that Kesha's lawsuit was an attempt by Kesha, her mother, and her new management firm to extort him into releasing her from her contract. In June 2023, one month before the case was scheduled for trial, Kesha and Gottwald released a joint statement saying the case had reached a settlement. Both parties wished each other well, although Gottwald still denied the allegations while Kesha continued to say she could not remember everything of that night.

After the lawsuit, Gottwald has maintained a low public profile. , he was no longer listed on the official Sony Music website and later that month it was announced that he was no longer the CEO of Kemosabe Records. That same year, Gottwald adopted the pseudonym Made in China. He has since produced songs for artists such as Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, and Big Boi. In 2017, Gottwald began songwriting and producing for German singer-songwriter Kim Petras. He also produced five songs on Doja Cat's second album Hot Pink (2019), including its number one single "Say So".

In 2021, Gottwald launched Amigo Records as an imprint of Republic Records. Its roster includes Petras, Big Boss Vette, and Joy Oladokun. The same year, he wrote and produced "Big Energy" by Latto which won Song of the Year at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards. In 2022, he produced the number one song "Super Freaky Girl" by Nicki Minaj. In 2023, he collaborated with Doja Cat and others. He won the ASCAP Pop Music Award for Songwriter of the Year in May.

Lawsuit

Discography

Main article: Dr. Luke production discography

Awards and nominations

References

References

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