Dr. Luke | |
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 Gottwald in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald[2] (1973-09-26)September 26, 1973 (age 52) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Formerly of | Saturday Night Live Band |
Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973),[3] known professionally asDr. Luke,Tyson Trax, andMade in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as theSaturday Night Live Band's lead guitarist in 1996. He gained prominence in 2004 for producingKelly Clarkson's single "Since U Been Gone" with Swedish record producerMax Martin, and later collaborated with Canadian producerCirkut and fellow AmericanBenny Blanco.
Gottwald continued to co-write and produce commercially successful songs such as "Who Knew" (2006) forPink, "Girlfriend" (2007) forAvril Lavigne, and "I Kissed a Girl" (2008) forKaty Perry, before leavingSaturday Night Live and reuniting with Clarkson for "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009). As the founder of bothKemosabe Records and Amigo Records, Gottwald has signed artists such asKesha,Doja Cat,Becky G,Juicy J,R. City, andLil Bibby to the former, as well asKim Petras andJoy Oladokun to the latter.[4]
In 2014 Gottwald was involved ina series of lawsuits with Kesha, in which she alleged abuse and employment discrimination whilst he claimed breach of contract and defamation. The case was settled out of court in June 2023.
Gottwald owns two publishing companies, Kasz Money Publishing, for his own songs, andPrescription Songs, which employs other songwriters. As of January 2011, he has garnered 21 Top 40Billboard Hot 100 singles, becoming the producer with the third most such hits since the charts were created.[5]Billboard named him one of the top performing producers of the 2000s, and theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers named him Producer and Songwriter of the Year from 2009 to 2011. At the53rd Annual Grammy Awards, he was nominated for aGrammy Award forProducer of the Year, Non-Classical, and Perry'sTeenage Dream was nominated forAlbum of the Year.
Gottwald was born inProvidence, Rhode Island.[3][5] His father, Janusz Jerzy Gottwald, was an architect who was born inŁask, Poland.[6] Growing up, Gottwald identified asJewish[5] and spent many of his formative years inNew York City. He wanted to be adrummer, but his parents refused to allow a drum kit in the house.[3] 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."[3][5]
Gottwald attended theManhattan School of Music for two years.[7] He was the lead guitarist in theSaturday Night Live Band from 1996[8] to 2007.[9]
He produced tracks and remixes for various artists includingArrested Development andNappy Roots.[10] He released the12" single "Wet Lapse", under the name Kasz, forRawkus Records, and remixed the theme from the filmMortal Kombat.[11] While deejaying at a house party, Gottwald met producerMax Martin and subsequently gave Martin a tour of New York clubs when Martin arrived in the city.[3]
In 2004, he co-wrote and co-produced theKelly ClarksonBillboard Hot 100 number two song, "Since U Been Gone" withMax Martin[3] and provided the singer another hit in "Behind These Hazel Eyes".[12] Subsequent songs byPink, "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" reached the top ten in the US.[13] He would go on to co-produce a number one forAvril 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 theSugababes. Gottwald contributed two songs toKaty Perry's second album,One of the Boys in 2008. USBillboard number one, "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold", as well as three songs toBritney Spears' 2008 album,Circus,[13] including the title track. He also co-produced the US number one song "Right Round" byFlo 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 forMiley Cyrus, "Party in the U.S.A.",[13] co-written byJessie J, reached number two on the chart. In December 2009,Billboard named him as one of the top 10 producers of the decade.[14]
In 2010, Gottwald was named Songwriter of the Year at theASCAP Pop Music Awards and received 10 ASCAP Pop Music Awards for the year as the songwriter and publisher.[10] He had received ten Pop Music Awards from ASCAP between 2006 and 2009. He was also named to Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, placing at number 33.[15] Gottwald's co-production for Katy Perry's "California Gurls"[13] 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",[13] 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" forB.o.B, "My First Kiss" for3OH!3, and "Take It Off" forKesha, 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 byBillboard.[16][17] At the start of 2011,Advertising Age called Gottwald "the year's most successful producer and songwriter in terms of chart longevity."[18]
In 2011 Gottwald co-executive producedBritney Spears' seventh studio albumFemme Fatale alongsideMax 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 theBillboard Hot 100. He also produced Perry's single "Wide Awake", which peaked at number 2 on theBillboard Hot 100, whilst topping the USPop Songs chart.[19]
In October 2014, Kesha fileda 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.[20][21] 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.[22] 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 that night.[23][24]
After the lawsuit, Gottwald has maintained a low public profile.[25] As of April 2017[update], he was no longer listed on the officialSony Music website[26] and later that month it was announced that he was no longer the CEO ofKemosabe Records.[27] That same year, Gottwald adopted the pseudonym Made in China.[28] He has since produced songs for artists such asTrey Songz,Ne-Yo, andBig Boi. In 2017, Gottwald began songwriting and producing for German singer-songwriterKim Petras.[29] He also produced five songs onDoja Cat's second albumHot Pink (2019), including its number one single "Say So".[30]
In 2021, Gottwald launched Amigo Records as an imprint ofRepublic Records. Its roster includes Petras, Big Boss Vette, andJoy Oladokun.[31][32][33] The same year, he wrote and produced "Big Energy" byLatto which won Song of the Year at the2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.[34][35] In 2022, he produced the number one song "Super Freaky Girl" byNicki Minaj.[34] In 2023, he collaborated with Doja Cat and others. He won the ASCAP Pop Music Award for Songwriter of the Year in May.[34]
Kesha v. Dr. Luke refers to a series of lawsuits and countersuits between the singerKesha Rose Sebert (Kesha) and the music producer Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (Dr. Luke). Sebert filed a civil suit against Gottwald in October 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination.[36] Gottwald filed a lawsuit inNew York Supreme Court in which he sued Sebert and her mother,Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert, fordefamation andbreach of contract.[37][38][39]
Gottwald (Dr. Luke) has denied all of the allegations. In the legal documents filed in support of his defamation suit against Sebert (Kesha), he claims that Kesha and her mother made "defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald [Dr. Luke] into releasing Kesha from her exclusive recording agreement".[40] This New York lawsuit resulted in the staying (or a stop to the legal proceedings) of a California lawsuit where Kesha claimed Dr. Luke was liable forsexual harassment,misogyny, civil harassment, violation of California's laws against unfair business practices, infliction of emotional distress (both intentional and negligent), and negligent retention and supervision.[40] In her New York counter-claim, Kesha alleged that Dr. Luke "sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally" abused her since the beginning of their professional relationship. The suit alleged he drugged andraped her on two occasions, made threats against Kesha and her family, and called her derogatory names.[41]
On February 19, 2016, a request made by Sebert (Kesha) for a preliminary injunction was denied.[42] Kesha appealed the decision the following month.[43] On April 6, 2016, New York Justice Shirley Kornreich, dismissed all of Kesha's counter-claims against Gottwald (Dr. Luke).[44] Kesha and her legal team appealed the injunction decision, and on June 7, 2016, Kesha was recorded in a deposition stating all the allegations' details.
On June 22, 2023, Kesha and Dr. Luke released a joint statement saying they have reached a settlement.[45]| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Grammy Awards | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | — | Nominated | |
| 2011 | Album of the Year | Teenage Dream | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Song of the Year | "Roar" | Nominated | [46] | |
| 2014 | Producer of the Year, Non-Classical | — | Nominated | [46] | |
| 2021 | Record of the Year | "Say So" | Nominated | ||
| 2022 | Album of the Year | Planet Her (Deluxe) | Nominated | [47] | |
| 2022 | Song of the Year | "Kiss Me More" | Nominated | [47] | |
| 2022 | Best Rap Song | "Best Friend" | Nominated | [47] | |
| 2010 | ASCAP Pop Music Awards | Songwriter of the Year | — | Won | [48] |
| 2011 | Songwriter of the Year | — | Won | [49] | |
| 2023 | Songwriter of the Year | — | Won | [50] | |
| 2021 | iHeartRadio Music Awards | Producer of the Year | — | Won | [51] |
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