Mike Schmidt remembers the first time he saw Kid Rock perform back in 1994 at a small club in Mount Clemens.
Being a fan since middle school, he was disappointed to hear that Joe Calleja, known to fans as Joe C., the sidekick of Kid Rock, died in his sleep Thursday evening at his home in Taylor, Mich.
“It was kind of a shock,” marketing senior Kevin Udy said. “I’ve heard his doctors had told him not to tour but he went against that. I know a little bit about their lifestyle and know they partied a lot.”
Kid Rock issued a statement through his record label, Atlantic Records, on Friday afternoon.
“Family and friends are everything; without them, all of the fame and fortune means nothing,” he said. “We have lost part of our family.”
Schmidt, a packaging junior, and Udy both grew up in Mount Clemens, close to Romeo where Rock grew up, and have been longtime fans of Kid Rock.
Police officials in Taylor told MTV on Friday that Calleja’s death was being ruled as due to natural causes and that the local medical examiner had already released the body to the funeral home without conducting an autopsy.
His 3-foot-9-inch height was caused by celiac disease, a digestive disorder that forced him to consume more than 60 pills a day and be monitored by a machine at night.
“He added to the whole part of Kid Rock that didn’t care who you were or what you looked like,” Schmidt said. “They just wanted to have a good time.”
Udy said Calleja added a different flavor to Rock’s music.
“He added a lot because you see in the day and age of boy bands that the rest of the people in his band aren’t beautiful and pretty,” Udy said. “He was showing that regular people could be successful too. Not everyone has to be pretty.”
Schmidt said the first time he saw Kid Rock perform was in 1994 at a local dance club.
“There was only 300 people there,” he said. “It is really a shame to see someone in your own town that you watched get big, a local hero, pass away.”
Schmidt said Kid Rock talks about Mt. Clemens frequently in his first three albums.
Calleja made his music debut singing back-up vocals on Kid Rock’s multiplatinum 1998 debut, “Devil Without A Cause,” and was said to be working on a solo album to be released off Kid Rock’s Top Dog Records label.
Calleja’s battle with celiac disease forced him to leave Kid Rock’s 1999 tour, but he made a brief return performing on numerous dates of the Summer Sanitarium tour featuring Metallica, Kid Rock, Korn, Powerman 5000 and System of a Down.
In Kid Rock’s statement, he went on to emphasize the happiness Calleja brought the band.
“He brought a smile to everyone who has ever known or seen him,” he said. “In a world full of confusion, Joey made all of us laugh. No matter what color, religion, race or beliefs we have, he made us all smile. He gave us the gift of joy. Joey, thank you. We will never forget you. We love you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
