As the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, the founder of American Recordings, and co-president of Columbia Records, record producer Rick Rubin has had an enormous and lasting impact on American music. Rubin helped create the blueprint for hip-hop with artists like the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, introduced rap-rock with RUN DMC’s iconic cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” oversaw benchmark metal releases like Slayer’s Reign in Blood, and produced hits for a diverse array of artists, including Adele, Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rage Against the Machine.

Born Frederick Jay Rubin in Long Island, New York, in 1963, Rubin cultivated his taste for “rebel music,” joining punk bands in high school and in college at New York University. It was in his NYU dorm room where Rubin, inspired by friend DJ Jazzy Jay, founded Def Jam with Russell Simmons. Inspired by the Beatles’ song structure, Rubin helped popularize rap music by adding hooks and choruses. He produced many landmark releases from hip-hop’s golden era, from LL COOL J’s debut “I Need a Beat” (1984) to RUN DMC’s Raising Hell (1986) (the first multi-platinum hip-hop LP) to Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill (1986) (the first rap LP to top the Billboard charts). At the same time, Rubin diversified Def Jam by signing thrash metal pioneers Slayer, beginning a long working relationship.

After parting ways with Def Jam in 1988, Rick Rubin founded American Recordings. One pivotal project for the label was Johnny Cash’s American Recordings (1994), a mix of cover songs and new compositions that showcased Rubin’s trademark stripped-down production style and revitalized Cash’s career. In 2007, Rubin was named co-president of Columbia Records, where he produced acclaimed albums for Adele and Linkin Park, among others. That same year he won the Grammy for Producer of the Year for his work with musicians including U2, the Chicks, and Green Day.

Lauded by MTV in 2007 as “the most important producer of the last 20 years,” Rick Rubin’s legacy is still being created. Rubin expanded his creative scope with his 2023 book The Creative Act: A Way of Being and his Tetragrammaton podcast. He remains an in-demand producer, with recent collaborations including Neil Young, Kesha, Travis Scott, and Beabadoobee. As Natalie Maines of the Chicks said, “[Rick Rubin] has the ability and the patience to let music be discovered, not manufactured.”