Kid Rock: The Tragic Death of His Buddy Joe C (Calleja)

Kid Rock: The story of his hype man Joe C (Calleja) and his untimely passing.

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Best known as Kid Rock’s side kick or the hype man for his Twisted Brown Trucker Band, Joe C would meet the musician before he got famous But his time would be cut short suffering from a debilitating medical condition. Today, lets take a look at the life of Joe C

Joe C would be born Joe Calleja. At a young age he would be diagnosed with an intestinal disorder known as celiac’s disease. At the age of 4 he would be prescribed dozens of medications including a steroid known as prednisone that stunted his growth resulting in his adult height being 3 ft 9. He would describe to MTV his daily routine revealing "I'm stickin' to my diet and takin' my medicine on time. You know, it's ridiculous. I take 60 pills [a day]. Right off the bat, when I wake up, [I take] two pills. An hour later, 10 pills. Three hours later, I've got the tube [in my stomach], and I shoot something through there three hours later. Two hours later, I take two more, and then an hour later, 10, then shoot the tube three hours later [again]." He would admit to spin magazine he would give up his rockstar life if it mean he could live with celiac’s disease.

Joe C. was a big fan of kid rock attending several of his early shows in 1994 as they recounted to VH1 here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Yhcr-XETI&t=178s (37 Second mark - 56 second mark, 1 minute 2 second mark to 1 minute 46 second mark). Joe. C would tell Entertainment Weekly what the C stood for saying It’s just my last name, Calleja. But it also stands for ”chronic.” And ”chronical,” which is chronic. But it’s a different word.” The hype man wasn’t shy hiding his love for pot.

By this point in kid Rock’s career he had already released several albums but hadn’t yet hit big. In 1997 Kid Rock would sign with Atlantic Records with him putting out his fourth record Devil without a cause in 1998, which was a massive success moving 15 million copies. The record was notable because the musician moved away from his traditional hip hop sound blending together rap rock, nu metal and hard rock. Joe C would appear on the album as part of his backing band Twisted Brown Trucker. But due to his health issues Joe C didn’t spend a lot of time on the road with the band having to bow out by the late 1999. He would make several high profile appearances during this time appearing on the south park soundtrack and on the fox animated show the simpsons.

Several publications noted 1999 to be the year of htel little people with Verne Tryoer of Ausin Powers fame also being in the news. In fact Joe C would reveal to spin they were both friends and Troyer provided important emotional support when he felt down about his life. Despite that he also became the butt of jokes, most notably at the 1999 mtv vidoe music awards when Chris Rock who was host made some jokes at his expense as you can see here.

On the evening of NOvember 16th, 2000 spin magazine would report that Joe C who was staying at his parents house in Taylor, Michigan was complaiing about feeling cold and decided to call it a night. His father found him unresponsive the next morning. He was just 26 years old. His cause of death was complications due to celiac disease.

In a statement, Kid Rock — reported to be extremely shaken by C.'s death — said, "Family and friends are everything; without them, all of the fame and fortune means nothing. We have lost part of our family. Joey gave us, and the world, his love. He brought a smile to everyone who has ever known or seen him.
"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."


MTV news would report the following year that Joe C would be honored at Kid Rock’s upcoming live shows "We're going to do a nice tribute to him every night and try not to be selfish about it," Rock said backstage at the American Music Awards ceremony on Monday.
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