Childhood & Early Life
Redfoo was born as Stefan Kendal Gordy on September 3, 1975, in Los Angeles, USA, to Berry Gordy, Jr., founder of the Motown record label, and Nancy Leiviska, a writer and producer. He has seven siblings.
He graduated from Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, in 1995.
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Career
In 1994, Redfoo produced the song ‘Back in the Day’ for rapper Ahmad. He co-produced seven other tracks on Ahmad's debut album. He signed with Bubonic Records in 1996, and worked with rapper Dre' Kroon for the album ‘Balance Beam’, which was released on October 10, 1997.
He released two more singles with Kroon—‘Life is a Game of Chess’ and ‘The Freshest’. In 1999, Redfoo worked on a song ‘Duet’ with The Black Eyed Peas. Next, he produced ‘Focused Daily’ for Defari. In 2004, he was featured in the Figgkidd song ‘I Gotta Know’, which peaked at No. 50 in Australia.
In 2006, he formed LMFAO, an electro-pop band, with his nephew Sky Blu. While they started getting popularity through their shows and radio plays, Redfoo's friend will.i.am introduced them to Jimmy Iovine, head of Interscope, who signed them to Interscope/will.i.am Music.
‘Party Rock’ was the debut studio album by LMFAO, which was released on July 7, 2009, by Interscope Records. The first single of the album, ‘I'm in Miami Bitch’ had been released in 2008. The second single ‘La La La’ was released on September 8, 2009. ‘Shots’, the third single was released on October 13, 2009, and the fourth single ‘Yes’ was released on December 15, 2009.
In 2009, LMFAO was featured in The Crystal Method's song ‘Sine Language’. In 2010, they were featured in David Guetta's hit song ‘Getting Over You’, which peaked in the Top 10 in 11 countries and at No. 1 in three countries.
LMFAO released the second album, ‘Sorry for Party Rocking’ on June 21, 2011. Its first single ‘Party Rock Anthem’, released on January 1, 2011, featured British singer Lauren Bennett. The second single ‘Champagne Showers’ was released on May 27, 2011. The third single, ‘Sexy and I Know It’, released on October 3, 2011, reached No. 1 on iTunes charts worldwide.
On September 21, 2012, Redfoo announced that he will not perform with Sky Blu any longer, and will embark on a solo career.
Redfoo released his solo single ‘Bring Out the Bottles’ in December 2012. The following year, he was featured in the film ‘Last Vegas.’ He was also featured in the fifth season of the Australian version of ‘The X Factor’, a singing-talent TV show.
In September 2013, Redfoo released a single ‘Let's Get Ridiculous’, which was a hit. In October, he released the pilot episode of his comedy web series, ‘Behind the Speedo’. In 2014, Redfoo was featured in the sixth season of ‘The X Factor Australia’. In June, he released a single ‘Where The Baes At’, and in August, he released the single ‘New Thang’.
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In October 2014, he was featured on ‘Play-N-Skillz’ song and the video ‘Literally I Can't’. The song was highly criticized for being prejudiced against women. In the same year, he participated in the 20th season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, and was the first to be eliminated. Earlier, he had been a guest judge on the 18th season of the show.
On January 15, 2016, he released a promotional single ‘Lights Out’ from his second album ‘Party Rock Mansion’. The album was out on March 18, 2016; it included songs that had already been released, like ‘Keep Shining’, ‘Party Train’, and ‘Like Ya Just Don't Care’.
In 2017, he joined the ‘Party Rock Crew’ to perform around the world. In July 2017, he was featured in Harvey Cantwell’s music video ‘Holiday’.
Major Works
LMFAO’s album ‘Party Rock’ peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on Billboard Dance Chart. The single ‘I'm in Miami Bitch’ was released in December 2008, and it reached No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 37 in Canadian Hot 100.
The ‘Party Rock Anthem’ has been the most successful song of his career so far, peaking at No. 1 in the US, the UK, and in 11 other countries. The song also reached the top five in Italy and Norway, and was the third best-selling single of 2011, selling 9.7 million copies worldwide.
His song ‘Let's Get Ridiculous’ debuted at No. 1 on ARIA Singles Chart, and was certified platinum four times by ARIA. The single ‘New Thang’ was also very successful, peaking at No. 3 in Australia.
Personal Life
Redfoo started dating tennis player Victoria Azarenka in 2012, but they split in 2014.
He is also a tennis player, and attempted to qualify for the 2013 US Open. He played in the USTA Northern California Sectional qualifying tournament as well.
He owns the Party Rock clothing line, and through it, he sponsors the Party Rock Open, an ITF Women's Circuit tournament.
In 2015, the band LMFAO claimed that Pigeon Hill Brewing Co.'s LMFAO Stout has infringed on its trademarked name. After weeks of litigation, Pigeon Hill Brewing and band LMFAO reached an agreement, leading to the former retaining its trademark for LMFAO Stout.
In 2017, his nephew Sky Blu blasted him in a Facebook post, accusing him of stealing the LMFAO brand, which they had built together. This post came after Sky Blu’s lawyer informed him that Redfoo is claiming all LMFAO royalties himself.
