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Uncle Kracker is the stage name of American musician Matthew Shafer, whose blend of hip-hop, rock, and country influences earned him a pair of Top 10 hits during the early 2000s. Shafer was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan, on June 6, 1974, and joined Kid Rock's band as a turntables player during the mid-1990s. After appearing on Kid Rock's independent album Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp in 1996 and his diamond-certified commercial breakthrough, Devil Without a Cause, in 1998, Uncle Kracker began preparing for his own solo career. His debut album, Double Wide, was produced by Kid Rock and released in 2000, peaking at Number 7 in the US, Number 3 in Germany, Number 5 in Austria, and Number 40 in the UK. Its lead single, "Follow Me," was also an international success, reaching Number 5 in the US, Number 3 in the UK, and Number 1 in Australia, Austria, and New Zealand. The album went double-platinum in the US, while its 2002 follow-up, No Stranger to Shame, went gold. A cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" earned Uncle Kracker his second Top 10 single in America, and Uncle Kracker returned to the charts two years later with Kenny Chesney's "When the Sun Goes Down," a platinum-selling duet that reached Number 1 on the country charts. Uncle Kracker continued to lean into his country influences with 2009's "Smile" — which cracked the Top 10 on the country, pop, and adult contemporary charts, earning triple-platinum status along the way — and his first country album, 2012's Midnight Special. Although he joined Kid Rock on tour in support of Midnight Special's release, the album failed to deliver the commercial success that Uncle Kracker was used to, and he focused on releasing non-album singles like 2014's "Endlessly" and 2018's "Floatin'" during the decade's remaining years.
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