Who is Rick Rubin?

Frederick Jay Rubin (born March 10, 1963), known by his stage name Rick Rubin, is an American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, he is the cofounder of Def Jam Recordings. With the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Run-DMC, he helped to make hip hop music popular.

He also produced a number of top-selling artists from a variety of other genres including heavy metal (Slayer), alternative rock (Red Hot Chili Pepoers, Weezer), and country (Johnny Cash, Dixie Chicks).

Arguably his biggest success as a producer came from working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers with whom Rubin produced six studio albums from 1991 to 2011, starting with the band's fifth release,

"Blood Sugar Sex Magik", which launched the band to mainstream success thanks to the hit singles "Give It Away" and "Under the Bridge". The six albums with the Chili Peppers also spawned twelve number one singles on the "Billboard Alternative Songs" chart, a record the band as of 2015 still holds, and various awards including sixteen Grammy Nominations (with six wins) with a Producer of the Year Grammy award for 2006's "Stadium Arcadium", which was also nominated for Album of the Year.

The band has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, most of which have been through sales of the Rubin produced albums. Various members of the Chili Peppers have also been used on other projects. In 2007, MTV called him "the most important producer of the last 20 years".