Jude Cole

Jude Anthony Cole (born June 18, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent manager. After signing to Reprise Records, Cole's solo career began with his eponymous debut studio album in 1987, which was followed up with four subsequent releases until 2000. From then on, he outsourced his talent onto managing, producing, and co-writing for the alternative rock band Lifehouse. This led to Cole having production credits on many of their singles throughout the 2000s including "You and Me", "First Time", "Whatever It Takes" and "Halfway Gone", all of which became hits on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts.

He is the co-founder of the Ironworks music label along with actor Kiefer Sutherland, which was founded in 2003. Lifehouse signed to the label in 2013 to release their seventh album, Out of the Wasteland (2015).

Career
After spending two years as guitarist and backing vocalist for Moon Martin and The Ravens, Cole joined UK-based band The Records for their second album Crashes in 1980. However, Cole remained in the US when the band returned to Britain to pursue a career as a solo recording artist. His first three solo albums, Jude Cole (1987), A View from 3rd Street (1990) and Start the Car (1992) were released on Reprise Records and contained the singles "Baby, It's Tonight", "Time for Letting Go", "Compared To Nothing" and "Start the Car". The albums were met with minimal domestic success upon release, however they would reach success with their singles, most notably "Baby It's Tonight" which peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. His fourth album, I Don't Know Why I Act This Way was released by Island Records in 1995, while his fifth album Falling Home was released on his own label, Watertown Records in 2000.

The same year, Cole departed from his recording career to manage the alternative rock band Lifehouse for DreamWorks Records. During the same time, he would also manage singer Lindsay Pagano for Warner Records.  He chose Irving Azoff as a business partner and spent the next four years working on behalf of his company, Azoff Management.

In 2003, Cole and business partner, actor Kiefer Sutherland formed Ironworks Studio and Ironworks Records (rebranded from Watertown Records), which would go on to sign musical acts including Billy Boy on Poison, Ron Sexsmith, and honeyhoney. Lifehouse would also eventually sign to Ironworks upon parting ways with Geffen Records in 2013. In 2005, Cole contributed segments to the entertainment television program Extra as music critic, interviewing artists like The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger and others.

Cole is also credited for his contributions to the soundtrack or musical score for the films Bratz: The Movie (2007), Where the Boys Are '84 (1984), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), Last Light (1993), Navy SEALs (1990), and Back to School (1986). He performed the titular theme song for the latter featured heavily in the film, which became one of Cole's most popular songs in retrospect.

In 2019, Cole wrote, produced and engineered a record for Kiefer Sutherland but aside from production was not credited. The album starts with Cole's "Open Road" from his 1992 album, Start the Car.

On January 20, 2021, Cole returned to his recording career with his sixth album Coup De Main, his first new album in over 20 years. The album consists of nine tracks and was made available on all streaming platforms. He later released a cover album, Coolerator, on July 27, 2021.

Personal life
Cole was married to Lori Pfeiffer (born 1965), the younger sister of actress Michelle Pfeiffer, with whom he has two sons.

Discography

Albums
Jude Cole (1987)
A View from 3rd Street (1990)
Start the Car (1992)
I Don't Know Why I Act This Way (1995)
Falling Home (2000)
Coup De Main (2021)
Coolerator (2021)

Singles

Musical credits

Moon Martin – Escape from Domination 1979 – guitar, background vocals (Capitol)
Moon Martin – Street Fever 1980 – guitar, background vocals, songwriter (Capitol)
The Records – Crashes 1980 – co-lead singer, lead guitarist (Virgin)
Moon Martin – Mystery Ticket 1981 – songwriter (Capitol)
Peter Noone – Solo Record 1981 – background vocals, guitar (Pasha/Columbia)
Billy Thorpe – East of Eden's Gate 1982 – background vocals (Pasha)
Dave Edmunds – D.E. 7th 1982 – songwriter (Columbia)
Ted Nugent – Ted Nugent 1982 – background vocals (Epic)
Patrick Simmons – Arcade 1983 – guitar (Electra)
Del Shannon – Drop Down and Get Me 1983 – background vocals, guitar (London)
Soundtrack – Where the Boys Are '84 1984 – songwriter, artist (MCA)
Soundtrack – Back to School 1986 – artist (MCA)
Jude Cole (self-titled) 1987 (Warner Bros)
Soundtrack – Karate Kid III 1988 – songwriter, artist
Lisa Hartman – Till My Heart Stops 1988 – songwriter (Atlantic)
Jude Cole – A View from 3rd Street 1990 (Reprise)
Jude Cole – Start the Car 1992 (Reprise)
Marc Bonilla – American Matador 1993 – songwriter (Reprise)
Jude Cole – I Don't Know Why I Act This Way 1995 (Island)
Paola Turci – Oltre Le Nuvole (1997) producer, guitar, background vocals (Warner Bros. Italy)
Soundtrack – Truth or Consequences, NM (1998) composer
Jewel – Spirit 1998 – guitars, background vocals (Atlantic)
Travis Tritt – No More Looking over My Shoulder 1998 – guitar, songwriter (Warner Bros)
Billie Myers – Vertigo 1999 – guitar
Kendall Payne – Jordan's Sister 1999 – guitar, background vocals (Capitol)
Clay Davidson – Unconditional 2000 – producer, guitar, background vocals (Virgin Nashville)
Jude Cole – Falling Home 2000 (Watertown)
Lifehouse – No Name Face 2000 – manager, songwriter (DreamWorks)
Lindsay Pagano – Love & Faith & Inspiration 2001 – manager, songwriter, producer, musician (Warner Brothers)
Lifehouse – Stanley Climbfall 2002 – manager (DreamWorks)
Styx – Cyclorama 2003 – background vocals (Sanctuary)
Soundtrack, Beth Orton – Warchild 2003 – producer (Astralwerks)
Soundtrack, Beth Orton – How to Deal 2004 – producer (Capitol)
Lifehouse – Lifehouse 2005 – manager, songwriter (Geffen)
Mozella – I Will 2006 – producer, songwriter, musician (Maverick)
Rocco Deluca & The Burden – I Trust You to Kill Me 2006 – manager, producer, songwriter (Ironworks)
Leigh Nash – Blue on Blue 2006 – songwriter
Lifehouse – Who We Are 2007 – manager, producer, songwriter, musician (Interscope/Geffen)
honeyhoney – Loose Boots (EP) 2008 – producer (Ironworks)
honeyhoney – First Rodeo 2009 – producer (Ironworks/Universal Republic)
Jim Stapley – Love Is Surrender (EP) 2010 – producer, songwriter, musician (Ironworks)
Lifehouse – Smoke & Mirrors 2010 – manager, co-producer, songwriter, musician (Interscope/Geffen)
Rhett Miller – The Dreamer 2012 – songwriter "I'll Try To"
Lifehouse – Almería 2013 – manager, co-producer, songwriter, musician (Interscope/Geffen)
One Ok Rock – 35xxxv 2014 – producer, co-writer of song "Fight The Night"
Lifehouse – "Hurricane" 2014 – producer, co-writer of first single from forthcoming album
Lifehouse – Out of the Wasteland 2015 – producer, cowriter, manager
Kiefer Sutherland – Down in a Hole 2016 – writer, producer, musicians, engineer"
Kiefer Sutherland – Reckless & Me 2019 – writer, producer, musician, engineer"

References

External links

1960 births
Living people
American male singer-songwriters
American rock singers
American rock songwriters
Ironworks (record label) artists
Record producers from Illinois
Singer-songwriters from Illinois
Guitarists from Illinois
American male guitarists