Biography
Born Lukasz Gottwald in Providence, Rhode Island, during 1973, Dr. Luke established himself as a leading hitmaker and studio craftsman. Raised in New York City, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music through 1997, the same year he joined the house band for the long-running NBC sketch series Saturday Night Live. Over the next decade he served as its lead guitarist while also producing tracks for underground rap acts including Black Star and KRS-One. A key alliance with Max Martin soon redirected his focus to mainstream pop, resulting in two major 2004 singles for Kelly Clarkson—“Since U Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes”—that he co-wrote and co-produced. His contributions to P!nk’s 2006 album I’m Not Dead, specifically the tracks “Who Knew” and “U + Ur Hand,” helped the project achieve platinum status. The following year he partnered with Avril Lavigne on the global chart-topper “Girlfriend.” By 2008 he had helmed further smashes such as the Sugababes’ “About You Now” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot ’n’ Cold.” In 2009 he reached the top of the charts again with Flo Rida on “Right Round,” and he co-produced Kelly Clarkson’s first U.K. number-one single, “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Additional 2009 successes included Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” and Kesha’s “Tik Tok,” while 2010 brought Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” as well as Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite.”