Theodore Anthony Nugent (born December 13, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known by several names, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent first became famous as the lead guitarist and sometimes singer of the Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock and hard rock. After the band ended, he started a successful solo music career. His first three solo albums, Ted Nugent (1975), Free-for-All (1976), and Cat Scratch Fever (1977), along with the live album Double Live Gonzo! (1978), were certified multi-platinum in the United States. His most recent album, Detroit Muscle, was released in 2022. In 2023, he began a farewell tour called the "Adios Mofo Tour," but he has continued to perform since then.

Nugent is known for playing the Gibson Byrdland guitar, his fast and expressive playing style, and his lively live performances. Although he has a strong and versatile singing voice, he often shared lead singing duties with other musicians during his early solo career, including Derek St. Holmes, Charlie Huhn, Brian Howe, and Meat Loaf. He later took on full lead vocal responsibilities. His most famous song, "Cat Scratch Fever," from 1977, features him as the lead singer. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was part of the supergroup Damn Yankees.

Since the 2000s, Nugent has been known for his strong conservative political views and his support for hunting and gun rights. He was a member of the National Rifle Association and a supporter of the Republican Party. He has made statements that criticized people who support gun control laws. In one case, the Secret Service looked into his comments about President Barack Obama. Since 2015, Nugent has been a major supporter of Donald Trump and has performed at several of Trump's rallies and campaign events.

Early life

Ted Nugent was born in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the second child of four born to Marion Dorothy (Johnson) and Warren Henry Nugent. His mother’s parents were from Sweden, and he grew up in Redford, Michigan. In 1965, his father moved to work in the Chicago area, where Ted attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights.

Ted grew up in a military family. His father worked as an army sergeant for many years. Ted did not serve in the military, even though he was a teenager during the Vietnam War. In interviews from 1977 and 1990 with High Times and the Detroit Free Press, he said he intentionally failed his draft physical by eating only junk food for days and not cleaning himself properly for a week. He later denied this story during a 2018 interview on The Joe Rogan Experience. He said he made up the story as a joke for himself and his band, because he thought reporters from High Times (a magazine about marijuana) often shared incorrect information. He claimed he wanted to tease the reporters and said he passed his draft physical in 1969 without any problems. He also said he was not given a 4-F draft classification, which means he was not eligible for military service.

Official military records show that Ted was given student deferments while attending Oakland Community College in Michigan. After leaving the school, he was rated I-A for the draft. He failed his draft physical on August 28, 1969, and was then rated 1-Y, which meant he could only serve in times of war or national emergency. This classification was removed in 1971, and he was later reclassified as 4-F, which means he was not eligible for military service because he did not meet physical, mental, or moral standards.

Musical career

Ted Nugent was influenced by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard. The first group of the Amboy Dukes played at The Cellar, a teen dance club in Arlington Heights, Illinois, starting in late 1965, while Nugent was a student at St. Viator High School. The Cellar's house band was the Shadows of Knight, but the Amboy Dukes became a regular act there until the club closed.

The Amboy Dukes' second single was "Journey to the Center of the Mind," which had lyrics written by the band's second guitarist, Steve Farmer. The album of the same name had a cover showing drug-related items. Nugent said he did not know the song was about drug use. Early albums, The Amboy Dukes (1967), Journey to the Center of the Mind (1968), and Migration (1969)—all released on the Mainstream label—sold moderately well. In April 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Nugent joined other musicians in a tribute to King. The event included performances by Joni Mitchell, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin, B. B. King, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Richie Havens, and Jimi Hendrix. Al Kooper also participated.

In 1973, Nugent moved to a ranch in Michigan and signed with Frank Zappa's DiscReet Records. He recorded Call of the Wild under the name Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes. The album Tooth Fang & Claw, which included the song "Great White Buffalo," helped build a fan base. However, changes in the band's members nearly caused the group to break up. In 2009, Nugent reunited with the Amboy Dukes at the Detroit Music Awards. The band received a distinguished achievement award and performed together for the first time in over 30 years.

In 1975, Nugent dropped the Amboy Dukes name and signed with Epic Records. He kept bassist Rob Grange and added Derek St. Holmes (guitar, vocals) and Clifford Davies (drums). These albums included popular tracks like "Hey Baby" and "Cat Scratch Fever." Although most songwriting credits were given to Nugent, St. Holmes claimed the songs were co-written by the band.

During this time, Nugent became a guitar hero. The band toured and released the live album Double Live Gonzo! before breaking up in 1978. In the 1980s, the band lineup changed again. The album Intensities in 10 Cities included the controversial song "Jailbait."

In 1979, Nugent performed on the King Biscuit

Television and movie appearances

Ted Nugent has appeared in many reality shows, including his own outdoor television program on the Outdoor Channel. The show, called Spirit of the Wild, has been on air since 2001. The program's theme music was his popular song "Spirit of the Wild." In the series, Nugent took viewers on hunting trips using a bow. He also shared knowledge about hunting and conservation with people around the world. In one episode, Nugent shot a young deer with a bow. Two game wardens later saw the episode and charged him with 11 minor violations of California hunting laws. Nugent admitted guilt for two of these violations.

In 2003, Nugent hosted a VH1 reality show called Surviving Nugent, where city residents lived on his Michigan ranch. During filming, he injured himself with a chainsaw, requiring 40 stitches and a leg brace. In 2005, he hosted a show named Wanted: Ted or Alive on the Outdoor Life Network, which later became the NBC Sports Network. Contestants on the show competed for money and hunting opportunities with "Uncle Ted." They had to kill and prepare their own food to survive.

In 2006, Nugent appeared on VH1's SuperGroup with musicians such as Scott Ian, Evan Seinfeld, Sebastian Bach, and Jason Bonham. The group was first called FIST but later renamed Damnocracy. A rare musical performance between Nugent and guitarist Joe Bonamassa was filmed for a 45-minute blues jam. In 2009, he starred in a CMT show titled Runnin' Wild … From Ted Nugent, where he taught survival skills to competitors. In 2008, he appeared on an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and spoke about obesity and public health care.

In 1986, Nugent guest-starred in a Miami Vice episode titled "Definitely Miami," playing a villain. His songs "Angry Young Man" and "Little Miss Dangerous" were featured in Miami Vice episodes, though he did not appear in the latter. In 2001, he appeared as himself in an episode of That '70s Show and in a short-lived FOX comedy called Undeclared. The Undeclared episode "Full Bluntal Nugety" originally included Nugent discussing hunting and gun control, but FOX removed his content and re-edited the episode. A version of the original episode, including deleted scenes, is available on the Undeclared DVD. Nugent also appeared on Aqua Teen Hunger Force in an episode titled "Gee Whiz."

In 2007, Nugent appeared in the music video for Nickelback's song "Rockstar." That same year, he debated The Simpsons producer Sam Simon on The Howard Stern Show about hunting ethics. Later, he appeared on The Simpsons in an episode where a character humorously referenced his views on crossbows in schools.

Nugent made his movie debut in 2008 in Beer for My Horses, playing a rock musician sheriff who enjoys hunting. In 2012, he appeared as himself on The Simpsons in an episode where he was nominated as a Republican presidential candidate.

Personal life

Ted Nugent supports the Detroit Red Wings in ice hockey, the Detroit Pistons in basketball, the Detroit Lions in football, and the Detroit Tigers in baseball. In 2021, he sold over 400 items from his personal collection. These items included his 1958 and 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitars, a 1956 Fender Stratocaster, and several Gibson Byrdland guitars.

Ted Nugent has been married twice and has six children with four different women. In the late 1960s, before his first marriage, he had a son and a daughter, both of whom he gave up for adoption when they were babies. This information became known to the public in 2010. The children were adopted separately and did not know about each other until the daughter found out about her birth father through her efforts to connect with him and their birth parents. A news report stated that over the years, Nugent had discussed the existence of these children with his other children.

He was married to his first wife, Sandra Jezowski, from 1970 to 1979. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Jezowski died in a car accident in 1982.

He met Shemane Deziel while she was working at a radio station in Detroit. They married on January 21, 1989, and have a son. In 2005, Ted Nugent agreed to pay $3,500 each month in child support for a son he had with a woman named Karen Gutowski while he was married to Deziel.

Ted Nugent’s 1981 song "Jailbait" mentions statutory rape. In a television program called Behind the Music, he admitted to having sexual relationships with underage girls on multiple occasions. In 2013, Courtney Love, a musician from the band Hole, said she performed oral sex on Nugent when she was 14 and that other young girls were waiting to have similar experiences with him.

In 1978, when he was 29 years old, Nugent began a relationship with Pele Massa, a 17-year-old from Hawaii. In a television program, he said that Pele Massa’s parents approved of the relationship and preferred him to someone who used drugs or alcohol. It is claimed that Nugent tried to become Pele Massa’s legal guardian with her parents’ permission. In a 2021 live video, Nugent stated, "No, I wasn’t a sex offender, I’ve never been a sex offender."

Since the 1970s, Nugent has supported efforts to prevent drug and alcohol use. He is a national representative for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. In 2018, he admitted that he drinks "a little wine." He also has hearing loss. In a 2007 interview, he said, "The ear's not too good, especially with background noise, but that's a small price to pay. Believe me, the journey was worth it."

Politics

Ted Nugent is a strong supporter of the Republican Party and conservative causes, especially gun rights and hunter rights. He supports President Donald Trump and has made statements critical of former President Barack Obama. One of his comments was seen as potentially threatening, leading to an investigation by the Secret Service.

In addition to supporting Trump, Nugent endorsed Mitt Romney for president and Joe Arpaio for sheriff of Maricopa County in the 2012 U.S. elections. He also worked as treasurer and co-chairman for Sid Miller’s 2014 campaign for Texas Agriculture Commissioner. Despite supporting Republicans, he criticized some Republican politicians. During the 2008 presidential election, he said John McCain was "catering to a growing segment of soulless Americans who care less what they can do for their country, but whine louder and louder about what their country must do for them." In 2014, he clashed with Jay Dean, then mayor of Longview, Texas, after Dean canceled Nugent’s appearance at a July 4 concert. Dean said Nugent’s music was unsuitable for family audiences. Longview paid Nugent $16,000, half of what he had been promised, to drop out of the event. Nugent called Dean "racist" and "clueless, dishonest, and one of the bad guys."

Nugent opposes animal rights. In an interview, he said, "I’m stymied to come up with anything funnier than people who think animals have rights. Just stick an arrow through their lungs." In 1992, he called Heidi Prescott of the Fund for Animals a "worthless whore" and a "shallow slut," asking, "who needs to club a seal, when you can club Heidi?" He was ordered by a court to pay Prescott $75,000.

In 2000, Bhaskar Sinha was briefly jailed after threatening and physically attacking Nugent outside a San Francisco department store. Sinha was taken into custody by Nugent until police arrived. Some protesters claimed Nugent started the altercation by spitting on them when given an anti-fur flyer. A police officer on the scene said he did not believe Nugent spat on anyone. Nugent has reportedly received death threats from animal rights activists. On a TV show, he said, "We’ve got reports where animal rights extremists have threatened to kill my children on the way to school because we eat pheasant."

Nugent defended Kid Rock, a fellow musician and hunter, after Rock killed a mountain lion in 2015. He called critics of Rock "braindead squawkers" and said killing the lion helped control predator numbers and supported deer populations, which are important for hunting. In 2015, he called people upset about the killing of Cecil the lion "stupid." Nugent owns a 340-acre hunting ranch in Michigan called Sunrize Acres. Critics say the facility offers "canned" hunts. Nugent acknowledged criticism about "canned hunting" but still operates the ranch, calling it "high fence hunting." In 2012, he agreed to a plea deal for transporting an illegally killed black bear in Alaska. His sentence included two years of probation, a ban on hunting and fishing in Alaska and on U.S. Forest Service lands for one year, a $10,000 fine, and a requirement to produce a public service announcement about hunters’ responsibilities. The judge in the case said he had never heard of the law Nugent was charged with.

Nugent’s views on animal rights have drawn criticism from musicians like Paul McCartney and John Feldmann. Feldmann wrote a song titled "Fuck Ted Nugent" for his band Goldfinger.

Some people consider Nugent’s views racist. In 1990, he said, "Apartheid isn’t that cut-and-dry. All men are not created equal." He described black South Africans as "a different breed of man" who "still put bones in their noses" and "wipe their butts with their hands." In 2008, he appeared on a white nationalist radio show during Barack Obama’s election as the first Black U.S. president. In 2012, he said, "I’m beginning to wonder if it would have been best had the South won the Civil War." He criticized Black Lives Matter, calling it a "terrorist organization" and saying it "doesn’t give a shit about Black lives." In 2011, he said he would not mind if one of his children came out as gay but called same-sex relationships "against nature" and "strange as hell." He added, "I say live and let live."

Nugent has criticized climate change, calling it "global warming bullshit" and said people who believe in electric vehicles "have to be mentally ill." At a 2009 rally in West Virginia, he supported "mountaintop removal mining" and told a coal company, "Start up the bulldozers and get me some more coal."

In 2020, he opposed a plan to reintroduce gray wolves into Colorado, urging voters to reject it. Environmental groups supported the plan.

In 2004, while visiting U.S. troops in Iraq, Nugent toured Saddam Hussein’s former war room. He said, "Our failure has been not to Nagasaki them." He has criticized Islamic countries, calling Islam a "voodoo religion" that "believes in world domination." In 2023, at a Trump rally, he said, "I want my money back, I didn’t authorize any money to Ukraine, to some homosexual weirdo."

Nugent supports gun rights and served on the board of the National Rifle Association (NRA). He said, "If it was up to me, if you uttered the word 'gun control,' we’d put you in jail

Band members

• Ted Nugent – lead and rhythm guitar, main and supporting vocals, sometimes bass (1974–present)
• Jason Hartless – drums, supporting vocals (2016–present)
• Johnny Schoen – bass, supporting vocals (2023–present)

• Rob Grange – bass, supporting vocals (1971–1978, one appearance in 2006)
• Derek St. Holmes – main and supporting vocals, rhythm guitar (1974–1976, 1976–1978, 1982, 1993–1995, 2011–2016, one appearance in 2006)
• Cliff Davies – drums, supporting and occasional main vocals (1974–1981, one appearance in 2006; passed away in 2008)
• Meat Loaf – main vocals (1976; passed away in 2022)
• Charlie Huhn – main vocals, rhythm guitar (1978–1982)
• Dave Kiswinery – bass, supporting vocals (1979–1986, 1988)
• Carmine Appice – drums, supporting vocals (1982–1983)
• Bobby Chouinard – drums (1983–1985; passed away in 1997)
• Brian Howe – vocals (1984–1985; passed away in 2020)
• Alan St. John – keyboards, supporting vocals (1983–1985)
• Dave Amato – rhythm guitar, main and supporting vocals (1985–1988)
• Michael Mason – drums, supporting vocals (1985–1987)
• Ricky Phillips – bass, supporting vocals (1986–1987)
• Chuck Wright – bass (1987–1988)
• Pat Torpey – drums, supporting vocals (1987–1988; passed away in 2018)
• Mike Lutz – bass, keyboards, supporting vocals (1993–1998, 2002)
• Denny Carmassi – drums (1993–1997)
• Marco Mendoza – bass, supporting and occasional main vocals (2000–2003)
• Tommy Aldridge – drums, supporting vocals (1997–2001)
• Tommy Clufetos – drums, supporting vocals (2002–2005, 2007)
• Barry Sparks – bass, supporting and occasional main vocals (2003–2007)
• Mick Brown – drums, supporting vocals (2005–2014, 2015–2016)
• Jack Blades – bass, supporting vocals (2007)
• Greg Smith – bass, supporting and occasional main vocals (2007–2022)
• Jonathan Kutz – drums (2014)
• Johnny Bee Badanjek – drums (2014)

Published books

• Nugent, Ted; Blood Trails: The Truth About Bowhunting; Ted Nugent (1991); ISBN B0006ORP2G (146 pages)
• Nugent, Ted; God, Guns & Rock and Roll; Regnery Publishing, Inc. (August 21, 2000); ISBN 0-89526-173-1 (316 pages)
• Nugent, Ted; Blood Trails II: The Truth About Bowhunting; Woods N' Water Inc. (November 12, 2004); ISBN 0-9722804-7-2 (256 pages)
• Nugent, Ted and Nugent, Shemane; Kill It & Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish; Regnery Publishing Inc. (June 25, 2005); ISBN 0-89526-164-2 (250 pages)
• Nugent, Ted; Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto; Regnery Publishing Inc. (November 12, 2008); ISBN 978-1-59698-555-1 (256 pages)