Kid Rock Sidekick Joe C.  

Joseph Calleja, best known to music fans as Kid Rock's undersized sidekick Joe C., died in his
sleep on Thursday evening at his home in Taylor, Michigan, according to a statement issued by 
Kid Rock's label, Atlantic Records. Calleja was 26.

"We have lost part of our family," Kid Rock said in a statement Friday afternoon (November 17). 

"Family and friends are everything," Kid Rock said in the statement, on behalf of the pair's 
Twisted Brown Trucker bandmates. "Without them, all of the fame and fortune means nothing.
Joey gave us and the world his love. He brought a smile to everyone who has ever known or seen
 him.

"In a world full of confusion, Joey made all of us laugh," Kid Rock's statement continued. 
"No matter what color, religion, race, or beliefs we have, he made us all smile. He gave us the 
gift of joy. Joey, thank you. We will never forget you. We love you."

Reached on Friday, police officials in Taylor indicated that the death was being ruled as due
to natural causes and that the local medical examiner had already released the body to the
funeral home without performing an autopsy.

Calleja's short stature was the result of a lifelong illness, celiac disease, a digestive disorder
that required him to take more than 60 pills a day and be monitored by a machine at night.

Joe C. described his daily routine during an interview with MTV News' John Norris this summer.

"I'm doin' good, man," Calleja said. "I'm stickin' to my diet and takin' my medicine on time. 
You know, it's ridiculous. I take 60 pills [a day]. Right off the bat, when I wake up, [I take] 
two pills. An hour later, 10 pills. Three hours later, I've got the tube [in my stomach], and I shoot something through there three hours later. Two hours later, I take two more, and then an hour later, 
10, then shoot the tube three hours later [again]."

Joe C. made his musical debut by providing backing vocals on Kid Rock's multiplatinum 1998
 album, Devil Without a Cause.

Prior to his death, Joe C. was said to be working on a planned solo album that he jokingly told "Entertainment Weekly" in October 1999 would be titled Enquiring Size Wants To Grow.

Joe C.'s battle with celiac disease forced him to leave Kid Rock's tour in November 1999, 
although he made a brief return to the road for several dates of the recent Summer Sanitarium
tour featuring Metallica, Kid Rock, Korn, Powerman 5000 and System of a Down.

The above article is provided by MTV at www. mtv.com.The article does not mention why he had to take 60 pills per day. It is possible that he had many complication due to malabsorption from  Celiac Sprue. At this time Kid Rock has not answered our inquires about Joe C. If we get any more information on Joe C. we will post it here.

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