I know, you know... everybody's gonzo!!
"Hey, what's up? If any of you don't got a gun, a knife, handkerchief, and a Chap-Stick, get the (guitar riff) outta here!"
— Ted Nugent, from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Gee Whiz"
Theodore Anthony Nugent (born December 13, 1948) is a hard rock guitarist and vocalist from Detroit, Michigan who has sold over 14 million albums in the United States and 31 million worldwide. His best known song is "Cat Scratch Fever." Nugent has been touring annually since 1967, and chances are it will take death to stop him.
He was first in a band called the Amboy Dukes, which had a hit with "Journey to the Center of the Mind", before starting a successful solo career. In the 1970s, he recorded three multi-platinum albums: Ted Nugent, Free-For-All, and Cat Scratch Fever. He later joined the supergroup Damn Yankees before going solo again.
Ted Nugent's persona and career provide examples of:
- Big Rock Ending: "Stranglehold", "Cat Scratch Fever", and pretty much every song on Double Live Gonzo.
- The Cameo:
- Made one on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, where he shot Carl with what turned out to be an exploding arrow.
- Also two on The Simpsons. The first was in the episode "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", where a convict (voiced by Steve Buscemi) obsessed with Marge is waiting for her to call him on the prison phone. When he gets the call, it's the Nuge on the other side, asking for the passing of a pro-firearm amendment. The second was in the episode "Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson", where the Nuge asks Homer, in his stint hosting a conservative political show, to endorse him in his bid for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination.
- He also appeared as himself in the That '70s Show episode "Backstage Pass", despite the fact that it sets in the late '70s, but was filmed in 2001.
- Was set to appear in an episode of Undeclared, playing himself giving a political speech on campus. They ultimately decided not to introduce his politics on the show and re-wrote him out of the episode. The original cut with him can be found on the DVD.
- Shows up for part of an episode of Sons of Guns leaving a trail of awesome in his wake.
- Penn & Teller brought up PETA with him for the episode on them. He begins with getting a deer to tell PETA to blow him and it goes uphill from there.
- Celebrity Elegy: "Fred Bear" is about the memory of Nugent's late friend, bow manufacturer Fred Bear.
- Epic Rocking: "Stranglehold" is the best-known example, clocking in at 8 minutes and 22 seconds. The album version of "Fred Bear" clocks in at 7:41.
- Gun Nut: He's (in)famous for his humongous gun collection as he opposes gun control, which is always a frequent source of parody in popular-culture.
- Instrumentals: "Hibernation", "Homecoming"
- Intercourse with You: About 90% of his catalogue.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Nuge doesn't sing lead himself as much, usually leaving that role to his rhythm guitarist. Averted during his more recent live shows (where Nugent performs without a rhythm guitarist), where Nugent will sing most of the lead vocals.
- Nobody Poops: Averted, with Too Much Information about liking to defecate in his pants onstage.
- Rated M for Manly: His music definitely qualifies, with lyrics about sex, cars, and guns.
- Signature Headgear: He's almost never seen in public without his trademark cowboy hat.
- Step Up to the Microphone: While he has historically left vocal duties to his rhythm guitarist, he has provided lead vocals himself for some songs, including "Cat Scratch Fever", "Free For All", and "Great White Buffalo".
- Take That!: Ted has an entire song called "Kiss My Ass" that serves as one of these to the Clintons, animal rights activists, the sponsors of the Brady Bill, and various other people and things from The '90s that he doesn't particularly care for/thinks are stupid.
- Title-Only Chorus: "Wango Tango".
- Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Homecoming", an instrumental, changes from A to B major at the end of the song.
- Unusual Euphemism: "Sure do like to Boogie, sure do like to Rock. But when it's time to Wango Tango I'll do the flying lip lock."
