The Carbon Cliff/Silvis, IL native’s father made his living as a car salesman, real estate salesman and more than that, full time gambler, with a stay-at-home mom. Cole grew up subconsciously groomed by the country records played in his home, listening to the likes of George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Bobby Bare and Kris Kristofferson, learning from his dad where the hook lay in each song.

Hearing Elvis Presley and Meet the Beatles was a game-changer. Picking up a broom and pretending it was a guitar, he eventually became the proud owner of a  60’s Harmony Rocket. At the age of 12 he formed a series of garage bands, eventually quit high school at 18 and, in 1978, took his first-ever flight in a prop plane to Southern California in search of a musical career.

Through a friend who belonged to the local Musicians Contact Service, Cole was recruited as guitarist and background vocalist in 1978 by Moon Martin, a singer/songwriter covered by Robert Palmer (“Bad Case of Loving You) and Mink DeVille (“Cadillac Walk”).

Moon had his own critical success in the US and overseas with “Rolene” and “Bad News”. Cole learned a lot about writing from Moon and finally co-wrote two cuts with him, “No Dice” from the album Street Fever, and “She’s In Love With My Car” from Mystery Ticket. At the same time Cole’s “Paula Meet Jeanne” was covered by British Rockabilly/New Wave artist Dave Edmunds for his DE7 album.

Concurrently, he moved to London to join the U.K. band The Records, recording their 1980 album, Crashes, and going once again on the road opening for the likes of The Police, Joe Jackson and The Pretenders. For this time, and the next 7 years, Cole toured with Moon Martin, The Records, Dwight Twilley, Billy Thorpe, as bassist for Del Shannon, provided background vocals for primetime TV shows, and wrote and performed the theme song for Alan Carr’s Where the Boys Are ‘84.

Cole has also composed musical scores for several films and contributed guitar to Randy Newman’s “Maverick” and James Newton Howard’s “Grand Canyon”, and has played guitar, bass, keyboards and background vocals on albums with Lifehouse, Jewel, Beth Orton, Travis Tritt, Moon Martin, One OK Rock and many others.

By the early ‘80s, Cole had burned out on the seemingly endless touring life, and began working on his own songs with an eye towards a solo career. Through a connection with Chicago’s Peter Cetera, Jude was signed to Warner Bros. Records and released his self-titled debut in 1987, featuring Russ Titelman as producer.

Cole’s 1990 follow-up, A View From 3rd Street, delivered his first hits with “Baby, It’s Tonight” cracking the Top 5 on R&R’s Pop Singles chart and “Time for Letting Go” (also covered by Billy Ray Cyrus in 1998), with other singles “House Full of Reasons” and “Compared To Nothing”.

Produced by noted film composer and friend James Newton-Howard – 1992’s Start the Car found him taking a more heartland roots-rocker Americana direction. Songs like title track “Start The Car” (R&R top 5 Rock), the yearning power ballad, “Tell the Truth” (cowritten by Howard), and the harmonica-laced country swagger of “First Your Money (Then Your Clothes)”, a song he co-wrote with frequent collaborator George M. Green, based on a saying Jude’s poker-playing father would declare when on rare occasion he came home a loser. -“That’s the way it goes… First your money, then your clothes”

Warner Bros. & Island Records

Encouraged by his manager, the late Ed Leffler, (Van Halen, Sammy Hagar) – Cole left Warner Bros. to sign with Island Records for his fourth solo album, 1995’s I Don’t Know Why I Act This Way. This effort offered a darker, more pensive Cole, reflected in the Edward Hopper Nighthawks influenced album cover with songs like “Speed Of Life” “Believe In You” and “Joe,” featuring a spoken-word narrative from friend Kiefer Sutherland.

This move from Warner Bros. to Island Records was a poor choice, in Cole’s own words. “I probably suffered from too much respect for my manager,” he reflects. I did what he told me to do and didn’t consider the home I had built on my own or those who had invested in me at Warner Bros.

With his Island journey short-lived, Cole found himself uncertain of his future with a wife and two kids, no label and the musical climate changing dramatically.

Epiphanies

In 1997, Cole had an epiphany and re-definition of how to move forward. He decided to take his experiences as an artist and use it to help others avoid the pitfalls he had learned the hard way. He wrote, produced and shopped songs for 13-year-old singer Lindsay Pagano and immediately got her signed to Warner Bros. Records.

She would go on to appear as Time Warner’s “AOL Girl”, and later a contestant on The Voice. At the same time, Jude was introduced to 17-year-old singer-songwriter from Seattle, Jason Wade, whom he would steer to the DreamWorks label. This would begin a new chapter in his career as manager and producer…

Wade’s success was immediate with Lifehouse. With creative and business direction from Cole, the band’s debut album, No Name Face, went to #6 on the Billboard 200, spawning three hit singles, including “Hanging by a Moment,” a #1 Modern Rock hit that became Top 40’s Most Played Song, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100. Since 2000, Lifehouse has released seven albums that have cumulatively sold 15 million records around the world. Cole’s co-writes with Wade include “You and Me,” “First Time”, “Whatever It Takes,” “Halfway Gone,” “All In,” “Falling In,” “Between the Raindrops” and “Hurricane” and many others.

Ironworks Music

Jude took his management firm inside the walls of Irving Azoff’s company for four years. After this he left to form Ironworks Music with partner Kiefer Sutherland, which began as a recording studio and eventually became a record label and music publishing company.

Together they signed a host of artists, teamed with Universal Republic for a brief time, as well as releasing Jude Cole’s 2000 independent release Falling Home, Lifehouse’s Out of the Wasteland, in 2015, and most recently, Kiefer Sutherland’s Down In A Hole album (Ironworks/Warner Music Nashville).

In his multi-hyphenate role, Cole has managed to cross over the boundaries between a creative artist and businessman, one of the few who can handle both effectively. With no “pipe dreams” about his musical career these days, Jude is releasing a series of singles on a regular basis, including a heartfelt and poignant “Partners in Time” and a Pink Floyd-influenced “The Dark,” both mixed by long-time colleague Chris Lord-Alge.

Cole’s eclectic mix of styles – from country twang to British new wave synth-pop, from heartland rocker to yearning balladeer – has made him difficult to categorize in an industry that loves to pigeonhole. Cole admits that may have hurt him in the past, but is quite comfortable with the schizophrenia of it all now. “It’s just music,” he simply states.

“For me, it all comes back full circle to being a songwriter,” he said. “When I was just a guitar player looking for a way through, I found I could write songs pretty well, and that provided a life for me. When I finish a song, it makes me feel like everything’s right. If I could just write songs for the rest of my life, I’d be a pretty happy guy.”