“I don't think of the social impact of what I’m doing,” says music manager Larry Rudolph, the famed guiding hand behind Britney Spears’ stratospheric successes and whose fingerprints have also touched the careers of Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees—
essentially shaping the sound of a generation. “But I do recognize the fact that what I do absolutely impacts culture in a big way—and yeah, I’m very proud of it.”
After years of Spears’ personal travails providing infinite gossipblog fodder, Rudolph reteamed with her to craft an odds-defying career comeback—something only he might have been able to do. “To anybody who meets her today, she’s ‘Britney Spears: The International Icon,’” he says. “She’s not that to me, nor will she ever be.She’s just that girl from Kentwood, Louisiana, I met when she was 13. We have a unique relationship that would actually be impossible, I think, for her to recreate with anybody else. I really do know her better than anyone.”
“I do my part, and with her I do it very well,” he says, but credits his client’s talent and commitment for carrying her through. “When I got back in her life, I knew the things she needed to do to get it straight. At the end of the day, all I do is sort of help guide—it’s really her that gets it done. She really wanted to win. She had the same kind of eagerness and drive she had much earlier in her career, and she still has that.”
Rudolph is also juggling new projects—a forthcoming money-management firm for athletes and entertainers during and after their careers and a roster of clients that may mold yet another generation’s musical tastes, including teen queen Victoria Justice and Jersey Shore’s Pauly D. “I just love hanging out with him,” says Rudolph with obvious affection. “The main reason I picked him up originally was because he was also a DJ, which meant he had a real career separate from a reality star. And he’s actually really, really good.”
And yes, another fallen young idol in need of career rehab—Lindsay Lohan—has reached out to him for guidance. “I believe she knows (a) what she’s done wrong and (b) what she needs to do to get it back together,” he says. “She’s got that superstar factor, and I think the public will be there for her—if and when she proves to them she deserves it. I really have high hopes for her, and I think she’s going to come back.” Coming from Rudolph, it’s wisdom Lohan might literally take to the bank.
