The Stunning Transformation Of Kate Hudson's Son Ryder Robinson
As the child of two celebrities, Ryder Robinson has been famous — or at least fame-adjacent — since he was born in January 2004. His mother, of course, is Hollywood star Kate Hudson, known for roles in such films as "Almost Famous," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," and "Marley & Me." His father is Chris Robinson, frontman for veteran rock band The Black Crowes, whose other musical ventures have included his own outfit, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.
Having celebrated his 20th birthday in 2024, the showbiz scion has already dipped a toe into the spotlight. Whether he follows the respective paths of his parents into a career in show business remains to be seen; if he does, he'll certainly have no shortage of role models to follow, given that his grandparents are Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and Hudson's fiancé, Danny Fujikawa, is a musician who was once part of Los Angeles-based band Chief. "He's also deeply funny," Hudson said of her son during an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," sharing her belief that he's likely to take up the family business. "Ryder — I mean, he clearly is gonna probably follow in the footsteps of the family."
With that in mind, keep on reading for a look at the stunning transformation of Kate Hudson's eldest son, Ryder Robinson.
Ryder Robinson arrived when mom Kate Hudson was just 23
Kate Hudson was just 21 years old when she met Chris Robinson in May 2000, encountering him at a party in New York City. The phrase "love at first sight" would certainly seem to apply in their case, given that they moved in together just a few days after meeting. Three months later, he gave her a diamond ring, and before the year had ended they had gotten married. As Hudson explained to People in 2003, the romance was driven by passion. "In the beginning we were so volatile," she divulged. "We were so in love and passionate, and then we would just hate each other and throw stuff around, and then we would travel to Paris for a week."
The couple welcomed son Ryder in January of 2004, when Hudson was 23, and she recalled how the experience of becoming a mother further tightened the bond she shared with her husband. "We're sharing something so gigantic now," Hudson told People after her son's birth. "I think it's the best we've ever felt being together."
In a 2008 interview with W Magazine (via People), Hudson insisted she had no regrets about changing diapers while most of her peers were partying free of responsibilities. "Am I gonna look back and say, God, I wish I could have gone to that ... that ... concert?" she said. "No, I'd rather be listening to my son sing songs. I'd rather be watching him sleep."
Ryder Robinson's parents tried to protect him from the spotlight
Despite the fact that both Kate Hudson and husband Chris Robinson happen to be public figures, the couple tried to keep the life of son Ryder Robinson as normal and unaffected by showbiz as possible. As Hudson told W Magazine in 2008, their son — then just 4 years old — was already heavily into sports. "He's super-athletic," the proud mama gushed. "I just signed him up for tennis camp. He's very good at riding a bike — no training wheels. And he's skiing! I was at that age too, but not as good as he is."
The bond Hudson formed with her firstborn child was a special one, as the period of time also proved to be an important stage of personal growth for her. "With Ryder, our relationship is so special because I grew up with him," she explained during an interview with The Times. "The big learning period of my life and becoming a woman happened as I was being a mother."
His parents' marriage imploded before he was 2 years old
Kate Hudson's marriage to Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson was not destined to last. In August 2006, while their son Ryder Robinson was still a toddler, Hudson's rep confirmed to People that they were separating, after almost six years of marriage. "My relationship with Kate Hudson was over before our son Ryder was two years old," the singer recalled in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, blaming himself for the split.
Hudson shared her perspective during a 2024 appearance on "The Howard Stern Show." "My relationship with Chris was so beautiful and there was so much love there, but I really did grow out of it, and it was a very hard breakup," she said (via People). "That was not an easy breakup; I was very in love with him, but it wasn't going to be the rest of my life."
Despite the divorce, Hudson and her ex put aside their differences for the best interests of their son, maintaining a friendly relationship with each other while co-parenting Ryder. "I am not afraid of the realities that befall all of us when things go wrong," Robinson added, "and I take a lot of pride in being responsible as a parent." Over the years, the exes have remained in contact about their son, a scenario that Hudson described as being somewhat casual. "Chris and I just need to check in once in a while," she told The Times.
Ryder Robinson made his red carpet debut with his mom
Kate Hudson may have kept son Ryder Robinson out of the harsh glare of the media spotlight for most of his childhood, but a point finally came where she began bringing him with her for events when photographers would be present. That moment arrived in 2016, when the 12-year-old accompanied his mom to a screening of "Kung Fu Panda 3," in which she provided the voice of panda Mei Mei.
In 2017, Ryder was once again her plus-one on the red carpet at an event honoring MindUp, a charity initiative launched by grandma Goldie Hawn's The Hawn Foundation. "As I've grown up, this [program] is about as old as I am, and so I've gotten to watch this get bigger and better as I grow up," Robinson said of MindUp, as reported by ET. "So it's always been helpful for me in everything ... It's really great." Hudson was suitably impressed by her son's response. "Oh my god, honey," she gushed. "He's so eloquently spoken."
A few years later, 17-year-old Robinson joined his mother on another red carpet when they attended the 2021 launch of fashion designer Stella McCartney's new Beatles-inspired collection.
He dated one of Judd Apatow's daughters
Ryder Robinson began making news — the celebrity variety, at least — when he began dating Iris Apatow, daughter of director Judd Apatow and actor Leslie Mann. In 2022, Iris and Robinson took their romance public in a Valentine's Day Instagram post, and then celebrated their anniversary in a subsequent post (both of which have subsequently been deleted). Robinson likewise took things Instagram official, but also wound up deleting his post.
In a March 2022 interview with E! News, Iris revealed that her parents and her sister, "Euphoria" star Maude Apatow, were all big fans of her then-boyfriend. "My whole family loves him," she told the outlet. "And my sister loves him. She's the first person to be like, 'He's the best.'"
Sadly, Robinson's romance with Iris did not stand the test of time. By the following Valentine's Day, in 2023, they had broken up, and she had already moved on to dating aspiring filmmaker Henry Haber.
His divorced parents reunited for his high school graduation
When Ryder Robinson graduated from high school, parents Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson — despite having moved on with new partners in their respective lives — were on hand to happily reunite for the occasion. Hudson took to Instagram to post some photos from the graduation ceremony, including one in which she and her ex-husband proudly flanked their son. "Today was a big day for our family," she wrote in the caption. "A day you talk about when your kids are little and say things like 'hey, one day it will be 2022 and you'll graduate from high school!' As if that day is so far it is barely reachable. And then here we are!"
After complimenting her son's generosity, kindness, and keen sense of humor, Hudson concluded by sending a shout-out to other moms and dads out there who were also marking that particular milestone. "To all the parents out there feeling the same thing I am today! CONGRATS!" she added. "Letting your babies fly ain't easy but fly kiddos fly!"
Ryder Robinson inherited his parents' talent for music
Chris Robinson's cred as a rocker is undisputed, with his distinctive pipes heard on such Black Crowes hits as "Jealous Again," "Remedy," and "Hard to Handle." His ex-wife, Kate Hudson, has also displayed a gift for music, demonstrated with her shift to singing with the 2024 release of her debut album, "Glorious."
By all indications, their son, Ryder Robinson, also has musical inclinations. That was evident in a video Hudson shared on Instagram, in which Ryder and his younger brother — Bingham "Bing" Bellamy — rocked out in garage-band glory. With Ryder thrashing away on a guitar and Bing pounding the drums, the siblings whipped their heads around like rock stars as they jammed. "My boys," Hudson proudly wrote in the caption. "What more could a mom ask for other than boys who play rock and are hilarious at the same time."
In fact, Robinson's musical efforts aren't confined to his mom's garage. In his spare time, he played guitar in his band, Codependence, and occasionally posted photos of himself in action via social media— including some shots of himself and his bandmates performing in September 2022 at The Smell, an all-ages club in Los Angeles, that he posted on Instagram.
Ryder Robinson left his mom in tears when he went to college
After graduating high school, Ryder Robinson took the next step in his educational journey. "Ryder is in college and very happy," his mom, Kate Hudson, revealed while speaking with The Times.
Hudson herself, however, experienced mixed feelings about watching her firstborn child fly away on his own. "It's hard to even talk about," she confessed while discussing her son heading to college in a 2022 interview with "Access Hollywood." "I'll have a moment where I'll just start crying because something will just hit me that he's not here." However, as much as she was missing him, she was even more excited for what he'd be experiencing as he embarked on the next stage in his life journey as he began his freshman year at New York University. "But he's having a blast, he's in the city, he's like ready," she added. "And that makes me so excited. I'm so excited for his future. When you see your kids thriving and feeling good in their skin that's all I can ask for."
During that interview, Hudson also recalled a recent telephone conversation she'd had with Ryder about how much he was enjoying attending college in New York City. "He was in such a good place and I remember that time in my life when everything in front of you is possible," she said. "And I could see it in him and I was just so overwhelmed and I was going to cry."
His mom is proud of the adult he's become
With Kate Hudson having sent son Ryder Robinson off to college, she's been able to reflect on the fact that she wasn't that much older than him when she and then-husband Chris Robinson welcomed him into the world. In a 2024 interview with People, Hudson admitted she was struck by the notion that she became a first-time mom when she was close to Ryder's current age, who'd just turned 20. "That's been the wild discovery for me," she mused. "I just can't believe that I was only a couple years older than him when I decided to have a child."
And while she was enjoying being able to experience the life of a college freshman vicariously through her son, she did admit to having one regret about him attending New York University. "I wish he lived a little closer," she said. "But I just love seeing him explore his adulthood. He's an adult, you know? He's out in the world and doing his thing ... We're very close and I'm very proud."
His birth story was featured in his mom's 2024 music video
Kate Hudson's jump into the music industry has been in the works for years. Her aspirations finally came to fruition when she unveiled her first album, "Glorious," in 2024. Collaborating with fiancé Danny Fujikawa and songwriter/producer Linda Perry, the album's debut single, "Live Forever," was accompanied by a music video.
That video is a tribute of sorts to son Ryder Robinson. Featuring her own personal home videos, the "Live Forever" video documents her eldest child's birth, including footage of Hudson on a hospital gurney while then-husband Chris Robinson strokes her forehead, and her mom, Goldie Hawn, gazes down at her. As the video continues, footage of Ryder as a newborn is interwoven with video of him at various stages of his development, along with newly shot video of Hudson singing the song. The video concludes with Hudson tearfully saying goodbye to her son as he leaves for college.
While Hudson admits that the song's lyrics are open to multiple interpretations, her own personal take is evident in the video. "Depending on how you listen, it could be a song of first love, young love, because it has the element of being barely an adult. If that's how it is for you, I love that," Hudson said of the song in a press release (via Rolling Stone). "But for me, it's about the absolutely consuming joy Ryder was for me from the moment he arrived."
Ryder Robinson is close with his younger siblings
Given that each of Kate Hudson's three children has a different father, she's first to admit that her family is unconventional. While Ryder Robinson resulted from her marriage to Chris Robinson, she shares son Bingham "Bing" Bellamy with ex Matt Bellamy (lead singer of British band Muse), while fiancé Danny Fujikawa is father of her daughter, Rani Rose. "It might not look traditional from the outside, but on the inside, I feel like we're killing it," she told The Times. "The unit that I've created with three children with three different fathers is a seriously strong unit, and it's ours."
As she explained in an interview with People, each of her children may have different dads, yet they're all as close as siblings can be. "I think the thing that's so unique about my life is that in this very patchwork family, we all have figured it out ... The kids feel like they have this huge family," she said.
That's particularly true of her oldest, Ryder Robinson, something she made clear in a 2018 photo that Hudson shared in an Instagram Story (as reported by People). In that post, Hudson revealed that Ryder had just gotten a tattoo reading "CBR" — the initials of his siblings: C for sister Cheyenne (shared by dad Chris Robinson and his ex-wife, Allison Bridges); B for little brother Bingham; and R for sis Rani Rose.
He's offered glimpses into his life on social media
Like many people his age, Ryder Robinson has expressed himself through social media. That's certainly been the case with Instagram, and while he's not a particularly prolific poster, he has maintained a regular presence on the platform for years. Posts have included photos of him performing karaoke, vacationing in Rome, performing with his band, Codependence, and giving little sister Rani Rose a sweet kiss on the forehead.
He's also been featured in the social media posts of mom Kate Hudson, including a hilarious video in which he delivered a pitch-perfect impersonation of her, demonstrating how to make a goji berry protein shake. "Um, it's delicious, I give it to my kids, they love it, my whole family does," he deadpanned, while Hudson was seen cracking up in the background.
"I would say he's probably the funniest in our family," Hudson said of her son's irrepressible sense of humour while appearing on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." "So this is like everyday for me," she said, referring to her son mocking her on social media. "Nobody makes me laugh like Ryder, and he just constantly makes fun of me."