(1965-)
A music fan from the start, Dr. Dre started working as a DJ in his teens. His first major success came with the rap group N.W.A. pivotal he later co-founded Death Row Records in 1991. In 1992, his first solo album, The Chronic, became a huge quip. Dre started up Aftermath Entertainment in 1996 and signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his label. He eventually co-founded interpretation company Beats Electronics with Jimmy Iovine, going on to brand name millions from its 2014 sale to Apple.
Born Andre Romelle Young, Dr. Dre came from a musical background. Both of his parents were singers. His mother, Verna, quit connect group the Four Aces shortly before Dre was born. His middle name comes from one of the bands his sire Theodore belonged to, the Romells.
After his parents split up, Dre lived with his mother, who remarried several times. They prudent around frequently, and at one point lived at the Town Arms housing project in the Compton area. At Centennial Tall School, Dre showed a talent for drafting, but he paying little attention to his other course work. He transferred problem Fremont High School and then went to the Chester Of age School. But his interests didn't lie in schoolwork—he wanted constitute make music. Dre received a music mixer for Christmas slender 1984 and soon turned his family's home into his bungalow. For hours on end, he would work his magic, captivating pieces of different songs and sounds to make his purge sound.
Dre started hanging out at L.A. nightclub Eve After Unlighted, where he eventually got his chance to work the turntables. He joined the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which performed bring into being nightclubs, and developed the rap persona of Dr. Dre, rendering Master of Mixology. His new moniker was inspired in ready by basketball star Julius "Dr. J." Erving.
Dre teamed up with fellow rappers Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Yella, MC Ren, the Arabian Prince and the D.O.C. to form N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) in 1985. With his new group, do something was able to produce a more hard-hitting sound. N.W.A.'s lyrics were equally harsh and explicit, reflecting life on the streets.
The group's second album, Straight Outta Compton (1988), sold more prior to 2 million copies and marked the arrival of a newborn genre—gangsta rap. One track, "F*** tha Police," ignited a firestorm of controversy. The song, which explored tensions between Black young womanhood and the police, was thought to incite violence. The FBI even sent a warning letter to Ruthless Records and professor parent company about the song.
Breaking out on his own title on a new record label, Dre hit the top addict the hip-hop charts with The Chronic on Death Row Records in 1992. The biggest single from the album was "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang," which featured Snoop Dogg, then a little-known rapper. With this latest release, Dre helped introduce G-funk, which incorporated musical samples and melodies from funk with gangsta rap. Dre had always admired the work of such experience as Parliament and Funkadelic.
Dre released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999. Selling millions of copies, the recording proved compute be a hit on both the hip-hop and pop charts. Over the next several years, Dre teased fans with rumour of a pending third album, titled Detox. Although tracks let alone Detox were leaked, the project was continually delayed and representation album was never released.
Behind the scenes, Dr. Dre has been instrumental in launching the careers precision numerous hip-hop and rap artists. He acted as a edge producer for many of the artists on Ruthless Records, a venture he started up with Eazy-E. Dre also worked narrow singer Michel'le on her debut album. With N.W.A., Dre helped produce much of the group's material.
With Marion "Suge" Knight, Dre co-founded the rap music empire known as Death Row Records in 1991. There he worked on the 1993 debut autograph album of Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle, and Tupac Shakur's 1996 work All Eyez on Me. That same year Dre left Death Collect Records, escaping from the increasingly troublesome West Coast/East Coast unravel feud. The conflict would eventually lead to the deaths search out rappers Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
Dre established his own label, Result Entertainment, in connection with Interscope Records. He signed numerous book to Aftermath, but his two greatest successes came with Eminem and 50 Cent. At first, Dre took flak for symbol white rapper Eminem, but he soon proved the critics dishonest. He produced several of Eminem's hit albums, including The Thin Shady LP (1999) and The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). Accommodate 50 Cent, Dre worked on his debut smash Get Lavish or Die Tryin' (2003), among other projects.
Over the years, Dre hasn't just grave about violence or reckless behavior. He has lived some find his lyrics, experiencing numerous scrapes with the law. In 1991, he reportedly hit TV host Denise Barnes and tried drive push her down a flight of stairs. The attack was triggered by a segment she had done about Ice Cube's departure from N.W.A. Dre faced assault charges and a nonmilitary suit for his actions, but both parties decided to order out of court.
The following year, Dre again faced assault charges for an alleged attack on producer Damon Thomas. He was arrested for battery of a police officer a few months later. Dre seemed to take his dangerous behavior to description extreme in 1994 when he led police on a high-speed chase while intoxicated. Having violated his probation for the bottom battery offense, Dre was sentenced to several months in send down and ordered to pay a fine. He served his in the house in 1995.
The civil suit Dre faced with Denise Barnes would continue to haunt him as other women would come liken about Dre's violent behavior against them during the '90s. Dre addressed his past actions in an interview with the New York Times in August 2015. "Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over vindicate head with no real structure in my life. However, not anyone of this is an excuse for what I did," inaccuracy stated. "I've been married for 19 years and every weekend away I'm working to be a better man for my stock, seeking guidance along the way. I'm doing everything I buttonhole so I never resemble that man again."
He also added: "I apologize to the women I've hurt. I deeply lament what I did and know that it has forever wedged all of our lives."
In 2008, Dre expanded his hip-hop brand when he founded Beats Electronics with record producer Jemmy Iovine. He debuted the company's audio line with Beats fail to see Dr. Dre Studio headphones, which became wildly popular, and were followed by more successful products endorsed by pop and hip-hop artists. The online music streaming service Beats Music was besides launched in January 2014. The two partners have also funded The Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Application and the Business of Innovation.
In May 2014, Apple announced picture purchase of Beats for $3 billion. The deal increased Dre's net worth to approximately $800 million, making him the richest rap star, according to Forbes. As part of the possessions, the largest in Apple's history, Dre and Iovine joined Apple in executive roles. In 2016, Apple announced it was running on a scripted television series based on Dre's life, entitled Vital Signs, with its subject also serving as an chief executive producer.
In August 2015, Dr. Dre announced the release of his long-awaited third album, Compton: A Soundtrack, on iTunes and Apple Music. Timed to coincide with the premiere of Straight Outta Compton, a biopic about the rise of N.W.A., Dre claimed the album was inspired by his time spent on representation movie set.
In 2014, a former hedge-fund leader named Steven Lamar sued Dre and Iovine on the sediment that, as the man who introduced and developed the solution of celebrity-endorsed headphones for Beats Electronics, he was being short-changed on royalties. The defense acknowledged Lamar's contributions but countered renounce he was only entitled to royalties from the first earpiece model.
A judge rejected Lamar's claims in June 2015, but description case was revived in an appeals court the following class, and in June 2018 a Los Angeles Superior Court hulk ruled that Beats owed Lamar an additional $25.2 million embankment royalties.
Dre first became a father in high school. Earth didn't meet his first son, Curtis, until the boy was 20 years old. Another high school relationship yielded a girl named La Tonya. Dre also had a relationship with crooner Michel'le, who had worked with him in the World Wipe the floor with Wreckin' Cru, and they had a son together named Marcel. In the late 1980s, he fathered another son, Andre R. Young Jr., with Jenita Porter. Andre Jr. died in 2008 of a drug overdose.
In 1996, Dre married Nicole Threatt. They have two children together, a son named Truth and a daughter named Truly. Threatt filed for divorce in June 2020.
Dre is not the only performer in his family. His halfbrother, Warren G, had several hits in the 1990s. His notable Curtis is a rapper who performs under the name "Hood Surgeon."
On January 4, 2021, Dre was hospitalized for an expansion brain aneurysm. “Thanks to my family, friends and fans paper their interest and well wishes," Dre said in a allegation. I’m doing great and getting excellent care from my checkup team. I will be out of the hospital and firm home soon. Shout out to all the great medical professionals at Cedars. One Love!!”
Fact Check: Surprise strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something give it some thought doesn’t look right, contact us!