Dr. Dre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre in 2013
Born	Andre Romell Young (1965-02-18) February 18, 1965 (age 59) Compton, California, U.S.
Other names	Dre Brickhard The Mechanic
Education	Centennial High School John C. Fremont High School
Occupation	Record producer rapper songwriter entrepreneur record executive actor
Years active	1984–present
Works	Discography filmography production
Spouse(s)	Nicole Plotzker ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2021)​
Children	8
Relatives	Sir Jinx (cousin) Warren G (step-brother) Olaijah Griffin (step-nephew)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	West Coast hip hop gangsta rap G-funk
Labels	Interscope Aftermath Death Row Priority Ruthless Kru-Cut Epic

Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American record producer and rapper. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founded and was the president of Death Row Records.

Early life

Andre Romell Young was born in Compton, California, on February 18, 1965, the son of Theodore and Verna Young. His middle name is derived from the Romells, his father's amateur R&B group. His parents married in 1964, separated in 1968, and divorced in 1972. His mother later remarried to Curtis Crayon and had three children: sons Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.

In 1976, Dre began attending Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, but due to gang violence, he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. The family moved often and lived in apartments and houses in Compton, Carson, Long Beach, and the Watts and South Central neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Dre has said that he was mostly raised by his grandmother in the New Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton. His mother later married Warren Griffin, which added three step-sisters and one step-brother to the family; the latter would eventually begin rapping under the name Warren G. Dre is also the cousin of producer Sir Jinx. Dre attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles due to poor grades. He attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years.

Dre's frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.

Musical career

Young began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1985, and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. During the early 1990s, Young was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy production.

Young's solo debut studio album The Chronic (1992), released under Death Row Records, made him one of the best-selling American music artists of 1993. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for the single "Let Me Ride", as well as several accolades for the single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang". That year, he produced Death Row labelmate Snoop Doggy Dogg's debut album Doggystyle and mentored producers such as his stepbrother Warren G (leading to the multi-platinum debut Regulate...G Funk Era in 1994) and Snoop Dogg's cousin Daz Dillinger (leading to the double-platinum debut Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound in 1995), and would later mentor other producers including Mel-Man and Scott Storch. In 1996, Young left Death Row Records to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. He produced a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents: The Aftermath, in 1996, and released his second solo album, 2001, in 1999.

During the 2000s, Young focused on producing other artists, occasionally contributing vocals. He signed Eminem in 1998 and 50 Cent in 2002, and heavily produced their output while they were signed with Aftermath. Through the label, Dre signed other artists including the Game, Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic, Busta Rhymes, Eve, and Rakim, among others. He has won seven Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rolling Stone ranked him number 56 on the list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson. Paak. The performance was met with critical acclaim and is the first Super Bowl halftime show to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The show also won the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction. The same year, he produced numerous songs including "The King and I", a collaboration between Eminem and CeeLo Green for the 2022 biopic, Elvis, and a remix of Kanye West's song "Use This Gospel" for DJ Khaled's album God Did.

In September 2022, it was reported that Dr. Dre will compose the original score for the upcoming animated series, Death for Hire: The Origin of Tehk City. The show is created by Ice-T and Arabian Prince; based on the graphic novel of the same title, it features the voice talent of Ice-T, his wife Coco Austin, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Treach among others.

In February 2023, Dre and Marsha Ambrosius held a listening party for the Casablanco album in Los Angeles.

Other ventures

Film appearances

Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie Set It Off. In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies The Wash and Training Day. A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al and produced by Mahogany), was featured on The Wash soundtrack. Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg.

Crucial Films

In February 2007, it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing." Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre produced Straight Outta Compton (2015), a biographical film about N.W.A.

Entrepreneurship

Beats Electronics

Beats by Dr. Dre logo

In 2006, Dre co-founded Beats Electronics with his partner, Jimmy Iovine. Its first brand of headphones were launched in July 2008. The line consisted of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone; Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone; Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone; Beats Spin; Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone; and Diddy Beats. In late 2009, Hewlett-Packard participated in a deal to bundle Beats By Dr. Dre with some HP laptops and headsets. HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event. An exclusive laptop, known as the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, was released for sale October 22. In January 2014, Beats Music was introduced and launched as a streaming service. Then, in May, technology giant Apple purchased the Beats brand for $3.4 billion. The deal made Dr. Dre the "richest man in hip hop". Dr. Dre became an Apple employee in an executive role, and worked with Apple for years. As of 2022, it was found that Apple had subtracted $200 million from the deal after entertainer Tyrese Gibson revealed the news of the acquisition on social media a month before it was completed without the company's permission.

Philanthropy

During May 2013, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine donated a $70-million endowment to the University of Southern California to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The goal of the academy has been stated as "to shape the future by nurturing the talents, passions, leadership and risk-taking of uniquely qualified students who are motivated to explore and create new art forms, technologies, and business models." The first class of the academy began in September 2014.

In June 2017, it was announced that Dr. Dre had committed $10 million to the construction of a performing arts center for the new Compton High School. The center will encompass creative resources and a 1,200-seat theater, and is expected to break ground in 2020. The project is a partnership between Dr. Dre and the Compton Unified School District.

Personal life

On December 15, 1981, when Dre was 16 years old and his then-girlfriend Cassandra Joy Greene was 15 years old, the two had a son named Curtis, who was brought up by Greene and first met Dre 20 years later. Curtis performed as a rapper under the name Hood Surgeon.

In 1983, Dre and Lisa Johnson had a daughter named La Tanya Danielle Young. Dre and Johnson have three daughters together.

In 1988, Dre and Jenita Porter had a son named Andre Young Jr. On August 23, 2008, Andre died at the age of 20 at his mother's Woodland Hills home.

From 1987 to 1996, Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Ruthless Records and Death Row Records albums. In 1991, they had a son named Marcel.

In April 1992, after a verbal dispute with his engineer, Dre was consequently shot four times in his leg.

In 1996, Dre married Nicole (née Plotzker) Threatt, who was previously married to basketball player Sedale Threatt. They have two children together: a son named Truice (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).

In 2001, Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. Rolling Stone magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year. Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve. Forbes estimated his net worth at US$270 million in 2012. The same publication later reported that he acquired US$110 million via his various endeavors in 2012, making him the highest–paid artist of the year. Income from the 2014 sale of Beats to Apple, contributing to what Forbes termed "the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history", made Dr. Dre the world's richest musical performer of 2015.

In 2014, Dre purchased a $40 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles from its previous owners, NFL player Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

In December 2021, Dre finalized his divorce from Nicole Threat for a reported sum of $100 million of his estate.

Dre is a fan of both the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA.

Discography

Studio albums

• The Chronic (1992)
• 2001 (1999)
• Compton (2015)

Soundtrack albums

• Deep Cover (1992)
• The Wash (2001)

Collaboration albums

with World Class Wreckin' Cru

• World Class (1985)
• Rapped in Romance (1986)

with N.W.A.

• N.W.A. and the Posse (1987)
• Straight Outta Compton (1988)
• 100 Miles and Runnin' (1990)
• Niggaz4Life (1991)

with Marsha Ambrosius

• Casablanco (TBD)

with Snoop Dogg

• Missionary (TBD)

Awards and nominations

In March 2024, Dr. Dre received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard.

American Music Awards

BET Hip Hop Awards

Grammy Awards

Dr. Dre has won eight Grammy Awards. Four of them are for his production work.

MTV Video Music Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Filmography

Images for kids

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  Dr. Dre in 2008

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  Dr. Dre performs at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

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  Dre in 2011

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  Dr. Dre performing with Snoop Dogg, 2012

See also

In Spanish: Dr. Dre para niños