The music and rap world knows him by his stage name Dr. Dre. Dre, he is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.[2]Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life.[2]His 1992 solo debut The Chronic, released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993[3] and to win a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride."[4] In 1996, he left Death Row to found his own label Aftermath Entertainment, producing a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, in 1996, and releasing a solo album titled 2001, in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.[2]
During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals in other artists' songs. Rolling Stone named him among the highest-paid performers of 2001[5] and 2004.[6] Dr. Dre also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, and the 2001 films The Wash and Training Day.[7]
The first child of Verna and Theodore Young, Dr. Dre was born André Romelle Young on February 18, 1965, when his mother was 16. She married his father, Theodore Young, after he was born. Young's middle name, "Romelle," came from Theodore Young's unsigned, amateur R&B singing group The Romells. In 1968 his mother divorced Theodore Young and later married Curtis Crayon. They had 3 more children together, two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both deceased)[8][9] and daughter Shameka.[10]
In 1976 Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School but due to gang violence around Vanguard he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.[11] Verna later married Warren Griffin, whom she met at her new job in Long Beach,[12] which added three new stepsisters and one new stepbrother to the family. That stepbrother, Warren Griffin III, would eventually become a rapper under the stage name Warren G.[13]
Young attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year, in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll at Northrop Aviation Company in an apprenticeship program, 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.[14] Young fathered a son with Lisa Johnson, Curtis, born on December 15, 1981. Curtis Young was brought up by his mother and didn't meet his father until he had become a rapper about 20 years later, with his stage name being Hood Surgeon.[15]
Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash
song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. Thus, he became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J" based on the nickname for Julius Erving,
his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.[16] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".[17] He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru
under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "gangsta bois" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area.[18] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.[19] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1984 in a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic called the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", to be "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".[20]
His 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.[21] He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.[22]
N.W.A.'s debut became a bestseller, despite its controversial content. Dre is second from right.
In 1986 he met rapper Ice Cube, who collaborated with Dr. Dre to record songs for Ruthless Records, a rap record label run by local rapper and drug dealer Eazy-E. N.W.A however, along with fellow west coast rapper Ice T,
debuted with rhymes including profanity and gritty depictions of crime and life on the street. No longer constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy
or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A shot out with hardcore and realistic perspective of street violence and local black gangster lifestyle. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours and warnings from the FBI.[2] The FBI sent letters to Arabian Prince, Ice Cube and Eazy-E urging them to stop releasing their music as a response to the large number of complaints they had received about the group's lyrical content and use of expletives.[23]
After Ice Cube left N.W.A over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin.
He also produced tracks for a number of other rap acts on Ruthless Records, including Above the Law, and The D.O.C. for the album No One Can Do It Better.[24] In 1991 at a music industry party in Hollywood, he assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump it Up, after he felt dissatisfied by a news report of hers on the feud between the remaining N.W.A members and Ice Cube. Thus, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500 and given two years' probation and 240 hours of community service, as well as a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.[25][26]
Dr. Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic, was among the top-selling albums of the 1990s and spawned three hit singles.
After a dispute with Eazy-E,
Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, The D.O.C. 
and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight.
Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Wright release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, found Death Row Records. In 1992 Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.[2] Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic,
released under Death Row Records. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content.[27]
On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s.[2] In 1993 the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album multi-platinum,[28] and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance in "Let Me Ride".[4] For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.[3]
Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, 
which became the first debut album for an artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 album charts.[29] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim
and Murder Was the Case.
He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz"
in 1995.[2] For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.[30]
In 1995, just as Death Row Records was signing rapper 2Pac
and positioning him as their major star, Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge 
Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Thus, in 1996, he formed his own label Aftermath Entertainment directly underneath the distributor label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records.[2] Consequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.[31] Susan Berg, 
president of Global Music Group, bought Death Row Records for US$24 million in June 2008, making her the owner of all of Dr. Dre's recordings.[32]
The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself as well as by newly signed Aftermath artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That",
During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals in other artists' songs. Rolling Stone named him among the highest-paid performers of 2001[5] and 2004.[6] Dr. Dre also had acting roles in movies such as Set It Off, and the 2001 films The Wash and Training Day.[7]
The first child of Verna and Theodore Young, Dr. Dre was born André Romelle Young on February 18, 1965, when his mother was 16. She married his father, Theodore Young, after he was born. Young's middle name, "Romelle," came from Theodore Young's unsigned, amateur R&B singing group The Romells. In 1968 his mother divorced Theodore Young and later married Curtis Crayon. They had 3 more children together, two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both deceased)[8][9] and daughter Shameka.[10]In 1976 Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School but due to gang violence around Vanguard he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School.[11] Verna later married Warren Griffin, whom she met at her new job in Long Beach,[12] which added three new stepsisters and one new stepbrother to the family. That stepbrother, Warren Griffin III, would eventually become a rapper under the stage name Warren G.[13]
Young attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year, in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll at Northrop Aviation Company in an apprenticeship program, 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.[14] Young fathered a son with Lisa Johnson, Curtis, born on December 15, 1981. Curtis Young was brought up by his mother and didn't meet his father until he had become a rapper about 20 years later, with his stage name being Hood Surgeon.[15]
Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash
song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. Thus, he became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J" based on the nickname for Julius Erving,
his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.[16] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".[17] He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru
under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "gangsta bois" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area.[18] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.[19] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1984 in a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic called the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", to be "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".[20]His 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.[21] He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.[22]
N.W.A.'s debut became a bestseller, despite its controversial content. Dre is second from right.
In 1986 he met rapper Ice Cube, who collaborated with Dr. Dre to record songs for Ruthless Records, a rap record label run by local rapper and drug dealer Eazy-E. N.W.A however, along with fellow west coast rapper Ice T,
debuted with rhymes including profanity and gritty depictions of crime and life on the street. No longer constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy
or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A shot out with hardcore and realistic perspective of street violence and local black gangster lifestyle. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album Straight Outta Compton became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours and warnings from the FBI.[2] The FBI sent letters to Arabian Prince, Ice Cube and Eazy-E urging them to stop releasing their music as a response to the large number of complaints they had received about the group's lyrical content and use of expletives.[23]After Ice Cube left N.W.A over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album Efil4zaggin.
He also produced tracks for a number of other rap acts on Ruthless Records, including Above the Law, and The D.O.C. for the album No One Can Do It Better.[24] In 1991 at a music industry party in Hollywood, he assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program Pump it Up, after he felt dissatisfied by a news report of hers on the feud between the remaining N.W.A members and Ice Cube. Thus, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500 and given two years' probation and 240 hours of community service, as well as a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.[25][26]
Dr. Dre's debut solo album, The Chronic, was among the top-selling albums of the 1990s and spawned three hit singles.
After a dispute with Eazy-E,
Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, The D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight.
Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Wright release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, found Death Row Records. In 1992 Young released his first single, the title track to the film Deep Cover, a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G.[2] Dr. Dre's debut solo album was The Chronic,released under Death Row Records. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content.[27]
On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, The Chronic became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s.[2] In 1993 the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album multi-platinum,[28] and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance in "Let Me Ride".[4] For that year, Billboard magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, The Chronic as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.[3]
Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album Doggystyle, 
which became the first debut album for an artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 album charts.[29] In 1994 Dr. Dre produced the soundtracks to the films Above the Rim
and Murder Was the Case.
He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995.[2] For the film Friday, Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.[30]
In 1995, just as Death Row Records was signing rapper 2Pac
and positioning him as their major star, Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge 
Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Thus, in 1996, he formed his own label Aftermath Entertainment directly underneath the distributor label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records.[2] Consequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.[31] Susan Berg, 
president of Global Music Group, bought Death Row Records for US$24 million in June 2008, making her the owner of all of Dr. Dre's recordings.[32]
The Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself as well as by newly signed Aftermath artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That",
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