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Moby
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About
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the most important dance music figures of…
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring dance music to a mainstream audience both in the United States and the United Kingdom".
After taking up guitar and piano at the age of nine, he played in several underground punk rock bands through the 1980s (Vatican Commandos, Flipper, Ultra Vivid Scene) before turning to electronic dance music. In 1989, he moved to New York City and became a prolific figure as a DJ, producer, and remixer. His 1991 single "Go" was his mainstream breakthrough, especially in Europe, where it peaked within the top ten of the charts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Between 1992 and 1997 he scored eight top ten hits on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart including "Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)", "Feeling So Real", and "James Bond Theme (Moby Re-Version)". Throughout the decade he also produced music under various pseudonyms, released the critically acclaimed Everything Is Wrong (1995). His punk-oriented album Animal Rights (1996) alienated much of his fan base.
Moby found commercial and critical success with his fifth album Play (1999), which, after receiving little recognition, became an unexpected global hit in 2000. It remains his highest selling album with 12 million copies sold. Its seventh single, "South Side", featuring Gwen Stefani, appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 14. Moby followed Play with albums of varied styles including electronic, dance, rock, and downtempo music, starting with 18 (2002), Hotel (2005), and Last Night (2008) and continuing with Wait for Me (2009), Destroyed (2011), and Innocents (2013). Returning to his musical roots, he then released two punk rock inspired albums with The Void Pacific Choir, 2016’s These Systems Are Failing and 2017’s More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse followed by the more melodic Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt (2018) and All Visible Objects (2020).
After a performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018, Moby was approached by a representative from Deutsche Grammophon and was offered the chance to record an orchestral album for the label. The result, 2021’s Reprise, saw him revisit his vast catalogue and rework some of his most well known tracks with new vocalists. Recorded with The Budapest Art Orchestra, the album was his highest-charting in over a decade, hitting the charts in 16 countries. The follow up album, Resound NYC (2023), featured more reworked tracks and more new vocalists.
Interspersed between these later albums were Moby’s explorations of ambient music, including the almost four-hour release Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep. (2016), Long Ambients 2 (2019), Live Ambients – Improvised Recordings Vol. 1 (2020), and Ambient 23 (2023), as well as the collaborative Always Centered at Night (2024). Moby continues to record and release albums.
In addition to his music career, Moby is known for his veganism and support for animal rights and humanitarian aid. In 2020 he founded Little Walnut Productions to support creative activism across film, TV, and theater projects. He is the author of four books, including a collection of his photography and two memoirs: Porcelain: A Memoir (2016) and Then It Fell Apart (2019).
Connections
Awards
- NRJ Music Award for International Male Artist of the Year
