Dr. Dre, the highly influential rapper, record producer, label executive and co-founder of Beats Electronics, has suffered an aneurysm and is in the ICU at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Hospital, according to a report by TMZ on Tuesday evening (January 5, 2021). The site indicated that the 55-year-old mogul was admitted on Monday (Jan. 4).
At 8 p.m. PT, the artist post an update on his condition on his Instagram account, writing in part, “I’m doing great and getting excellent care from my medical team. I will be out of the hospital and back home soon.” (See the full post below)
Dr. Dre, born Andre Young in Compton, Calif., on Feb. 18, 1965, began his career as a DJ in clubs around Compton and South Central Los Angeles. He co-founded the hip hop group N.W.A., which illustrated life in South Central with the album Straight Outta Compton. (The group’s rise and fall is depicted in the 2015 biopic of the same name.)
One of Dre’s N.W.A. co-founders, Ice Cube, urged fans to “Send your love and prayers to the homie Dr. Dre.”
Send your love and prayers to the homie Dr. Dre. pic.twitter.com/dWSgzunpjj
— Ice Cube (@icecube) January 6, 2021
In 1992, Young released his solo debut, The Chronic, considered a masterpiece of the genre, via his own record label, Death Row Records. The album was the sixth-biggest seller of 1993 with over three million copies sold and helped launch the career of Snoop Doggy Dogg, who was featured on many of its tracks.
Watch the video for “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” from The Chronic
In 1996, Young launched Aftermath Entertainment, where he established fellow hip-hop superstars 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, among others. (He is the first producer listed in the credits for Eminem’s 4x Platinum The Slim Shady LP and the 10x Platinum The Marshall Mathers LP.) Dre followed with a second solo album in 1999, the six-time platinum 2001.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine co-founded Beats Electronics, the audio consumer electronics company, in 2006. They next launched Beats Music, a subscription streaming service in early 2014. Apple acquired both in July 2014. Young/Dre’s net worth is said to be nearly $1 Billion.
Though his Facebook page has more than 16 million followers, it has posted only once since 2017.
In 2013, Iovine and Young gave 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—-a new model for training and inspiring young innovators.
Dr. Dre has been nominated for 29 Grammy Awards, winning six. He has a long history of accusations of committing violence against women. In 2020, his wife of 24 years filed for divorce. TMZ reports that she is seeking $2 million in temporary spousal support, per month. The website notes that the estranged couple were scheduled to have a hearing on Wednesday.
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