Moby
American musician who brought dance music to mainstream audiences.
Richard Melville Hall, better known as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, and animal rights activist who has sold 20 million records globally. His father, a chemistry professor, died in a drunk-driving crash when Moby was two. His mother, a medical secretary, raised him, first in San Francisco, then in a squat in Darien, Connecticut, and later in Stratford, Connecticut. She relied on food stamps and welfare, and Moby felt ashamed by the wealth of his grandparents’ Darien home. He learned at age nine to play classical guitar and piano, later studying jazz, music theory, and percussion.
- field
- Musician, songwriter, animal rights activist
- nationality
- American
Lore & Background
Moby was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, and raised by his mother after his father died in a car crash when Moby was two. He took up guitar and piano at age nine, played in underground punk bands (Vatican Commandos, Flipper, Ultra Vivid Scene) in the 1980s, then turned to electronic dance music.
Reader's Guide
Moby's significance lies in his role as a pivotal figure in bringing electronic dance music to mainstream audiences in the United States and United Kingdom during the early 1990s. His album Play (1999) became a global phenomenon, selling 12 million copies and demonstrating the commercial viability of electronic music. Moby's career is marked by stylistic diversity, moving from electronic dance to punk rock, ambient, and orchestral reworkings. He has authored four books, including two memoirs.
Did You Know?
- Moby's father gave him the nickname 'Moby' three days after his birth because his parents considered him large for a newborn.
- He was the lead vocalist for the band Flipper for two days.
More in Electronic & Experimental 1-20
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record