Earl Simmons (aka DMX / Dark Man X) (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021)
Born Earl Simmons in Mount Vernon, NY. DMX began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot in 1998, to both critical acclaim and commercial success, selling 251,000 copies within its first week of release.
In December 1998, he released his second album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went multi-platinum. He released his best-selling album, And Then There Was X, in 1999, which included the hit single "Party Up" which became his first Top Ten hit on the R&B charts, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards. The album was certified six-times Platinum, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards.
His 2003 singles " Where the Hood At" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya" were also commercially successful. He was the first artist to debut an album at No. 1 five times in a row on the Billboard 200 charts. Overall, DMX has sold over 74 million records worldwide.
DMX was featured in many films such as Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Last Hour to name a few.
In early April 2021, DMX was hospitalized due to a cocaine-induced heart attack. He never regained consciousness and died April 9, 2021 of multiple organ failure a week later. DMX was 50 years old at the time of his death.
Topics: music, word or heard