Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, animal rights activist, and author. He has sold over 20 million records worldwide,[1] and AllMusic considers him to be “one of the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in the UK and in America”.[2]
After learning how to play guitar at the age of 9, Moby played in underground punk rock bands in the early 1980s, and gained attention in the early 1990s with his early electronic dance music. With his fifth studio album, Play (1999), he gained international success; the album sold 6,000 copies in its first week, and it re-entered the global charts in early 2000 and became an unexpected hit, producing eight singles and selling over 10 million copies worldwide.[3] Moby followed the album in 2002 with 18, which was also successful, selling over 5 million copies worldwide and receiving mostly positive reviews.
His next major release, 2005’s mostly upbeat Hotel was a stylistic departure, incorporating more rock elements than previous album, and received mixed reviews. It sold around 2 million copies worldwide. After 2008’s dance-influenced Last Night (2008), he returned to the downtempoelectronica of Play and 18 with 2009’s mostly-ambient Wait for Me, finding higher critical acclaim and moderate sales. He followed that with 2011’s Destroyed, 2013’s Innocents, 2016’s These Systems Are Failing, 2017’s More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse and 2018’s Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt.
Moby has also authored or co-authored Gristle, Destroyed, his first memoir Porcelain, and his upcoming 2nd memoir Then It Fell Apart.
Moby has also co-written, produced, and remixed music for David Bowie, Billy Idol, Daft Punk, Mylène Farmer, Brian Eno, Pet Shop Boys, Britney Spears, New Order, Public Enemy, Yoko Ono, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Soundgarden, Michael Jackson and others.[4]
Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby