Editing Moby

==Moby==

'''Moby''' (born Richard Melville Hall, September 11, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and photographer, widely recognized as one of the pioneering figures of electronic music in the 1990s and 2000s. His 1999 album ''Play'' became one of the best-selling electronic albums of all time, crossing over into mainstream pop and rock audiences and helping bring ambient, techno, and gospel-inflected electronic music to a global audience.

==Early Life and Background==

Born in New York City and raised in Darien, Connecticut, Moby was given his nickname as a nod to his distant relation to Herman Melville, author of ''Moby-Dick''. He showed an early interest in music, learning guitar as a child and later immersing himself in the New York punk scene as a teenager. He studied philosophy briefly at the University of Connecticut before dropping out to pursue music full-time.

A devout Christian and longtime vegan, Moby has been outspoken about animal rights, environmentalism, and social justice throughout his career. He relocated to Los Angeles in the 2000s and has remained a prominent figure in both music and activist circles.

==Career==

===Early Work and Rave Scene (1980s–1993)===

Moby began his career as a DJ and musician in the late 1980s, becoming embedded in the New York rave and club scene. He released several early dance singles, including ''Go'' (1991), which sampled the ''Twin Peaks'' theme by [[Angelo Badalamenti]] and became a significant club and chart hit in the United Kingdom. His early sound drew heavily on techno, hardcore, and ambient influences, and he was among the first American artists to gain credibility in the British rave scene.

His self-titled debut album ''Moby'' was released in 1992 on Instinct Records, showcasing his range across techno, ambient, and experimental electronic music.

===Mainstream Breakthrough (1994–1998)===

The mid-1990s saw Moby experiment more widely, releasing ''Everything Is Wrong'' (1995) and ''Animal Rights'' (1996), the latter a sharp stylistic turn toward guitar-driven punk and heavy rock that divided critics and alienated much of his dance music fanbase. The period also produced the ambient and instrumental ''I Like to Score'' (1997), a collection of film and TV compositions.

===''Play'' and Global Success (1999–2001)===

Released in May 1999, ''Play'' became a cultural phenomenon. The album featured interpolations of old [[blues]] and [[gospel]] field recordings — sourced largely from the Alan Lomax Archive — layered over modern electronic production. Tracks such as ''Porcelain'', ''Natural Blues'', ''South Side'' (featuring [[Gwen Stefani]]), and ''Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'' achieved widespread radio play and commercial licensing.

In an unprecedented move at the time, every track on ''Play'' was licensed for use in films, television shows, and advertisements, making the album's music ubiquitous in popular culture. It eventually sold over 10 million copies worldwide and remained on the UK Albums Chart for years.

===Later Albums and Evolution (2002–present)===

Moby followed ''Play'' with ''18'' (2002), which performed well commercially though was overshadowed by its predecessor. Subsequent albums including ''Hotel'' (2005), ''Last Night'' (2008), ''Destroyed'' (2011), and ''Innocents'' (2013) demonstrated continued evolution across ambient, techno, blues, and post-rock textures.

''Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt'' (2018) and ''All Visible Objects'' (2020) continued his exploration of atmospheric and politically charged songwriting. He has also released several ambient-focused records under his own imprint, freely available for streaming and download, intended for sleep, meditation, and relaxation.

==Musical Style==

Moby's sound draws from an unusually broad palette: techno, house, ambient, punk, classical, gospel, and blues. A central theme throughout his work is the sampling and recontextualization of older American musical traditions — particularly African-American spiritual and blues recordings — within contemporary electronic frameworks. This approach, while commercially successful on ''Play'', has also drawn criticism regarding cultural appropriation and the ethics of sampling.

He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, piano, bass, drums, and various synthesizers. His productions are often marked by lush string arrangements, processed vocals, and emotional restraint.

==Activism and Personal Life==

Moby has been vegan since the 1980s and is one of the most publicly prominent vegan advocates in the music industry. He has been involved with organizations focused on animal rights, environmental protection, and anti-war activism. He opened a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles called ''Teany'' (later closing) and co-authored a book on vegan cooking.

His 2016 memoir ''Porcelain'' and its 2019 follow-up ''Then It Fell Apart'' offered candid accounts of his experiences in the New York club scene, his rise to fame, and his personal struggles. ''Then It Fell Apart'' generated controversy due to his depiction of a relationship with actress [[Natalie Portman]], which she publicly disputed.

Moby is also an accomplished photographer, with his work exhibited in galleries internationally.

==Discography (Selected)==

{| style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; font-size: 0.95em;"
|-
! style="background-color: #222; color: #fff; padding: 6px 10px; text-align: left;" | Year
! style="background-color: #222; color: #fff; padding: 6px 10px; text-align: left;" | Album
! style="background-color: #222; color: #fff; padding: 6px 10px; text-align: left;" | Label
! style="background-color: #222; color: #fff; padding: 6px 10px; text-align: left;" | Notes
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 1992
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Moby''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Instinct Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Debut album
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 1995
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Everything Is Wrong''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Elektra Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Critical breakthrough
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 1996
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Animal Rights''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Elektra Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Punk/rock departure
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 1999
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Play''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | V2 Records / Mute
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 10+ million copies sold worldwide
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 2002
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''18''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | V2 Records / Mute
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Follow-up to ''Play''
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 2005
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Hotel''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Mute Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Includes ambient disc
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 2011
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Destroyed''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Mute Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Atmospheric and cinematic
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | 2018
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | ''Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt''
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Deutsche Grammophon
| style="padding: 5px 10px; border-bottom: 1px solid #444;" | Political themes
|-
| style="padding: 5px 10px;" | 2020
| style="padding: 5px 10px;" | ''All Visible Objects''
| style="padding: 5px 10px;" | Mute Records
| style="padding: 5px 10px;" | Released during COVID-19 pandemic
|}

==Legacy==

Moby occupies a singular place in electronic music history. ''Play'' demonstrated that electronic music could achieve mass-market pop appeal without sacrificing artistic ambition, opening commercial and cultural doors for subsequent generations of electronic artists. His early work in the New York rave scene and his UK chart successes in the early 1990s helped connect American and British electronic cultures at a formative moment for the genre.

His willingness to shift styles radically — from hardcore techno to punk to ambient to gospel-influenced pop — has made him a difficult artist to categorize, but also an enduring and unpredictable one. Despite the controversies surrounding his memoirs, his influence on electronic, ambient, and indie music remains substantial.

==See Also==

* [[Electronic Music]]
* [[Rave Culture]]
* [[Ambient Music]]
* [[The Chemical Brothers]]
* [[Aphex Twin]]
* [[Fatboy Slim]]
* [[New York Music Scene]]

==Categories==

[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Electronic Music]]
[[Category:American Artists]]
[[Category:Rave Culture]]
[[Category:Ambient Music]]
[[Category:Discographies]]