Moby Biography

Moby (born Richard Melville Hall on September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York, and raised in Darien, Connecticut) is an American singer, electronic musician and the name of his live band.

Moby is best known for singles like "Go", "Porcelain", "New York, New York" with Debbie Harry, "South Side" with Gwen Stefani, "We Are All Made of Stars" and "Lift Me Up". He has also released music under the names Voodoo Child, Barracuda, UHF, The Brotherhood, DJ Cake, Lopez, and Brainstorm/Mindstorm.

Moby plays keyboard, guitar, and bass guitar. He took his nickname from the novel Moby-Dick which was written by Herman Melville, his great-great-granduncle.

The name Moby comes from the Herman Melville classic Moby-Dick. He claims he was able to trace his ancestry back to Melville, and so chose the name Moby in tribute. He is a vegan, non-denominational Christian and self-proclaimed "simpleton" (for his often sincere and idealistic political assessments). He has expressed pro-choice views. Moby lives in New York City's Little Italy, where he's lived for a decade in a small apartment in a five-story building across the street from David Bowie. Until recently he co-owned a small restaurant and coffee shop called TeaNY, where he occasionally waited tables. He also organized the Little Idiot Collective, a group of artists that also includes cartoonist and musician James Kochalka.

Many of his songs have also found their way into major motion pictures, television shows and commercials. Indeed, in 1997 Moby released a compilation of tracks used in and inspired by the cinema called I Like to Score. His music was also used to great effect in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday.

His album Play was also the first ever album to have all of its tracks featured in either a film, advert or television programme; with several of the tracks having been utilised by more than one of these media.

"Ah-Ah" and "Next is the E" were featured in: