Moby is an American musician, singer-songwriter, DJ, record producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. Online music database AllMusic considers him to be "among the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring dance music to a mainstream audience both in the United States and the United Kingdom."
Before ultimately turning towards dance/electronic music by the end of the '80s, he played in several underground punk rock bands, beginning from the moment he took up guitar and piano at age nine. In 1989, Moby moved to New York City and became a prolific DJ, producer, and remixer. His 1991 single, "Go," marked his mainstream breakthrough, especially in Europe, where it reached the top ten of the charts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Between 1992 and 1997, he scored eight top 10 hits on the U.S. Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, including "Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)," "Feeling So Real," and his remix of the "James Bond Theme." Throughout the decade, he also produced music under various aliases, released the critically acclaimed Everything Is Wrong in 1995, and composed music for films. However, his punk-oriented album Animal Rights, released in 1996, alienated much of his fan base.
After a roughly three-year hiatus from producing and releasing music, Moby found commercial and critical success with his fifth album, Play, in 1999. Although it initially received little recognition, it became an unexpected global hit in 2000 after each track was licensed for films, television shows, and commercials. Play remains his highest-selling album, with 12 million copies sold. Its seventh single, "South Side," featuring Gwen Stefani, became his only song to appear on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 14—until 2018, when he appeared as a featured artist on A$AP Rocky's song "A$AP Forever." Moby followed Play with albums in varied styles, including electronic, dance, rock, and downtempo music, starting with 18 (2002), Hotel (2005), and Last Night (2008). His later albums saw him explore ambient music, including the nearly four-hour release Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep. (2016). Moby continues to record and release albums; his latest and twenty-second studio album, Always Centered at Night, was released on June 14, 2024.
Outside of music, Moby is known for his veganism and support for humanitarian aid and animal rights. He was the owner of TeaNY, a vegan café in Manhattan, and Little Pine, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles, and he organized the vegan music and food festival Circle V. He is the author of four books, including a photography collection and two memoirs: Porcelain: A Memoir (2016) and Then It Fell Apart (2019).
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Beatport Music Awards, 2012
Releases[]
| Title | Artist | Label | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moby | Instinct | July 27, 1992 | ||
| Ambient | Instinct | August 17, 1993 | ||
| Everything Is Wrong | Mute, Elektra | March 14, 1995 | ||
| Animal Rights | Mute, Elektra | September 23, 1996 | ||
| Play | Mute, V2 | May 17, 1999 | ||
| 18 | Mute | May 14, 2002 | ||
| Hotel | Mute | March 14, 2005 | ||
| Last Night | Mute | March 29, 2008 | ||
| Wait for Me | Little Idiot, Mute | June 30, 2009 | ||
| Destroyed | Little Idiot, Mute | May 13, 2011 | ||
| Innocents | Little Idiot, Mute | October 1, 2013 | ||
| Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep. | Independent | February 25, 2016 | ||
| These Systems Are Falling | Little Idiot, Mute | October 14, 2016 | ||
| More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse | Little Idiot, Mute | June 12, 2017 | ||
| Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt | Little Idiot, Mute | March 2, 2018 | ||
| Long Ambients 2 | Independent | March 15, 2019 | ||
| All Visible Objects | Little Idiot, Mute | May 15, 2020 | ||
| Live Ambients: Improvised Recordings Vol, 1 | Independent | December 24, 2020 | ||
| Reprise | Deutsche Grammophon | May 28, 2021 | ||
| Ambient 23 | Independent | January 1, 2023 | ||
| Resound NYC | Deutsche Grammophon | May 12, 2023 | ||
| Always Centered at Night | Always Centered at Night, Mute | June 14, 2024 |