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It was officially Dre Day in Hollywood. The iconic superproducer was immortalized with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
Spotted on TMZ, Dr. Dre has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week, and the three artists whose careers he was instrumental in shaping—Eminem, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg—were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
On Tuesday, the producer/rapper/actor’s star was placed in the cement along with other actors and musicians during the ceremony.
Other notable names in attendance were Kurupt, his Beats partner Jimmy Iovine, and legendary radio personality Big Boy.
In a post on Instagram, Dr. Dre thanked his brothers for showing up and showing love, writing in the caption:
“I’d like to thank my brothers and all of Los Angeles for showing me love on March 19th to get my Hollywood Star.”
Dr. Dre Opens Up About His Health Issues
Dre getting his Walk of Fame honor comes after he opened up about his major health scare, revealing he suffered three strokes and a brain aneurysm during a recent interview with James Corden on SirusXM’s The Life of Mine With James Corden.
Per HHW’s previous reporting:
“I got up and I went on about my day, and I thought that I could just lay down and take a nap,” he explained. “My son had a female friend that was there and was like, ‘No, we need to take you to the hospital.’ So they took me to urgent care.”
Dr. Dre went on to detail how he suffered three strokes and nearly lost his life.
“Next thing you know, I’m blacking out. I’m in and out of consciousness, and I ended up in the ICU. I was there for two weeks. I’m hearing the doctors coming in and saying, ‘You don’t know how lucky you are.’”
When asked what caused his dire medical condition he pointed to high blood pressure.
“I had no idea that I had high blood pressure or anything like that because I’m on my health sh*t. I’m lifting weights, I’m running, I’m doing everything I can to keep myself healthy.” He went on to make it clear he has a new perspective on life saying it, “definitely makes you appreciate being alive, that’s for sure.”
Salute to Dr. Dre.
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Dr. Dre is having a great week after the legendary producer had a star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, sharing the moment with some of his famous pals. Speaking of those friends, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent joined Dre in a hilarious skit spoofing Grey’s Anatomy.
During Tuesday’s (March 19) airing of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dr. Dre appears in the spoof of the long-running ABC drama, Grey’s Anatomy titled “Dre’s Anatomy” with the artist born Andre Young in the role of an emergency room doctor.
Dre, Snoop, and Fif all take turns examining Kimmel’s “situation” down below and the most amazing thing about the skit is that nobody breaks character during it all.
After the skit turns into an all-out party with Dre on the beat machine and Snoop taking hits of a mysterious vapor, the skit cuts to a break and teases a new show titled “EM” with Eminem.
The quartet were all on hand this week for Dre’s Hollywood Walk of Fame unveiling, displaying their close friendship and support of one another.
Check out Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and 50 Cent in the “Dre’s Anatomy” skit via Jimmy Kimmel Live below. And we’ll echo the sentiments of others to say this needs to be a real series.
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Photo: Christopher Polk / Getty
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Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
Dr. Dre no longer takes his life for granted. He recently revealed he suffered three strokes during his scary hospital stint.
As reported by Billboard Magazine, the legendary music producer encountered a major health scare a couple of years back. Back in 2021, he felt a sudden pain behind his right ear that at first he thought he would be able to sleep off but he was wrong. During a recent interview with SiriusXM’s The Life of Mine With James Corden he detailed the life-changing experience.
“I got up and I went on about my day, and I thought that I could just lay down and take a nap,” he explained. “My son had a female friend that was there and was like, ‘No, we need to take you to the hospital.’ So they took me to urgent care.”
Dr. Dre went on to detail how he suffered three strokes and nearly lost his life.
“Next thing you know, I’m blacking out. I’m in and out of consciousness, and I ended up in the ICU. I was there for two weeks. I’m hearing the doctors coming in and saying, ‘You don’t know how lucky you are.’”
When asked what caused his dire medical condition he pointed to high blood pressure.
“I had no idea that I had high blood pressure or anything like that because I’m on my health sh*t. I’m lifting weights, I’m running, I’m doing everything I can to keep myself healthy.” He went on to make it clear he has a new perspective on life saying it, “definitely makes you appreciate being alive, that’s for sure.”
You can watch Dr. Dre discuss his first-ever recording session with Eminem below.
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Photo: Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
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Source: Raymond Boyd / Getty / N.W.A
It’s been a long time coming. N.W.A, Gladys Knight, and others will receive flowers from The Recording Academy.
Spotted on Variety, the Rap group that pioneered Gangsta Rap, iconic R&B singer, Disco queen Donna Summers, Tammy Wynette, and legendary Gospel group Clark Sisters will receive the 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Awards at this year’s Special Merit Awards ceremony.
Other notable names being honored included Hip-Hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, Linda Ronstadt/ James Taylor, producer/manager Peter Asher, veteran attorney, and longtime Grammy Academy executive Joel Katz, who will receive the Trustee Award.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, spoke on this year’s honorees, adding, “The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year’s Special Merit Award recipients — a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide. Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds, and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music’s Biggest Night.”
It’s About Time N.W.A Gets Their Flowers From The Recording Academy
For N.W.A, it’s about time the rap stable is getting some recognition. Variety shared the Academy’s explanation for the “Straight Outta Compton crew behind honored.
“N.W.A was a rap group from the Compton district in Los Angeles who are credited by many with inventing gangsta rap. The group, consisting of Eazy-E^, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and MC-Ren, developed a new sound, which brought in many of the loud, extreme sonic innovations of Public Enemy while adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance. In 1988, N.W.A released their album, Straight Outta Compton, a brutally intense record that became an underground hit without any support from radio or MTV. This negative attention worked in their favor as it brought the album to multiplatinum status. Although the group was short-lived, gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of hip-hop during the mid-1990s.”
The Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony goes down on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
For the rest of the descriptions, head here.
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Photo: Raymond Boyd / Getty
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Source: Paul Natkin / Getty / Les McCann
The music world lost a giant before 2023 came to a close with the passing of soulful Jazz great Les McCann.
The Hollywood Reporter shared the sad news that Les McCann passed away at 88 in the Los Angeles area. McCann’s music is no stranger to the Hip-Hop community, as some of his songs were used as samples of the late Notorious B.I.G., legendary producer/rapper Dr. Dre, Mobb Deep, and more.
Per The Hollywood Reporter:
The musician, who released more than 60 albums over the course of his career, had been admitted to a hospital from the nursing care facility he’d lived in for the past four years and was diagnosed with pneumonia, his manager Alan Abrahams told The Hollywood Reporter.
In a prolific career, he was arguably best known for his 1969 Montreaux Jazz Festival performance of the protest song “Compared to What.”
Hip-Hop Songs That Sampled McCann’s Work
For those who don’t fancy the credits for their favorite albums, McCann’s song “Go On and Cry” was sampled in the original version of “The Next Episode,” which was supposed to be featured on Snoop Dogg’s classic album Doggystyle before it landed on Dr. Dre’s 2001.
Biggie’s “Ten Crack Commandments” off his double-disc Life After Death is heavily sampled from McCann’s “Vallarta.”
Mobb Deep went into the McCann duffy when they used his song “Benjamin” to craft their track “Right Back At You” off their a1995 album The Infamous.
Other artists who sampled McCann include stoner hip-hop pioneer Massive Attack, Cypress Hill, Slick Rick, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Naughty By Nature.
McCann was born in 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, and was a self-taught pianist before picking up the sousaphone in high school and serving in the U.S. Navy at 17.
In a 2017 interview with the Oxford American, McCann said he wanted to “go to the Navy School of Music,” only to learn they did not have the sousaphone to play.
He would go on to win a talent contest in the Navy that landed him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. After being discharged, he formed a band in Los Angeles, landing his first contract with Pacific Jazz in 1960 after Miles Davis heard him play in a nightclub.
McCann also signed with Atlantic Records after Roberta Flack discovered him.
After suffering a stroke in the 90s while on stage in Germany, he used a wheelchair, but that didn’t keep him from performing.
McCann’s life is the true definition of a life well lived.
May he rest in paradise.
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Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are teaming up once again to create a new program for high school students, this time in Atlanta.
On Tuesday (Aug. 28), the co-founder of Interscope Records introduced the “Iovine and Young Center” in a press conference held at Frederick Douglass High School in northwest Atlanta, according to Atlanta News First. The iconic producer wasn’t able to attend in person, so Iovine was joined by another legend and Atlanta native Dallas Austin.
The new magnet program created in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools is designed to give students a more innovative learning model with a focus on technology and leadership, something that Iovine and Dr. Dre aka Andre Young hope will ignite the students’ “superpowers.”
“We believe we’re going to give these kids an advantage, a different type of education,” Iovine said at the press event. “So, you all can sell these kids, go out there and say you want these kids. Because the modern job needs these kids. That’s why.” Interested students in the 9th grade STEAM academy at Frederick Douglass can enroll in the program next year at the school, which has an esteemed alumni list including former mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Killer Mike, T.I., Kilo Ali, and Lil Jon. It will be offered to all grade levels by the 2027-2028 school year.
Current sophomore Caleb Mitchell is eager to take part. “I think it will help bring out [the] potential of students and help them engage more… I think this will provide more opportunities for us,” he said. “Integrating the Iovine and Young Center at Frederick Douglass High School supports our ability to teach students how to design their thinking, brings student ideas to life, and further prepares our students for competitive careers that may not even exist yet,” said Forrestella Taylor, Frederick Douglass’ principal.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine created a similar magnet program in 2022 at Compton High School in Los Angeles, with The Chronic producer chipping in $10 million personally to aid the $200 million renovation of the campus. “Me and Dre think big,” Iovine would later add. “We think everybody in the world’s going to learn like this well, maybe! We never thought everybody in the world would wear our headphones, but they did.”
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Ez Mil is the latest artist signed to Aftermath and Shady Records after a joint deal between Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Interscope went through. Ez Mil, a rapper out of Las Vegas, appeared in a photo with the aforementioned legends as seen on social media.
Ez Mil, who turns 25 today (July 25), has been at his craft for some years after being born in the Philippines before relocating to his new home of Las Vegas, Nev. In the image that Eminem shared on Instagram, the Detroit superstar and his Compton mentor Dr. Dre flank the young rapper, who stands crouched in front of the pair.
This isn’t the first time Mil has been signed to a major, this after releasing music under the Virgin Music/MCA Music imprint. Mil also received a placement on NBA 2K23’s soundtrack with the track “Panalo” which was released in 2020 but went eventually viral due in part to Mil rapping in Filipino/Tagalog, English, and Ilocano. The song also caused controversy for Mil after inaccurately depicting the beheading of Lapu-Lapu, a famed leader and historical figure in the Philippines.
Eminem also shared a tweet sharing Mil’s “Up Down” video, adding in the caption, “This is why we signed him.” Mil is also prepping a deluxe release of his 2022 album, DU4LI7Y, via his former label.
More from the Shady Records website:
The singer-songwriter-producer-rapper also reveals the release date DU4LI7Y: REDUX (Virgin Music), the forthcoming deluxe edition of his 2022 LP. The project, which is set to drop on August 11, includes “Realest”, an intense new single featuring Eminem, who first heard Ez Mil’s music online and brought him to Dr. Dre, resulting in the co-sign.
Check out the video for “Up Down” below. Congrats to Ez Mil.
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The late Chadwick Boseman will be among the group of honorees to get their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, including the iconic producer Dr. Dre.
On Monday (June 26th), the Walk of Fame Selection Panel for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced their Class of 2024 whose members will be honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. Boseman, who succumbed to colon cancer in 2020 at the age of 43, will posthumously receive that honor as part of the group nominated from the Motion Pictures category. Late musical icon Otis Redding will also get a star after being nominated for the Live Theatre/Live Performance category with actress Jane Krakowski.
Dr. Dre will also be receiving a star after being nominated from the Recording category along with Glen Ballard, Toni Braxton, Def Leppard, Charles Fox, Sammy Hagar, Brandy Norwood, Darius Rucker, and Gwen Stefani. Veteran radio host and media personality Angie Martinez will also get a star as the lone nominee from the Radio category.
“The Selection Committee which is made up of fellow Walk of Famers, carefully hand-picks a group of honorees each year that represent various genres of the entertainment world,” Walk of Fame Chair Ellen K said in the announcement statement. “The Committee did an amazing job choosing these very talented people.” There are no dates announced yet for any ceremonies.
The rest of the honorees from the film category are veteran actress and recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Chris Meledandri, Chris Pine, and Christina Ricci along with Gal Gadot and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. The television category nominated Ken Jeong, Eugene Levy, Mario Lopez, Jim Nantz, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Michael Schur, Kerry Washington, and Gordo y La Flaca co-hosts Raúl De Molina and Lili Estefan. Tennis legend Billie Jean King and Carl Weathers will be honored from the Sports Entertainment category.
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It’s been more than two decades since the cult classic Hip-Hop comedy The Wash flopped at movie theaters, but it seems like the Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg film may get a new lease on life as a reboot is in the works.
On Friday (March 3), DJ Pooh took to Twitter to announce that The Wash would live on in this new era posting an orange The Wash water bucket and writing, “It all comes out in ‘The Wash’ Series Coming!” Well, we didn’t ask for this but now we’re curious to see who is cast to star in the series and how they’ll go about executing the comedy in the era of cancel culture.
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The original film, starring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, kinda bombed at the box office generating just $10 million dollars; it was made on a $7 million dollar budget. Though it was panned by critics and currently sits at an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Wash went on to gain cult classic status as its popularity grew over the years. Aside from starring Dre and Snoop, the film boasts cameos from early 2000s Hip-Hop stars such as Eminem, Xzibit, Shaquille O’Neal and Ludacris, at a time when rappers and celebrities in films wasn’t exactly the norm yet.
Now that The Wash is experiencing a rebirth of sorts, it should be interesting to see which rappers (if any) will be partaking in the rebooted series and whether or not Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg will be involved in any capacity.
Are you looking forward to seeing The Wash as a new TV series, or do you think they should’ve just left the film alone? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Former MC Dee Barnes published a lengthy statement calling out the Grammys after they named what she deemed the “Ike Turner Award” after Dr. Dre.
In an op-ed published in Rolling Stone on Wednesday (Feb. 8), the journalist and rapper spoke out about the move by the Black Music Collective to bestow that honor. Barnes was assaulted by the producer and rapper when he was then a member of N.W.A. At the time, she was the host of Pump It Up!, a Hip-Hop show on Fox that ran for two years and was key to the rise of the culture. Dre issued an apology in 2015 to the New York Times, not naming anyone in particular.
In the op-ed, Barnes spoke about how she initially was welcoming of the Impact Award being given to industry legends Missy Elliott, Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone and Lil Wayne along with Dr. Dre. Her position changed once she learned that the award would be named after him.
“Everybody wants to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that’s just not possible,” she said, referring to his past history of abuse by saying “to name an award after someone with that type of history in the music industry, you might as well call it the Ike Turner Award.”
After speaking out about the struggles she’s endured, Barnes was shut out from the industry. Which led to her battling to house and provide for herself on a long-term basis. “The blacklisting I’ve faced still feels active, and it took me a long time to accept that,” she said.
Barnes likened her situation to the vitriol that Megan Thee Stallion endured after being the victim of assault by Tory Lanez. “I watched what happened to my little sister Megan, and it just was heartbreaking to me because we have not changed in all these years.” She ended the op-ed by revealing that she is working on a memoir and getting back into journalism, thanks to the support of Black women writers and journalists.
She also hoped for a chance to settle things once and for all with Dr. Dre in a face-to-face summit. “But I think that’s going to be the only thing to turn the tide, so to speak — if we have a come-to-Jesus moment in person, in public. Because everything happened publicly, it’s got to have closure publicly.”
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