Kanye West

Kanye West was born in Atlanta on June 8, 1977. Following his parents’ divorce when he was three, he moved with his mother to Chicago, where she worked as an academic before eventually becoming his manager.

West’s lifelong interest in the arts led him to the hip-hop community and, after dropping out of college, he began working behind-the-scenes as a producer for a number of stars, including Jay Z, who would go on to become his biggest collaborator and one of his closest friends. West had his own musical breakout with his 2004 album, “The College Dropout,” which received 10 Grammy nominations. He released his second album, “Late Registration,” the very next year, featuring the monster hit “Gold Digger.” In 2007 and 2008 came two more records, “Graduation” and “808s & Heartbreak.” In 2010 there was “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and 2011 brought a joint album with Jay Z called “Watch The Throne.”

As his music career took off, West also explored his interest in design, and started his own fashion label. He also made a name for himself as one of the industry’s most outspoken stars, with infamous moments including his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief telethon, and crashing Taylor Swift’s VMAs acceptance in 2009. On-stage rants have almost become a staple of West’s concert tours, and his aggressive personality has led to conflicts with the paparazzi, as well as some legal trouble. He has also experienced tragedy, with the 2007 death of his mom following surgery complications.

After relationships with Alexis Phifer, to whom he was engaged, and Amber Rose, he began dating longtime friend Kim Kardashian in 2012. They welcomed a daughter, North, in 2013, a few months before he proposed. The couple, known in the media as “Kimye,” went on to wed in 2014. And just after New Year’s Eve, West released a surprise song, featuring Paul McCartney, called “Only One,” in which he pays tribute to both his mother and daughter.