Who was Mac Miller? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Malcolm James McCormick

Died At Age: 26

Family:

father: Mark McCormick

mother: Karen Meyers

Born Country: United States

Rappers Hip Hop Singers

Height: 5'7" (170 cm), 5'7" Males

Died on: September 7, 2018

place of death: Studio City, California, United States

U.S. State: Pennsylvania

Cause of Death: Drug Overdose

City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Childhood & Early Life

Mac Miller was born Malcolm James McCormick in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 19, 1992. His mother was a photographer while his father was an architect. His parents belong to different religious faiths. While his mother was a Jew, his father was a Christian.

Mac Miller was raised as a Jew and had a Bar Mitzvah. Mac Miller spent most of his childhood in the Point Breeze area of Pittsburgh. He attended the Winchester Thurston School and Taylor Allderdice High School later.

While in school, Mac Miller used to show interest in sports and was always eager to attend high school parties.

Mac Miller was also interested in music and learned playing different kinds of musical instruments like the piano, drums, bass, and guitar. He was a self-taught musician and did not attend any music classes.

While he wanted to be a singer in his teens, he started rapping at the age of fourteen. When he was fifteen years old, Mac Miller decided to focus on hip-hop.

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Career

While he was still in school he released a mixtape called ‘But My Mackin’ Ain’t Easy’. At that time he was called EZ Mac and was just 14. He was part of a rap group called ‘The Ill Spoken’ along with another famous rapper from Pittsburgh, Beedie.

As part of the rap group, Mac Miller released a mixtape called ‘How High’ in 2008. ‘How High’ was a success and he released two individual mixtapes called ‘The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown’ and ‘The High Life’.

In 2009, Mac Miller participated in the MC competition at Shadow Lounge and featured among the final four in Rhyme Callisthenics.

When he was just seventeen, Mac Miller signed on to ‘Rostrum Records’ label in the year 2010. He was getting invitations from some of the best music labels in the country who were impressed by his talent. But he gave preference to Rostrum Records, which was based in his hometown. This gave a big boost to his career and gave him a steady income.

A new mixtape called ‘K.I.D.S’ was released under the Rostrum Records banner in the year 2010. It was inspired by the film ‘Kids’.

A significant breakthrough in the career of Mac Miller came in late 2010, when he embarked on his first tour called ‘The Incredibly Dope Tour’. The tour was a massive success and sold out at all the locations.

In 2010, Mac’s first single called ‘Knock Knock’s video premiered on YouTube and went viral and gave nationwide recognition to him.

In July 2011, Miller announced his first album ‘Blue Slide Park’ on his YouTube Channel. The album was released in November 2011 after a slight delay. It was ranked No. 1 on Billboard 200 and sold 144,000 copies within the first week of its release.

In 2011, he made his first TV appearance on the famous VH1 show ‘Single Ladies’. He later acted in shows like ‘Jams Fab Five’ show on MTV.

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His second album ‘Watching Movies with the Sound Off’ was released in June 2013.

In 2013, he started his own record label ‘REMember Music’. It was named after one his friends who had died.

After a long association, Mac Miller severed all his ties with the ‘Rostrum Records’ label in 2014. In the same year, he signed a recording contract and distribution deal for his personal recording label ‘REMember Music’ with Warner Bros. Records for a sum of US$ 10 million.

In September 2015, he released his third album called ‘GO:OD AM’.

In July 2016, he announced his fourth album called ‘The Divine Feminine’. The album was released in September 2016 and was well released by his fans.

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Awards & Achievements

In 2010, Mac Miller won two awards at the Pittsburgh hip hop awards.

His first album ‘Blue Slide Park’ was the first independently distributed debut to stand in the number one spot since The Dogg Pound’s 1995 album ‘Dogg Food’.

While most of his mixed tapes and albums were commercial success, his first album remains his major work.

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Personal Life & Legacy

Mac Miller revealed that during his Macadelic Tour in 2012, he was taking a combination of promethazine and codeine called as "purple drank" or "lean" to manage stress.

He quit taking promethazine in November 2012, before starting the shoot for his reality show, ‘Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family’.

Mac Miller was in a four year relationship with a woman until 2013. Many songs in his mixtape ‘Macadelic’ were based on his relationship with the girl.

In August 2016, TMZ reported that Mac Miller was in relationship with American singer Ariana Grande. The report was later confirmed by Ariana Grande in an Instagram post.

He died of an apparent drug overdose on September 7, 2018, at his Studio City home in Los Angeles.

Trivia

Mac Miller’s fifth musical release was titled ‘Best Day Ever’ and had a single named after the current president of USA, ‘Donald Trump’.

In February 2011, Miller and his friends were arrested for possession of marijuana during a tour to Upstate New York, for which they had to spend the night in jail. The case was, however, later settled.

Mac Miller Biography