Macklemore Biography

The artist known as Macklemore was born Ben Haggerty in Seattle, Washington, in 1983. As a young man, Macklemore was greatly influenced by both a burgeoning local hip hop scene and the underground hip-hop emerging on the east coast.  By the time he was a teenager, he’d started writing his own lyrics, although he did not begin pursuing a career as an artist until after he’d graduated from university.

Macklemore’s debut EP, Open Your Eyes, was released and self-distributed in 2000, but his debut album, The Language of My World, did not arrived until 2005. Although the album performed well, it was Macklemore’s sophomore effort, The Heist, created alongside producer Ryan Lewis, which rocketed Macklemore to fame after its release in 2012. The album featured the songs “My Oh My,” “Wings,” “Same Love,” “Thrift Shop,” and “White Walls,” but after the single “Can’t hold Us” was used in a beer commercial in the UK, Macklemore began to experience a surge in popularity. Eventually, the album rose to the top of the billboard charts and Macklemore and Lewis found themselves performing songs such as “Same Love” and “Thrift Shop” on the hit shows Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Ellen Degeneres Show. The latter single eventually rose to the number one spot on the mainstream charts in the US, with sales exceeding two million.

In addition to Macklemore’s commercial success, the artist has been critically lauded by a variety of industry notables. Rolling Stones praised Macklemore and Lewis as a “rags-to-riches” story, and despite the support of a major record deal, Macklemore and Lewis have garnered multiple industry awards, including: American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album; a BET Award for Best Group; a Billboard Music Award for Rap Song of the Year; and Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Macklemore’s rise to fame is just getting started. He recently performed at a number of music festivals, including Bonnaroo and Lollapalooze, and launched his own tour to promote The Heist in 2012. Macklemore and Lewis have announced their return to the studio, scheduled for late 2013, to prepare for Macklemore’s next studio album release.