Moby

New York City singer/songwriter and producer Moby was one of the most important electronic dance music figures of the ’90s, whose crossover success helped bring the sound into the mainstream and established him as a progenitor to the crop of superstar DJs that would define the next wave of popular electronic music.

At the peak of his breakthrough visibility, he courted controversy for putting a public face to the notoriously anonymous electronic genre and attracting scorn from techno purists. Early on, Moby fused rapid disco beats with heavy distorted guitars, punk rhythms, and detailed productions that drew equally from pop, dance, and movie soundtracks. Not only did his music differ from both the cool surface textures of ambient music and the hedonistic world of house music, but so did his lifestyle; Moby was famous for his devout Christian beliefs, as well as his environmental and vegan activism.

First breaking into the British Top Ten with the 1991 single “Go,” he soon established himself in the U.S. as one of the scene’s premier producers with 1995’s critically-acclaimed Everything Is Wrong.

After a brief foray into punk rock introduced fans to his other sonic inspirations, he transitioned into a new role as a crossover pop star with 1999’s seminal blockbuster, Play. While his chart success would not reach the same heights, he maintained his fanbase with steady, reliable output, swapping between traditional house tracks and expansive ambient collections into the 2020s. Occasionally, he even dipped back into guitar-based, politicized anthems with side band, the Void Pacific Choir.