Joseph Simmons
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Joseph Simmons | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Joseph Ward Simmons |
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Born | Queens, New York City, U.S. | November 14, 1964
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Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964), better known by the stage name Run, Rev. Run or DJ Run, is an American rapper, producer, DJ and television personality. Simmons is one of the founding members of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. He is also a practicing minister, known as Reverend Run.
He found new popularity in 2005 with his family's MTV reality show Run's House.
Early life
Simmons was born November 14, 1964, in Hollis, Queens, New York. He is the younger brother of artist Danny Simmons and Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam records.
Career
Before Run–D.M.C., Simmons was the lead vocalist in the hip-hop group named "The Force". He founded Run-D.M.C. as a lead vocalist along with friend
.Run began using the stage name of "Rev. Run" after he was ordained as a
His first work as Rev. Run was a feature in the single "Song 4 Lovers" by UK pop band Liberty X in September 2005. The music video for that song was directed by Bill Schacht for Aestheticom and reached broadcast airplay chart positions of No. 2 Box UK and No. 4 MTV UK with heavy rotation on 5 other music channels in the UK. "Song 4 Lovers" also reached No. 5 on the Official Charts Company's UK Top 40 Singles Chart, becoming the band's seventh top ten hit.[5][6]
It was followed by his first solo album,
In 2002, he appeared on a special "Rap Stars" edition of
Rev Run appeared on the MTV series Run's House, a reality show revolving around his everyday life with his family, from 2005 to 2009.
In 2007, he appeared with his son Diggy Simmons on My Super Sweet 16 while attending a 16th birthday party for Diddy's son, Quincy. Diddy is also the producer of Run's House.
In 2008, Simmons and his wife Justine teamed up with Kool-Aid and a non-profit organization called KaBOOM! to help build playgrounds in underserved communities. With Kool-Aid, they are helping to build twenty four playgrounds over the course of 2008 and hope to raise awareness for the need for safe play spaces.
On August 5, 2008, Gotham Press published Simmons' book, Take Back Your Family: A Challenge to America's Parents, co-authored by his wife, Justine Simmons, and Chris Morrow.
On September 8, 2007, Rev Run was honored as a
The weekend of September 17 and 18 of 2011, Rev Run made a special guest appearance at Bay Area Fellowship with Pastor Bil Cornelius in Corpus Christi, Texas Bay Area Fellowship Church.[citation needed]
In October 2011, Rev Run was a special guest of Fellowship Church based out of Grapevine, Texas.[citation needed]
Simmons has also created three other cable series, two premiered in 2014;
Personal life
Simmons married Valerie Vaughn in 1983. They have three children: Vanessa Simmons, Angela Simmons, and Joseph "JoJo" Ward Simmons, Jr.
He married
The Simmons family lives in Saddle River, New Jersey[14] in a six-bedroom colonial-style home that was listed for sale in 2007 for $5.5 million.[15]
In 2017, Simmons said he was adopting vegetarianism because God advised him to.[16]
Discography
Solo
- Released: October 18, 2005
- Format: LP
- Label: Def Jam
- Producer: Whiteboys Noise (Dub B & Jumpers)
- Sales: 86,000 (U.S)
- Singles: "Mind on the Road"
With Run-D.M.C.
References
- ^ Hochman, Steve. "Minister on MTV? Yep, he's a Rev Run", Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2005
- ^ "Bishop Jordon honored in Chicago." Jet. April 23, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
- ^ "Rev. Ike and Rev. Run honored." Jet. July 12, 2004. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
- ^ "Thank you." Jet. May 10, 2004. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
- OfficialCharts.com.
- ^ "BBC Radio 2 - Pick of the Pops, 2005".
- ^ TV Guide 2002
- ^ "The Marriage of Rev Run Simmons and Justine Jones". About.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^ Black Press USA Archived 2012-04-11 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Reverend Run And Justine Gear Up For Season Three Of "Run's House" Archived 2008-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Reverend Run, Wife Open Up About Losing Baby. BY TIFFANY MCGEE. People. Saturday March 31, 2007 11:55 PM EDT
- ^ Exclusive: Horrifying Death of Reality Star's Baby
- ^ Rev. Run & Justine Simmons: New Bundle of Joy. By Karu F. Daniels on Dec 28th 2007 6:06PM. AOL Black Voices
- ^ From RunCMC's website, "Despite the Run's House locale of affluent Saddle River, New Jersey, the roots of Run-DMC remain firmly planted in the working class New York neighborhood of Hollis, Queens.""Run-DMC". Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
- Daily News (New York), June 20, 2007. Accessed December 17, 2013. "Rev. Run's $5.5 million colonial on Wildwood Road, Saddle River, N.J. Six bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 3 fireplaces, home theater, sound studio and lounge with hot tub."
- ^ Taylor Rock,"Rev Run Is A Vegetarian, Because God Said So," The Daily Meal, 11 October 2017.
External links
- Joseph Simmons discography at Discogs
- Joseph Simmons at IMDb
- Joseph Simmons discography at MusicBrainz
- Official Run's House Website
- Story of the Death of Run's Daughter