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Post Malone

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— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

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Post Malone

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  • Post Malone, born Austin Richard Post, failed an audition in 2010 for the Texas metalcore band Crown the Empire. He had gone in as a guitarist. The audition ended when his guitar strings broke, and the band turned him down.

    He was a teenager at the time, and nothing about that moment suggested a future at the top of the charts. Yet he would go on to blend pop, hip-hop, trap, country, R&B and rock into a sound that critics struggled to label.

    This documentary follows that path. How did a Texas teenager with a rejected guitar audition end up as one of the best-selling artists of his generation? Why did one song about a basketball Hall of Famer change his life? Why have critics argued so often about where he belongs? And what happens in the life of a pop star when the lights go down?

  • Austin Richard Post was born on the 4th of July 1995 in Syracuse, New York. His father, Richard Post, and his stepmother, Jodie, raised him. His father had been a DJ in his youth, and he introduced the boy to hip-hop, country and rock.

    When Austin was nine, the family moved to Grapevine, Texas. His father had become the manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys football team. Music soon followed. By his own account, his first step into professional music was playing guitar in a local metalcore band. He credited the video game series Guitar Hero for first making him want to learn the instrument.

    In June 2017 he appeared for a DJ set at Emo Nite in Los Angeles, California. He played songs by My Chemical Romance. He says that soon afterward he moved toward softer rock and hip-hop, and then began experimenting on FL Studio.

    The stage name came early. Malone says he picked "Post Malone" when he was "14 or 15". Many assumed the name nodded to the basketball player Karl Malone. Malone explained that "Post" is simply his last name. For the rest, he used a "rap name generator".

    At age 17 he and his friend Jazzy Eff made a parody synth-pop ballad called "Why Don't You Love Me" for a school project. They released it under the alias Leon DeChino. The song resurfaced online in 2016, and Malone later referred to the DeChino alias in his song "Psycho".

    In 2014, at 18, he released his first mixtape, Y.A.T.R., also known as Young and After Them Riches. He made it with the audio editor Audacity and played it for classmates at Grapevine High School. Those classmates voted him "Most Likely to Become Famous" as a senior. He also worked at a Chicken Express as a teenager.

    He later enrolled at Tarrant County College but dropped out. He then moved to Los Angeles with his longtime friend Jason Probst, a professional game streamer. There Malone, Probst and other producers and artists formed a group called BLCKVRD. Several members, Malone among them, moved into a shared house in the San Fernando Valley.

  • In that San Fernando Valley house, Malone met the producers FKi 1st and Sauce Lord Rich, who worked together as the production team FKi. He also met Rex Kudo, who produced several of his tracks. One of them was "White Iverson".

    Malone recorded the song just two days after writing it. Its lyrics allude to the Basketball Hall of Fame player Allen Iverson. In February 2015 he uploaded the finished track to his SoundCloud account. A music video followed on the 19th of July 2015.

    Reactions split. The rappers Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa praised the single, while Earl Sweatshirt mocked it. The song reached one million views within a month, and record labels quickly took notice. In August 2015 Malone signed with Republic Records.

    That same August he performed at Kylie Jenner's 18th birthday party, where he met Kanye West. West enjoyed his music, and the two worked together on "Fade", a track on The Life of Pablo in 2016. Malone also worked with rappers including 50 Cent and Young Thug.

    A friendship with the Canadian singer Justin Bieber led to a slot as an opening act on Bieber's Purpose World Tour in 2016-17. On the 20th of April 2016, Malone premiered his single "Go Flex" on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show. On the 9th of June 2016 he made his national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing the same song.

    Before his debut album, he released a mixtape on the 12th of May 2016 titled August 26th. The title referred to the planned release date of the album. In June 2016, XXL editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten said Malone had been considered for the magazine's 2016 Freshman Class cover. She said she was told his camp felt he was heading in a rock, pop and country direction. Malone denied this and insisted his mixtape and album were hip-hop.

    The album, Stoney, arrived late. Malone apologized for the delay in August 2016. Pre-orders opened on the 4th of November, and the album came out on the 13th of December 2016. He later called it "mediocre".

    The public disagreed. "Congratulations", featuring Quavo, became his first top-ten song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight. The album also produced the top 100 hits "I Fall Apart" and "Deja Vu", the latter featuring Bieber. The RIAA certified Stoney double platinum in October 2017.

  • In September 2017, Malone released "Rockstar", featuring 21 Savage, as the first single from his second album. The project had been announced for December, but it slipped into 2018. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. That prompted Rolling Stone to call him one of the most popular musicians in the country. Emil Nava directed the official video, which arrived in November.

    On the 23rd of February 2018, Malone released "Psycho", featuring Ty Dolla Sign, and announced a tour with 21 Savage. It debuted at number 2 on the Hot 100. In June it reached the top, becoming his second number one.

    Beerbongs & Bentleys came out on the 27th of April 2018. It broke the first-day streaming record on Spotify with 78.7 million streams worldwide. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 461,000 album-equivalent units, 153,000 of them from pure sales. The RIAA certified it platinum after only four days. The album spawned three top 10 songs and six top 20 songs.

    In August 2018, Stoney reached its 77th week on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. That broke a record Michael Jackson had held for 34 years, since Thriller spent 76 weeks there. Around the same time, Malone appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and previewed "Sunflower", a duet with Swae Lee. The song was written for the soundtrack of the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It became the highest-certified song in RIAA history and the first to earn a 2x Diamond certification.

    In May 2018, his manager told Billboard that Malone planned to start a record label and a film production company. That year Malone also announced a festival of his own, Posty Fest, to be held in Dallas, Texas on the 28th of October. He promised a "blockbuster" lineup headed by acts such as Travis Scott.

    In November 2018, Malone was recording his third album at his home in Utah. In July 2019 he released "Goodbyes", featuring Young Thug, and announced the Runaway Tour with Swae Lee as the opener. On the 5th of August 2019, he shared a snippet of "Circles" on YouTube. He played it at his second annual Bud Light Dive Bar concert, and the full song arrived on the 30th of August.

    The album, Hollywood's Bleeding, was released on the 6th of September 2019. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 489,000 album-equivalent units, and it earned a nomination for Album of the Year at the 63rd Grammys. "Circles" would go on to spend 61 weeks on the Hot 100, his biggest hit single to date.

  • Jon Caramanica of The New York Times once described Malone as an artist who toes the line between singing and rapping, and between hip-hop and spooky electric folk. Others have called his music a "melting pot of the country, grunge, hip-hop and R&B" that he grew up on. His vocal style has been called "laconic". Malone himself calls his work "genre-less".

    Bob Dylan sits near the center of his own account of his influences. Malone became interested in Dylan around age 15 and has called him "a genius" and "a god". He calls "Subterranean Homesick Blues" the "first rap song" and has a Dylan tattoo. Critics have said his music sounds about as far from rock and roll as you can get. Malone also cites Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash as key influences, along with 50 Cent, Kanye West and Key!.

    That range has made him a target. Malone has been called a "culture vulture" by various publications and on social media, accused of appropriating African-American culture. In October 2017, the rapper Lil B wrote on Twitter that Malone was turning into a white dude and might one day go fully country. Malone answered in an interview that his white skin had been used against him. In January 2018 he went on an intoxicated rant against people who use the label. Days later he told GQ that there is a struggle to being a white rapper.

    A November 2017 interview with the Polish outlet Newonce caused a second storm. Malone said modern hip-hop lacks people talking about real things, and that anyone wanting to think about life should not listen to it. Lil B and Vince Staples both criticized him. Malone then posted a video blaming a "beer-tasting" setting and said he loves hip-hop. Newonce denied that account, saying he barely drank during the interview.

    In the follow-up, Malone explained what he had meant. In his words: "What I was saying was that when I wanna sit down and cry, I sit down and I listen to Bob Dylan and his guitar." He added: "For me, that's Bob Dylan."

  • On the 12th of March 2020, Malone played a sellout crowd of 20,000 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. It was likely the last large-scale enclosed gathering in the United States before COVID-19 lockdowns. He drew backlash for not cancelling the show as concern over the pandemic grew. Live Nation postponed his later March tour dates that same day.

    In April 2020, he turned to a livestream. From his home, he performed a set made up entirely of Nirvana covers. Malone sang lead and played rhythm guitar. Travis Barker played drums, Brian Lee bass and Nick Mac lead guitar. The performance raised over US$5 million for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund. It drew praise from the surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, and from Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love.

    Collaborations filled the rest of the period. In June 2020 he appeared on Tyla Yaweh's single "Tommy Lee", and a remix on the 10th of July featured drums from Tommy Lee himself. On the 30th of April 2021 he joined DJ Khaled's album Khaled Khaled on the song "I Did It". On the 9th of July 2021 he released "Motley Crew". Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade directed its video, which featured Tommy Lee, Tyga, Tyla Yaweh and Malone's manager, Dre London.

    On the 5th of November 2021, he released "One Right Now" with the Weeknd as the lead single for his fourth album. In January 2022 he told Billboard it would be called Twelve Carat Toothache, and it was released on the 3rd of June 2022. In April 2022, Republic Records relaunched Mercury Records with a roster that included Malone.

    On the 14th of May 2022, Malone was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. He performed "Cooped Up" with Roddy Ricch. He also played an unreleased song, "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol", joined by Fleet Foxes. Their frontman, Robin Pecknold, had worked with him on a song for the album.

    That year he covered the theme from the 1989 television series for the film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. On the 12th of August 2022, a documentary called Runaway premiered on Freevee. It showed behind-the-scenes moments from the first leg of the 2019 Runaway Tour, plus performances from dates including New York City, Chicago and Posty Fest in Arlington.

  • In April 2023, Malone released "Chemical", the lead single for his fifth album. On the 21st of April he put out The Diamond Collection, a nine-song set gathering eight of his RIAA Diamond-certified singles plus "Chemical". On the 28th of July, the album Austin arrived. Singles included "Mourning", "Overdrive" and "Enough Is Enough". On the 17th of July he also added a new vocal to a re-release of Noah Kahan's "Dial Drunk", which reached number 25 on the Hot 100.

    On the 11th of February 2024, Malone performed "America the Beautiful" at Super Bowl LVIII. Days earlier, on the 5th of February, Taylor Swift revealed that he was on the first track of her album The Tortured Poets Department. The track was "Fortnight", chosen as the lead single. On the day of its release it set the single-day streaming record on Spotify, passing Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You".

    On the 29th of March, Malone appeared on "Levii's Jeans" from Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter. On the 25th of December 2024, the two performed it live for the first time, as part of Beyoncé's NFL Halftime Show set list.

    Then came his first country pop song, "I Had Some Help", with Morgan Wallen, released on the 10th of May 2024. It earned 167 first-week adds at country radio. Only one song had done that before: Garth Brooks's "Longneck Bottle" in 1997. It also set a Spotify single-day country streaming record with nearly 14 million streams, and it became Spotify's top male collaboration debut of all time.

    On the 21st of June, Malone released "Pour Me a Drink" with Blake Shelton. On the 26th of July came "Guy for That" with Luke Combs. His sixth album and country debut, F-1 Trillion, followed on the 16th of August 2024. On the 19th of November he announced a tour with the openers Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell. In February 2025 he announced a European leg, again with Jelly Roll on select dates.

    On the 14th of February 2025, for Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary, he reunited with Nirvana members to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit". On the 13th of April 2025, at Coachella, he said a new album was in the works. Two days later Morgan Wallen announced "I Ain't Comin' Back" with Malone, due on the 18th of April.

    The numbers tell the rest. The RIAA credits him with over 150 million records sold in the United States alone. He has eleven Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, six MTV Video Music Awards and eighteen Grammy nominations. He is the first solo lead artist to top both the Rap Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts. "Circles" took 41 weeks to climb to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, a record for a solo artist. As of 2025, only Drake has more diamond-certified songs than Malone's nine.

    His albums Twelve Carat Toothache and Austin both peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. "Fortnight" and "I Had Some Help" both topped the Hot 100 in 2024, and F-1 Trillion became his third number-one album. On the 6th of April 2026, Malone announced his seventh studio album, The Eternal Buzz, a double album of 40 tracks.

  • Since 2018, Malone has released a string of collaborations with the footwear company Crocs. The fifth and latest arrived in December 2020. During the 2019 Runaway Tour, he released special-edition Bud Light cans at local stores in 15 cities, and he has released several lines of sunglasses with Arnette.

    In December 2019, he teamed with Howlin' Ray's on a limited-edition hot chicken sandwich called the "Ghost Malone", made with ghost pepper jack cheese and sold exclusively on Postmates. In May 2020 he launched a French rosé called Maison No. 9, named for his favorite tarot card, the Nine of Swords. It sold out in two days. In August 2020 he invested in Envy Gaming and became a co-owner.

    His hobbies reach into trading cards. In 2022 he worked with Wizards of the Coast on two Magic: The Gathering supplemental sets, including one with his tattoos in the art and flavor texts written by him. He also owns the unique One Ring card, which he bought for more than $2 million. In April 2023 he designed the exterior of a Raising Cane's restaurant in Midvale, Utah. In February 2025 he and Mondelez International released limited-edition Oreo cookies with nine designs themed after him.

    On screen, he made a voice cameo in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. He later appeared in Spenser Confidential, Wrath of Man and Road House, and voiced Ray Fillet in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. In 2025 he played DJ Omar Gosh in Happy Gilmore 2. He curated the soundtrack for WWE 2K24 and starred in events in the game Hunt: Showdown 1896.

    As of 2019, Malone lived in a 12,700-square-foot home in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. On the 1st of September 2018, his former Los Angeles home was burglarized. On the 21st of August 2018, a plane he boarded at Teterboro Airport blew its tires on takeoff and made an emergency landing at Stewart International Airport. It landed safely. On the 8th of September 2018, his Rolls-Royce Wraith collided with another car in Santa Monica at 3:30 am. Several people were treated for minor injuries.

    In March 2020, a video of Malone falling on stage during "I Fall Apart" worried fans. He said he was not on drugs and felt the best he ever had. His manager, Dre London, said it was part of the act. In a 2022 interview with Howard Stern, Malone revealed that he had long struggled with alcoholism and had recovered with help from his fiancée. He has also said he has depersonalization disorder induced by marijuana use.

    In 2022, he and his girlfriend welcomed a daughter. He has her initials, "DDP", tattooed on his forehead, and the song "Yours" on F-1 Trillion was inspired by her. In March 2025 it was reported that he and his fiancée had quietly split at the end of 2024.

    He grew up in a Christian household, though as of November 2017 he is not religiously affiliated. He has a tattoo of John F. Kennedy and says Kennedy was the only president to speak out against government corruption. Malone has inked some of his tattoos himself, and he has tattooed friends and acquaintances too. As of early 2021 he had at least 78.

Updated

Common questions

Who is Post Malone?

Post Malone is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor, born Austin Richard Post on the 4th of July 1995 in Syracuse, New York. His music blends pop, hip-hop, trap, country, R&B and rock.

How did Post Malone get his start in music?

Post Malone began his career in 2011 and broke through with the single "White Iverson", uploaded to SoundCloud in February 2015. The song passed one million views within a month, and he signed with Republic Records in August 2015.

What are Post Malone's biggest albums?

His albums include Stoney (2016), Beerbongs & Bentleys (2018), Hollywood's Bleeding (2019), Twelve Carat Toothache (2022), Austin (2023) and F-1 Trillion (2024). Beerbongs & Bentleys and Hollywood's Bleeding each debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and earned Album of the Year nominations at the Grammys.

How many records has Post Malone sold?

The RIAA credits Post Malone with over 150 million records sold in the United States alone. As of 2025, only Drake has more diamond-certified songs than his nine.

When did Post Malone release his country album?

Post Malone released his country music debut, F-1 Trillion, on the 16th of August 2024. Its lead single, "I Had Some Help" with Morgan Wallen, came out on the 10th of May 2024, and the album became his third number-one on the Billboard 200.

Why was Post Malone's Nirvana livestream important?

Post Malone's April 2020 livestream of Nirvana covers raised over US$5 million for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund. Travis Barker played drums, and Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Courtney Love praised the set.

All sources

253 references cited across the entry

  1. 2Post Malone is an actor now, whether you like it or notChristopher Stanton — May 18, 2021
  2. 4Post Malone Signs With Republic RecordsDanny Schwartz — August 14, 2015
  3. 6MagazineRadio SongsJanuary 2, 2013
  4. 10Post MaloneGrammy Awards
  5. 14Post Malone's HomecomingH. Drew Blackburn — June 23, 2015
  6. 17NewsPost Malone on Memes, Bieber Fans, and the Importance of BeerClaire Valentine — October 6, 2017
  7. 18The New 3Adam Figman — April 30, 2015
  8. 20GGN Post Malone Has The Saucewestfesttv — February 9, 2016
  9. 21Post Malone – Stone Cold PodcastScare Wolf — August 15, 2017
  10. 27VideoLove In Colors Main Street DaysRich Post — 2013-05-18
  11. 28NewsThe Story Behind Post Malone's Alter Ego Leon DeChinoJacques Morel Jr. et al. — April 4, 2018
  12. 31GGN Post Malone Has The Saucewestfesttv — February 9, 2016
  13. 34Nardwuar vs. Post MaloneDecember 10, 2017
  14. 39MagazinePost Malone – BiographyDavid Jeffries
  15. 40Video Premiere: Watch Post Malone's 'White Iverson'Rob Markman — MTV — July 18, 2015
  16. 42Mac Miller tweetMac Miller
  17. 43Earl Sweatshirt Isn't a Fan of Post MalonePeter Walsh — January 28, 2016
  18. 47Yeezy Season 3Nneoma Akubuilo — February 12, 2016
  19. 60Post Malone Grabs Quavo for "Congratulations"Jessie Morris — November 3, 2016
  20. 74Preview Post Malone's new song, 'Stay'Lyndsey Parker — Yahoo! Music — April 5, 2018
  21. 92MagazinePost Malone Announces 'Circles' Single Release DateRania Aniftos — August 28, 2019
  22. 97MagazineColorado COVID-19 TimelineMay–June 2020
  23. 100MagazineAEG & Live Nation Recommend Halting All ToursDave Brooks — March 12, 2020
  24. 103Post Malone gives fans update on his next albumWill Lavin — April 27, 2020
  25. 104Post Malone's Nirvana Tribute livestream was pretty damn good, actuallyAl Newstead — Australian Broadcasting Corporation — April 27, 2020
  26. 106Dave Grohl says Post Malone's Nirvana livestream "sounded great"Jasper Bruce — BandLab Technologies — May 11, 2020
  27. 120MagazinePost Malone Bags RIAA Records, Sets 'The Diamond Collection'Lars Brandle — April 20, 2023
  28. 122Post Malone Announces New Album AustinGabriel Bras Nevares — May 16, 2023
  29. 123MagazinePost Malone Drops ew Single "Overdrive"Joshua Espinoza — July 14, 2023
  30. 126MagazinePost Malone Performs 'America the Beautiful' at the Super BowlTomás Mier et al. — February 11, 2024
  31. 129MagazineTaylor Swift Smashes Several Spotify Records in Single DayEve Batey — April 20, 2024
  32. 131I Had Some Help. May 10th @MorganWallenMay 2, 2024
  33. 135MagazinePost Malone Announces 'F-1 Trillion' Album & Release DateJessica Nicholson — June 18, 2024
  34. 145MagazinePost Malone to Headline 2026 World Cup Closing CeremonyAnna Chan — July 15, 2026
  35. 148How Post Malone Became Pop's King of HeartbreakKelefa Sanneh — March 2, 2020
  36. 150Did You Know Post Malone Used to Be in a Metal Band?Rabab Al-Sharif — January 17, 2019
  37. 151MagazinePost Malone's White-Rapper BluesHua Hsu — May 7, 2018
  38. 153Hip-hop goes pop with Swae Lee and Post MaloneLuca Cimarusti — February 1, 2020
  39. 158NewsWhite Rappers, Clear of a Black PlanetJon Caramanica — August 18, 2016
  40. 165Post Malone: post-racial or problematic?Kathy Iandoli — October 20, 2017
  41. 166NewsIs Post Malone a Culture Vulture?November 28, 2017
  42. 171Post Malone Doesn't Think Current Hip Hop Has Any MeaningDesire Thompson — November 21, 2017
  43. 177Post Malone Expresses Love for Hip-Hop Following BacklashC. Vernon Coleman — November 23, 2017
  44. 184MagazinePost Malone Vs. Migos: The Fried Chicken Wars Have New BeefTim Chan — December 10, 2019
  45. 187Post Malone Takes Equity Stake in Envy Gaming (Exclusive)Trilby Beresford — August 28, 2020
  46. 191Press releaseOREO and Post Malone Team Up to Bring Fans What Posty Calls "the Best OREO Ever!"Mondelez International — January 22, 2025
  47. 192Post Malone calls this Utah city 'the most amazing place ever'Lottie Elizabeth JohnsonLottie Elizabeth Johnson covers entertainment for the Deseret Lottie et al. — December 8, 2023
  48. 197NewsPlane Carrying Post Malone Makes Safe Emergency LandingAlex Stedman — August 21, 2018
  49. 198i landed guys.August 21, 2018
  50. 206Post Malone Says His Daughter Saved His LifeAlex Galbraith — August 11, 2024
  51. 221JournalCannabis-Induced Depersonalization-Derealization DisorderSean P. Madden et al. — 2018-02-01
  52. 222JournalDepersonalization after marijuana smokingRoy J. Mathew et al. — 1993
  53. 224MagazineYes, The True Meaning Behind Every Post Malone TattooJosh St. Clair — February 15, 2021
  54. 229Post MaloneMarch 14, 2025
  55. 232A fantasy getaway in a fish tankSamuel Argyle — theoutline.com — March 29, 2019
  56. 243Post Malone and 21 Savage announce tour datesLily Puckett — February 20, 2018
  57. 245Post Malone and Swae Lee are going on tour togetherDavid Renshaw — July 15, 2019
  58. 250NewsFetty Wap Announces Tour With Post MaloneCondé Nast — December 14, 2015

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