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Run-D.M.C.
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Miami Vice Performer
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"Walk This Way" ("Walk-Alone")
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Members
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Joseph L. "Run" Simmons (born 1964)
Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels (born 1964) Jason "Jam-Master" Jay (1965-2002) |
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Active
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1981-2002
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Run-D.M.C. was a pioneering hip-hop group whose song "Walk This Way" was featured in the episode "Walk-Alone" of the series Miami Vice.
Career[]
The group was founded in 1981 by rappers Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master" Jay. They are credited with bringing hip-hop to mainstream pop, their self-titled debut album, released in 1984, featured a harder, edgier hip-hop sound which resonated with listeners and became a hit. Their appearance, dressing in street-style clothing (including untied tennis shoes, fedoras and leather jackets) instead of glam-style as their predecessors in the genre did also struck a chord and set a fashion statement for the hip-hop style for years to come. Their 1985 album King of Rock was also a success and let to the group being the only rap act to be invited to Live Aid. Run-D.M.C. also appeared in the movie Krish Groove (with The Fat Boys and Sheila E.). Raising Hell, their third album, produced their biggest hit, "Walk This Way", a rap remake of a 1970's Aerosmith song that featured band members Steven Tyler and Joe Perry that cemented the group as a successful cross-over act and brought Aerosmith's career back from the dead. Raising Hell is also credited with beginning the "golden age" of hip-hop, which ran for about eight years. Later in the 1980s and early 1990s Run-D.M.C. was challenged as hip-hop's biggest act by Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, N.W.A., and others. The group recorded three albums between 1990-2001, but tensions within the group began to take their toll, until the murder of Jam-Master Jay in 2002 ended Run-D.M.C. for good. The hip-hop community was shocked by the murder, and the unsolved crime mirrors that of the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. After the group's breakup, Simmons starred in a reality show, Run's House, and McDaniel appeared on tour with Aerosmith and Kid Rock, and Run-D.M.C. joined Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as the only hip-hop acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the time. SInce then other hip-hop acts have been inducted including the Beastie Boys, N.W.A, and Public Enemy.