Vanilla Ice Biography

Childhood & Early Life

Vanilla Ice was born to Camilla Beth Dickerson in Texas. The identity of his biological father is not known, and he was given the family name of his mother’s husband, William Van Winkle, at the time of his birth. His mother divorced when he was four and married again, and the family moved to Miami. He loved music, especially hip hop, and practiced break dancing as a young teen. He used to rap at parties and joined a breakdance group. When his stepfather got a job in Texas, the family moved again. He attended R. L. Turner High School but dropped out before graduation. He loved to ride motorbikes and participated in racing competitions.

Career

He formed a break dancing troupe ‘The Vanilla Ice Posse’ and performed on the streets, local malls, and clubs. After an impromptu performance at City Lights, a South Dallas nightclub, he was asked to perform regularly for the club. He was accompanied by disk jockeys D-Shay and Earthquake in his performances. He got the opportunity to open for several bands and musicians like Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, Paula Abdul, etc. while performing for City Lights. Tommy Quon, The owner of City Lights recognized Ice’s potential and signed a contract with him in 1987. The songs that he had perfected through repeated stage performances were recorded in an album ‘Hooked’, and released by an independent record company in 1989. The single ‘Ice Ice Baby’ featured on his debut album became a huge hit and he soon had a huge fan base. A music video was also created for the song which was aired frequently by the television channels. The success of his debut album made him sign a contract with SBK Records. ‘Hooked’ was remixed, rerecorded, and re-issued under a new name, ‘To the Extreme’ in 1990. The album also contained new music. He released a live album, ‘Extremely Live’ in 1991. It had songs from ‘Hooked’, as well as new material. It peaked at No.30 on the Billboard 200. He spent the year 1992 touring and performing all over the world. He performed in several countries all over South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. His next album, ‘Mind Blowin’ was out in 1994. By now his popularity had begun to wane; the album received negative reviews and did not do well. The falling popularity troubled the singer and he became increasingly dependent on drugs like ecstasy, heroin, and cocaine. He even attempted suicide by drug overdose but was saved by his friends. He decided to take a break from music and focused on his other passions, motocross and jet skiing. He even worked for some time in real estate. He returned to music in 1998 with his new album, ‘Hard to Swallow’. The album’s music was a combination of heavy metal, hip hop, and punk rock. But the album could not revive his career as expected. He released several albums in the new millennium, but none of them could recreate his past success. In spite of not getting mainstream popularity again, Vanilla Ice was however able to garner a faithful cult following. His latest studio album ‘W.T.F. (Wisdom, Tenacity and Focus)’ was released in August 2011. The album performed poorly on the commercial front and sold only 1000 copies. He has also acted in many films such as ‘Cool as Ice,’ ‘Big Money Rustlas,’ ‘That’s My Boy,’ and ‘The Wrong Missy.’ Most of these movies were panned by critics.

Major Works

Vanilla Ice was a one-hit wonder made famous by the single ‘Ice Ice Baby’ that first featured in his debut album ‘Hooked’. The song peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, U.K. Singles Chart, Irish Singles Chart, and Australian ARIA Singles Chart.

Personal Life & Legacy

He dated singer Madonna for a few months in the 1990s. He met Laura Giaritta in 1995 and married her in 1997. The couple has two children. He reportedly split from his wife in 2011 after 14 years of marriage. The couple officially filed for divorce in 2016.

Trivia

He was the first major white rapper. He has had several brushes with the law. In 1991, he was brought in by the authorities for threatening a homeless man with a firearm. A decade later, in 2001, he was arrested for assaulting his wife Laura Giaritta. In 2008, he was again arrested for physically attacking his wife. However, the charges were later dropped. He was charged with burglary and grand theft in 2015 for stealing multiple items from a house that he believed to be vacant. He was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay for the restoration and repairs of the house. ‘Ice Ice Baby’ was the first hip hop single to top the U.S. Billboard Charts.