MC Hammer

Hammer met his wife, Stephanie Fuller, at a church revival meeting. They married on December 21, 1985, and have 5 children, three sons – Bobby, Jeremiah and Sammy, and two daughters - Sarah and A’keiba.

Hammer was born Stanley Kirk Burrell on March 30, 1962, in Oakland, California. He was the youngest of his 6 siblings and lived in a government housing project apartment in East Oakland. His father, Lewis Burrell, worked as warehouse supervisor while his mother was a secretary.

Interested in baseball from his early boyhood, he spent time around the ‘Oakland Coliseum’ and entertained by dancing during the breaks. ‘Oakland Athletics’ owner, Charles Finley, watched him perform in the Coliseum’s parking lot and hired the 11 year Burrell as ‘batboy.’ Burrell’s resemblance to the baseball player ‘Hammerin’ Hank Aaron earned him the nick-name ‘Hammer.’ The ‘MC’ part came from ‘Master of Ceremonies’ as he performed at various clubs while on the road with A’s.

He played baseball (second base) during high school years and wished to be a professional player, but was not selected. After passing out from school, he joined communications study, but later enlisted for US Navy and served as aviation storekeeper for 3 years.

After being honorably discharged from the US Navy, Hammer began playing in clubs and formed ‘Holy Ghost Boys,’ a Christian rap music group with Jon Gibson. One of their songs, ‘The Wall,’ became a hit. Two former A’s player, Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, helped him financially to start his own record label, ‘Bust It Records.’

Hammer released his debut album, ‘Feel My Power,’ through his own label, ‘Oakland Records,’ in 1987, and the album sold over 60,000 copies. He released a single, ‘Ring ‘Em,’ and marketed it on his own. Hammer formed a troupe with dancers, musicians and vocalist, and presented stage shows and live shows at clubs.

Through his album and one of his live acts, he earned a multi-album deal with the ‘Capitol Records’ in 1988. His first album through ‘Capitol,’ was ‘Let’s Get It Started,’ a revised version of ‘Feel My Power.’ With its charted numbers, ‘Turn This Mutha Out,’ ‘Let’s Get it Started,’ ‘They Put Me in the Mix’ among others, the album sold more than 2 million copies and was certified double platinum. Hammer toured around with his live show promoting the album, and installed a recording studio at the back of this tour bus, where he recorded songs.

His next album, ‘Please, Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em,’ was brought out on February 12, 1990. The single, ‘U Can’t Touch This,’ from this album proved most successful and is considered as his signature song. This was followed by the cover versions of ‘Have You Seen Her’ (original by Chi-Lites) and ‘Pray,’(based on keyboard hooks of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’), which made to the Top 10. The album remained on the top of the charts for 21 weeks, which was a record. It sold over 18 million copies and was first hip-hop album to attain a diamond status. It is the all-time best-selling album of the genre. It also won him several awards, including a Grammy. A movie, ‘Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em: The Movie,’ was produced in 1990.

This successful album also brought on controversies and criticism. The track, ‘U Can’t Touch This,’ had ‘samples’ from Rick James’ ‘Super Freak,’ and James took legal action against Hammer. Later, the case was settled out-of-court. He faced criticism for borrowing/sampling others’ music or classic hooks and also, for repetitiveness of his lyrics. A number of music artists taunted him and his music in their music videos. (In the initial songs of his career, Hammer had ridiculed many of those artists). After the criticism, he dropped ‘MC’ from his name.

The Single, ‘U Can’t Touch This,’ received two Grammy Awards,’ in the ‘Best R&B Song’ and ‘Best Solo Rap Performance’ category. He won ‘Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video’ for his movie ‘Please, Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em: The Movie’ (1990). He has earned 3 ‘Grammy Awards,’ 8 ‘American Music Awards,’ a ‘People’s Choice Award,’ and ‘Billboard Diamond Award,’ among many more.