Vanilla Ice

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.

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 break dance 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.

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 night club, he was asked to perform regularly for the club. He was accompanied by disk jockeys D-Shay and Earthquake on his performances.

He got the opportunities 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.

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.