Sonny Moore found club and mainstream stardom beginning in 2008, when he swapped his gig as the frontman in post-hardcore band
From First to Last for the dancefloor-oriented project
Skrillex. He originally used the name for live DJ sets, but in 2009 the project moved into the studio with
Skrillex remixing the likes of
Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance") and
Snoop Dogg ("Sensual Seduction"). In 2010, the self-released digital download EP My Name Is Skrillex appeared, combining the
Benny Benassi and
Deadmau5 styles of electro with the same type of over the top samples and giant noise of electronica acts like
the Chemical Brothers and
Fatboy Slim.
Moore signed to
Deadmau5's Mau5trap label in 2010, where he released his second EP,
Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites, along with the club hit "Kill Everybody." If topping the club charts didn't prove the producer had arrived, a trio of Grammy Awards in 2011 helped considerably, including Best Dance/Electronica Album for
Scary Monsters and Best Dance Recording for the title track. He also made an appearance on the revived Beavis & Butthead television series, and collaborated with the surviving members of
the Doors on a single called "Breakin' a Sweat." The recording of the track was captured in the documentary film RE:GENERATION, while the song itself landed on
Skrillex's
Bangarang EP, which appeared in early 2012. The release won him two more Grammy Awards, one for the title track as Best Dance Recording and one for the EP itself as Best Dance/Electronica Album.
Most of
Skrillex's recordings, however, were forced around his busy touring schedule, which found him on every inhabited continent playing to hundreds of thousands of dance fans. Still, he collaborated on singles with
Damian Marley ("Make It Bun Dem After Hours") and
Alvin Risk ("Try It Out"), and released another EP, Leaving, in 2012. His second proper full-length,
Recess, appeared in March 2014 and promptly hit number four on the Billboard charts. In 2015, he collaborated with
Diplo for the album
Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack U. The following year saw
Skrillex partner with rapper
Rick Ross for the hit single "Purple Lamborghini," which appeared on the soundtrack for
Suicide Squad.
Over the following years,
Skrillex issued singles such "Would You Ever" with
Poo Bear, "Saint Laurent" with
DJ Sliink,
Wale, and
Austin Millz, and "Face My Fears" with
Hikaru Utada before issuing a surprise EP, Show Tracks, in 2019. Comprised of just two tracks, the glorified single included "Fuji Opener" with
Alvin Risk and "Mumbai Power" with BEAM, which he'd included in his live sets for much of the year. ~ David Jeffries