Sonny John Moore, better known by his stage name, Skrillex, is an American electronic music artist, DJ, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Having begun his musical career as the lead singer for post-hardcore band From First to Last, Skrillex went on to record two studio albums with the band, Dear Diary and My Teen Angst Has a Body Count. Following his performance with the act, Skrillex soon opted for a change in musical direction, leaving the band to pursue a solo career in 2007. Skrillex’ first tour as a solo artist saw him join the Alternative Press Tour, supporting bands such as The Rocket Summer and All Time Low.
In addition, Skrillex appeared on the cover of Alternative Press, featuring in the annual 100 Bands You Need To Know issue. Following the release of his 2009 Gypsyhook EP, Skrillex was set to begin recording his debut studio album, Bells. However, he soon halted the production of the album and began performing under the name Skrillex, opting to distribute his My Name Is Skrillex EP as a free download on his official MySpace page. This was followed by his Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP in 2010 and the More Monsters and Sprites EP in 2011. Through his releases, Skrillex soon became associated with the emerging popularity of the dubstep sound. Following the commercial success of his releases, Skrillex was nominated for a total of five Grammy Awards at the 54th Grammy Awards, including a nomination in the Best New Artist category.
As a result of his success, Skrillex went on to win three; Best Dance/Electronica Album, Best New Recording and Best Remixed Recording Non-Classical. Skrillex’ recognition as an influential dubstep artist continued to see him rack up nominations. In late 2011, the BBC announced Skrillex had been nominated for their Sound of 2012 poll. In addition, the producer was also named MTV’s Electronic Dance Music Artist of the Year. All in all, Skrillex has won a total of eight Grammy Awards and holds the world record for most Grammy’s won by an electronic dance music artist. Since then, Skrillex has come to collaborate with a number of other well-known artists, including Diplo and Boys Noize, with whom he formed the groups Jack Ǜ and Dog Blood respectively.
