Background
Zimmerman was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Zimmerman was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario
His career began in the late 1990s, with a chiptune and demoscene movements-influenced sound. Three self-released compilations Project 56, deadmau5 Circa 1998-2002 and A Little Oblique were finished in 2006,with Project 56 seeing an official release in February 2008. "Just Before 8bit", "Bored of Canada" and "Nice Try, Kiddo" from Project 56 were expanded upon in Zimmerman's 2005 debut album Get Scraped. It features tracks of a variety of genres, including IDM, ambient/downtempo, noise pop and trip hop. Soon after, Zimmerman began his own record label mau5trap, which, along with Ultra Records and Ministry of Sound, released the 2008 album Random Album Title, which saw the collaboration of deadmau5 and San-Francisco producer Kaskade with I Remember. Random Album Title, saw a digital release in September 2008 via Ultra Records in the United States and Ministry of Sound in the United Kingdom and Europe. Physical copies of the album were released in November 2008.
In the United States, deadmau5's collaboration with Kaskade, "Move for Me", reached No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot Dance Airplay chart in its September 6, 2008 issue.
Since then, deadmau5 has seen three of his tracks, all collaborations ("Move for Me" and "I Remember" with Kaskade; "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" with Rob Swire) reach number-one on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart, making him the only Canadian on that chart to achieve that status (he is also the fourth Canadian to top that chart, following Deborah Cox, Nelly Furtado, and Dragonette, with one apiece).
In 2009, he was the best-selling artist on Beatport with more than 30,000 digital downloads with his singles "Not Exactly", "Faxing Berlin", and "Ghosts 'n' Stuff".
Information on his album For Lack of a Better Name was posted on his official MySpace page.[8]
“On September 22, 2009 (U.S only, rest-of-world release October 5) deadmau5 launches his brand new mix album, the Grammy-nominated, Juno Award-winning electronic music sensation who has racked up more than 5,000,000 hits on MySpace will unleash his second album for ULTRA Records – titled 'For Lack of a Better Name' – and then set off on a massive fall tour throughout North America.
In the fall of 2009, deadmau5's performances were recorded and made available for sale immediately following the concert on USB wristband flash drives.
On For Lack of a Better Name, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2008 debut Random Album Title, deadmau5 takes a different turn by incorporating various styles of music into multi-blocks of songs. The album includes the hit single "Ghosts 'n Stuff", featuring Pendulum's Rob Swire."
MTV named deadmau5 as the house DJ for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and MTV PUSH artist of the week on August 16, 2010. He expressed gratitude towards Lady Gaga and David Guetta for bringing dance into the pop music scene and paving the way for him to the mainstream.At the awards, deadmau5 performed with Jason Derulo and Travie McCoy.His song "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" had been featured on the soundtrack for the MTV reality series Jersey Shore earlier.
His fifth studio album, titled 4x4=12, was released on December 6, 2010 in the United Kingdom and December 7, 2010 in the United States. The singles "Some Chords", "Animal Rights", and "Sofi Needs a Ladder" have been released and have been featured on the album. "Some Chords" was featured on an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation where deadmau5 guest starred, and an instrumental version of "Sofi Needs a Ladder" was featured in the film The Hangover Part II.
deadmau5 is a playable avatar in DJ Hero 2, a video game released in October 2010.Additionally, one of the initially revealed tracks is a mashup between deadmau5's "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" with Lady Gaga's "Just Dance".
He also had a radio station dedicated to him in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) portable gaming consoles, as well as the iPhone. have been released and have been featured on the album.
Beatport Music Awards
On May 1, 2008, deadmau5 became the most awarded DJ/producer of the Beatport Music Awards. He was named "Best Progressive House Artist" by Beatport.[32] (In 2009, Beatport also awarded deadmau5 the most awards that year, winning first place in both of his nominations, as well as being given the "Greatest House DJ Ever" award, two years in a row). In June 2010, Beatport announced the winners of their annual Beatport Music Awards, awarding deadmau5 Best Electro House Artist, Best Progressive House Artist, and "most influential, relevant and forward-thinking person in electronic music over the past 12 months".[33]Year Nominated work Award Result
2008 deadmau5 Best Electro House Artist Won
Best Progressive House Artist Won
"Not Exactly" Best Single Won
"Community Funk" (deadmau5 remix) by Burufunk versus Carbon Community Best Remix Nominated
2009 deadmau5 Best Electro House Artist Won
Best Progressive House Artist Won
Grammy Awards
In 2009, he was nominated for Grammy Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical ("The Longest Road" [deadmau5 Remix] by Morgan Page featuring Lissie).Year Nominated work Award Result
2009 "The Longest Road" (deadmau5 Remix) by Morgan Page featuring Lissie Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Nominated
2012 "Raise Your Weapon" fort Greta Svabo Bech Best Dance Recording Nominated
4x4=12 Best Dance/Electronica Album Nominated
"Rope" - Foo Fighters (deadmau5 Mix) Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Nominated
International Dance Music Awards
In March 2010, deadmau5 was nominated for four International Dance Music Awards, and won a further three, including Best Artist (Solo) and Best Canadian DJ (see complete list below).[34]Year Nominated work Award Result
2010 deadmau5 Best Canadian DJ Won
Best Artist Won
Best Global DJ Nominated
Best Producer Nominated
"Ghosts 'n' Stuff" (feat. Rob Swire) Best Electro Track Won
Best Video Nominated
"Strobe" Best Progressive/Tech Track Nominated
Juno Awards
deadmau5 received two nominations for the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2008 for a track with Billy Newton-Davis and Melleefresh. He did not win an award for Melleefresh's "After Hours" song, but he won the award for Newton-Davis' "All U Ever Want".[35]Year Nominated work Award Result
2008 "After Hours" (with Melleefresh) Dance Recording of the Year Nominated
"All You Ever Want" (with Billy Newton-Davies) Dance Recording of the Year Won
2009 Random Album Title Dance Recording of the Year Won
"Move for Me" (with Kaskade) Dance Recording of the Year Nominated
2010 For Lack of a Better Name Dance Recording of the Year Won
