André Brown (born December 5, 1963), better known as Doctor Dré, is an American rapper,

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and former

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

VJ.

Early life

André Brown was born and raised in

Westbury, New York Westbury is a Village (New York), village in the town of North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United Stat ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Career

In the early 1980s, Doctor Dré was a DJ at WBAU, the radio station of

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

. With three other DJs at the station, he formed the "Concept Crew", which began to create its own music. In 1986, they renamed themselves Original Concept, a hip-hop group that ultimately released their sole album, 1988's ''Straight from the Basement of Kooley High!'', on

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. In a 2018 interview, Doctor Dré described his early college work: From 1989 to 1995, Doctor Dré and

Ed Lover Ed Lover (born: James Roberts) is an American disc jockey, radio personality, actor, musician, and one of the first MTV VJ hosts of '' Yo! MTV Raps'' with Dr. Dre and Fab 5 Freddy. Lover has been host of many influential radio and television ...

were the co-hosts of MTV's

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

program ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-1990s and on MTV, MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Pe ...

''. Dré teamed up with Lover in the early 1990s to co-host a morning radio show during the re-launch of radio station Hot 97 (

WQHT WQHT (97.1 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding, a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge ...

) in New York City. The duo starred in the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

film ''

Who's the Man? ''Who's the Man?'' is a 1993 thriller buddy comedy film directed by Ted Demme in his feature film directing debut. The film stars ''Yo! MTV Raps'' hosts Doctor Dré (in his film debut) and Ed Lover alongside Ice-T and features cameo appearan ...

'', directed by ''Yo! MTV Raps'' co-creator and co-director

Ted Demme Edward Kern Demme ( ; October 26, 1963 – January 13, 2002) was an American director, producer, and actor. Early life Demme was born in New York City, the son of Gail (née Kern) and Frederick Rogers Demme. He grew up in Rockville Centre, New Y ...

. Dré and Ed Lover also recorded an album in 1994 titled ''Back up off Me!'' that was released on

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. Dré also served as a DJ for the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

. Dré had his own urban clothing line called Bigga Stuff in the early 1990s, but it was never widely distributed. Dré and Ed Lover participated in the 2003

Comedy Central Roast ''Comedy Central Roast'' is a series of celebrity roast specials that air on the American television channel Comedy Central. The first official ''Comedy Central Roast'' premiered on August 10, 2003. The network typically airs one or two roasts ...

of their ''Who's the Man?'' co-star, comedian

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Born in Massachusetts, he first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song " Asshole") and th ...

Guest appearances on TV

He guest-starred on ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...

'' in the episode "Ill Will" as a figment of

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

's nightmare of bad doctors. He also appeared on an episode of ''

The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims court, small claims disputes in a simulation, simulated courtroom set. W ...

'' with Judge

Marilyn Milian Marilyn Milian (born May 1, 1961), known professionally as Judge Milian, is an American television personality, lecturer, retired Florida Circuit Court judge and court-show arbitrator. For 22 seasons from March 12, 2001 to July 21, 2023, Milian ...

as a witness for a talent director suing former colleagues of his. They won

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1,500, the full amount requested for the gig deposit. He appeared as a guest on

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

's ''

The Beat with Ari Melber ''The Beat with Ari Melber'' is an American news and politics program hosted by Ari Melber, who is the chief legal correspondent for the network MSNBC. The show airs weekdays at 6 p.m. ET and, as of May 2025, is the second most-watched cable n ...

'' on June 1, 2018, along with ''Yo! MTV Raps'' co-host Ed Lover. During their segment they promoted the re-boot of the show.

Personal life

Doctor Dré has

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

. He had lost his vision in October 2019 and his leg in 2020 due to complications from the disease. He is married to Brigide Brown. He has two children, son Arahmus and daughter Angelique.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dre, Doctor 1963 births People from Westbury, New York People from Long Island Living people African-American male actors African-American television personalities American male film actors American radio personalities Beastie Boys members American video jockeys Relativity Records artists Television personalities with disabilities American television personalities American amputees