He crushed a classic video game and moved into a closet before emerging as one of the biggest
artists of his generation… but Post Malone might eventually disappear to his own personal compound.
Post Malone knew that he was destined for stardom,
and so did some of his childhood friends. As he revealed to Rolling Stone in 2017,
his classmates voted him "Most Likely to Become Famous." They could tell because
he submitted video clips of himself twerking in leopard print scarves for art class assignments.
Malone's musical influences emerged from the places where he grew up. He spent his
childhood in central New York State until he was 10 years old, and he listened to much of
his father's musical influences, which included a lot of heavy metal and rock. His dad also spent
time working as a wedding DJ. Eventually, Malone moved to Dallas and started making his own music.
"My dad was always playing music, not like playing music, but listening to music. And he put me on,
like, everything, you know what I mean? So like Metallica, from everything."
Post Malone is a self-taught guitarist, and he has a certain iconic video game series to
thank for inspiring him to pick up the ax. Guitar Hero, for those who weren't around for its heyday,
involves using a guitar-shaped controller to hit specific notes that light up on
the screen as a song plays. In a 2015 interview with The Fader, Malone revealed,
"Six years ago I started playing guitar because of Guitar Hero. I am five-star
everything on expert mode Guitar Hero 3. My parents don't make music. I was around music,
but my parents were never musical. I just wanted to rock out. I taught myself how to play
real guitar off YouTube videos. Watching people play stuff, like a lot of AC/DC and Metallica."
When he was in high school, Malone got involved in a hardcore band and started
making his own beats. He released a mixtape when he was just 16,
but he still had a lot of growing up to do. As he admitted,
"My beats were hard, but I sucked. I had no identity or anything."
After graduating from high school, Post Malone attended a community college in Fort Worth,
Texas, but he quickly dropped out. As he recounted to The Fader,
"I wasn't getting anywhere in Texas at all. I
went to school for six months and wasn't feeling the vibe."
So Malone left behind his country roots and headed for the Hollywood Hills when
he was just 18. He moved to Los Angeles with a childhood friend named Jason Probst, whose
streams of online video gaming had garnered him minor fame at the time. Hoping that Hollywood's
close proximity would rub off on him, Malone left a fast food job behind and set his sights on the
big leagues. The struggles that he then endured served as the basis for his future lyrics. As
he noted to GQ, things were so tough during that period that he was sleeping in a closet.
Eventually, Malone met music producer FKi 1st, who helped shape his sound and led him
to his first big break. That collaboration resulted in the hit track "White Iverson."
On February 4, 2015, Post Malone uploaded "White Iverson" to SoundCloud. Soon enough,
he went from sleeping in a closet to overnight sensation. He was advised not to release the
track when he did, but he ignored that advice and did it anyway. As he recounted to Noisey,
"I said, 'I don't have f---in' time to wait.' I don't have any money,
I don't have anything. Like, what am I gonna lose?"
Malone then woke up the day after the song's release with Twitter mentions
from some of the industry's top artists, including Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller.
"I was like, yo, what the f-, like, this s—’s crazy!"
Unsurprisingly, Malone appreciates how SoundCloud
is a tool for lesser-known artists to break into the industry. As he put it to Noisey,
"I love SoundCloud, I think it's such a dope medium for new artists [...] just
to put something up and see what happens."
An artist's stage name says a lot about them as a person. So how did Post Malone,
who was born Austin Richard Post, come up with his nom de rap? It was rumored
that he was inspired by NBA legend Karl Malone, but the true story is actually a
little bit different. As the musician revealed during a 2018 appearance on The Tonight Show,
"I was like 14, and I had started getting into producing and rapping and singing over
my own stuff. And I needed a name, you know, for my s---ty mixtape. [...] So
I ran [my real name] through a random rap name generator, and now I'm stuck with it."
"Well, it fits you perfectly."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you."
Malone is at least in good company, as fellow rapper Donald Glover also
got his stage name of Childish Gambino through similar means,
as he opted for the services of a Wu -Tang name generator.
Part of Post Malone's appeal is that he hasn't lost himself to the fame machine. While other
celebrities get caught up in the glitz and the glam, he's donning a pair of Crocs and cracking
open a Bud Light. His humility has remained evident even as he's become one of the biggest
musicians of his generation. He was the number one most-streamed artist on Spotify in 2019, and his
album Hollywood's Bleeding quickly took the spot for the most-listened-to album that same year.
Despite his A-list status, Malone frequents places other celebrities
wouldn't dare be spotted. He's known to shop at Costco when he needs a Doritos refill,
and he's admitted in multiple interviews that his idea of a nice dinner out is the
local Olive Garden. In addition to enjoying the simpler things in life, his low-key personality
and self-deprecating humor also make him relatable to his fans. And it's those same
fans who make his exhausting international tours so worthwhile. As he noted to Rolling Stone,
"On Halloween, they came dressed up like me, which is easy: Just look homeless."
Post Malone exudes plenty of swagger, but he actually doesn't find himself all that attractive,
and his famous face tattoos help him disguise his self-doubt. As he admitted to GQ in 2020,
"It does maybe come from a place of insecurity, to where I don't like how I look,
so I'm going to put something cool on there so I can look at myself and say,
'You look cool, kid,' and have a modicum of self-confidence when it comes to my appearance."
Malone got his first tattoo while working on his 2016 album Stoney alongside Justin Bieber.
"I was just like, 'You know what? Justin Bieber's got some tats. And I love you,
but I know I'm way tougher than you."
For that first tattoo, Malone ended up getting a Playboy bunny. Some of his other tats include a
sword, Japanese waves, a ball and chain, and his infamous "Always Tired" script
under his left and right eye. Fans might chalk up that phrase to lack of sleep,
but it actually has nothing to do with insomnia. As the musician once explained,
"I tried to do something that's relatively the same length of letters. I guess [...] 'always'
is more letters than 'tired.' [...] But I was tired so I didn't f---ing realize."
Bud Light is one of Post Malone's biggest sponsors,
so there's no question that he likes to crack open a cold one. And in fact,
this particular vice helps fuel his creative process. As he admitted to Vice in 2015,
"If I make the beat, I usually have some words for it, but if somebody plays me a beat
I've never heard before, I usually get ideas for it and then get drunk, go in the booth,
and do melodies and mumbles and all that good stuff, then write to it afterwards."
Malone has also turned to drinking to cope with bouts of depression. He's
since dialed this habit back, though he hasn't gone completely sober.
"It was to a really, really, really, rough point."
While Malone used to turn to alcohol to get through the tougher times, he now uses it to
celebrate. As he explained during a 2023 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast,
"Now I drink for shows and because I'm happy. It's hard getting out there,
and I get so shy and timid and s---. So I just drink a little bit to, I guess,
cope with that and be able to get my liquid courage, literally."
Alcohol isn't the only vice affecting Post Malone's music,
as his smoking habit has taken a toll on his vocal cords. He's admitted to going through
as many as 80 cigarettes in a single day, but he also knows that he has to pump the brakes on
this habit. When he was asked about it on the Full Send podcast, he admitted,
"On a really terrible day [...] there's a very fine line between a terrible day and a good day."
Post Malone may have made it big in Hollywood,
but he prefers to live far away from the congested streets of LA. Part of this has
to do with his anti-government stance. As he declared in a 2018 interview,
"Move somewhere, because whenever martial law is declared, [...] whenever the credit cards
fail, [...] whenever your banks fail, [...] you have three days
to get out of where you are because that's when they're coming for you."
Around the same time as that interview, Malone purchased a hide-away mansion in Utah. The
modern five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house sits on seven acres of mountain views and boasts a
separate guest house, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a gourmet chef's kitchen.
Malone bought it with the intention to make it an apocalypse-style bunker. As he told Rolling Stone,
"I'm gonna put in, like, 30 bunk beds. It's free country out there. Like,
you can buy suppressors in Utah. You can do open-carry. Walk into
the grocery store with a handgun on your hip. [...] I can't wait."
Malone set his sights on Salt Lake City after playing a show and falling in love with the area.
“I kind of just wanted to get away to where I can have my own oasis."
In 2022, Post Malone's family had a very special
addition, as he and his fiancée welcomed their first daughter.
"Oh, you have a daughter?"
"Yes, sir."
"That's been on the QT. We didn't know you had a daughter."
"Sure." "Right? You keep all that quiet."
Malone has never revealed the identity of his fiancée, though he has admitted that
they got spontaneously engaged in Las Vegas. As he noted on the Call Her Daddy podcast,
"We go upstairs and I'm off my rocker hammered and I was like,
'Hey, you wanna marry me?' I got a ring and all this stuff. And she said, 'No.' She's like,
'Ask me tomorrow,' and I was like, 'Alright.' And then I did and I was sober and it was nice."
Malone always dreamed of having a family,
and things fell into place after he met his girlfriend. As he gushed on Call Her Daddy,
"I could tell... her heart is so massive. I've always wanted kids
and a big family. And I could tell she was going to be a really good mama."
Even though she's just a baby, Post Malone's daughter has already inspired her dad to
undergo a pretty dramatic transformation. In April 2023, he posted an Instagram selfie to
reveal his new slim self. He also admitted that's never felt better, as he detailed,
"I guess dad life kicked in and I decided to kick soda,
and start eating better so I can be around for a long time for this little angel."
Malone also noted that he wasn't using any drugs and planned to give up drinking and
smoking as well. He later revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that
he'd lost nearly 60 pounds, by dropping from 240 to 185. The musician has been
candid about his struggles with substance abuse and depression,
but fatherhood clearly forced him to turn a corner. As he admitted to TMZ,
"I'm excited for this next chapter in my life. I'm the happiest I've ever been,
and for since I could remember I was sad. Time to take care of my body and
my family and friends and spread as much love as we can every day."