In the '90s, Sinbad was a near-constant presence on TV and at the movies.
But we don't hear too much from this one-named comedian anymore.
So just where did Sinbad go?
Let's find out!
One of the main reasons Sinbad isn't as prolific as he used to be is because his health isn't
always one hundred percent.
In 2010, for example, he had to undergo knee replacement surgery, which is a costly and
painful procedure that requires a lot of recovery time.
Patients essentially have to re-learn to walk.
Sinbad received two artificial joints, or "bionic knees," as he calls them.
Alas, the new knees left one of his legs slightly longer than the other, which made his gait
become what he refers to as "a pimp walk."
"And what leg's shorter than the other, 'cause I had my knees replaced.
So one leg just didn't bend all the way out.
It gives me a pimp walk.
Some people think I'm just pimp walking."
Sinbad was knocked out of commission again five years later, when his chronic back pain
grew so unbearable that in 2015, on his 59th birthday, no less, he had to undergo double
fusion spinal surgery.
The procedure lasted for 10 hours.
But as of 2019, he's still alive and kicking.
Sinbad was huge in the '90s.
He was on TV all the time throughout the decade, partly because he churned out comedy special
after comedy special that ran on the likes of HBO and the fledgling Comedy Central.
They aired less and less as Comedy Central developed a larger slate of original programming,
and perhaps as a result, Sinbad produced fewer specials.
After 1998's Nothin' But the Funk, he focused on movies and sitcoms and didn't tape another
solo show until 2010's appropriately titled Where U Been?
Four years later, he delivered Make Me Wanna Holla, but it's been pretty slow going since
then.
Sinbad fans may remember Mark Curry, one of his '90s standup comedy contemporaries and
the star of the ABC sitcom Hangin' With Mr. Cooper.
In 2006, Curry was doing his laundry at home when a can of spray starch fell behind a hot
water heater and exploded, leaving second-degree burns over 20 percent of his body.
Even after a three-day medically-induced coma, the pain was so bad that Curry contemplated
suicide.
In response, Curry's comedian friends, particularly Sinbad, jumped into action.
They talked with Curry on the phone and were generally just there for him in an effort
to lift his spirits.
Curry later spoke with People Magazine about his journey out of the ordeal, revealing that
Sinbad making him laugh was one of the things that lifted his spirits.
Sinbad is still a touring comic, but if he's gracing a stage these days, it's far more
likely that he's doing it as a musician.
After buying a drum kit and learning to play a couple years back, he formed a band for
the first time in more than 30 years.
It's a jazz-funk group called Memphis Red and the Stank Nasty Band.
Sinbad fronts the group, singing and playing guitar under the stage name of his alter ego
"Memphis Red."
Musical performances as Memphis Red happened to bookend Sinbad's 2014 comedy special Make
Me Wanna Holla.
Hopefully his funk starts influencing his comedy and vice versa, if it hasn't already.
In December 2009, the IRS went after Sinbad for millions in uncollected taxes.
He apparently hadn't paid federal income tax in about a decade.
It was so bad that a judge ordered that he sell his $1.5 million house in Hidden Hills,
California to help alleviate some of the $8.15 million he owed the government.
To protect himself, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but the case was later dismissed
because he filled out the wrong paperwork.
Regardless, Sinbad was still on the hook for his crushing tax debt, and he ended up filing
for bankruptcy again in 2013.
Around that time, he explained that his financial problems were not a result of squandering.
"My thing is, I didn't buy Bentleys.
I didn't live large.
I believed in me.
I invested in me, and I invested in a lot of other people.
I would not change it.
I would not go back."
A year after filing for bankruptcy for the first time, Sinbad resorted to something that
a lot of formerly prominent stars have done: reality TV.
In 2010, he appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, albeit very briefly, getting fired on the
second episode of the season amidst a disagreement with bandana enthusiast Bret Michaels.
Sinbad later joked during an appearance on Oprah: Where Are They Now? about his regret
from being on the show.
"Who the heck is Donald Trump to fire me?
I regret I didn't tell Donald Trump, 'You need to fire your barber.'"
In 2011, Sinbad starred in his own reality show, entitled Sinbad: It's Just Family.
It depicted his unique home life, as he and his wife, Meredith, divorced in 1992 after
six years of marriage but then remarried in 2002.
Alas, the series was canceled after just one season.
Sinbad got back into scripted TV in 2018 on the FOX sitcom Rel, in which he played Lil
Rel Howery's dad, but that also ended up being cancelled after only one season.
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