Nate Dogg

Before he became the soulful voice of G-Funk, Nathaniel Dwayne Hale grew up singing in Long Beach California’s New Hope Baptist Church and at his father’s church in Clarksdale, Mississippi. After dropping out of high school to join the Marines for three years, Nate Dogg and his cousin Snoop Dogg and Warren G formed a rap group called 213. In 1991 they made a demo in the back of the V.I.P. record shop that found its way into the hands of production mastermind Dr. Dre. Nate Dogg made his debut on Dre’s 1992 opus The Chronic, pouring his mournful minor-key melodies all over Dre’s sticky funk beats. Nate soon hit the pop charts with Warren G on “Regulate,” from Death Row’s Above The Rim Soundtrack, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1995. In 1997 he released his first solo album, G Funk Classics Vol I & II. But his greatest moments on record were his collaborations with great rappers like Tupac (“All Eyez On Me”), Ludacris (“Area Codes”) and Eminem (“Shake That),” which earned Nate Dogg his fourth Grammy nomination in 2007. In December of that year he suffered the first of two strokes which left him partially paralyzed. He died on March 15, 2011 at age 41, but his voice will be heard for many years to come.