Born November 4, 1969 in Harlem, New York

November 4, 1969

Sean Combs, (AKA Puff Daddy, P. Diddy) was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Janice (photo attached) and Melvin Combs. He grew up in Mount Vernon, just to the north of the New York City borough of the Bronx. When Combs was three, his father, Melvin, was shot dead in his car on January 26, 1972 at age thirty-three in a Manhattan park following a party he attended. Melvin Combs was an associate of Frank Lucas, the New York drug lord. Both Lucas and rival gangster Nicky Barnes publicly state that they were close with Melvin. After completing his private secondary education at the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx in 1987, Combs attended Howard University in Washington, DC but dropped out, and eventually became an intern at Uptown Records. While enrolled at Howard University, he gained a reputation as a party promoter, showing an early penchant for marketing and promotions. In a display of his tenacity, he would also travel back and forth between Washington, DC and New York juggling his classes and his internship with Uptown Records. He now lives in Manhattan, NY, Alpine, NJ, East Hampton, NY, Miami Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA.

Tragedy at Heavy D Concert

January 1, 1991

In 1991, Combs promoted a concert headlined by Heavy D. The concert was held at a City College of New York gymnasium following an AIDS charity basketball game. The event was massively overcrowded; it was oversold to almost twice the capacity of the gymnasium. In addition, thousands without tickets were outside. In order to keep them from sneaking in, Combs's people shut the only door to a stairwell and put a table behind it, despite the crowd jammed inside pounding on the door and pleading for help. At some point people in the crowd outside broke several glass doors in an attempt to get in; this caused a stampede inside the gymnasium in which nine people died. In a 1999 ruling, a Court of Claims judge found Puff Daddy and Heavy D. responsible for 50 percent of the incident. City College bore the rest of the responsibility in part for abandoning security responsibility to Puff Daddy, even though they knew the event was oversold.

"Bad Boy" Founded

December 1, 1993

After his climb from a non-paying internship to becoming an A&R executive at Uptown Records, (He was instrumental in developing Jodeci and signing and producing Mary J. Blige), Sean (“Puffy”) Combs was abruptly terminated in 1993 by the then CEO Andre Harrell—reportedly due to his own difficulty to work with. Upon his firing, Arista Records chief Clive Davis took advantage of Combs' free agent status and agreed to bankroll him his own vanity label to be operated through Arista and its BMG parent. Bad Boy Entertainment was quickly established, but almost ended when Will, better known for his stage name "lil Will" burned down the building because he was allegedly drunk,high, and messed up on syrup. Eyewitness found him passed out on the floor laying on his own urine. A handful of the acts who had been signed to Uptown via Combs just prior to his dismissal were dropped from the label; among them were Christopher Wallace (aka The Notorious B.I.G.), and Craig Mack — both of whom Combs would take with him to his new company. The label’s first release was Craig Mack's “Flava In Ya Ear,” followed quickly by Mack's debut album, Project: Funk Da World in 1994. On the heels of these releases came “Juicy” and Ready To Die, the lead single and debut album from The Notorious B.I.G. (who would also be referred to as “Biggie”), released the same year. While Mack's album went gold, Ready to Die achieved multi-platinum success. Dominating the charts into 1995, B.I.G. became one of the rap worlds biggest names of the day and Bad Boy’s premiere star. Also in 1995, the label continued its success with platinum releases by Total and Faith Evans. Bad Boy, meanwhile, staffed a bevy of in-house writer/producers, including: Chucky Thompson, Easy Mo Bee, Nashiem Myrick and D Dot—all of whom were instrumental in producing many of Bad Boy’s most noted releases during this time.

Major Talent Signs to Bad Boy

January 1, 1996

Combs began signing more acts to Bad Boy, including, Dream, Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, Father MC, 112 and Total, as well as producing for Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin and others, and forming The Hitmen, an in-house production team. Mase and D-Block (known as "The L.O.X." at the time) soon joined Bad Boy, just as a widely publicized rivalry with the West Coast's Death Row Records was beginning. Combs and Biggie were criticized and parodied by Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight, in songs and interviews during the mid-1990s.

No Way Out

July 1, 1997

No Way Out is a 1997 debut album by Puff Daddy and the Family. Originally titled Hell Up In Harlem until the The Notorious B.I.G.'s death, the album topped the album charts in the US with 561,000 units sold in its first week of release, debuting at #1. The album won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The album had two Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "I'll Be Missing You," and one number two single, "It's All about the Benjamins". Furthermore, the music video for "Victory" is one of the most expensive videos ever made. Ironically, a song titled "No Way Out" appears on the soundtrack to the film Money Talks, but is not included on the album.

Puff Daddy VS. Godzilla: "Come With Me"

January 1, 1998

In 1998, Combs collaborated with Jimmy Page on the song "Come With Me" for the remake of "Godzilla". The track, approved by Page, sampled the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir". Producer Tom Morello supplied live guitar parts, playing bass on the song. Combs and Page filmed a video for "Come with Me" which reached #2 in the UK.

Forever released: Puff Daddy's 1st Solo LP

August 24, 1999

Forever is hip-hop artist Puff Daddy's 1st solo debut, without his Bad Boy Family, which was released on August 24, 1999. The album peaked at #2 in the US with sales over 205,000. The album peaked at #9 in the UK. However Forever did not receive a good deal of Critical Acclaim which previous album, "No Way Out" did and in turn was declared his first public failure. Shortly after, Puff Daddy changed his name to "P.Diddy."

Assault Charges!

December 1, 1999

In December 1999, Combs was accused of assaulting Steve Stoute of Interscope Records. Stoute was the manager for Nas, whose video for "Hate Me Now" featured Nas being crucified. Though Combs had willingly filmed the video scene earlier that year, he demanded that the images be removed. Stoute's refusal led to an argument and Puff Daddy' arrest for aggravated assault. This was followed by yet more negative publicity as The Lox left Bad Boy Records, and a recording session with Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease, both of Biggie's Junior M.A.F.I.A. posse, was interrupted by gunfire.

Combs and Jay-Lo Involved in Shooting

December 1, 1999

In December 1999, Combs and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, were at Club New York, a midtown Manhattan nightclub, when gunfire broke out. After a police investigation, Combs and fellow rapper Shyne were arrested for weapons violations and other charges. Combs was indicted after his driver claimed that Combs had tried to bribe him into taking the weapon after the shooting. With bribery charges added to the bill, Puff Daddy was being attacked in the tabloids on a near-daily basis. Before the trial was over, Combs found himself in court on numerous civil charges.

With a gag order in place, the highly-publicized trial began. His attorney was Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.. After the trial was over, Combs was acquitted, but his artist Shyne was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to ten years in prison.

A talent agency then sued Combs for unfair competition, as did a woman who rented an apartment owned by him; she claimed he refused to rid the house of vermin. Combs then launched his own lawsuit against a writer who did not follow through on an alleged agreement to help write his autobiography. Combs was soon acquitted of all charges relating to the shooting incident, followed almost immediately by a break-up with Lopez. With the media circus over, Combs changed his stage name from "Puff Daddy" to "P. Diddy".

The Saga Continues

June 19, 2001

The Saga Continues... is the second album released by P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family and Bad Boy Entertainment in 2001. The album was eventually certified Platinum.

The single, "I Need a Girl (Bella)", was released in the form of two remixes: "(Pt. 1) (Featuring Usher & Loon)" and "(Pt. 2) (Featuring Mario Winans, Ginuwine & Loon)". Both appeared on We Invented The Remix Vol. 1 and had a respective music video. The original version appears on certain "I Need a Girl (Pt. 1)" singles.

Branching Out: Collaborations with Bowie, Britney and 'N Sync

October 5, 2001

A collaboration with David Bowie appeared on the soundtrack to Training Day, whilst he also began working with Britney Spears and 'N Sync. He signed California-based pop girl group Dream to his record label. He was also an opening act for 'N Sync on their Spring 2002 Celebrity Tour.

We Invented the Remix, Volume 1 and 2

May 14, 2002

We Invented the Remix is an album by P. Diddy with the Bad Boy Family, released in 2002. It features remixes of hit singles by artists from Diddy's Bad Boy Records record label. The album reached the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for a week and was later certified Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies. The album also reached #17 in the UK on the UK Albums Chart.

According to MTV.com, a second edition of the album will be released in 2008 with a remix album of "Press Play".

Making the Band 2: Reality Show on MTV

October 19, 2002 - May 13, 2004

In 2002, he made his own reality show on MTV called Making the Band 2, the sequel to the first Making the Band. In it, contestants compete to be in a new group on Bad Boy Records. The Six Finalists have to come up with their name, CD and video. The would-be group involved (Da Band) was maligned by comics and critics, including a well known skit that appeared on Chappelle's Show, and was dissolved by Combs at the end of the series.

Combs Settles Suit

December 1, 2002

On December 22, 2006, MSNBC reported, "Macy’s has pulled from its shelves and its Web site two styles of Sean John hooded jackets, originally advertised as featuring faux fur, after an investigation by the nation’s largest animal protection organization concluded that the garments were actually made from a certain species of dog called “raccoon dog.”

Sweatshop Labor Charges

October 1, 2003

In October 2003, Combs was under intense media attention for using sweatshop labor to produce his clothing line. Among the accusations, originally put forth by the National Labor Committee (NLC), workers were subjected to body searches, fired if pregnant and paid sweatshop wages. Combs responded to the BBC that there would be a zero tolerance investigation at his company, Sean John. He stated proudly to a group of reporters "I'm as pro-worker as they get."

In 2005 and 2006, his clothing line, Sean John, was again the center of debate due to the fact that it outsourced its labor and forced workers to work nearly 14 hour shifts. The workers, mostly comprised of teenage girls, got paid an average of 15 cents per hour under horrible conditions. Most of the workers were denied bathroom breaks, the right to talk to each other, and forced to buy meals from the factory, which caused many of them to end their work day in debt.

Vote or Die!

January 1, 2004

In 2004, combs headed the campaign "Vote or Die" for the 2004 Presidential Election. The "Vote or Die" slogan was mocked by both the Daily Show and South Park as being too simplistic and encouraging young people to vote without knowing the issues. In a South Park episode entitled "Douche and Turd", Combs and his friends were depicted chasing one of the main characters around with weapons, literally threatening to kill him if he didn't vote in his school election.

P. Diddy Sells Bad Boy

January 1, 2005

As of 2005, Combs sold his record company to the Warner Music Group. Tensions still existed between him and former Warners CEOs Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles (Both formerly of Def Jam), but they arranged for his imprint to be a part of the company. He still remains CEO of Bad Boy Records.

Identity Shift: From Puffy to Diddy

August 1, 2005

Foxy 105 (Columbus, Georgia) reported in January 2008 that his stage name and nickname were changed to Sean John, which has been denied by Combs. He had been previously known as Puff Daddy, later as P. Diddy (Puff and Puffy being often used as a nickname, but never as recording games), his nickname and stage name were then changed to Diddy (adopted in August, 2005). He is still called P. Diddy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the latter after a legal battle with another artist, Richard "Diddy" Dearlove.

Press Play released

October 17, 2006

"Press Play" is the second solo album by American rapper Diddy (still known as P. Diddy in the UK and New Zealand), without the Bad Boy Family. It features a large amount of guest appearances from some of the most successful names in Rap and R&B. The album was available to preview on MTV's The Leak on October 10, one week before being sold in stores. It debuted at #1 in the US with sales of over 173,009. In the UK, the album debuted at #11. "Come to Me" and "Last Night" have both reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.

As of May 2007, the album had sold a million copies domestically.

According to MTV.com there will be an entire remix album of "Press Play" along with a second edition of "We Invented The Remix", Diddy's highly successful 2002 remix album. He co-wrote on all the songs, according to the liner notes.