Malcolm James McCormick , known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper, singer and producer.
In early 2010, Miller signed a record deal with Pittsburgh-based indie record label “Rostrum Records”.
He subsequently began recording his debut studio album Blue Slide Park, and released it on November 8, 2011. The album went on to debut at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart making it the first independently distributed debut album to top the chart since Tha Dogg Pound’s 1995 album, Dogg Food.
In early 2013, Miller launched REMember Music, his own record label imprint, named after a friend who died. Miller announced he was no longer signed to Rostrum Records. In October 2014, it was reported Miller signed a record deal for him and his label REMember, with Warner Bros. Records.
Miller said that he became addicted to a combination of promethazine and codeine, known as “purple drank” or “lean”, which he began taking to manage the stress he was enduring during his Macadelic Tour in 2012. In January 2013, Miller told Complex: “I love lean; it’s great. I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy. I was so fucked up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost.” At the time of Miller’s addiction, his childhood friend, Jimmy Murton, said: “I saw him in that mentality I remember being in—you’re getting fucked up because you feel like you need to. You’re trying to get away from everything. For how much he was drinking, it’s unbelievable that he stopped. It’s definitely one of the most impressive things he’s ever done.” Miller quit taking promethazine in November 2012, before he started the shooting of his reality show Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family.
Miller was in a long-term relationship with a woman he met in middle school for four years until April 2013. Many of the songs on his mixtape Macadelic were about their relationship. Miller dated singer Ariana Grande from August 2016 to May 2018.
Miller died of an apparent drug overdose in his Studio City home on September 7, 2018 at age 26. He was found unresponsive around noon that day, after a male friend called for an “immediate dispatch” for a patient in cardiac arrest, according to a 911 call. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene upon arrival of authorities.
Thanks for all the memories and great music. Sending love and prayers to his family, friends, and fans.