Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), best known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Tone Lōc (), is an American rapper and actor. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs " Wild Thing" and " Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, and for being featured in " We're All in the Same Gang", a collaborative single by the West Coast Rap All-Stars.

Early life

Anthony Terrell Smith was born March 3, 1966, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the son of Margaret, who managed a retirement home, and James Smith who died in 1972. As a result of his father's premature death, Tone Lōc and his three older brothers were raised by his mother. He was educated at the Hollywood Professional School. As a teenager, he performed with the rap group Triple A.

Career

1989–1991: mainstream success

Tone Lōc's debut album, '' Lōc-ed After Dark'', was released in January 1989. The video for the first single, " Wild Thing," became a staple on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in the US. The song rose to No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the top twenty in Australia. The second single, " Funky Cold Medina," also became a hit. It reached the top 5 in the US, peaking at No. 3; the top ten in Australia; and the top twenty in the UK. ''Lōc-ed After Dark'' reached No. 1 in the US. Since its release, it has been certified 2× platinum there. Tone Lōc's second album ''

Cool Hand Lōc ''Cool Hand Lōc'' is the second studio album by American rapper Tone Lōc. It was released on November 19, 1991, via Delicious Vinyl. The album was produced by Michael Ross, Matt Dike, Tony Joseph, Quicksilver, Def Jef, Sir Jinx, and Tone Loc, ...

'' was released in November 1991. The album's first single was " All Through the Night", which found moderate success, reaching No. 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #16 on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart. It received frequent airplay on MTV and

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

. He also contributed "If I'm Gonna Eat Somebody" for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

's '' FernGully''.

1994–2004: ''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' franchise, and other endeavors

Tone Lōc played the part of police Sergeant Emilio in the film '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994). Tone Lōc's song "Ace Is in the House", which samples the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

song " No Sleep till Brooklyn", is featured in the films ''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' and '' Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective'' (2009). He provided vocals for Fefe Dobson for the track "Rock It Till You Drop It" on her self-titled debut album. Tone Lōc also voiced Fūd Wrapper, the host of the

animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

show Food Rocks. This was played at Epcot from 1994 to 2004. In this latter role, he sang the song "Always Read the Wrapper", a parody of his second hit single " Funky Cold Medina". He appeared as Albert in episode 8 of season 2 of ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced by Ma ...

'', which aired November 11, 1995.

1992–2016: television, film and voice acting

Tone Lōc has performed in several feature films, including ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, h ...

'', '' Blank Check'', ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

'' and '' Posse''. As a

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

, Tone Lōc has voiced characters in several animated television series such as ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

'' and ''

C Bear and Jamal ''C Bear and Jamal'' is an animated musical comedy children's television series that originally aired on the Fox Kids programming block from 1996 to 1997. It centers on an elementary school-aged boy named Jamal and his companion "C Bear", an oran ...

'', and was featured in the animated film ''

Bebe's Kids ''Bebe's Kids'' ( ; also marketed as ''Robin Harris' Bebe's Kids'') is a 1992 American Adult animation, adult animated comedy film produced by Hyperion Pictures, Hyperion Studio for Paramount Pictures. Directed by Bruce W. Smith in his List of ...

'', playing the wise-cracking baby Pee Wee. He voiced the character Lou the Goanna in the 1992 film '' FernGully: The Last Rainforest''. He has also provided his signature voice for episodes of '' ''Chowder'''' and ''

Uncle Grandpa ''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that ran from September 2, 2013, to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from '' The Cartoonstitut ...

'', both airing on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. In 2022, Tone Lōc was featured as the singing voice of Penny Proud in '' The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder'' on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

2016–present: I Love the 90s Tour

Tone Lōc was among the list of performers on the I Love the 90s Tour, which has performed worldwide since April 2016, as well as having featured appearances on the I Love the 90s: The Party Continues Tour from July to September 2017.

Personal life

Legal issues

In December 2010, Tone Lōc was arrested for an alleged DUI. He was released on bail claiming a medical condition had caused a

seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

. On June 18, 2011, Tone Lōc was arrested for felony domestic violence and felony possession of a

Colt AR-15 The Colt AR-15 is a product line of magazine-fed, gas-operated, semi auto rifle manufactured by Colt's Manufacturing Company ("Colt") in many configurations. The rifle is a derivative of its predecessor, the lightweight ArmaLite AR-15, an ...

Sporter rifle, which is heavily restricted by California law. The weapon was not involved in the domestic incident, an altercation with the mother of one of his children. Tone Lōc was released less than three hours later after posting $50,000 bail. On October 3, 2011, he entered a plea of no contest to both charges, and was sentenced to one day in county jail, three years of probation, 52 weeks of anger management counseling and 30 days of community service. On March 23, 2019, Tone Loc was detained by the Midland Police Department in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was later revealed that the reason for the detention was a heated argument caused when Lōc confronted someone who was wearing a Confederate battle flag baseball cap. After the two arguing parties agreed to separate, Lōc was released and no charges were filed.

Health issues

Tone Lōc has collapsed onstage multiple times since 1995; some if not all of these collapses have been due to

s, according to at least one report. On May 29, 2009, he was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during a concert in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. The rapper cut his elbow when he fell and was released the same day. On October 15, 2011, Lōc was hospitalized for exhaustion after collapsing onstage during a concert in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He was taken to a local hospital and intravenously rehydrated. Another similar incident occurred in 2012. On March 16, 2013, he collapsed onstage at a performance at the Bridge Bash in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, but refused hospital care. Lōc collapsed onstage on December 6, 2013, during a performance in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and collapsed again on November 26, 2016, during a performance in

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, but he later returned to the stage. Lōc wears his signature sunglasses at every performance to help reduce the likelihood of a seizure.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Notes

Featured singles

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tone Loc 1966 births Living people African-American male actors African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American male voice actors Crips Pop rappers Delicious Vinyl artists Male actors from Los Angeles Rappers from Los Angeles West Coast hip-hop musicians University High School (Los Angeles) alumni 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians