Sean Combs

Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), also known professionally as Diddy (formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy), is an American former rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is credited with the discovery and development of musical artists such as the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Usher, among others.

Born in Harlem, Combs worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding his own record label, Bad Boy Records, in 1993. Combs's debut studio album, No Way Out (1997), peaked atop the Billboard 200 and sold over 7 million copies in the US. Two of its singles, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "I'll Be Missing You", topped the Billboard Hot 100—the latter was the first hip-hop song to debut atop the chart. With his guest appearance on "Mo Money Mo Problems", Combs became the first solo artist to replace himself atop the chart. His second and third albums, Forever (1999) and The Saga Continues... (2001), both peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The collaborative singles "Bump, Bump, Bump" (2002) and "Shake Ya Tailfeather" (2003) made him the first rapper with five US number-one singles. Following the release of his US chart-topping fourth album Press Play (2006), Combs formed the musical trio Diddy – Dirty Money with R&B singers Kalenna Harper and Dawn Richard to release the collaborative album Last Train to Paris (2010). His fifth album, The Love Album: Off the Grid (2023), was his first to be self-released.

One of the world's wealthiest musical artists, Combs topped Forbes annual hip-hop rich list in 2014 and 2017. His accolades include three Grammy Awards, three BET Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. He has worked as a producer for other media, including the reality television series Making the Band, and he starred in the films Made, Monster's Ball (both 2001) and Get Him to the Greek (2010). Combs founded the clothing retailer Sean John in 1998, for which he won Menswear Designer of the Year from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2004, having previously been nominated in 2000. He served as brand ambassador for the liquor brand Cîroc from 2007 to 2023, and co-founded the digital television network Revolt in 2013. In 2008, Combs became the first male rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In late 2023, Combs settled a high-profile sexual assault and abuse lawsuit filed by his former partner Cassie Ventura. Numerous lawsuits regarding sexual misconduct were filed in the following months, with several claimants alleging sexual assault and abuse by Combs between 1991 and 2009. In March 2024, several of Combs's properties were raided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that September he was charged with federal sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering. He pleaded not guilty and was denied bail three times. His trial began on May 5, 2025; on July 2, he was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but not guilty on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. As of October 2025, he is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix. On October 3, 2025, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison with credit for 12 months time served.

Sean John Combs was born on November 4, 1969, in Harlem, New York City. His mother Janice Combs (née Smalls) worked as a model who organized fashion shows, and as a teacher's assistant. His father, Melvin Earl Combs, served in the U.S. Air Force, worked at a hair salon, and was an associate of convicted New York drug lord Frank Lucas. Melvin Combs probably began working part-time as a drug dealer around 1970. In 1972, at age 33, Melvin was shot dead while sitting in his car on Central Park West. According to a 2010 account by Vibe magazine, Melvin Combs was killed by Walter Grant, a fellow affiliate of mafia-supplied heroin dealer Willie Abraham; "Grant was convinced that Melvin had either ratted out his crew after his arrest—or planned to", although Lucas himself doubted that Combs had, in fact, revealed any information to law enforcement. Sean Combs was two years and two months old when his father died. Combs has a younger sister, Keisha, and grew up in poverty. Janice Combs and her children stayed in Upper Manhattan for "several years" after Melvin's death, before moving to Mount Vernon, which is an inner suburb of New York City, located just north of the Bronx.

Combs said he was given the nickname "Puff" as a child, because he would "huff and puff" when he was angry. Combs was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy. Sean Combs graduated in 1987 from Mount Saint Michael Academy, an all-boys Catholic school in the Bronx. He played on school football team that won a division title in 1986. In autumn 1987, Combs enrolled as a business major at Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., but he left after his second year. At college, Combs was known for throwing parties; three classmates also recalled him using a belt to beat his then-girlfriend outside her Harriet Tubman Quadrangle dormitory.

Combs became an intern at New York's Uptown Records in 1990. While working as a talent director at Uptown, under the guidance of label founder Andre Harrell, he helped develop Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. In his college days, Combs had a reputation for throwing parties, some of which attracted up to a thousand participants. Usher, who lived with Combs for a year in New York City when he was 13 years old, told Howard Stern in 2016 that Combs's lifestyle was "pretty wild" during that time. In 1991, Combs promoted an AIDS fundraiser with Heavy D held at the City College of New York (CCNY) gymnasium, following a charity basketball game. The event was oversold, and a stampede occurred in which nine people died.

Shortly after being fired from Uptown in 1993, Combs established his own label Bad Boy Records, which entered a joint venture deal with Arista Records. Combs brought Uptown signee Christopher Wallace (better known as the Notorious B.I.G.) along with him to the newly established label. Both Wallace and Craig Mack began recording for the label and yielded mainstream recognition, leading to the former's debut album and the label's first major project, Ready to Die (1994). Combs signed more acts to Bad Boy, including Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, 112, Total, and Father MC. The Hitmen, his in-house production team, worked with Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil' Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin, and others.

Mase and the Lox joined Bad Boy just as a widely publicized East Coast–West Coast hip-hop rivalry was beginning. Combs and Wallace were criticized and parodied by Death Row Records cohorts Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight in songs and interviews during the mid-1990s. During 1994–1995, Combs produced several songs for TLC's CrazySexyCool, which finished the decade as number 25 on Billboard's list of top pop albums of the decade.

In 1996, under the name Puff Daddy, Combs released his first commercial vocal work as a rapper. His debut single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number one. His debut album, No Way Out, was released on July 22, 1997, through Bad Boy Records. Originally titled Hell up in Harlem, the album underwent several changes after the Notorious B.I.G. was killed on March 9, 1997. Several of the label's artists made guest appearances on the album. No Way Out was a significant success, particularly in the United States, where it reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release, selling 561,000 copies.

The album produced five singles: "I'll Be Missing You", a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., was the first rap song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it remained at the top of the chart for 11 consecutive weeks and topped several other charts worldwide. Four other singles—"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", "It's All About the Benjamins", "Been Around the World", and "Victory"—were also released. Combs collaborated with Jimmy Page on the song "Come with Me" for the 1998 film Godzilla.

Fortune magazine listed Combs at number 12 on their top 40 of entrepreneurs under 40 in 2002. Forbes magazine estimated that for the year ending May 2017, Combs earned $130 million, ranking him number one among entertainers. He topped the Forbes annual hip-hop rich list in 2014 and 2017. He is one of the wealthiest musical artists, with an estimated net worth of US$1 billion by 2022.

In 1998, Combs started a clothing line, Sean John. It was nominated for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) award for Menswear Designer of the Year in 2000, and won in 2004. California billionaire Ronald Burkle invested $100 million into the company in 2003.

In late 2006, the department store Macy's removed Sean John jackets from their shelves when they discovered that the clothing was made using raccoon dog fur. Combs had not known the jackets were made with genuine fur, but as soon as he was alerted, he had production stopped.

In November 2008, Combs added a men's perfume line "I Am King" to the Sean John brand. The fragrance, dedicated to Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr., featured Bar Refaeli in its advertising. In early 2016, Sean John introduced the brand's GIRLS collection.

Combs is the head of Combs Enterprises, an umbrella company for his portfolio of businesses. In addition to his clothing line, Combs owned two restaurants called Justin's, named after his son. The original New York location closed in September 2007; the Atlanta location closed in June 2012. He is the designer of a Dallas Mavericks alternate jersey used from 2004 to 2009. In October 2007, Combs agreed to help develop the Cîroc vodka brand for a 50% share of the profits. In June 2023, after Ciroc was acquired by Diageo, they ended their partnership with Combs for "refusing to acknowledge or honor his commitments".

Combs is a father to seven children. His first biological child, Justin, was born in 1993 to fashion designer and stylist Misa Hylton. Justin attended UCLA on a football scholarship and graduated in 2016. Combs had an on-again, off-again relationship with Kimberly Porter from 1994 to 2007. He raised and adopted Quincy, born 1991, Porter's son from a previous relationship with singer-producer and Combs's rival Al B. Sure!. Together, they had a son, Christian, born in 1998, and twin daughters, born in 2006. Porter died of pneumonia in 2018.

Five months before the birth of his twins, Combs had a daughter, born to Sarah Chapman. He took legal responsibility for her in October 2007. Combs was in an 11-year relationship with Cassie Ventura from 2007 to 2018. Combs's seventh child was born on October 15, 2022. Her mother is Dana Tran.

The Heavyweights of Hip-Hop (with Snoop Dogg) (2007)

Combs is listed as having a Guinness World Record for "Most Successful Rap Producer" in 1997, as he was producer of singles that charted for 36 consecutive weeks in 1997. In 2021, Combs was among the inaugural inductees into the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame. In June 2022, Combs received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. In September 2023, Combs was awarded the key to New York City by Mayor Eric Adams.

He received an MTV VMA Global Icon Award in 2023.