BIOGRAPHY |
1971 | Tupac Shakur a.k.a. Lesane Parish Crooks (which was his real name 'till the panthers changed it) is born in NYC to Afeni Shakur, a member of the Black Panther Party who was pregnant with him while in jail on bombing charges. Tupac Amaru comes from the Incas meaning "shining serpent" and Shakur is Arabic meaning "thankful to God." |
1983 | 12 year old Tupac joins a Harlem theatre group and acts in "A Raisin in the sun". |
1986 | Shakur's family moves to Baltimore where Tupac
enrolled in the Baltimore School for the Arts. Here Tupac
writes his first rap under the name MC New York. |
1988 | June: Tupac's family moves to Marin
City, CA. Shortly after, Tupac moves in with a neighbor
and starts selling drugs. August: Mutulu Shakur, Tupac's stepfather, is sentenced to 60 years in prison for his involvement in a 1981 armored-car robbery. |
1990 | Tupac joins Digital Underground as a roadie/dancer/rapper. Soon after he records his first proffessional song with Digital Underground |
1991 | Shakur achieves individual recognition with the album
"2Pacalypse Now," which spawned the successful
singles "Trapped" and "Brenda's Got A
Baby." As a member of the Grammy-nominated group
Digital Underground he appeared on the track "Same
Song" from "This is an EP Release" and on
the album "Sons Of The P." November 12: 2Pacalypse Now is released |
1992 | Shakur makes his movie debut in the Earnest Dickerson
film "Juice." September: Tupacs first album "2Pacalypse Now" is took from stores in the US. |
1993 | Appeared in John Singleton's release "Poetic
Justice" with Janet Jackson. Febuary: "Strictly for my N.I.G.G.A.Z." is released and went platinum. |
1994 | Release of "Thug Life." Appeared in
"Above The Rim". September 7, 1994: 2 Milwaukee tenns murdered a police officer and citeded Tupacs Souljahs Story as their inspiration. November: Shakur's New York sex assault trial opens. Tupac Shakur is shot 5 times during apparent robbery attempt outside a music studio in New York. December: One day after being shot, Shakur is convicted of sexually abusing a woman he had invited to his hotel room. He is acquitted of sodomy and weapons charges. |
1995 | Release of "Me Against The World," a
multi-million-selling album. February: Sentenced in New York to 4 1/2 years in prison for sex abuse. May: Shakur married longtime girlfriend, Keisha Morris. October: After nearly eight months in prison, Shakur is released on bail while he appeals. |
1996 | Shakur's fourth solo album, "All Eyez on
Me," debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's album chart,
goes on to sell about 5 million copies. The song
"How Do You Want It California Love" was a top
20 single on Billboard magazine's charts. Acted as a
detective in Orion's urban crime thriller "Gang
Related." Sept. 7: Shakur shot in Las Vegas. Sept. 13: Shakur pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. |