Born April 19, 1965, Marlon Hugh “Suge” Knight Jr. is one of the most notorious figures in hip hop and a central figure behind gangsta rap’s commercial success.
Knight is a music executive, C.E.O., and co-founder of Death Row Records, a record label he founded in 1991 alongside The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, and Dick Griffey. For a time in the early 90s, the term Death Row Records and gangsta rap were inseparable.
The life of Death Row Records was intrinsically tied with its shining star, Tupac Shakur. While behind bars for a sentence of up to four and a half years, Knight made a deal with Shakur that he would pay his bail and free him if he signed to Death Row Records.
Following Shakur’s release, Shakur released “All Eyez on Me” through the label, and both the label and Knight became hugely successful. At its peak, the record label made over $100 million a year.
Suge Knight Is Alive: American Executive’s Death Hoax Debunked!
A disreputable website began circulating the news of Suge Knight’s death on Facebook to the clamor of many fans.
The now-deleted Facebook page, R.I.P. Suge Knight, garnered close to a million likes when they began spreading the news of Suge Knight’s death. Their about page read a long message many mistook as Suge Knight’s obituary.
However, following a spree of condolences on Facebook and frenzy on Twitter, fans quickly found out that the news was false as the news of Knight’s death was being publicized solely on this fan-made Facebook page instead of news media outlets and publications. The Facebook page promptly shut down after enough fans began reporting the page.
This social media hoax isn’t the first time that news of Suge Knight’s death has become popular. It seems to happen regularly, and a google search will reveal articles about Suge Knight’s death hoaxes almost every couple of years.
These hoaxes are likely because Knight has been in trouble with the law since the late 90s and has spent more than a fair amount of time in jail. He is in jail right now, following a 2018 court decision where he pled no contest to voluntary manslaughter in a hit-and-run in 2015, where they sentenced Knight to 28 years in prison.
The former music executive is serving time in Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
Suge Knight’s Wife -Is He Married?
Suge Knight is reportedly dating Toi-Lin Kelly, with whom he has one son, Legend Knight.
The two were reportedly engaged in 2017, but following Knight’s incarceration, not much is known about the current state of their relationship. Suge Knight has had a volatile relationship with women for much of his public life, and he was technically married twice before but legally only once.
His first wife is Sharitha Golden, whom he married in the early 90s. She is also a music executive and was integral to Death Row Records until 1995, when she left the label due to disgust about Knight’s increasing reliance on gangsters for his dealings.
Following this relationship, Knight began dating Michel’le, an American R&B singer and Dr. Dre’s ex-wife. They married in 1991, but due to a tumultuous married, they divorced in 2008.
However, to Michel’le’s surprise, she and Knight’s marriage was invalid as he was still married to Sharitha during their wedding.
Suge Knight’s Net Worth- How Much?
Due to his numerous legal troubles, Suge Knight’s net worth is now estimated to be $200,000.
At his peak, Suge Knight was worth over $100 million. This isn’t hard to imagine as his label, Death Row Records was responsible for many commercially successful albums such as Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, and Tupac’s All Eyes on Me.
However, his many arrests, reportedly owing the I.R.S. $6.5 million in taxes and the wife of a business partner $107 million, have bled him dry, and the mogul’s net worth now cannot compare to his heights.