Warren G’s real name is Warren Griffin III.
He was born on November 10, 1970 in Long Beach, California, United States to Warren Griffin Jr., an airplane mechanic, and Ola, a dietician. Griffin has three sisters.
In 1990, Warren G formed group 213, named after the Long Beach area code, with his friends Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg. While practicing with 213, and working a full-time job, the young Warren used all his free time creating his sound and aspired to make it big.
The trio 213 dissolved when two of its members signed with Death Row Records.
During his early solo career, Warren G worked with artists like MC Breed and 2Pac, but his big break came when his vocal collaboration with Mista Grimm, on “Indo Smoke”, appeared on the Poetic Justice soundtrack (1992).
A pioneer of G-funk, he attained mainstream success with the 1994 single “Regulate”, a duet with Nate Dogg.
His debut album, Regulate… G Funk Era, debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 176,000 in its opening week. The album later went on the sell over 3 million copies in the US and was certified 3x multi-platinum.
Three songs from his second album, Take a Look Over Your Shoulder, reached the Top 40, as did his 1998 duet with Nate Dogg, “Nobody Does It Better”.
Warren G’s next two albums, 2005’s In the Mid-Nite Hour and then 2009’s The G Files, released independently, were self-produced.
In the 2010s, he experienced a resurgence in popularity amid the digital age.
“Regulate”, platinum since 1994, went 2x multi-platinum, propelled by digital downloads in 2017.
Warren G retired in 2009 and has since opened a restaurant.