Deadmau5

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Deadmau5
Deadmau5 in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Joel Thomas Zimmerman
Also known as	Halcyon441 Karma K Testpilot[1]
Born	(1981-01-05) January 5, 1981 (age 43) Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Progressive house electro house electronic
Occupation(s)	Music producer DJ
Discography	Deadmau5 discography
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Mau5trap Virgin EMI Ultra Astralwerks Ministry of Sound SongBird Play Virgin Parlophone
Member of	Kx5 REZZMAU5
Spouse(s)	Kelly Fedoni ​ ​ (m. 2017; sep. 2021)​
Website	deadmau5.com

Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house and electro house music, though he also produces and DJs other genres of electronic music, including techno under the alias Testpilot. Zimmerman has received six Grammy Award nominations for his work.

He has worked with other DJs and producers, such as Kaskade, Wolfgang Gartner, Rob Swire, and Chris Lake. He has also collaborated with Steve Duda under the group name BSOD (Better Sounding On Drugs) and was part of the group named WTF? with Duda, Tommy Lee and DJ Aero. In 2007, he founded his own record label, Mau5trap. Deadmau5 is currently one of the highest-paid electronic music producers in the world,^[2] and is a masked music artist similar to Marshmello and Daft Punk.^[3]

In 2000, an early 12" single produced on vinyl titled "I Don't Want No Other" was released by Zimmerman and Derek Caesar, under the group name Dred and Karma.^[4] A 2006 compilation album titled Deadmau5 Circa 1998–2002 was self-released under the alias Halcyon441.^[5] His debut studio album, Get Scraped, was released in 2005, with follow-up Vexillology in 2006. His breakthrough, Random Album Title, was released in 2008 and was certified gold in Canada, and silver in the United Kingdom. The album includes seminal release "Faxing Berlin", "Not Exactly", and moderate chart hit "I Remember" (with Kaskade). In 2009, his fourth studio album For Lack of a Better Name was released to critical acclaim, featuring Rob Swire collaboration "Ghosts 'n' Stuff", "Hi Friend", and the critically acclaimed "Strobe". His fifth studio album, 4×4=12, released in late 2010, supported by singles "Some Chords", "Animal Rights", "Sofi Needs a Ladder", and "Raise Your Weapon".

In 2012, Zimmerman released singles "The Veldt" and "Professional Griefers" (featuring Gerard Way) to commercial success. These singles were featured on his sixth studio album, Album Title Goes Here. Following his departure from long-time label Ultra Records, Zimmerman released his seventh studio album, While(1<2), through Astralwerks and Virgin EMI in 2014. The album's release was supported by its four singles; "Avaritia", "Seeya", "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer", and "Phantoms Can't Hang". After a brief hiatus, Zimmerman's eighth studio album, W:/2016Album/, was released in late 2016, with singles "Snowcone" and "Let Go". He subsequently composed the score for the 2019 action film Polar, and released the singles "Satrn", "Coasted", "Fall" the same year. In 2020, "Pomegranate" and "Bridged by a Lightwave" were released ahead of his ninth album.