Vanilla Ice is a rapper, television host, and actor. He has a net worth of $12 million. He released his debut album namely Hooked in 1989, which was an instant hit. Later on, he inked a contract with SBK Records, which is a record label of the EMI Group. His first single was the hip-hop Ice Ice Baby. It topped the Billboard charts.
Real Name : Robert Matthew Van Winkle
Celebrated Name : Vanilla Ice
Gender : Male
Nationality : American
Weight : 76kg
Height : 1.8 m
Marital Status : Single
Source of Wealth : Professional Rapper, Musician, Record Producer
Date of Birth : 31st October, 1967
Place of Birth : Dallas, Texas
Net Worth : $12 Million
Vanilla Ice’s Net Worth
His estimated net worth, as of July 2020, stands at $20 million. His fortune largely comes from a wide variety of singles and albums that he produced. If you gauge his net worth with the yardstick of the sale of his albums, you will realize that he accumulated big amounts of cash right from his debut albums. Named To the Extreme, the debut album of Ice, sold over 15 million copies worldwide. He has also generated his wealth by appearing in films and television shows.
Early Life
Vanilla Ice was born in Dallas, Texas on October 31, 1967. He didn’t know who his biological father was. He was born Robert Matthew Van Winkle and his last name comes from the name of the person his mother had married to. Later on, his mother divorced that person. Ice grew up traveling back and forth between Miami and Dallas as his step-father worked in Miami. When he was just 13 years old, he had learned to breakdance. He danced in a group in which he was the only person who was white, which is why his friends nicknamed him Vanilla. He didn’t like that name but somehow it got stuck to his personality. Later on, when he joined a breakdancing team, they started calling him Vanilla Ice. His stepfather was offered a job in Carrollton.
At the age of 16, he wrote Ice Ice Baby. By the time he turned 18, Ice had turned to motocross and ended up winning three championships. He broke his ankle while he was racing and consequently he lost interest in racing for a while. He spent the spare time on learning dance moves. He polished his breakdancing skills and joined his friends as a street performer. He performed for City Lights, The D.O.C, and Sindbad.
In January 1987, Ice received multiple stabbings outside of City Lights. He was shifted to a hospital where he spent 10 days.
Personal Life
In 1997, Ice married to Laura Giaritta. The couple had two daughters Keeleez Breeze and Dusti Rain. His wife filed for divorce in 2018. He also dated Madonna for eight months in 1990. Ice got into legal trouble for illegally drag racing in South Dallas. Again in 1991, he was arrested on the charges of threat. In 2001, he faced charges over assaulting his wife. He also faced arrest once again for hitting her and kicking her.
Ice hated formal education when he was at school, just to be different. He also wore mismatched sneakers so that he looked different from the rest of the students.
Career Highlights
During the Stop the Violence Tour, Tommy Quon, the owner of City Lights, saw commercial potential in his rapping and dancing. He bought studio time with Quon’s money and together, they recorded multiple songs that Ice perfected while performing on stage. Two years went into the making of the album, which was then distributed by an independent record label known as Ichiban Records. The first single of the album was Play That Funky Music while Ice Ice Baby was the second to release.
Quon sent out the single to different radio stations but it was seldom played. It came to limelight only after disc jockey Darrell Jaye played Ice Ice Baby in Georgia. The song managed to build a separate fan base. After that, other radio stations started playing it as well. Quon also financed $8,000 for the production of a music video for the single.
After the success of the single, one day Ice was eating at The Palm at the same time when Suge Knight was there with his two bodyguards. Knight came to him and talked for a while. Later on, Knight showed up at his suite at the Bel Age Hotel. Ice says that Knight took him to the balcony and asked him to sign the publishing rights to the single Ice Ice Baby. The DJs across the United States finally discovered the single and played it in heavy rotation. The single sold over one million copies. The record company stopped producing the single and fans were forced to buy the full-length album, which led the album to top the Billboard 200 in just 16 weeks.
Ice released other studio albums namely Hard to Swallow, Mind Blowin, Platinum Underground, and Bi-Polar. Vanilla appeared in season two of The Surreal Life, a reality television show. He also starred in The Vanilla Ice Project.
Financial Status after Divorce
His wife Laura filed for divorce in 2018. The divorce documents revealed his monthly income average of $68,000. The document further revealed that Ice had $3 million worth of liquid assets. He owned about fifteen properties, a boat, eight cars that were worth $5 million in total. After the judge received this information, he ordered Ice to pay $121,000 in support payments and $10,000 a month until a settlement was reached.
Real Estate
Ice owned a house in Melbourne Beach, Florida, which he listed for $4.8 million. The beautiful waterfront home was featured on The Vanilla Ice Project. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Awards and Achievements
Vanilla Ice has won two American Music Awards. He has been nominated for the Grammy Awards and has won the People’s Choice Award. He has also won one Golden Raspberry Awards.
Famous Quotes
“One thing I didn’t understand in life was that I had $100,000,000 in the bank and I couldn’t buy happiness. I had everything: mansions, yachts, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, but I was depressed. I didn’t know where I fitted in. But then I found family and friends and I learned the value of life.” Vanilla Ice
“Listen, if you don’t talk the big game, you never get anywhere. If you don’t think big, you don’t get big. Some people call it egotistical, some people call it high hopes, some people call it confidence. It’s all in how you want to dissect it.” Vanilla Ice
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