Richard Melville Hall, also known as Moby, was born in September 1965 in Harlem, New York. His middle name and the nickname ”Moby” were given to him by his parents because of an ancestral relationship to “Moby Dick” author Herman Melville (who was supposedly his great-great-great-granduncle). Moby started playing music when he was 9, originally studying classical guitar and music theory, and eventually learning piano and drums. From 1982 to 1985 Moby was in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos, who released an EP called “Hit Squad for God”. He was also in a Joy Division-inspired post-punk group called AWOL. After years of pursuing a record deal he signed a recording contract with Instinct Records in 1989. His first single for Instinct was "Mobility," but second single, "Go," a progressive house track using the string line from "Laura Palmer's Theme" (from the TV drama “Twin Peaks”) reached the UK Top 10 in October 1991 and earned him his first appearance on “Top of the Pops”. Following this, he remixed material by The Prodigy, Orbital, Erasure, Michael Jackson, and Ten City, and in 1994 he signed with Mute Records, releasing an EP, “Move”. He then released his first album, “Everything Is Wrong”, again on Mute Records, in 1995 - early copies in the UK came with a special bonus CD called “Underwater” (a 43-minute 5-track instrumental ambient disc). He followed this up in early 1996 with the double album “Everything Is Wrong—Mixed and Remixed”. Shortly after, Moby released a punk rock album called “Animal Rights” and toured Europe with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden. “Animal Rights” included a cover version of Mission of Burma's “That's When I Reach for My Revolver”, and the single "Come on Baby", which garnered another “Top of the Pops” performance. In 1997, he released “I Like to Score”, representing a collection of his music that had been used in movies, including an updated version of the theme for the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies”, and a cover of Joy Division’s "New Dawn Fades", which had appeared (without vocals) in Michael Mann's “Heat”.

After 8 Top 40 singles in the UK in the 1990s, Moby released the album ”Play” in 1999 – it initially enjoyed moderate sales, but eventually went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. In 2000 his song “Flower” (part of the album “Play: The B Sides”), was used as the main theme for the film remake “Gone in Sixty Seconds”. In July 2001, “Moby : PlaytheDVD” was released, produced by Moby and Jeff Rogers (Swell), and was nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award. In 2002 Moby released the follow up LP “18”, which earned gold and platinum awards in over 30 countries, and sold more than 4 million copies.

Over the next few years, Moby co-wrote "Is It Any Wonder" with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, remixed the Beastie Boys and David Bowie and Nas and Metallica, produced and wrote a song for Britney Spears, and collaborated with Public Enemy on "Make Love, Fuck War". Moby also had his song "Extreme Ways" used in the Jason Bourne movies (which although not a hit when released, has gone on to become his most downloaded song).

“Hotel” was released in 2005, and spawned 2 of his biggest European hits, "Lift Me Up" and "Slipping Away," both of which were number 1 European singles. “Hotel” went on to earn gold and platinum awards in over 20 countries, with global sales of over 2 million copies.

In 2006 Moby also acted in the movie “Pittsburgh”, with Jeff Goldblum and Illeana Douglas. In 2007 he produced and performed on The Bongos' remake of "The Bulrushes" (for the special edition re-issue of their debut album “Drums Along The Hudson” (Cooking Vinyl Records)), and appeared in the promo video of the song. Also in 2007, Moby also started a rock band, The Little Death, NYC, with his friends Laura Dawn, Daron Murphy and Aaron Brooks.

In 2008 Moby released “Last Night”, an eclectic album of electronic dance music inspired by a night out in his New York neighborhood (the Lower East Side). Also in 2008, in collaboration with The Sunday Times, Moby released an exclusive mix album titled "A Night in NYC" which appeared on the newspaper's cover, and was a compilation of Moby tracks spanning his career and included video footage from “Last Night”.

Moby has performed "Walk on the Wild Side" with Lou Reed, "Me and Bobby McGee" with Kris Kristofferson, "Heroes" with David Bowie, "Helpless" with Bono and Michael Stipe, "New Dawn Fades" with New Order, "Whole Lotta Love" with Slash, and made 2 duets with French singer Mylène Farmer ("Slipping Away (Crier La Vie)” in 2006 and "Looking For My Name" in 2008). He has also released music under the names Voodoo Child, Schaumgummi, and as a member of the bands Cae