MC Hammer Net Worth, Biography, Career, Wife and Kids

MC Hammer Net Worth      $3 million

Born in Oakland as Stanley Kirk Burrell, MC Hammer is an award-winning hip-hop singer, dancer, and entrepreneur who is best-known for his hit single ‘U Can’t Touch This.’ He is remembered for ‘Hammer Pants,’ which became popular with his hip-hop dancing.

Raised in California, United States, he faced financial difficulties in his younger days and failed to get into a professional team as a baseball player. He then served in the Navy for a period of three years before deciding to pursue a career in music.

After starting with performances in small clubs, Hammer released his first album ‘Feel My Power’ and it achieved considerable success. His second album ‘Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em’ was even more successful than the first, and it provided him the necessary exposure he needed at that time.

Though he continued to produce music after the release of his first two albums, his subsequent releases failed to achieve much success. Considered as a pioneer of pop-rap, Hammer experienced a phenomenal rise to wealth and fame in the 1980s but lost most of it in the next decade.

MC Hammer net worth does not in any way reflect his work rate in the entertainment industry. But for a fact, this award-winning singer and dancer has had his time as one of the best in the industry.

MC Hammer’s Early Life

Stanley Kirk Burrell was born in Oakland, California, United States on March 30, 1962. Along with his 5 siblings, he lived East Oakland in a government housing project apartment.

While his mother was employed as a secretary, his father worked as warehouse supervisor. He was passionate about sports from his early boyhood and paid keen attention to baseball. In his free time, he was found around the ‘Oakland Coliseum’ and danced during the breaks.

The owner of Oakland Athletics, Charles Finley, watched Kirk perform in the parking lot of the Coliseum and hired the 11 year old as a ‘batboy’.

His resemblance to the professional baseball player ‘Hammerin’ Hank Aaron got him nicknamed ‘Hammer’. The ‘MC’ means ‘Master of Ceremonies’ as he performed at clubs and occasions.

During his high school days, he played baseball (second base) and wished to be a professional player. Unfortunately, he wasn’t selected so he joined the US Navy as an aviation storekeeper for 3 years.

MC Hammer’s Career

Hammer started his career when he was just 11 when he performed dances outside Oakland Coliseum during home games. He caught the attention of the team’s owner and was invited to watch an event from his luxury box.

In a short while, Charles Finley got fond of Hammer and hired him as a batboy for the team. He also traveled with the Oakland Athletics and performed at various clubs as he never gave up on music even though he dreamed of becoming a big baseball star.

His talent in the game was quickly recognized while he was in school. His performances earned him a tryout with the baseball team the San Francisco Giants, but he wasn’t selected into the final tests.

After studying in college for a short time, he spent three years serving the US navy as a storekeeper before returning to Oakland where he performed in clubs.

MC Hammer later met Jon Gibson and the duo formed a Christian rap group known as ‘Holy Ghost Boys’. The released a small number of songs, with ‘The Wall’ becoming a hit.

He received financial support from former Oakland Athletics players Dwayne Murphy and Mike Davis, and he launched a record label called ‘Burst it Records’.

In 1987, he released his first album with the title ‘Feel My Power’, and later ‘Ring ‘Em’. The following year, he got himself a multi-album deal with capital records. His next album ‘Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Me’ was released on February 1990.

This album contained one of his biggest singles to date titled ‘U Can’t Touch This’, which became his signature song. He further went on to release nine more albums after the success of his first two, but none of his subsequent releases were as successful as his initial projects.

MC Hammer featured in several shows including ‘Surreal Life’, ‘Deadly Rhapsody’, ‘Right connections’, Saturday Live’, and the cartoon show ‘Hammer Time’. In 2003, he was judge on the dance show ‘Dance Fever’.

He is also involved in a number of other business ventures apart from doing music and appearing on television. He owns a clothing line, and is involved in tech start-up producer endorsement. He opened Oakland stable horses in 1991, and became a preacher on a Christian ministry show in 1997.

MC Hammer’s Albums

• Feel My Power (1986)
• Let’s Get It Started (1988)
• Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em (1990)
• Too Legit to Quit (1991)
• The Funky Headhunter (1994)
• Inside Out (1995)
• Family Affair (1998)
• Active Duty (2001)
• Full Blast (2004)
• Look Look Look (2006)
• DanceJamtheMusic (2009)

Awards & Achievements

Mc Hammer has won awards for Best Music Video; Long Form, Best Rap Solo, and Best Rhythm And Blues Song, all in the year 1990. He boasts of a remarkable record of one NAACP Image Award, a People’s Choice Award, and eight American Music Awards. He is the first hip hop artist to go home with a Billboard Diamond Award.

Personal Life & Family

Since December 21 1985, MC Hammer has been married to Stephanie Fuller whom he met during a church revival meeting. They have two sons and three daughters together. There are rumors that Hammer was advised to marry Whitney Houston by her dad at the Super Bowl in 1991.

Now 59 years of age, Hammer has a weight of 78kg and a height of 182 cm.

MC Hammer Net Worth

His million-dollar empire was made through his albums, music production, and entrepreneurship. He also made some money from being a part of several television shows.

MC Hammer net worth is currently $3 million. Though he once declared bankruptcy as he lost most of his wealth, he found his way back to join the millionaires club.

His bankruptcy was very public, but he managed to recover by releasing a number of albums, and also by engaging in several other entrepreneurial ventures. His peak earning year was in the year 1991 when he bagged a total of around $33 million from the sales of his music.

Despite these mega earning years, the MC was able to rack up nearly $14 million worth of debt by 1996 which forced him to file for bankruptcy. He lavished all his cash on a record company, a 12 acre home in California, airplanes, and dozens of luxury sports cars.

He spent about $30 million in building his California house from scratch, and it features a 17 car garage, a baseball diamond, recording studio, multiple tennis courts, a bowling alley, two swimming pools, and Italian marble floors.

He eventually sold this 40,000 square foot mansion for $6.8 million after declaring bankruptcy. He was also notorious for keeping a huge entourage at the peak of his fame, on which he spent more than $500,000 a month. As of the end of 2013, Hammer still owed the IRS more than $800,000 in penalties and back taxes related to his income from 1996 and 1997.

Released legal documents reveal that every dime the hip hop star earns must pass through the IRS before getting to him personally. Today, along with his wife Stephanie, MC Hammer lives in a modest ranch-style house in Tracy, California.

He is active on social media where he reportedly tweets between 20-40 times daily. Presently, he is said to consult for, or invest in about 8 tech companies, and spends several hours daily working on a number of tech projects.