Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Tone Loc (), is an American rapper, voice artist, and actor. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award, and for being featured in "We're All in the Same Gang", a collaborative single by the West Coast Rap All-Stars.
Early life Anthony Terrell Smith was born March 3, 1966, in Los Angeles, the son of Margaret, who managed a retirement home, and James Smith who died in 1972. As a result of his father's premature death, Tone Loc and his three older brothers were raised by his mother. He was educated at the Hollywood Professional School. As a teenager, he performed with the rap group Triple A.
Career 1989–1991: mainstream success Tone Loc's debut album, Lōc-ed After Dark, was released in January 1989. The video for the first single, "Wild Thing," became a staple on MTV in the US. The song rose to No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the top twenty in Australia. The second single, "Funky Cold Medina," also became a hit. It reached the top 5 in the US, peaking at No.3, the top ten in Australia, and the top twenty in the UK.
Lōc-ed After Dark reached No.1 in the US. Since its release, it has been certified 2× platinum there.
Tone Loc's second album Cool Hand Lōc was released in November 1991. The album's first single was "All Through the Night", which found moderate success, reaching No.80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.16 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. It received frequent airplay on MTV and BET. He also contributed "If I'm Gonna Eat Somebody" for 20th Century Fox's FernGully.
1994–2004: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective franchise, and other endeavors Tone Loc played the part of police Sergeant Emilio in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). Tone Loc's song "Ace Is in the House", which samples the Beastie Boys song "No Sleep till Brooklyn", is featured in the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009).
He provided vocals for Fefe Dobson for the track "Rock It Till You Drop It" on her self-titled debut album.
Tone Loc also voiced Fūd Wrapper, the host of the animatronic show Food Rocks. This was played at Epcot from 1994 to 2004. In this latter role, he sang the song "Always Read the Wrapper", a parody of his second hit single "Funky Cold Medina".
He appeared as Albert in episode 8 of season 2 of Touched by an Angel, which aired November 11, 1995.
1992–2016: television, film and voice acting Tone Loc has performed in several feature films, including Poetic Justice, Blank Check, Heat and Posse. As a voice actor, Tone Loc has voiced characters in several animated television series such as King of the Hill and C Bear and Jamal, and was featured in the animated film Bebe's Kids, playing the wise-cracking baby Pee Wee. He voiced the character Lou the Goanna in the 1992 film FernGully: The Last Rainforest. He has also provided his signature voice for episodes of Chowder and Uncle Grandpa, both airing on Cartoon Network. In 2022, Tone Loc was featured as the singing voice of Penny Proud in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder on Disney+.
2016–present: I Love the 90s Tour Tone Loc was among the list of performers on the I Love the 90s Tour, which has performed worldwide since April 2016, as well as having featured appearances on the I Love the 90s: The Party Continues Tour from July to September 2017.
In 2026, Tone Loc competed in season fourteen of The Masked Singer as "Handyman" who resembled a robotic handyman with wrenches for hands. As he was eliminated on "Clueless Night" alongside Taraji P. Henson as "Scarab", he was assisted in the unmasking by the Men in Black due to the costume's wrench hands and did an encore of "Wild Thing".
Personal life Legal issues In December 2010, Tone Loc was arrested for an alleged DUI. He was released on bail claiming a medical condition had caused a seizure.
On June 18, 2011, Tone Loc was arrested for felony domestic violence and felony possession of a Colt AR-15 Sporter rifle, which is heavily restricted by California law. The weapon was not involved in the domestic incident, an altercation with the mother of one of his children. Tone Loc was released less than three hours later after posting $50,000 bail. On October 3, 2011, he entered a plea of no contest to both charges, and was sentenced to one day in county jail, three years of probation, 52 weeks of anger management counseling and 30 days of community service.
On March 23, 2019, Tone Loc was detained by the Midland Police Department in Texas. It was later revealed that the reason for the detention was a heated argument caused when Lōc confronted someone who was wearing a Confederate battle flag baseball cap. After the two arguing parties agreed to separate, Lōc was released and no charges were filed.
Health issues Tone Loc has collapsed onstage multiple times since 1995; some if not all of these collapses have been due to seizures, according to at least one report. On May 29, 2009, he was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during a concert in Pensacola, Florida. The rapper cut his elbow when he fell and was released the same day.
On October 15, 2011, Lōc was hospitalized for exhaustion after collapsing onstage during a concert in Atlanta, Georgia. He was taken to a local hospital and intravenously rehydrated. Another similar incident occurred in 2012. On March 16, 2013, he collapsed onstage at a performance at the Bridge Bash in Des Moines, Iowa, but refused hospital care. Lōc collapsed onstage on December 6, 2013, during a performance in San Francisco, California, and collapsed again on November 26, 2016, during a performance in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but he later returned to the stage.
Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) US US R&B AUS CAN AUT NZ SWE SWI UK Lōc-ed After Dark Release date: January 23, 1989 Label: Delicious Vinyl 1 3 11 4 10 11 31 30 22 RIAA: 2× Platinum Cool Hand Lōc Release date: November 19, 1991 Label: Delicious Vinyl — 46 129 — 39 — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Singles Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) Album US US Rap US R&B US Dan AUS AUT CANPeaks in Canada: "Funky Cold Medina": "I Got It Goin' On": NZ SWI UK "On Fire" 1987 — — — — — — — — — — Non-album single "Wild Thing" 1988 2 2 3 1 15 — 7 1 23 21 RIAA: 2× Platinum ARIA: Gold Lōc-ed After Dark "Funky Cold Medina" 1989 3 3 7 8 8 13 10 3 13 13 RIAA: Platinum ARIA: Gold "I Got It Goin' On — 18 59 — 52 — 9 27 — 55ARIA: Gold "All Through the Night"(featuring El DeBarge) 1991 80 — 16 — 106 — — — — — Cool Hand Lōc "Cool Hand Loc" 1992 — — — — — — — — — — "Posse Love" 1993 — — — — — — — — — — Posse soundtrack "Ace Is in the House"(featuring Jim Carrey) 1994 — — — — — — — — — — Ace Ventura soundtrack "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Notes
Featured singles Title Year Artist Peak chart positions Album US US R&B "We're All in the Same Gang" 1990 West Coast Rap All-Stars 35 10 Non-album single
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 1989 MTV Video Music Awards Best Rap Video "Wild Thing" 1990 Grammy Awards Best New Artist Himself Best Rap Solo Performance "Funky Cold Medina" American Music Awards Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist Himself Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album Lōc-ed After Dark Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist Himself Favorite Dance New Artist 1991 Grammy Awards Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group "We're All in the Same Gang"
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1990 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane Slam The Return of Superfly Unknown Uncredited 1992 FernGully: The Last Rainforest Goanna Voice Bebe's Kids Pee-Wee Voice 1993 Posse Angel Poetic Justice James Paul Surf Ninjas Lieutenant Spence A Cool Like That Christmas Marvin Television film 1994 Car 54, Where Are You? Handsome Cab Driver Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Emilio Blank Check Juice1995 Heat Richard Torena Crosstown Traffic Keiser Television film 1996 Spy Hard Gangster No. 1 1997 Fakin' da Funk "Frog" 1998 Freedom Strike Tyler Haynes 1999 Jack and the Beanstalk The Giant Voice 2000 Whispers: An Elephant's Tale Macho Bull Titan A.E. Tek Voice Space Cowboys The Photographer Uncredited 2001 Deadly Rhapsody Jelly's Cousin They Crawl Clarence 2002 Storm Watch Ray 2006 Totally Awesome Himself Television film Dreamweaver Sandman Television film 2011 White T Jerry Voice 2014 Not Cool Pedestrian No. 2 Uncredited
Television Year Title Role Notes 1990 The Earth Day Special Himself 1992–1994 Roc Ronnie Paxton 7 episodes 1994 Aladdin Magma Voice, episode: "Smolder and Wiser" 1995 Touched by an Angel Albert Turner Episode: "Operation Smile" NewsRadio Security Guard, Lorenzo 2 episodes 1996–1997 C Bear and Jamal C-Bear Lead role 1996 Living Single Lester Tate Episode: "School's Out Forever" 1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child The Giant / Desmond Bear Voice, 2 episodes Martin Himself Episode: "Ain't That About a Ditch" Dangerous Minds Mr. Summers Episode: "To'e Me Up, To'e Me Down" 1999 Early Edition Derek "D.J." Johnson Episode: "Number One with a Bullet" 2000–2001 Rude Awakening Lenny 2 episodes 2001 Thieves Special Agent Al Trundall 2002 The District J.T. Betancourt Episode: "Twist of Hate" Static Shock Hyde Voice, episode: "Static Shaq" 2004 Superstar USA Panelist 2005 King of the Hill Bouncer Voice, episode: "Smoking and the Bandit" Yes, Dear Dave Episode: "Barbecue" 2008 Chowder Chestnut Voice, 3 episodes 2014 Uncle Grandpa Moon Man Voice, episode: "Bezt Frends" 2022 The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Penny Proud (singing voice) Episode: "Snackland"
See also List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
References
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