Joseph Ward Simmons (born November 14, 1964) is one of the founding members of hip hop group Run-D.M.C.. He is known as DJ Run, Joey Simmons or Rev Run, which is a play on his religious title. Born in Hollis, Queens, New York, he is the youngest brother of Daniel "Danny" Simmons, Jr and Russell Simmons, Def Jam Records co-founder. He entered the scene via his older brother Russell, as a DJ for his first big act for Kurtis Blow. He assumed the alias 'Son of Kurtis Blow', but later changed it to 'Run Love'.
Simmons married Valerie Vaughn in 1983, and had three children with her: Vanessa Simmons, Angela Simmons, and Joseph Jr. (JoJo).
Simmons second marriage, to Earlene Brown, took place on December 25, 1991. With her, he had one child: Trevor Onar-Simmons who will later appear on Run's House Reunion.
His third marriage, to Justine Jones, took place on June 25, 1994. With her, he had three more children: Daniel Jr. (Diggy), Russell II (Russy), and Victoria Anne, who passed away shortly after birth, on September 21, 2006, due to omphalocele. The couple has since adopted a girl, named Miley Justine Simmons.
Joseph "Run" Simmons founded Run-D.M.C. as a lead-vocalist (MC) along with MC'ing friend Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and DJ Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell. The group's work is considered by many to be inventive and original, using numerous revolutionary styles, including the pioneering work of Jam-Master Jay. Run began using the stage name of "Rev Run" after he was ordained as a minister in Zoe Ministries. His first work as Rev Run was a feature in the single Song 4 Lovers by UK pop band Liberty X in September 2005. The music video for that song was directed by Bill Schacht for Aestheticom and reached broadcast airplay chart positions of #2 Box UK and #4 MTV UK with heavy rotation on 5 other music channels in the UK. http://aestheti.com/LibertyXRun/videosm.html
It was followed by his first solo album, "Distortion". The first single from the album, "Mind On The Road", is featured in the EA Sports's Madden NFL 06 video game. Mind On The Road uses samples from the song "I Love Rock 'N Roll," in the tradition of Run-DMC's 1980's hits using samples like Aerosmith's hit "Walk This Way."
Firsts
Joseph appeared on stage with Kid Rock, Travis McCoy, and two of his sons on New Years' Eve 2007 on MTV.
Distortion
See Run-D.M.C. -- Discography
