Christopher Comstock is better known as Marshmello, the successful producer and DJ, but before finding fame, did he go to college?
Very little is known about Marshmello’s early life, with the musician remaining famously secretive about his true identity. He was unmasked as Christopher Comstock in 2017 but chooses not to speak to journalists about his life.
Find out more about Marshmello, and what is known about Christopher Comstock, below.
Who is Marshmello?
Marshmello kickstarted his music career by releasing songs on Soundcloud. He released remixed versions of a number of already popular tracks, including ‘I Want to Know You Now’ by Zedd and Selena Gomez, and ‘One Last Time’ by Ariana Grande.
In 2015, he released ‘Wavez’, his first original song, which gained attention from established DJs including Skrillex, who shared ‘Wavez’ on his own Soundcloud. In the meantime, he continued to remix tracks by artists such as Justin Bieber and Adele.
His first album, ‘Joyful’, came in 2016 and climbed the US dance chart, reaching number 5. The following year, he released ‘Chasing Colors’, a collaboration with Noah Cyrus, and ‘Silence’ with Khalid.
‘Silence’ would become a hit, proving popular across Europe, the US, and Canada. In the same year, he collaborated with Selena Gomez on ‘Wolves’, which also achieved global success.
In 2018, he released ‘Friends’ with British vocalist Anne Marie, and a collaboration with Bastille followed in 2019. The latter single, named ‘Happier’, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Marshmello has had more than a dozen of his tracks reach the Hot 100 chart, with three making it into the top ten.
In 2019, he was included in Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ rich list, with the magazine estimating his worth to be around $44 million.
Marshmello’s True Identity
With his identity hidden by his now-famous helmet, Marshmello had implied that he had no plans to ever reveal his name and face to the public.
For fans and intrigued onlookers, the first hint of Marshmello’s real identity came in 2015, when Skrillex was in an interview and received a call from him. “It’s Chris,” he said, before correcting himself to use the musician’s stage name.
Marshmello teased fans on Twitter, tweeting, “My name is Chris…short for Christmas came early.”
Another clue came from Skrillex in 2016 when he shared a video on social media of Marhsmello’s birthday celebrations. Christopher Comstock’s birthday is thought to be around the same time, according to his voting registration.
In two of Marshmello’s tracks, ‘Silence’ and ‘Freal Luv’, Comstock was credited as a creator, though this was quickly edited out.
After significant speculation, his identity was revealed by Forbes in 2017. Many believed that Christopher Comstock was his true identity already, and after some detective work, the magazine was able to share fairly definitive findings.
Marshmello’s management company, BMI, had an online, public database. When they searched the name ‘Christopher Comstock’ in this, the results gave listings of Marshmello’s tracks. They compared this to the likes of Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, and found the same results.
When the revelations came to light, the management company quickly rectified the situation, and shortly after, a database search for Comstock revealed no results. Unfortunately for the musician, however, the initial findings were to be publicized.
Several industry sources confirmed that Comstock was indeed Marshmello. He is also listed as a manager for the company Marshmello Creative, LLC.
Fans had linked Comstock to Marshmello before, noting that the two appeared to have the same distinctive leg tattoo.
Marhsmello teased fans once again at the 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs when Shawn Mendes entered the stage, dressed in the identity concealing helmet, to accept Marshmello’s award and unmasked himself. The star later posted the comedy clip to his official YouTube channel.