Canadian artist Drake’s father, Dennis Graham is a musician. Graham was a drummer for his band, Dennis Graham and the North Memphis Band. He also drummed for Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2016, he began focusing on his music career as a singer and songwriter with a R&B style.
Drizzy’s parents met at a Toronto nightclub where Dennis was performing in the early 80s. The couple split when the star was 5 years old.
During the fourth episode of his Iceman livestream, Drizzy played a song from his upcoming album that has a line talking about his father’s cancer battle,
“My dad got cancer right now/ We battling stages.”
Fans were surprised to hear the news through the livestream and flooded the internet with well-wishes for the rapper. Drizzy’s fans have grown to love his father Dennis Graham, after he shared a video of his father dancing to his 2015 track Hotline Bling.
More about Drake’s father Dennis Graham
Before Dennis Graham met Drake’s mother, he already had a kid from a high school girlfriend. He was also previously married to a waitress named Virginia, as per his 2016 Office Magazine interview.
The Canadian rapper’s parents split when he was 5, and the rapper began living with his mother. He mainly saw his dad in the summers,
“I was really hard on my parents for giving me sort of a childhood that I had to wrap my mind around as I grew. Multiple times I sort of suggested that they could have done a better job at co-parenting, sticking together, not being so divided.”
Drake has been vocal about his relationship with his father in his music. On his track Look What You’ve Done from his album Take Care, the singer opened up about his dad being absent during his childhood,
“And my father living in Memphis now, he can’t come this way/Over some minor charges and child support/That just wasn’t paid, damn/Boo-hoo, sad story — Black American dad story,”
Following the track’s release in 2019, Graham went on to appear on an episode of Power 106’s Nick Cannon Mornings where he reacted to the track. Dennis denied the absent father claims and said that he had a conversation with his son about the track. Graham mentioned that when he questioned his son about the lyrics, he implied that he made it up since it “sells records.”
Graham has also released several tracks where he opens about the bond he shares with his son.
Edited by Soujanya Shapur