Herbert Jeffrey Hancock was born on the 12th April 1940, in Chicago, Illinois USA, and is a jazz pianist and composer, considered to be one of the most influential jazz musicians of the second half of the twentieth century, a status similar to that of his mentor Miles Davis. In his music, he also uses elements of funk, rock, blues, soul, gospel and classical music. He plays piano, keyboards and synthesizer. Herbie has been active in the entertainment industry since 1961.
How rich is the musician? It has been calculated by authoritative sources that the outright size of Herbie Hancock net worth is as much as $12 million, as of the data presented in early 2017. Music is the main source of Hancock’s net worth.
Herbie Hancock Net Worth $12 Million
To begin with, Hancock learned to play piano at age seven, and at eleven he played solo the first part of a piano concerto by Mozart with the Chicago Symphony. After having studied at Grinnell College, he was noticed by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, and not much later he was signed to Blue Note Records.
His first album, “Takin ‘Off”, was released in 1962, and brought Hancock into the spotlight with Miles Davis. In 1963 he joined Davis’ band, where he remained for five years, while also successfully performing solo, and composing important jazz songs like “Maiden Voyage” and “Empyrean Isles” (1965). Moreover, Hancock composed the soundtrack for Michelangelo Antonioni ‘s film “Blowup” (1966), after which he was frequently asked to compose for other film tracks. His net worth was well established.
After he had left the group of Miles Davis in 1969, he released a funk album “Fat Albert Rotunda” (1969), which music he composed for Bill Cosby’s television series “Fat Albert”. Then, he experimented with sextet and electronic music, but after the disintegration of the sextet he discovered Buddhism. His music became influenced by the funk of Sly and the Family Stone, which is heard on his album “Headhunters” (1973); released by Columbia Records, it became one of the most successful jazz albums of that time. In 1983, Hancock scored a big hit with the single “Rockit”; the accompanying video clip was frequently rotated on MTV. In 1986, he released the live album “Jazz Africa”, on which he collaborated with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. The same year he won an Oscar for best film music for the soundtrack of the film “Round Midnight” (1986). His net worth was growing steadily.
After the death of Miles Davis, he released a tribute album with some friends entitled “A Tribute to Miles” (1991). In 1998, he had success with the album “Gershwin’s World”, in which he gives his own view on the work of George and Ira Gershwin. In 2005, he released the album “Possibilities” alongside Carlos Santana, Angelique Kidjo, Sting, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Christina Aguilera and John Mayer, and the same year toured Europe with a new quartet. In 2006, Sony BMG Music Entertainment released the retrospective “The Essential”, then in 2010 “The Imagine Project” an album tribute to John Lennon with the participation of many artists such as P!nk, Seal, India Arie, John Legend and James Morrison.
Finally, in the personal life of the musician, he married Gigi Hancock in 1968; they have one child.
