Birthday: November 1974

Nelly's Early Years

Nelly spent his early years in Spain and moved to St. Louis, Missouri for elementary school. Nelly's parents divorced when he was eight years old. Nelly admitted he used to get into a lot of fights but by the time he started high school he was into baseball instead. Nelly's passion for baseball helped keep him out of trouble. In 1993 Nelly left his gritty St. Louis neighborhood and settled in the suburban area of University City. Nelly continued to work on his baseball skills and formed a rap group called the St. Lunatics with school pals Kyjuan Ali, Murphy Lee and his little brother City Spud. Two years later Nelly and crew released a 12-inch single called Gimme What Ya Got, which sold almost 10,000 copies. Nelly continued with the Lunatics while playing shortstop in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association. At the time, it looked as though Nelly would be a professional baseball player.