How Joseph Simmons Achieved a Net Worth of $70 Million

Joseph Simmons is a musician, rapper, and actor who was born in New York on November 14, 1964. He began his career in the music industry in the 1980s and is better known by his stage name Reverend Run. He got this name because not only is he an entertainer, he is also an ordained minister. Other names by which he is known include DJ Run and Run Rev. Run. After a long and successful career in the music industry, it is now estimated that Joseph Simmons has a personal net worth of $70 million. Here is how this entertainer became so wealthy.

The Beginning

Simmons began his career in music as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group ‘The Force’. He then went on to found the hip hop group Run-D.M.C with his friends Darryl McDaniels and the late DJ Jason Mizell. It was being a part of Run-D.M.C. that really launched Simmons’ music career and made him famous. This group enjoyed huge success and released seven albums between 1984 and 2001. They won multiple awards for their music, including the first Grammy ever awarded to a hip hop group, and also performed at many sell-out tours. Furthermore, the group collaborated with many other artists, including Aerosmith on the track ‘Walk This Way’.

Although the band split in 2002 following the death of Mizell, Simmons, and McDaniels later reformed to perform at many live events and to support other artists. However, they did not release any further albums as a group. During their time together, Run-D.M.C. also appeared in several films as themselves. As a solo artist, Simmons began to use the stage name, Reverend Run. His first work using this name was in 2005 when he featured in the Liberty X track ‘Song 4 Lovers’. This track and its music video were heavily rotated on music channels and the single was successful in the United Kingdom. This helped to raise Simmons’ profile as a solo artist.

In the same year, Simmons released his debut solo album ‘Distortion’. Many of the tracks on this album followed in the Run-D.M.C. tradition of sampling other songs. One such example is the single ‘Mind on the Road’, which samples ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’. The album was released under the Def Jam label on October 18, 2005.

No More Music

Although this was the only album released by Reverend Run as a solo artist, it does not mean that Joseph Simmons no longer works in the music industry. In the past ten years, he has continued to perform live, support the work of other artists, and to make television appearances. Due to the success in his music career, it is now estimated the Joseph Simmons has a personal net worth of $70 million, according to iCharts. This wealth is predominantly from record sales and from touring for live performances. This includes money from both his solo career, as a member of Run-D.M.C., and from collaborating with other artists.

However, this is not the only way that Simmons has made money. He has also made some money from appearing in the reality television series ‘Run’s House’. This series followed the life of Simons and his family. This series was aired on MTV between 2005 and 2009 for a total of six seasons. He has also appeared in several reality television series that are spin-offs of ‘Run’s House’. These include ‘Daddy’s Girls’, ‘Rev Run’s Sunday Suppers’, ‘Rev Run’s Renovation’, ‘Rev Run’s Happy Holidays’, and ‘Rev Runs Around the world’. He also acted as an executive producer of each of these series. Furthermore, he has also produced episodes of several television series in which he has not appeared, such as a 2018 episode of ‘All About the Washingtons’. Another source of income for Joseph Simons was having a book published. ‘Take Back Your Family: A Challenge to America’s Parents’ was co-authored by his wife Justine Simmons and by author Christifer Morrow. This book was published in 2008 by Gotham Press.

Personal Life

In his personal life, Joseph Simmons, has been married twice and has seven children, one of who died and one who is adopted. His first wife was Valerie Vaughn, who he married in 1983. They had three children together; Vanessa, Angela, and Joseph. His second marriage was to Justine Jones in 1994. They have three children together; Daniel Simmons III, Russell Simmons II, and Victoria Ann. Their daughter, Victoria, was born prematurely and died from complications shortly after her birth. Simmons and his wife went on to adopt a baby girl, Miley Justine Simmons. The family now live together in a six-bedroomed Colonial-style mansion in Saddle River, New Jersey. In 2007, this property was valued at $5.5 million, and it is worth significantly more now.
This is not the only way that Joseph Simmons has spent his wealth as he has become a philanthropist in recent years. Along with wife Justine Simmons and Kool-Aid, he co-founded a non-profit organization called KaBOOM! In 2008. The aim of this organization is to build playgrounds for children living in deprived communities. In just one year, the organization was responsible for building 24 playgrounds. A secondary aim of the organization is to raise awareness of the need for safe places for children to play.

Current Status

Now, Joseph Simmons predominantly makes money as a songwriter. He usually focuses on writing music for television series soundtracks. In 2018, he wrote music for episodes of ’GLOW’, ‘Pose’, ‘Wedding Day Winners’, ‘The Grinch’, and ‘Final Score’. His most recent work in 2019 was writing music for episodes of ‘Deadly Class’ and ‘The Hustle’. For now, Joseph Simmons will continue to write music and to make guest appearances on television. He has not expressed any interest in growing his wealth by releasing further music as a solo artist.