Who is Damon Thomas?
Damon is an American Grammy Award-nominated record producer and music executive. He has worked with several stars, such as Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber and many others, but is probably best known to the world as the first husband of reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Damon Thomas Wiki: Age, Childhood, and Education
Damon Thomas was born on 15 December 1970 under the Sagittarius zodiac sign, in Calabasas, California, USA. Damon hasn’t revealed his parents’ names, and there is no information about his family background, but according to reports, he is the only child of his parents.
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He went to Clovis High School, during which time he showed an interest in football, and later played for the Wayne State Wildcats in Nebraska. After high school matriculation, he enrolled at the University of California.
Before venturing into the music industry, Damon played professional football for the National Football League team, the Buffalo Bills. However, he appeared in only 17 games before his career was cut short, and he started pursuing his spot in the music industry.
Career Beginnings
Damon’s career as a record producer started back in the ’90s, by working with Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
One of Damon’s first credits is the song “These Are the Times” by Dru Hill – he wrote the lyrics with Edmonds and produced the song, which can be found on Dru’s second album, “Enter the Dru”, released in 1998.
After a few other collaborations with Edmonds, in 1999 he switched sides and joined Harvey Mason Jr. to form the production duo The Underdogs, and their first creation was the song “I Like them Girls” performed by American singer Tyrese Gibson, which can be found on Gibson’s album “2000 Watts”. After the song became a commercial hit, the two continued to work together and formed Underdog Entertainment.
In the next few years, they wrote and produced such hits as “How You Gonna Act Like That” by Tyrese, “O”, performed by Omarion, and “Girlfriend” by Victoria Beckham, followed by “No Air” by Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks.
Rise to Prominence
The duo was making gradual progress in the music industry, working with such acts as Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, and others. Their early work was rewarded in 2004 when they earned a record label deal through BMG under Clive Davis, and created Underdog Music Publishing, a collaboration with Rondor/Universal Music. In 2006, they were selected to produce the soundtrack for the motion picture “Dreamgirls”, and their creation won the Critic’s Choice Award in 2007 for the best movie soundtrack. Following their success, the Underdogs went on an hiatus that lasted for the next three years.
They made a strong return in 2011, to produce Chris Brown’s song “Up 2 You” for the commercially acclaimed album “F.A.M.E.”. This was followed by the song “Living Proof”, on which they worked with Mary J. Blige for the film “The Help”.The following year, the duo worked again with Chris Brown on the song “Turn Up the Music”, which is the second single from Brown’s album “Fortune”, and that same year, Damon and Harvey Jr. produced the soundtrack album for the film “Pitch Perfect”, and its sequel “Pitch Perfect 2”. To speak further of the accomplishments of the duo, they have produced and arranged music for the 2014 biopic film “Get On Up” about James Brown, while in 2015, they worked on the music for the film “Straight Outta Compton”, a biopic about the rap group N.W.A.
Recent Work
The Underdogs have been on hiatus since 2015, but Damon has found success on his own, working with Justin Bieber, James Blunt, Exo, and Chris Brown.
He has been the Co-CEO of the production company Thomas Krown, alongside Moncef Dachraoui, a visual media expert from North Africa, and as such he’s produced music for such singers as Beyonce, Jordin Sparks, Mariah Carey and Faith Evans amomg many others.
Net Worth
As of mid- 2022, Damon Thomas’s net worth has been estimated to be over $1 million; he had a net worth estimated at $45 million in 2012, but experienced financial problems and had to file for bankruptcy.
Marriage with Kim Kardashian
Damon is a successful music producer, but is better known to the public for his marriage to one of the most popular reality TV stars in the world, Kim Kardashian. When the two married in January 2000, Kim was only 19 years old, and Damon was turning 30.
She later admitted that she was high on ecstasy during the ceremony, and claimed that Damon was very strict and controlling during their marriage, even convincing her to drop out of college, quit her job at Kardashian clothing, and undergo plastic surgery. She claimed that he paid for Kim to get liposuction and several other esthetic procedures, and that he was physically and mentally abusive towards her. However, Damon negated all the claims and had a few words for Kim as well.
In a 2010 interview for the New York Daily News, Damon told his side of the story. At the time, the divorce papers were leaked to the public, in which it was stated that Damon was abusive towards Kim, however, Damon noted that he was the first to file for divorce, and that he did it because he found out that Kim was cheating on him with several men, including Ray J., with whom she made that infamous s*x tape. Furthermore, Damon claimed that Kim tricked him into paying for all those plastic surgeries. The two were officially divorced in 2003, and Damon said that Kim made up the story of an abusive husband to get more money from the divorce.
Second Marriage, Child, Divorce
After his divorce from Kim, and the entire “bad guy” story surrounding him, Damon focused on his work, and hasn’t talked much about his personal life.
However, according to reports, he married the second time to Sarai Tennille Torres, with whom he has a son, Dimas. The two have been divorced for years, and Sarai has sued Damon for unpaid child support of $1.5 million.
In a story for the Sun, Sarai came forward to speak about their marriage, and said that he had only held his son once, and hadn’t seen him for more than 15 years.
Physical Appearance and Vital Statistics
The prominent record producer is known for sporting a shaved head and dark brown eyes. He stands at the height of 5ft 8ins (1.73m), while he weighs approximately 165lbs (75kgs). His vital statistics are 44-30-38, and his biceps is 15.
