Machine Gun Kelly

MGK, born Colson Baker on April 22, 1990, moved from rap into pop-punk with 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall, an album produced entirely by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Released after four rap albums, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the only rock album to top the chart that year. Its single “My Ex’s Best Friend,” featuring blackbear, reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly, Baker took his original stage name from Prohibition-era gangster George Kelly Barnes. He self-released four mixtapes between 2007 and 2010 before signing with Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records, an Interscope Records imprint, in 2011. His debut studio album, Lace Up, arrived the following year and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. The album’s “Wild Boy,” featuring Waka Flocka Flame, became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.

His subsequent albums General Admission (2015) and Bloom (2017) received critical praise and found similar commercial success. Bloom included “Bad Things,” his collaboration with Camila Cabello, which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2018, he released “Rap Devil,” a diss track directed at Eminem that peaked at number 13 despite mixed reviews. His 2019 album Hotel Diablo incorporated rap-rock elements.

Mainstream Sellout, released in 2022 as the follow-up to Tickets to My Downfall, matched its predecessor’s commercial performance, though its critical reception was mixed. In 2024, MGK joined fellow Ohio rapper Trippie Redd for the collaborative EP Genre: Sadboy. He explored pop-rock on his seventh album, Lost Americana, released in 2025.

Alongside his music career, Baker has acted in film. He made his first starring appearance in the 2014 romantic drama Beyond the Lights and later appeared in Nerve (2016), Bird Box (2018), and Big Time Adolescence (2019). He portrayed Tommy Lee in the 2019 Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt. In 2022, he and Mod Sun co-directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the stoner comedy Good Mourning.