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Time Line
 September
7, 1963 - Eric Wright, a.k.a. Eazy-E was born in Compton
Winter
1979 - Eazy-E drops out of high school in 10th grade. He later returned
to receive his GED.
March
3, 1987 - Eazy-E meets Jerry Heller at a record-pressing plant in
Hollywood. Heller hears a sample of Eazy-E's music and the two become
partners, launching Ruthless Records.
March
1987 - Eazy-E discovers D.O.C., signs him to a Ruthless/Atlantic Records
deal and brings him out on tour with N.W.A.
November
1987- N.W.A. with members Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and
Arabian Prince, Starts a 14-date national tour on the bill with UTFO,
Salt & Pepa and Heavy D.
July
1988 - Ruthless Records cuts a deal with Atco Records to distibute
products by JJ Fad and Michel'le
August
1988 - N.W.A. releases "Straight Outta Compton", which
eventually sells more than 3 million units
September
1988 - - MTV refuses to air the video for "Straight Outta Compton,
"claiming the clip, a re-creation of a police gang sweep of black
teens, "glorified violence"
September
1988 - - Eazy-E releases solo project "Eazy Duz It, " which
eventually sells more than 2.5 million copies.
June
19, 1989 - Members of N.W.A. are arrested for performing "Fuck Tha
Police" on stage.
August
6, 1989 - Members of N.W.A. are briefly detained by Detroit police after
chanting a few lines from "Fuck Tha Police" in concert
August
20, 1989 - D.O.C. falls asleep while behind the wheel of a car he gets
into a serious accident. He loses his voice as a result of the accident
August
1989 - A woman, 16, says she was raped after a concert in Birmingham,
Ala. In a later civil suit she claims she had a daughter as a result of
being raped by N.W.A. member Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson on a
tour bus after the concert.
September
1989 - FBI sends a letter to ruthless Records, warning the group that
the agency didn't take kindly to the single "Fuck Tha Police"
January
1990 - Ice Cube leaves N.W.A. over finacial disputes
March
26 1990 - Tennesse District Attourney Joe Baugh rules that N.W.A.'s
"Straight Outta Compton" and 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty as
They Wanna Be" violates the Tennessee obscenity laws
August
1990 - N.W.A releases "100 MILES AND RUNNIN" EP, which
eventually sells more than 500, 000 copies.
September
1990 - WaxWorks, a 110-store, Kentucky basedretail chain, pulls 100
Miles and Runnin from its store shelves and refuses to sell it due to
its explicit references to oral sex and gang violence.
November
1990 - Fox TV rap video show "Pump it up" runs a segment on
N.W.A in which it crosscut between members of the group badmouthing Ice
Cube and a interview Ice Cube saying bad things about them.
January
27, 1991 - Dre runs into "Pump it up" host Dee Barnes at a
record release party in Los Angeles and gets into a physical
confrintation with her.
Febuary
1991 - Barnes files criminal charges against Dre for "assault and
battery" and files a $22.7 million lawsuit against Dre and the
members of N.W.A. The civil case is eventually settled outside of court.
May
29, 1991 - N.W.A releases "Efil4zaggin", which eventually
sells more then 1 million copies. Debuts at No.2 on the pop chart.
June
22, 1991 - "Efil4zaggin" becomes the first gangsta rap album
to reach No.1 on the Billboard charts.
June
1991 - Irish singer Sinead O'Conner, after originally aggreeively
defending N.W.A, tells British music magazine "New Musical
Express" that N.W.A's "attitudes have become increasingly
dangerous". O'Conner also said "the way they deal with women
is pathetic".
Summer
1991 - N.W.A breaks up.
August
1991 - Eazy-E files a state court complaint against Dr.Dre, DeatRow
Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight and rap artist D.O.C.
that alleges the defendants used "duress" and
"menace" to get Eazy-E to void his exclusive contracts with
Dre and the D.O.C. The case is still pending.
October
1992 - Ruthless Records sues Dr. Dre's Death Row Records and accuses
Dre's label of racketeering. The suit gets dismissed on Aug.9, 1993. It
is under appeal.
November
1992 - Dr. Dre releases "Dre Day, " a video where he shows an
Eazy-E likeness in a disparaging light.
December
1992 - Eazy-E releases solo EP "5150 Home For Tha Sick, Which has
sold more than 500, 000 copies.
April
1993 - Amid a swirl of controversy, Eazy-E publicly speaks out in
support of Timothy Briseno, one of the police officers who was video
taped beating Rodney King.
May
1993 - Houston-based rapper Willie Dee, formerly of the Getto Boys,
tells the Los Angeles Times in a interview that "Eazy-E is a
sellout, " for supporting Briseno.
August
1993 - Relitivity Records signs a deal with Ruthless Records to promote,
market and distribute Ruthless artist.
October
26, 1993 - Eazy-E releases second solo album "It's on(Dr.Dre)187um
Killa, " which eventually sell more than 1.5 million copies. The
album contains repeated references to Dr.Dre and shows Dre on the
album's inner sleeve wearing eye shadow, lipstick and sequins.
Winter
1993 - Eazy-E pays $2, 500 to attend a fund-raising luncheon for the
Republic Inner Circle, where George Bush spoke.
Winter
1993 - Eazy-E ordered to pay child support of $58, 000 a year for a girl
he fathered in Nebraska.
April
1994 - Eazy-E starts hosting "The Ruthless Radio Show" at Los
Angeles radio station KKBT (The Beat) on Saturday nights with former
N.W.A. member Yella.
October
14, 1994 - Members of the rap act Po' Broke & Lonely sue Eazy-E,
claiming Ruthless Records interfered with their ability to negotiate
with other labels.
Febuary
24, 1995 - Eazy-E is hospitalized for what he believes to be a case of
chronic asthma.
March
16, 1995 - Through attourney Ron Sweeney Eazy-E releases a statement,
disclosing he has contracted full-blown AIDS. In this statement, Eazy-E
also says that he has fathered 7children with 6 different women
March
1995 - Eazy-E marries Tomika Wood, with whom he had a son, Dominick, In
his statement Eazy-E says that both Wood and Dominick have tested
negative for HIV
March
26, 1995 - Eazy-E dies aty Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at
the age of 31.The cause was complications from AIDS, according to his
doctor, Dr. Williams Young
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