Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ.

Following his departure from long-time label Ultra Records, Zimmerman released his seventh studio album, While(1<2), through Astralwerks and Virgin EMI in 2014.

The album's release was supported by its four singles; "Avaritia", "Seeya", "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer", and "Phantoms Can't Hang".

[10] His mother, Nancy (née Johnson), is a visual artist, and his father, Rodney Thomas "Rod" Zimmerman, is a General Motors plant worker.

He adopted the name Deadmau5, which referred to a dead mouse he found in his computer; the unique spelling was a result of a maximum character limitation.

[16] In 2000, an early 12" single produced on vinyl titled "I Don't Want No Other" was released by Zimmerman and Derek Caesar, under the group name Dred and Karma.

[22] In the United States, Zimmerman's collaboration with Kaskade, "Move for Me", reached number one on Billboard magazine's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart in its September 6, 2008, issue.

[23] Since then, Zimmerman has seen two more tracks, also collaborations ("I Remember" with Kaskade and "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" with Rob Swire), reach number one on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.

[22] On a subsequent tour in the fall of 2009, Zimmerman's performances were recorded and made available for sale immediately following the concerts on USB wristband flash drives.

He expressed gratitude towards Lady Gaga and David Guetta for bringing dance into the pop music scene and paving the way for him to the mainstream.

[36] In November 2013, Zimmerman deleted three years' worth of music from his SoundCloud account, replacing them with an EP of seven melancholy piano sonatas, simply called 7, named after the Latin translations for the seven deadly sins: "Acedia", "Avaritia", "Gula", "Invidia", "Ira", "Luxuria", and "Superbia".

[39] The album was preceded by the release of four singles: "Avaritia", "Seeya" (featuring Colleen D'Agostino), "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer" and "Phantoms Can't Hang".

[48] On December 17, 2015, it appeared that Zimmerman was either taking a leave of absence or ending his career altogether after deleting both his Twitter and his Facebook accounts.

[57] On March 25, 2017, Zimmerman began a concert tour with his new "Cube 2.1" stage set entitled Lots of Shows in a Row to promote the release of W:/2016Album/.

On August 25, 2017, Zimmerman released a stand-alone single entitled "Legendary", featuring guest vocals from rapper Shotty Horroh.

[61] In March 2018, Zimmerman announced a compilation album comprising orchestral performances of previously released music, titled Where's the Drop?.

[65][66][67] On July 3, 2018, Zimmerman announced an EP and compilation album titled Mau5ville: Level 1, featuring "Monophobia" (his second collaboration with Rob Swire), as well as tracks from Getter and GTA.

[72] In October 2018, the track listing of a follow-up EP, Mau5ville: Level 2, was leaked, showing featured collaborations with Lights and Mr. Bill, with no release date confirmed at the time.

[86] In 2022, Zimmerman and Kaskade announced a collaboration project named Kx5 (pronounced "kay-five"),[87] marking the fourth time the producers have worked together.

[107] In September 2012, Zimmerman began dating American tattoo artist and TV personality Kat Von D.[108] After breaking up in November 2012, they rekindled their relationship shortly afterwards.

[110][111] They both have several matching tattoos, including the numbers "289m3d22h" on both of their arms, a sentimental reference to the day when they met, as well as two black stars underneath their eyes.

In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Zimmerman acknowledged possible similarities between his Mau5head logo and that of Mickey Mouse, joking that "someone at the Disney patent office fell asleep on that one.

In response to the opposition, Zimmerman spoke out against Disney on Twitter, arguing that the company thinks of people as being "stupid" because "[they] might confuse an established electronic musician/performer with a cartoon mouse.

Zimmerman presented evidence that Disney had been in contact with him regarding potential collaborative projects, including an offer to participate in a "re-imagining" of Fantasia as a live concert tour for the film's 75th anniversary.

However, the registration was rejected due to a pre-existing Meowingtons trademark held by an online retailer of the same name established in 2014,[135] which sells cat-themed accessories and clothing.

Zimmerman himself told The Hollywood Reporter that "from the very beginning I was working to find a way to resolve this situation amicably", but that he had been forced to "litigate this woman out of existence".

[139][140] In October 2018, Zimmerman posted comments on Twitter during an argument including the statements "I'll bet you suck a guy off for 40 grand, zero fucking questions asked" and "women don't possess penises".

[142] A few days later, during a gaming stream, he referred to a track by fellow electronic artist Slushii as "AIDS fucking music" and calling it "autistic shit".

[143] Zimmerman later apologized for these comments, citing mental health issues that required "professional help", and stating that he would take time "off the radar" to "work on [himself]".

[144] In February 2019, while playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on a livestream on Twitch, Zimmerman called another player a "fucking cock-sucking stream sniper fag.