[4] Malone began his musical career in 2011, and gained recognition with his 2015 debut single "White Iverson",[5] which peaked at number 14 on the U.S.

He signed with Republic Records[6] to release his debut studio album Stoney (2016), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned the diamond-certified single "Congratulations" (featuring Quavo).

His third Billboard Hot 100-number one single, "Sunflower" (with Swae Lee), was released for the accompanying soundtrack to the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; it became the highest-certified song in RIAA history as the first to receive double diamond (20-times platinum) certification.

[8][9] It spawned the single "Circles", which became his fourth number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent 61 weeks on the chart.

[10] His fourth and fifth albums, Twelve Carat Toothache (2022) and Austin (2023), both peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and saw continued success; the former spawned the top ten singles "I Like You (A Happier Song)" (featuring Doja Cat) and "One Right Now" (with the Weeknd), while the latter explored pop rock and spawned the top 15 single, "Chemical".

Two of his 2024 singles debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100: his guest appearance on Taylor Swift's "Fortnight", and his first country pop song, "I Had Some Help" (featuring Morgan Wallen).

His father had been a DJ in his youth and introduced Malone to many different genres of music including hip-hop, country, and rock.

[19] When Malone was nine years old,[20] he and his family moved to Grapevine, Texas, after his father became the manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys football team.

[23] Malone has expressed his affinity for alternative rock music, and appeared for a DJ set at Emo Nite in Los Angeles, California, in June 2017, playing songs by American alt-rock band My Chemical Romance at the event.

[23] At age 17, Malone released a parody synth-pop ballad song called "Why Don't You Love Me" under the alias Leon DeChino, intended for a school project.

[34] After leaving college, Malone moved to Los Angeles with his longtime friend Jason Probst, a professional game streamer.

[44][45][46] After hitting one million views within a month of releasing "White Iverson", Malone quickly garnered attention from record labels.

[49][50] In August 2015, he performed at Kylie Jenner's 18th birthday party,[51] where he met Kanye West, who enjoyed his music, leading to him collaborating with Malone on his single "Fade" from his album The Life of Pablo (2016).

[63] In February 2017, Malone revealed the title of his next project, Beerbongs & Bentleys,[64] and was set to be released in December, before eventually being pushed back to 2018.

The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the spot for eight consecutive weeks[66] prompting Rolling Stone in 2017 to say he is "one of the most popular musicians in the country".

[84] During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he previewed his song "Sunflower", a collaboration with Swae Lee, from the soundtrack to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

[88][89] In July 2019, Malone released the single "Goodbyes" (featuring Young Thug), and also announced the Runaway Tour with Swae Lee as the opener.

On March 12, 2020, Malone's concert at Denver's Pepsi Center proceeded as scheduled, drawing a sellout-crowd of 20,000, likely the last large-scale enclosed gathering in the U.S. before COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

[106] The performance also received praise from Nirvana's surviving members Krist Novoselic[105] and Dave Grohl,[107] as well as Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love.

On July 9, 2021, Malone released the single "Motley Crew" with an accompanying music video, featuring several guest stars, past collaborators and friends including Tommy Lee, Tyga, Tyla Yaweh and his manager Dre London.

[111] On January 26, 2022, during his cover story will Billboard, Malone revealed that his fourth studio album would be titled Twelve Carat Toothache.

[115] On May 14, 2022, he appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live and performed "Cooped Up" with Ricch, as well as an unreleased song titled "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol", in which he was joined by Fleet Foxes.

It showed behind the scenes moments from the first leg of the Runaway Tour in 2019, as well as performances from some of the highlighted dates, such as New York City, Chicago, and the 2019 Posty Fest in Arlington.

[121] On April 21, 2023, alongside The Kid Laroi, Malone appeared on "What You Say", the twenty-fourth cut of YoungBoy Never Broke Again's sixth full-length studio album, Don't Try This At Home.

[127][128] On February 5, the tracklist for Taylor Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, was revealed via her social media accounts, featuring Malone on the first track "Fortnight".

[130] On March 29, 2024, Malone was featured on the track "Levii's Jeans" off Beyoncé's eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter.

[153] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described Malone as "an artist who toes the line between singing and rapping, and hip-hop and spooky electric folk".

[161][162][163] California rapper Lil B wrote on Twitter in October 2017: "Post Malone is slowly turning into a white dude!

"[174] During Malone's Runaway Tour in 2019, he released special-edition Bud Light beer cans at local stores in 15 cities.

Malone's father Richard Post also commented on the artist's behavior, stating that he does not "want to come across as dismissive to those of you who have expressed concern about Austin.