Albert Hammond, Jr.

Hammond was born on April 9, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, a prolific songwriter best known for his 1972 hit single "It Never Rains in Southern California", and Argentine Claudia Fernández, a former model and beauty pageant winner. He has two older half-sisters. A first generation American, Hammond is of mixed Gibraltarian, Argentine, Austrian, and Peruvian descent; his first language was Spanish. Hammond began playing the guitar at age nine. He was a championship-winning roller skater as a child. At the age of 12, Hammond Jr. was sent to boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. While there, he became friends with future Strokes bandmate Julian Casablancas, a grade above him, whom he connected with as a fellow American. Hammond moved back to Los Angeles where he completed his high school education at the Buckley School. Following graduation in 1998, Hammond moved from Los Angeles to New York City and, having deferred admittance to New York University, took a short-term filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy. He later attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, but left after a year and a half.