What to Know About Regina King’s Late Son, Ian Alexander Jr.

The only child of the Oscar-winning actress died in January 2022

NEED TO KNOW

• Regina King’s only child, Ian Alexander Jr., was born in January 1996
• He was a musician and DJ who performed under the name “Desduné”
• In January 2022, Ian died by suicide

Regina King continues to be inspired by her late son, Ian Alexander Jr.

The Oscar-winning actress and her ex-husband, record producer Ian Alexander Sr., welcomed their only child in January 1996. After King and Ian Sr.'s divorce, King raised her son as a single mom. Ian died by suicide in January 2022.

King continues to honor her son today. In June 2026, King spoke at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen about how Ian was the inspiration behind her wine brand, MianU Wines. “Ian was always beautiful in that way. He always was generous at doing both. He could stand 10 toes down in his truth and he could still reach for you. He can be funny, honest, stubborn and tender all in the same moment," she said at the Tall Tales & Cocktails seminar.

She continued, saying, “Ian's curiosity, his complexity, his art, his connection, his impeccable taste, the way he can take something ordinary, something loud, something chaotic and transform it, not by denying what it is, but by listening to it differently. That is part of how MianU was born because if grief takes away the ordinary ways of creating new memories, then love has to find another way.”

Here's everything to know about Regina King's late son, Ian Alexander Jr.

Ian Alexander Jr. was born in January 1996

Ian was born on Jan. 19, 1996, according to Variety. He is the only child of King and her ex-husband.

When asked about following in his mom's acting footsteps, Ian previously told Flaunt, "Being a personality is more of my thing. Being her son, I have to definitely be a personality. If you've met my dad, he's a huge personality as well."

King raised Ian as a single mom 

After nine years of marriage, King and Alexander Sr. separated in 2007. King would go on to raise Ian as a single mom.

"You don't know what unconditional love is. You may say you do, but if you don't have a child, you don't know what that is," she said at the time of her separation. "When you experience it, it's the most fulfilling [thing] ever."

Ian often accompanied King to events, such as red carpets.

"She's just a super mom," he told E! News at the 2019 Golden Globes. "She doesn't really let bad work days or anything come back and ruin the time that we have. It's really awesome to have a mother who I can enjoy spending time with."

Ian was a musician and DJ

Ian was a musician and DJ who performed under the name "Desduné." He released his debut single, “Work It Out," in 2021.

"I listened to about everything, my mom and dad were big music people," Ian told Flaunt when asked about his musical influences. "My dad was a tour manager for A Tribe Called Quest. I started DJing in the 8th grade. I started DJing house, a lot of funk house, new disco type house, afro."

In his Flaunt interview, Ian spoke about his EP Clementine, which, according to a December 2021 Instagram post, was due to be released in January 2022. He released his single, "Green Eyes," that month.

Aside from music, Ian appeared on a 2012 episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! as a stunt performer. He was also a voice in the 2016 animated short, The Snowy Day, and had a cameo in One Night in Miami, the 2020 film directed by his mom.

Ian and King got matching tattoos

Before Ian left for college, he and King got matching tattoos, which read "unconditional love" in Aramaic. Ian's was on his shoulder, while King's is on her arm.

"We were taking Kabbalah classes," the actress said about the tattoos during a 2017 appearance on The View. "He said, let's choose three [designs] each and not tell each other which ones they are and whichever one is matching, that's the one we're going to get tattooed — and we both chose unconditional love."

He died in January 2022

Ian died by suicide in January 2022. He was 26 years old.

"Our family is devastated at the deepest level by the loss of Ian," King said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. "He is such a bright light who cared so deeply about the happiness of others. Our family asks for respectful consideration during this private time. Thank you."

While speaking at the 2026 Food & Wine Classic, King explained how working on MianU Wines is a way to “keep creating memories together” with her late son.

“That's the part that still, you know, takes my breath away that the fact is that he's physically not here anymore to make new memories with and that's kind of one of the quiet cruelties of grief that it's not only what you lose but it's what you don't get to keep creating in the same way," she continued. “I always speak of Ian in the present because he's always with me.”

At the Food & Wine event, King wore orange, which was Ian's favorite color, as Robin Roberts noted during a March 2024 Good Morning America interview with the actress.

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