American rapper Coolio, known for his hit “Gangsta’s Paradisereleased in 1995, died aged 59, his manager announced on Wednesday.
Real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr, the musician awarded a prestigious Grammy Award died in Los Angeles, said Jarez Posey to AFP, without specifying the cause. The manager, also a longtime close friend of the rapper, told TMZ – a publication specializing in celebrity coverage – that he found him unconscious in a friend’s bathroom.
Coolio began his career in California in the late 1980s, but rose to stardom with “Gangsta’s Paradise“, in 1995, which appeared in the soundtrack of the film “rebel spirits“. The hit won him a Grammy Award the following year.
He took up the refrain and the music of “Pastime Paradise“, a song by Stevie Wonder released in 1976.
The recipe had been a winner, millions of copies of “Gangsta’s Paradise” flowing all over the world, even reaching the top of sales in some countries.