- Tiffany Wertheimer
- BBC News
image source, Getty Images
Coolio was 59 years old.
American rapper Coolio, known for the 90’s hit Gangsta’s Paradisedied at the age of 59.
His former manager, Jarez Posey, told US media that the artist was at a friend’s house and went to the bathroom, but was later found unconscious on the floor.
Coolio began making music in the 1980s, but cemented his place in hip hop history when he recorded Gangsta’s Paradise in 1995.
The exact cause of his death has not yet been revealed.
However, Posey told TMZ that paramedics believed it was cardiac arrest.
Grammy winner
Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., won a Grammy for Gangsta’s Paradisewhich was part of the soundtrack of the movie “Dangerous Minds” (Dangerous Minds), starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
The song continues to be widely listened to and has just surpassed 1 billion plays on Spotify, according to the platform’s official website.
During a career that spanned four decades, Coolio recorded eight studio albums, won an American Music Award and three MTV Video Music Awards.
He was active until his death; Coolio was in the middle of a tour with other ’90s stars, including Vanilla Ice and Young MC, with whom he performed in Texas just a few days ago.
“I’m freaking out. Just heard my good friend Coolio passed away,” Vanilla Ice wrote on Twitter.
