Rapper Coolio, best known for his 1995 hit Gangsta’s Paradise, has died at the age of 59.
His manager said he was visiting a friend’s house in Los Angeles when he apparently suffered a heart attack.
Really named Artis Leon Ivey Jr, Coolio emerged on the Los Angeles rap scene in the 1980s, but it was Gangsta’s Paradise that propelled him to international fame and earned him a Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance.
The song reached number one on the Billboard charts in the United States and stayed there for three weeks.
He was nominated for five other Grammys during his career, which began in the late 1980s.
His hit Fantastic Voyage peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
US rapper Vanilla Ice said he was “going crazy” after the news of Coolio’s death.
“I’m freaking out, I just heard my good friend Coolio is dead,” tweeted the rapper, real name Robert Matthew Van Winkle.
Former NWA star Ice Cube said, “This is sad news.”
The rapper, real name O’Shea Jackson Sr, tweeted: “I have witnessed firsthand the grinding of this man at the top of the industry. Rest in peace.”
MC Hammer described Coolio as “one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met”.
“Good people. RIP Coolio,” he wrote. She also shared a black and white photo of the rapper. She later posted a second photo of the couple together, along with Tupac and Snoop Dogg.
Snoop Dogg wrote: “Gangsta heaven. RI P.” He shared a photo of the two of them on Instagram, posing on the set of the music video for their 2006 collaborative track Gangsta Walk.
Musical comedian Weird Al Yankovic paid tribute by sharing a photo of the couple embracing and adding: “RIP Coolio”.
He parodied Gangsta’s Paradise as Amish Paradise, although Coolio was rumored to have not given him permission to do so at the time. Coolio said in interviews that the couple had made amends since then.
Born in Monssen, Pennsylvania, Coolio moved to Compton, California, where he attended community college. He worked as a volunteer firefighter and in airport security before turning full-time into hip-hop and releasing his first single in 1987.
He recorded Gangsta’s Paradise for the 1995 film Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pfeiffer.
He also provided the opening track Aw, Here It Goes! for the Kenan & Kel TV series.
The rapper finished third in Channel 4’s sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2009.
Police sources told entertainment site TMZ that no drugs or drug accessories were found at the scene of Coolio’s death.
He reported that paramedics were called to a home in Los Angeles around 4pm for a medical emergency and when they arrived they declared Coolio dead.
Police opened an investigation into the death but there appeared to be no signs of foul play, the site added.
