LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper Coolio suffered an accidental death from the effects of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine last year, the Los Angeles coroner’s office said Thursday.
The county agency also cited cardiomyopathy, a disease that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood around the body, as a “significant condition.” Investigators also determined that Coolio’s severe asthma and cigarette smoking played a role in his death.
Coolio’s former longtime manager Jarez Posey also confirmed the cause of death Thursday.
Coolio – born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. on August 1, 1963 – died at a friend’s home in Los Angeles on September 28, 2022. He was 59 years old.
Coolio won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the 1995 hit from Michelle Pfeiffer’s “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack, which sampled Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise.”
Coolio was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania and later moved to Compton, California.
He started rapping at 15 and at 18 he knew this was what he wanted to do with his life, he said in interviews. Coolio attended community college before devoting himself full-time to the hip-hop scene.
His career album sales totaled 4.8 million, with 978 million on-demand streams of his tracks, according to Luminate. He was nominated for six Grammy Awards.
With his distinctive personality, he has become a cultural staple, occasionally acting, providing a voice for an animated show, and providing the soundtrack for a Nickelodeon sitcom.
Coolio’s estate plans to release a studio album later this year that he had been working on in the days before his death.
