Apper Coolio, responsible for the 90s hit Gangsta’s Paradise, has died at the age of 59.
The American rapper, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr, passed away on Wednesday, his manager confirmed to multiple American outlets.
He was found unconscious on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house in… The Angelsaccording to TMZ.
Coolio came third in the sixth series of UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, losing to broadcaster Terry Christian, who came in second, and presenter and model. Ulrika Jonssonwho won.
But along with Jonsson, he joined the cast of Ultimate Big Brother the following year in 2010, the show’s final series to air on Channel 4.
The rapper was born in Pennsylvania, but later moved to ComptonCalifornia, where he released his first single in 1987.
He recorded Gangsta’s Paradise for the 1995 film Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, and it became one of the most successful rap songs of all time.
The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and won Coolio the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996.
The song was also parodied by American musical comedian Weird Al Yankovic, as Amish Paradise, although it was alleged at the time that Coolio had not given him permission to do so.
After news of his death broke, officials from Chicago’s Wrigley Field played the hit and Coolio’s Fantastic Voyage throughout the stadium, while the hometown of Cubs hosted the Philadelphia Phillies.
Coolio was nominated for five others Grammys during a career that began in the late 1980s.
Among those who immediately responded to the reports was fellow American rapper Vanilla Ice, who said he “paniced” after hearing the news.
“I’m panicking, I just heard that my good friend Coolio has passed away,” the rapper, real name Robert Matthew Van Winkle, wrote on Twitter.