Rapper Coolio died from effects of fentanyl and other drugs, coroner rules

Coolio
AP
Sami Quadri7 April 2023

Rapper Coolio died from a lethal dose of fentanyl, his manager confirmed.

The Gangsta’s Paradise star, 59, was found dead at a Los Angeles house in September after he went to use the bathroom and never came out.

Paramedics suspected he had a cardiac arrest but his manager Jarez Posey said the coroner’s office had told the family that he died from an overdose of the opioid.

Fentanyl is up to 100 more potent than morphine and has played a role in the deaths of a string of music stars, including Prince as well as The Wire actor Michael K Williams.

Coolio had traces of heroin and methamphetamines in his system too.

His severe asthma and decades of smoking cigarettes also played a part in his death.

He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2009.

Coolio was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Compton, California.

He sold more than 4.8 million albums and his songs attracted over 978 million streams, according to Luminate. He was nominated for six Grammys.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in