Coolio Cause Of Death Revealed
Coolio's cause of death has been determined as a fentanyl overdose.
Many musical artists become involved in drugs through the party lifestyle of Hollywood’s most famous, and unfortunately for some, this can lead to serious health consequences and even death. This seems to have been the case for rapper Coolio, who passed away last September. According to a TMZ article, coroners recently discovered Coolio’s cause of death was a fentanyl overdose.
Coroners revealed that Coolio’s death was a result of fentanyl use, combined with traces of heroin and methamphetamines in his system. Investigators also noted that severe asthma and long-term cigarette use compromised his body’s ability to recover and had serious negative impacts on the rapper’s health.
Coolio was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house on September 28, 2022. It was initially thought that Coolio’s death had been from cardiac arrest. When law enforcement responded, they reported that no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found at the scene.
Coolio’s death occurred almost thirty years after his big break into the music scene. Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. got his start as an artist when he recorded his first single in 1987, titled “Whatcha Gonna Do?” It was when Coolio joined the rapper WC’s group WC and the Maad Circle in 1991 and contributed to their debut album Ain’t a Damn Thang Changed that year that Coolio gained his break into the LA rap scene.
Coolio released his first solo album, It Takes a Thief, in 1994, with the lead single “Fantastic Voyage” peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was 1995’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” that garnered him a Billboard number one hit. The song would not only top the chart but hold the title of the number one single across genres in the United States for the entire year, and garner him a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance.
Although many critics view Coolio as a one-hit wonder, Coolio’s death should remind listeners that he was a talented Grammy award-winning artist.
One thing that many people don’t know is that Coolio cemented his name in pop culture history through his own or his music’s various appearances in movies, films, and television. He provided the opening theme “Aw, Here It Goes!” for the Nickelodeon comedy series Kenan & Kel, which featured SNL’s Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, the song “Rollin’ with My Homies” for the Alicia Silverstone film Clueless’s soundtrack, as well as “(I’m in Love with) Mary Jane” for the Dave Chapelle-led film Half Baked’s soundtrack.
He also made a number of appearances in television and film before his death, most notably in a couple of episodes of the animated comedy Futurama and even an unlikely appearance on a 1998 episode of the Fran Drescher-led television sitcom The Nanny where she turns him from a “gift wrapper” to a “gifted rapper.”
Coolio was a spokesperson for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, a disease that both he and some of his children had been afflicted with. He was also at one point a spokesperson for the group Environmental Justice and Climate Change and hosted events at historically black colleges and universities to advocate global warming and climate change awareness among students. Even after Coolio’s death, he will be remembered by his ten children, five grandchildren, musical and artistic collaborators, and fans across the globe.
