Coolio, rapper behind hit 'Gangsta's Paradise', dies at 59

Grammy winner found unresponsive in bathroom of friend's house on Wednesday afternoon, according to his manager

'Gangsta's Paradise' rapper Coolio has died aged 59. He was reportedly found dead in the bathroom of a friend's house on Wednesday afternoon. AFP

Coolio performs on day three of Riot Fest in Chicago earlier this month. AP

Coolio and his granddaughter Arya Ivey perform at a basketball game in Las Vegas in May. AFP

The rapper performs a set at Groovin The Moo 2019 in Canberra, Australia. Getty Images

Coolio and his wife at the Venice Carnival in Italy in 2008. EPA

Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr on August 1, 1963 in Pennsylvania, the artist spent most of his life in Compton, California. Getty Images

Coolio s at the 2003 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 27, 2003. Reuters

With sons Melan, left and Darius at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' in 2002. Reuters

A Fender Stratocaster guitar decorated by Coolio. Getty Images

Coolio directs his first music video for Nickelodeon's 'Kenan and Kel' in June 1996. Reuters

Coolio soared to global fame in 1995 when he released 'Gangsta's Paradise'. Getty Images

Donny Osmond and Coolio exchange pose together at the Toyota Celebrity race in Long Beach in April 1999. Getty Images

Coolio accepts his Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996 in Los Angeles. Reuters

He also won an MTV Video Music Award for best rap video in 1996. Reuters

Stevie Wonder performs with Coolio in 1995, when the rapper won the Billboard Music Award for best single. Reuters

'Weird Al' Yankovic sports Coolio hair at the American Music Awards 1996 in Los Angeles. Reuters

Bjork and Coolio present an MTV Video Music Award in 1994. Reuters

Coolio, the US rapper best known for the chart-topping 1995 song Gangsta's Paradise, has died, his manager said Wednesday. He was 59 years old.

The Grammy-winning musician passed away in Los Angeles, California.

Singer Coolio was found unresponsive on the floor of a friend's bathroom in Los Angeles, California. Reuters

Coolio's friend and manager of 20 years Jarez Posey confirmed the news to AFP without providing additional details.

Posey told celebrity news website TMZ that Coolio was found unresponsive in the bathroom of a friend's house on Wednesday afternoon.

Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr on August 1, 1963 in Pennsylvania, the artist spent most of his life in Compton, California, attending community college and working jobs including airport security before finding success in rap.

Coolio began his music career in California in the late 1980s, digging roots in the Los Angeles scene by 1994 when he signed to Tommy Boy Records.

His single Fantastic Voyage off his debut studio album It Takes a Thief charted as high as three on the Billboard Hot 100.

But it was Gangsta's Paradise the following year that would make Coolio a household name.

The rapper soared to global fame in 1995 when he released the song for the soundtrack of the film Dangerous Minds that starred Michelle Pfeiffer.

It was the year's top single, and scored Coolio a Grammy for best rap solo performance at the subsequent awards gala.

With a hook lifted from Stevie Wonder's 1976 track Pastime Paradise off of that artist's seminal Songs In The Key of Life, the hit sold millions of copies worldwide, topping pop charts in 16 countries.

“It's about life, because you're living in the gangster's paradise also,” Coolio said about his song, speaking in 1995 on the Howard Stern Show.

In an interview more than a decade later with Britain's The Voice, Coolio said he had “no clue” that the song would go on to endure for so many years.

“I didn't write Gangsta's Paradise — it wrote me,” he said. “It was its own entity, out there in the spirit world, trying to find its way to the world, and it chose me as the vessel to come through.”

“I thought it was going to be a hood record; I never thought it would cross over the way that it did — to all ages, races, genres, countries and generations.”

An endearing star of gangsta rap, Coolio's high-spirited music videos brought him an increased following. He later pursued an acting career, including a part in 1997's Batman and Robin and making a number of television cameos including on the hit 1990s show The Nanny.

The social media reaction to the rapper's death was one of shock, with 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice tweeting: “I'm freaking out I just heard my good friend Coolio passed away.”

“Peaceful Journey Brother. #Coolio,” wrote Questlove.

Scroll through the gallery below to see other stars we've lost in 2022 so far

Korean actress Kim Mi-soo died aged 29 on January 5, 2022. Photo: Landmark Entertainment

Actor Sidney Poitier died aged 94 on January 6, 2022. Getty Images

Director Peter Bogdanovich died aged 82 on January 6, 2022. AP Photo

Oscar-winning composer Marilyn Bergman, pictured with her husband, Alan Bergman, died aged 93 on January 8, 2022. AP Photo

American comedian Bob Saget died aged 65 on January 9, 2022. AP Photo

Actor Gary Waldhorn died aged 78 on January 10, 2022. Getty Images

Rock 'n' roll singer Ronnie Spector died aged 78 on January 12, 2022. AFP

Designer Nino Cerruti died aged 91 on January 15, 2022. EPA

Andre Leon Talley, fashion journalist and former editor-at-large for US Vogue, died aged 73 on January 18, 2022. EPA

French actor Gaspard Ulliel died aged 37 on January 19, 2022. AFP

Marvin Lee Aday, better know as the singer Meat Loaf, died aged 74 on January 20, 2022. EPA

Actor Louie Anderson died aged 68 on January 21, 2022. Reuters

Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, died aged 95 on January 22, 2022. EPA

Director Bassam Al Mulla died aged 66 on January 22, 2022. Photo: Sana

Fashion designer Thierry Mugler died aged 73 on January 23, 2022. AFP

Actor Moses J Moseley died aged 31 on January 26, 2022. Photo: Instagram / Moses J Moseley

Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst died aged 30 on January 30, 2022. AFP

Legendary Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar died aged 92 on February 6, 2022. AFP

Funk singer Betty Davis, ex-wife of jazz musician Miles Davis, died aged 77 on February 9, 2022. Photo: Fin Costello / Redferns

Filmmaker Ivan Reitman died aged 75 on February 12, 2022. Reuters

American satirist P J O'Rourke died aged 74 on February 15, 2022. AP Photo

Bollywood singer and composer Bappi Lahiri died aged 69 on February 15, 2022. AFP

Jordanian-Lebanese sculptor Mona Saudi died aged 76 on February 16, 2022. Photo: Lawrie Shabibi Gallery

Singer Jane Marczewski, known as Nightbirde, died aged 31 on February 19, 2022. Photo: NBC

Lebanese singer Sammy Clark died aged 73 on February 20, 2022. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

British entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards died aged 31 on February 20, 2022. AP Photo

Mark Lanegan, of grunge band Screaming Trees, died aged 57 on February 22, 2022. AP Photo

Children's author and illustrator Shirley Hughes died aged 94 on February 25, 2022. Getty Images

Australian cricketer Shane Warne died aged 52 on March 4, 2022. AP Photo

Emilio Delgado, who played fix-it shop owner Luis on Sesame Street, died aged 81 on March 10, 2022. AP Photo

Actor William Hurt died aged 71 on March 13, 2022. AP

Pro wrestler Scott Hall, best known for his time in WWE and WCW, died aged 63 on March 14, 2022. Photo: BANG Showbiz

Ukrainian actress Oksana Shvets died aged 67 on March 17, 2022. Photo: Twitter

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as US secretary of state, died aged 84 on March 23, 2022. Reuters

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died aged 50 on March 25, 2022. AFP

Actor Paul Herman died on his 76th birthday on March 29, 2022. AFP

British singer Tom Parker died aged 33, on March 30, 2022. AP Photo

Rock 'n roll star Bobby Rydell and star of the movie musical Bye Bye Birdie, died aged 79, on April 5, 2022. AP Photo

US actor and comedian Gilbert Gottfried died aged 67 on April 12, 2022. AFP

US country music star Naomi Judd died aged 76 on April 30, 2022. AP

South Korean actress Kang Soo-youn died on May 7, 2022, aged 55. EPA

The late UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, died aged 73 on May 13, 2022. AP Photo / Wam

US actor Ray Liotta died on May 26, 2022 aged 67. Reuters

Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, known professionally as KK, died aged 53 on May 31, 2022. AFP

Alec John Such, right, founding member of the group Bon Jovi, died aged 70 on June 4, 2022. Getty Images

Cooper Noriega, a popular TikTok content creator, died aged 19 on June 9, 2022. Photo: Instagram /@cooper.noriega

Philip Baker Hall died aged 90 on June 12, 2022. Invision / AP, File

Actress Mary Mara died aged 61 on June 26, 2022. WireImage

Theatre and film director Peter Brook died aged 97 on July 2, 2022

Manga star and inventor of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, Japanese cartoonist Kazuki Takahashi, died aged 60 on July 4, 2022. EPA

US actor James Caan of Godfather fame died aged 82 on July 6, 2022. AFP

Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe died aged 67 on July 8, 2022. AP Photo

Soprano star Tony Sirico, left, died aged 79 on July 8, 2022. AP

Ivana Trump, Donald Trump's first wife, died aged 73 on July 14, 2022. Reuters

Pop artist Claes Oldenburg died aged 93 on July 18, 2022. Archive Photos / Getty Images

Actress Shonka Dukureh died aged 44 on July 21, 2022. Photo: Warner Bros

Goodfellas actor Paul Sorvino died aged 83 on July 25, 2022

US actress Nichelle Nichols died aged 89 on July 30, 2022. Photo: Bettmann / Corbis

US actress Pat Carroll died aged 95 on July 30, 2022. AFP

Basketball champion and the first black coach for any US professional sports team Bill Russell died aged 88 on July 31, 2022. AP Photo

Australian singer Judith Durham died at the age of 79 in Melbourne on August 5, 2022. EPA

Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake died aged 84 on August 5, 2022. AFP

British-Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died aged 73 on August 8, 2022. EPA

Author and illustrator Raymond Briggs died aged 88 on August 9, 2022. PA

Actress Anne Heche died aged 53 on August 11, 2022. AP

Former Pop Idol contestant and theatre star Darius Campbell Danesh died aged 41 on August 11, 2022. PA

Director Wolfgang Petersen died aged 81 on August 12, 2022. Reuters

South African actress and model Charlbi Dean Kriek died aged 32 on August 29, 2022. Photo: Invision / AP

The last leader of the Soviet Union, former president Mikhail Gorbachev, died aged 91 on August 30, 2022. AP Photo / Boris Yurchenko

British TV presenter and journalist Bill Turnbull died aged 66 on August 31, 2022. PA Media

Queen Elizabeth II died at 96 on September 8, 2022. Photo: Royal Household / Ranald Mackechnie / PA Wire

Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock was fatally shot during a robbery aged 30 on September 12, 2022. Photo: Invision / AP, File

French film director Jean-Luc Godard died at age 91 on September 13, 2022. AFP

US lawyer and judge Kenneth Starr died aged 76 on September 13, 2022. AFP

Author Dame Hilary Mantel died aged 70 on September 22, 2022. Getty Images

American actress Louise Fletcher died aged 88 on September 23, 2022. Photo: AP, File

Yemeni oud player Ahmed Alshaiba died aged 32 on September 28, 2022. Getty Images

US rapper Coolio died aged 59 on September 28, 2022. Photo: Brenda Chase Online USA Inc

US activist Sacheen Littlefeather died aged 75 on October 2, 2022. AFP

South Korean comic book artist Kim Jung Gi died aged 47 on October 3, 2022. Photo: Kim Jung Gi

Grammy Award-winning singer Loretta Lynn died at age 90 on October 4, 2022. Getty Images via AFP

Dame Angela Lansbury died of natural causes aged 96 on October 11, 2022

British actor Robbie Coltrane died at the age of 72 on October 14, 2022. PA Media

Former Pentagon chief Ash Carter died aged 68 on October 24, 2022. EPA

US actor Leslie Jordan died aged 67 on October 24, 2022. EPA

Egyptian writer Bahaa Taher died at 87 on October 27, 2022. EPA

American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis died aged 87 on October 28, 2022. Reuters

US rapper Takeoff, born Kirshnik Khari Ball, died aged 28 on November 1, 2022. Photo: Invision / AP, File

Singer Aaron Carter died aged 34 on November 5, 2022. EPA

American actor John Aniston, father of Jennifer Aniston, died aged 89 on November 11, 2022. AP Photo

The Clash guitarist Keith Levene died aged 65 on November 11, 2022. Mirrorpix

American actor Jason David Frank died aged 49 on November 19, 2022. Photo: Invision / AP

Latin Grammy-winning balladeer Pablo Milanes died aged 79 on November 22, 2022. AFP

Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and singer-songwriter Christine McVie died at age 79 on November 30, 2022. Photo: Invision / AP

Veteran Filipina actress Sylvia La Torre died aged 89 on December 1, 2022. Photo: Facebook

Actor, musician and children's author Bob McGrath died aged 90 on December 4, 2022. AP Photo

American actress Kirstie Alley died at aged 71 on December 5, 2022. EPA

Filipino musician Jovit Baldivino died aged 29 on December 9, 2022. Photo: Jovit Baldivino / Instagram

Composer Angelo Badalamenti died aged 85 on December 11, 2022. AP

Stephen 'tWitch' Boss died aged 40 on December 13, 2022. AFP

Terry Hall, lead singer of The Specials, died aged 63 on December 18, 2022. PA

Primal Scream and The Charlatans keyboardist Martin Duffy died aged 55 on December 18, 2022. Getty Images

Maxi Jazz, lead singer of British group Faithless, died aged 65 on December 23, 2022. EPA

British actor and comedian John Bird died aged 66 on December 24, 2022. PA

Musician Joseph 'Jo Mersa' Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, died aged 31 on December 27, 2022. Getty Images

Brazilian football legend Pele died aged 82 on December 29, 2022. Reuters

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood died aged 81 on December 29, 2022. Getty Images

US television journalist Barbara Walters died aged 93 on December 30, 2022. EPA

Former pope Benedict XVI died aged 95 on December 31, 2022. AFP