Music / September 29, 2022

Coolio passes away aged 59

Image: Coolio
Music / September 29, 2022

Coolio passes away aged 59

Words: Ellen Kenny

‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper Coolio was a part of some of the most iconic moments of 2000s Irish TV.

Rapper Coolio has passed away unexpectedly at aged 59. According to Breaking News, he was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house in Los Angeles.

“We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client, Coolio, who passed away this afternoon,” Coolio’s manager Sheila Finegan announced, “He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly.”

Coolio was most known for his 1995 song ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’, which appeared in the 1995 drama Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfieffer. The song remained number one on the US charts for three weeks, and the rapper received his first and only Grammy award for Best Rap Solo Performance with this song. Coolio also won one American Music Award and three MTV Music Awards.

Celebrities such as Pfieffer and rapper Snoop Dogg have expressed their grief online.

Irish fans has also taken to Twitter to remember some of Coolio’s most iconic moments in Ireland. Many will recall Coolio’s first appearance on RTÉ:

The rapper met plenty of Irish stars during his visits to the country:

More recently, Coolio had frequented Ireland beyond our television screens, and was often spotted around the city:

Beyond Twitter, independent TD Thomas Pringle paid his respects to Coolio in the Dáil, and noted the rapper’s affinity for Irish culture:

In one of his last interviews with an Irish newspaper, journalist John Meagher wrote that Coolio “sure knows how to bag a bargain”, explaining that the rapper got four trainers in Brown Thomas for just 180 euros.

In the interview, Meagher also noted the rapper “[conducted himself] in a way that makes his three daughters — “and three granddaughters” proud.”

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