LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg and MC Hammer lead tributes to rapper Coolio after death aged 59

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Tributes have been pouring in from celebrities following the announcement of the death of rapper Coolio. The US rapper, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr, died on Wednesday, his manager confirmed to multiple US outlets.

He is best known for his hit song Gangsta's Paradise, and for appearing in the sixth series of Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, coming in third place.

Fellow rappers and musicians, as well as other celebrities who worked with him, have taken to social media to pay tribute to the rapper. READ MORE: The Greater Manchester park with riverside views and hidden ruins US musical comedian Weird Al Yankovic paid his respects to Coolio with a short tribute on social media.

Sharing a picture of the pair embracing, he wrote: “RIP Coolio”. Yankovic parodied the rapper’s 1995 hit Gangsta’s Paradise as Amish Paradise, though at the time it was claimed that Coolio had not given him permission to do so and the pair are said to have fallen out.