The RIP Thread

[Frothy Afterbirth]

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Update update: Tony Dow has passed away.

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[TheJuice]

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Actress and singer Nichelle Nichols, best known for her groundbreaking portrayal of Lt. Nyota Uhura in “Star Trek: The Original Series,” has died at age 89, according to a statement from her son, Kyle Johnson.

How 'Star Trek' legend Nichelle Nichols helped shape a diverse future for NASA

“Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration,” Johnson said in a statement shared to Nichols’ official site on Sunday. “Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”

Nichols died from natural causes, he said.

Nichols portrayed communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura in the “Star Trek” TV series and many of its film offshoots.

When “Star Trek” began in 1966, Nichols was a television rarity: a Black woman in a notable role on a prime-time television series. There had been African-American women on TV before, but they often played domestic workers and had small roles; Nichols’ Uhura was an integral part of the multicultural “Star Trek” crew.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called it “the first non-stereotypical role portrayed by a Black woman in television history.”

Nichols is widely known for participating in one of the first interracial kisses on US television when her character kissed James T. Kirk, portrayed by White Canadian actor William Shatner. In an interview with CNN in 2014, Nichols said the kiss scene “changed television forever, and it also changed the way people looked at one another.”

After “Trek’s” three-season run, Nichols dedicated herself to the space program. She helped NASA in making the agency more diverse, helping to recruit astronauts Sally Ride, Judith Resnik and Guion Bluford, among others.

George Takei, who portrayed the USS Enterprise’s helmsman Hikaru Sulu, posted a touching tribute to his co-star.

“I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89,” wrote Takei on Twitter. “For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend.”

“We lived long and prospered together,” he added with a photo of the pair making the iconic Vulcan salute.

'Star Trek' turns 50: How Trekkers -- not "Trekkies," please -- pioneered the fan-culture frontier

The National Air and Space Museum called Nichols “an inspiration to many, not just for her groundbreaking work on Star Trek but also through her work with NASA to recruit women and people of color to apply to become astronauts” on Twitter.

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Georgia, also posted a tribute to the actress. “Godspeed to Nichelle Nichols, champion, warrior and tremendous actor,” wrote Abrams on Twitter alongside a photo of herself with Nichols. “Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many. May she forever dwell among the stars.”

Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols near Chicago in 1932. (Unhappy with Grace, she took the name Nichelle when she was a teenager.) Her grandfather was a White Southerner who married a Black woman, causing a rift in his family.

Blessed with a four-octave vocal range, Nichols was performing in local clubs by the time she was 14. Among the performers she met was Duke Ellington, who later took her on tour. She also worked extensively in Chicago clubs and in theater.

She moved to Los Angeles in the early ’60s and landed a role in a Gene Roddenberry series, “The Lieutenant.” A number of “Star Trek” veterans, including Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett, also worked on the show.

When Roddenberry was creating “Trek,” he remembered Nichols. She was in Europe when she got the call.

“(My agent said), ‘They’re doing ‘Star Trek,’ and I didn’t know what a ‘Star Trek’ was,” she said in an interview with the Television Academy.

Uhura wasn’t in the original script, and Nichols was responsible for the name. She was reading a book called “Uhuru” – “freedom” in Swahili – and suggested her character take the name. Roddenberry thought it was too harsh.

“I said, ‘Well, why don’t you do an alteration of it, soften the end with an ‘A,’ and it’ll be Uhura?’ ” she recalled. “He said, ‘That’s it, that’s your name! You named it; it’s yours.’ ”

Nichols is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.

[Frothy Afterbirth]

Bill Russell, a Celebrated USF Alum, Civil Rights Figure and 11-Time NBA Champion, Dies at 88
Written by Ethan Kassel
Published Jul. 31, 2022 at 7:20pm


Getty Images



Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion who spent much of his formative years in the Bay Area and won two NCAA Tournament Championships at the University of San Francisco (USF), passed away peacefully on Sunday at 88.

Russell leaves an enormous legacy as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and a key figure in the civil rights movement.

He hardly took the typical path to sports fame. Stars like LeBron James may be defined as transcendent generational talents from an early age, but colleges paid little attention to Russell, overlooking the Oakland-based hooper, who moved to the city with his family when he was eight. He only played varsity basketball in his senior year at McClymonds High School, having spent his junior year with the JV team.

That all changed at USF— the only school to offer him a scholarship—where he both competed as a high jumper and became the starting center under head coach Phil Woolpert after a successful year on the freshman team. He was the leading scorer on a squad that posted a 14-7 record in his sophomore year, then led the Dons to back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956, averaging more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in each of those seasons.



Bill Russell, an 11-time NBA champion who spent much of his formative years in the Bay Area and won two NCAA Tournament Championships at the University of San Francisco (USF), passed away peacefully on Sunday at 88.

Russell leaves an enormous legacy as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and a key figure in the civil rights movement.

He hardly took the typical path to sports fame. Stars like LeBron James may be defined as transcendent generational talents from an early age, but colleges paid little attention to Russell, overlooking the Oakland-based hooper, who moved to the city with his family when he was eight. He only played varsity basketball in his senior year at McClymonds High School, having spent his junior year with the JV team.

That all changed at USF— the only school to offer him a scholarship—where he both competed as a high jumper and became the starting center under head coach Phil Woolpert after a successful year on the freshman team. He was the leading scorer on a squad that posted a 14-7 record in his sophomore year, then led the Dons to back-to-back national championships in 1955 and 1956, averaging more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in each of those seasons.
University of San Francisco’s Bill Russell gets a ride off the court by fans after defeating La Salle 77-63 to win the NCAA on March 19, 1955. | Photo by Rich Clarkson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images.

“Bill Russell helped put USF on the map in the 1950s,” said current university president Rev. Paul J. Fitzgerald. “We are grateful not only for his many contributions to our community, the athletic department and Jesuit education but also for his courage and commitment to advancing justice, on and beyond the basketball court.”

Driven by his accolades, the St. Louis Hawks selected him with the second overall pick in the 1956 NBA Draft. He was quickly traded to the Boston Celtics, where he cemented himself as one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time.

Russell’s NBA career didn’t actually begin until midway through the 1956-57 season, as he opted to maintain his amateur status to participate in the Melbourne Olympics. There, he helped lead the United States men’s basketball team to a gold medal.

In his first playoff game with the Celtics, he racked up 31 rebounds in an Eastern Division Finals win over the Syracuse Royals. And in a winner-take-all NBA Finals Game 7 against St. Louis, he grabbed 32 boards as the Celtics squeaked out a two-point double overtime win to secure their first championship in franchise history.

Despite facing racial abuse from fans, Russell quickly became synonymous with winning in Boston. Though the Hawks bested the Celtics in the 1957 Finals, Boston went on to win the next eight championships. The Celtics topped St. Louis again in seven games in 1960, and while the 122-103 win in the decisive game didn’t require two overtimes like the 1957 edition, Russell racked up 35 rebounds.

Great performances in championship games were commonplace throughout Russell’s career; he had 31 points and 38 rebounds in Game 5 of the 1961 Finals, securing another championship over the Hawks. The Celtics squared off with the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in the 1962 NBA Finals, and Russell collected 40 boards, matching his own single-game NBA Finals record, in a Game 7 overtime victory. The 1966 series, also against the Lakers, required seven games, and he willed the Celtics to a 95-93 victory with 25 points and a game-high 32 rebounds.

Boston’s dominance was interrupted by the Philadelphia 76ers and longtime rival Wilt Chamberlain in 1967, the first of Russell’s three seasons as a player-coach. Only one other player-coach, Buddy Jeannette of the 1947-48 Baltimore Bullets, has led his team to a championship; Russell did it in each of his final two years. Even as the Vietnam War and other off-court issues compromised his attention during his last season, Russell went out on top in his final campaign, combining with John Havlicek to lead the Celtics to a seven-game NBA Finals victory over the Lakers. Russell had 26 rebounds in his last professional game, a 108-106 road victory that cemented Boston as the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games.

Russell abruptly retired from both playing and coaching after the 1969 Finals. While he did spend four years in the 1970s coaching the Seattle SuperSonics and dabbled in broadcasting, he was most active after his career in the political arena. Confrontations with racism were a prominent theme in Russell’s life, from his family’s decision to leave Monroe, Louisiana for Oakland in his childhood to discriminatory treatment from journalists and fans.

His activism made him the target of FBI surveillance; in a file, investigators labeled him “an arrogant Negro who won’t sign autographs for white children.”

Russell boycotted an exhibition game in 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky after two of his teammates were denied service in a coffee shop and was a highly visible member of the Black Power movement. Russell was a prominent figure at the Cleveland Summit in 1967 to support Muhammad Ali’s refusal to enter the draft for the Vietnam War.

Bitter feelings over his treatment in Boston led Russell to forgo attending his own jersey retirement in 1972 and Hall of Fame induction in 1975. He was, however, present for a ceremony to re-retire his jersey in 1999, 27 years after the initial event. In 2009, the NBA renamed the Finals Most Valuable Player award the “Bill Russell Award,” a fitting honor for a man who went 21-0 in winner-take-all games between his collegiate, Olympic and professional careers.

Regarded as a recluse for much of his post-retirement years, Russell did occasionally take to social media in the final stages of his life, posting about basketball and his travels. But his most memorable contribution to social media came in September 2017, when he posted a photo of himself kneeling to show his support for protesting NFL players in the days following then-President Donald Trump’s “get that son of a bitch off the field” comments.

Russell is survived by his three children: William Jr., Jacob and Karen. They were born during his marriage to his first wife, Rose. He married three more times. The last of those four marriages was to Jeannine, a competitive golfer 33 years his junior. Jeannine was by his side at the time of his death.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Olivia Newton-John dead: Iconic pop star and ‘Grease’ actress was 73
By Andrew Court
August 8, 2022 3:32pm Updated


Olivia Newton-John Foundation

Olivia Newton-John has passed away at the age of 73.

The “Grease” legend died at her ranch in Southern California Monday morning, surrounded by family and friends following a long battle with cancer.

The sad news was announced on her official Facebook page in a statement reading: “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

The Post has reached out to Newton-John’s rep for further comment.

The “Physical” songstress is survived by her husband of 14 years, John Easterling, and her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, 36.

Lattanzi shared a photo to Instagram with her mom last Friday — three days before the superstar’s death.

“I worship this woman. My mother. My best friend,” the devoted daughter captioned the snap, which showed the pair wandering across a field together. It’s unclear what date the image was actually taken.

Newton-John battled cancer on and off for three decades, and poured vast amounts of her reported $60 million fortune into the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund in order to support cancer research.

Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1992, at the age of 43.

She discovered that the disease had returned in 2013, before revealing in 2017 that it had metastasized to her lower back. The cancer subsequently spread to her bones, with doctors diagnosing it as Stage IV and declaring that there was little chance of survival.

Despite enduring chronic pain, the bubbly Australian became an outspoken advocate for cancer awareness and for treating the disease with marijuana.

Despite her long battle with cancer, news of Newton-John’s passing still shook the showbiz world and prompted an outpouring of grief from her celebrity friends.

“Grease” co-star John Travolta took to Instagram to pay tribute to his longtime pal, writing: “You made our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible.”

Newton-John was born in England in 1948, before relocating to Australia at the age of 14.

She began singing in the late 1960s, eventually releasing her first solo album, “If Not for You,” in 1971, with the title track originally written by Bob Dylan and recorded by George Harrison.

The song hit No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart and No. 25 on the pop charts, and Newton-John went on to win three Grammys in the mid 1970s.

The starlet won Best Country Vocal Performance, Female, for “Let Me Be There” in 1974 and both Record of the Years and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for the ballad “I Honestly Love You” in 1975.

But she did not become a bona fide superstar until her casting opposite John Travolta in 1978’s movie musical “Grease”.

The film — in which she played Australian student Sandy Olsson — became the biggest blockbuster of the year and it’s accompanying soundtrack sold a whopping 28 million copies. To this day, it remains one of the highest-selling records of all-time.

Newton-John’s duet with co-star John Travolta “You’re the One That I Want” topped the pop charts, while her solo ballad, “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” climbed to No. 3.

The movie transformed Newton-John into one of the world’s biggest stars, with her next solo album, titled “Totally Hot,” racing up the charts later that same year.

In 1980, Newton-John tried her hand at a second movie musical with “Xanadu,” but the film flopped with critics and didn’t resonate with audiences.

The soundtrack, however, was a success and cemented Newton-John’s status as a pop superstar.

Then, in 1981, the blonde scored her biggest hit ever with the sexually-charged anthem “Physical”, which track spent 10 weeks at No. 1.

The track — which was accompanied by a steamy aerobics video clip which won a Grammy for Video of the Year” — was eventually named the biggest song of the 1980s.

Last fall, Newton-John told Fox News that she felt the track was bit raunchy when it first came out.

“They call it reinventing yourself,” the superstar said about how fans looked at her differently following the release of the single.

She added: “I wasn’t doing it on purpose. It just was the song that I was attracted to and the album. But I feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity to record it. I don’t think I was really aware of how raunchy it was when I was recording it until afterward, and that’s when I freaked out.”

Newton-John continued to tour and release albums throughout the 1980s, but her personal life was in bloom.

She married actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984, before the pair welcomed their daughter, Chloe, two years later. The pair split in 1995.

In addition to her health woes, Newton-John also faced a series of other struggles in her personal life.

A year after her split from Lattanzi, the star began dating cameraman Patrick McDermott.

In 2005, their on-off 9-year relationship became headline news following McDermott’s mysterious disappearance while on a fishing trip off the coast of California. His vanishing sparked a frenzied search, but he was never found.

A US Coast Guard investigation, released in 2008, “suggested McDermott was lost at sea.” However, in April 2010, a private investigator hired by an American television program, claimed McDermott was alive in Mexico and had faked his death for a life insurance payout. That claim has not been substantiated.

Newton-John spoke publicly of her beau’s disappearance, telling the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine: “I think there will always be a question mark … I don’t think I will ever really be at peace with it.”

She went on to meet and marry producer John Easterling in 2008.

Meanwhile, daughter Chloe Lattanzi has faced health battles of her own, struggling with anorexia and drug addiction.

“My eating disorder started when I was 15 and carried on until my early 20s,” the star told The Mail on Sunday in 2013 “I had anxiety attacks and needed to find a way of feeling in control of something. Food was the one thing I could be in control of.”

She also began abusing cocaine and chugging down a bottle of vodka every day.

“I would be out partying every night at different Hollywood clubs, running into other young celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, and just partying the night away,” she further stated.

In 2012, Lattanzi suffered a “semi-psychotic meltdown” and spent seven-months in rehab with her support of her famous mom.

“Despite how painful the circumstances were, I felt so lucky to have someone like my mom with me to lean on and cry with,” she stated.

Newton-John was first diagnosed with with breast cancer back in 1992, when she was aged just 43.

Doctors discovered a malignant tumor in her right breast and she underwent a modified radical mastectomy and chemotherapy before eventually being declared cancer free.

She subsequently became a prominent advocate for promoting breast cancer awareness.

In 2013, however, an X-ray taken after a car accident revealed Newton-John had cancer in right shoulder. The star was treated, but did not publicize the diagnosis at the time.

Four years later, doctors discovered that Newton-John’s cancer had spread and was now stage IV.

In September 2017, Newton-John went public with the devastating diagnosis but insisted she wasn’t focused on her illness, but on things that make her happy.

“I’m a very privileged person, and I’m very aware of that,” she said. “I have a wonderful husband, I have all the animals I adore, I have an incredible career. I have nothing really to complain about.”

The superstar poured money into her Olivia Newton-John Cancer Fund and helped fund the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute in Victoria, Australia.

In recent years, she poured vast amounts of money into the initiatives, selling off her real estate portfolio to help finance the organizations.

“Olivia loved helping people. She spent the last two decades of her life giving back,” a source close to Newton-John told The Post.

— Mary K. Jacob contributed to this report.

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[Vodkaman]

Olivia Newton-John fought the good fight for years RIP and Fuck Cancer

[Frothy Afterbirth]

Actor Anne Heche Dies At 53
Andre Ellington - 2h ago


Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Actor Anne Heche died on Friday, after succumbing to injuries from a car crash days earlier, according to friends.

She was 53 years old.

Her friend, Nancy Davis, revealed the news in a memorial post on Instagram, writing: “Heaven has a new Angel. My loving, kind, fun, endearing and beautiful friend Anne Heche went to heaven. I will miss her terribly and cherish all the beautiful memories we have shared.”

Heche was severely burned when she crashed into a Los Angeles home in the Mar Vista neighborhood on Aug. 5. Shortly after the crash, her car burst into flames, which took firefighters nearly an hour to extinguish, according to NBC News.*

She was taken to a hospital and initially listed in critical condition, then she reportedly fell into a coma Aug. 8.

After Heche’s accident, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation into the actor for allegedly driving under the influence and fleeing from an earlier hit-and-run, the Los Angeles Times reported. Police confirmed to the Times that they obtained a search warrant to test the actor’s blood alcohol level.

LAPD confirmed to TMZ on Aug. 11 that Heche had cocaine in her system during the accident.

“In preliminary testing, the blood draw revealed the presence of drugs,” the LAPD statement said. “The case is being investigated as felony DUI traffic collision.”

In her 2001 memoir, “Call Me Crazy,” Heche discussed her traumatic upbringing and the mental health issues that arose in her adult years.

“I’m not crazy,” she told Barbara Walters during an interview with ABC News. “But it’s a crazy life. I was raised in a crazy family, and it took 31 years to get the crazy out of me.”

Heche’s acting career began in 1987 when she starred in the long-running soap opera “Another World.” In 1991, she won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama series for the show. She has appeared in numerous movies, including the 1996 film “The Juror,” the 1997 horror film “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” 1998′s “Six Days Seven Nights,” 1997′s Donnie Brasco” and the 2002 thriller “John Q.”

The actor dated comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000. She was married to cameraman Coleman Laffoon from 2001 to 2007. Heche was also in a relationship with actor James Tupper from 2008 to 2018. She is survived by her two sons: 20-year-old Homer Laffoon, whose father is Coleman Laffoon, and 13-year-old Atlas, whose father is James Tupper.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Bernard Shaw, CNN’s chief anchor for 20 years, dies at 82
Published Thu, Sep 8 202210:37 AM EDT
NBC NEWS Daniel Arkin


Erik S. Lesser | Hulton Archive | Getty Images

Bernard Shaw, the award-winning broadcast television journalist who served as chief anchor of CNN for two decades, died on Wednesday, his family said in a statement to the cable news network.

He was 82.

Shaw was CNN’s first chief anchor when the 24/7 cable news channel launched on June 1, 1980, instantly setting a standard of consummate professionalism and soon earning the trust of millions of viewers.

Funeral services will be held for family members and invited guests, with a public memorial service planned at a later date, Shaw’s family said in the statement.

“In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Bernard Shaw Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago,” Shaw’s family said. “The Shaw family requests complete privacy at this time.”

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Queen Elizabeth II Has Died (1926-2022)

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has died at 96 years old. The longest reigning Monarch in British history dedicated a life to public and voluntary service as one of the most important elements of her work.

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[Frothy Afterbirth]

Coolio, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper, dead at 59
Sandra Gonzalez
By Sandra Gonzalez, CNN
Updated 5:52 PM EDT, Thu September 29, 2022



Coolio, the ’90s rapper who lit up the music charts with hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has died, his friend and manager Jarez Posey, told CNN. He was 59.

Posey said Coolio died Wednesday afternoon.

Details on the circumstances were not immediately available.

When contacted by CNN, Capt. Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that firefighters and paramedics responded to a call on the 2900 block of South Chesapeake Ave. at 4 p.m. local time for reports of a medical emergency. When they arrived, they found an unresponsive male and performed “resuscitation efforts for approximately 45 minutes.”

The patient “was determined dead just before 5:00 p.m.,” Scott said.

An autopsy performed on Coolio Thursday did not reveal the cause or manner of Coolio’s death and further investigation will be conducted, according to case information from the county coroner..

“We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client,” a statement provided to CNN from Coolio’s talent manager Sheila Finegan said.

“He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly. Thank you to everyone worldwide who has listened to his music and to everyone who has been reaching out regarding his passing. Please have Coolio’s loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips also offered his condolences as he recounted some memories with the artist.

“I am absolutely stunned. Coolio was a friend and one of the warmest, funniest people I’ve ever met. We spent an amazing time together making Red Water in Capetown and we loved going head to head in the kitchen. He was one of a kind. Epic,Legendary and I’ll miss him,” Phillips said in a tweet.

Former NBA player Matt Bonner also recalled time spent with Coolio, saying in a Twitter post the rapper was a “huge hoops fan… we hosted him at a game a few years back… biggest crowd of all-time at a Spurs Overtime concert.”

Coolio grew up in Compton, California, according to a bio on his official website.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 1994, he recalled falling into the drug scene but getting himself out by pursuing a career as a firefighter.

“I wasn’t looking for a career, I was looking for a way to clean up – a way to escape the drug thing,” he told the publication. “It was going to kill me and I knew I had to stop. In firefighting training was discipline I needed. We ran every day. I wasn’t drinking or smoking or doing the stuff I usually did.”

His rap career began in the ’80s, and he gained fame in the underground scene.

“Fantastic Voyage” was the first song that really put him on the map.

Arguably his biggest song, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” from the soundtrack to the film “Dangerous Minds,” grew his star power to gigantic proportions. He won a Grammy in 1996 for the song.

In the age of streaming, it has continued to live on. In July 2022, the song reached a milestone one billion views on YouTube.

“It’s one of those kinds of songs that transcends generations,” he said in a recent interview. “I didn’t use any trendy words…I think it made it timeless.”

Over his career, Coolio sold more than 17 million records, according to his website.

Coolio also has a special place in the hearts of some Millennials for his work on the theme song for the popular Nickelodeon TV series “Kenan and Kel” and his contribution to the album “Dexter’s Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment,” which featured songs by various hip-hop artists that were inspired by the Cartoon Network animated series.

In recent years, Coolio enjoyed the perks of being a nostalgic figure, making television appearances on shows like “Celebrity Cook Off” and “Celebrity Chopped.”

He also had a show on Oxygen, “Coolio’s Rules,” that aired 2008.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1EGWKyTk7c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyVCC7D1uUM

[Vodkaman]

Since I heard Coolio died Gangsta’s Paradise has been stuck in my head and I want it out. Side not he seemed like a good dude may he RIP