Leon Ivey Jr the American superstar popularly known as Coolio, passed away at a friend’s house in Los Angeles, his long-time manager Jarez Posey announced to Associated Press and other outlets.

The 59 years, Grammy award-winning artist would be remembered most especially for his 1995 hit song “Gangsta’s Paradise” which was the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film Dangerous Minds, Coolio sampled “Pastime Paradise” Stevie Wonder’s song which was released in 1976.

Coolio joined the San Jose area firefighters as a volunteer, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1994 that the firefighting training was a discipline, he needed to clean up his drug addiction.

Earlier this year his biggest single “Gangsta’s Paradise” hit a billion views on Youtube, he celebrated the milestone by thanking all his fans.