As reported by The New York Times and confirmed by WGN, up-and-coming rap star Juice WRLD has died. He reportedly suffered a seizure at Chicago’s Midway Airport after his flight from California landed, and after being taken to a hospital, he was pronounced dead. A specific cause of death has not been given, though, and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told the New York Times that an autopsy will be conducted. Juice WRLD, whose birthday was just last week, was 21.
Juice WRLD, whose real name is Jarad A. Higgins, started releasing tracks online when he was still in high school, and he got his first big break in 2017 with his debut EP 9 9 9 and the track “All Girls Are The Same.” He got a deal with Interscope at 19 and released the hit single “Lucid Dreams,” which sampled Sting’s “Shape Of My Heart” (who gave it a rousing endorsement), and in 2018 he released his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance. That album went platinum, and his next album—Death Race For Love—landed at the top of the Billboard 200 when it came out in March.
The rapper also appeared on the well-received Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack and has released collaborations with Lil Uzi Vert, BTS, Brendon Urie, Nicki Minaj, and Future.