Rapper, actor DMX, five-time Billboard chart topper, dead at 50
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[April 10, 2021]
By Nick Zieminski
NEW YORK (Reuters) -American rapper and
actor Earl Simmons, known by the stage name DMX or Dark Man X, died on
Friday, his record label said, after he suffered a heart attack during
what media reports said was a drug overdose. He was 50 years old.
The chart-topping artist's songs included "Party Up (Up in Here)" and "X
Gon' Give It To Ya." His career had been marked by legal troubles and
prison time.
Music label Def Jam Recordings said in a statement it was saddened by
"the loss of our brother Earl 'DMX' Simmons."
"DMX was a brilliant artist and an inspiration to millions around the
world," the statement said. "His message of triumph over struggle, his
search for the light out of darkness, his pursuit of truth and grace
brought us closer to our own humanity."
DMX collapsed at home late on April 2. Celebrity publications TMZ and
Billboard said he had overdosed on drugs triggering a heart attack.
On Friday, White Plains Hospital in New York said DMX had died
peacefully with family by his side after suffering a "catastrophic
cardiac arrest."
"Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end," family members said
in a statement, adding that his music "inspired countless fans across
the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever."
Growing up in Yonkers, New York, DMX took his moniker from the name of a
drum machine used in rap songs. When he was 14, an older rapper who had
been a mentor tricked him into smoking crack, DMX said in a documentary
series broadcast on BET.
"He created a monster," he said. "Cocaine almost took my life on a few
occasions."
His debut album in 1998, "It's Dark and Hell is Hot," was the first of
five in a row to top the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. He
was the only rap artist with such a streak, according to a 2019 profile
in GQ magazine.
He studied the Bible and prayed before and after every show, he told GQ.
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Rapper DMX (C) offers a prayer after winning the R&B Albums Artist
of the Year award at the Billboard Music Awards show at the MGM
Grand Hotel in Las Vegas December 8, 1999. REUTERS/Ethan Miller/File
Photo
"Performing in front of people is beyond a high. It's beyond a high
that any drug could duplicate," he said.
The rapper's intense songs told stories of a complex character's
"sins of the streets," according to a biography on allmusic.com,
which described DMX as a "hip-hop Johnny Cash."
His album "...And Then There Was X" was his biggest seller,
certified five-time multiplatinum. DMX released eight albums and was
nominated for three Grammys.
DMX earned more than 40 film and television credits, including
"Belly," "Romeo Must Die," and action films "Cradle 2 the Grave" and
"Exit Wounds," also contributing music to their soundtracks.
He had 15 children, according to media reports.
Before he died, his ex-wife Tashera Simmons, with whom he had four
children, attended a vigil outside his hospital, where hundreds of
fans danced to DMX songs. "The love is real," she posted on
Instagram.
In 2017, DMX pleaded guilty in federal court to avoiding paying $1.7
million in taxes from 2000 to 2005 by shifting money among accounts
belonging to managers and associates. He was sentenced to one year
in prison.
The rap star's prior arrest record included charges of animal
cruelty, reckless driving, drug possession, weapons charges and
probation violations. He served prison time in Arizona and New York.
In the 1998 song "Slippin'," DMX rapped: "To live is to suffer, But
to survive, well, that's to find meaning in the suffering."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine;Writing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by
Howard Goller and Rosalba O'Brien)
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