Grammy Award-winning rapper Coolio has died at the age of 59.
The rapper, best known for his chart-topping 1995 hit 'Gangsta's Paradise', was reportedly found unresponsive at a friend's house in Los Angeles, per TMZ. Tributes have been pouring in for the star, who regularly visited Dublin and collaborated with Irish artists.
In recent years, the Pennsylvania native filmed a video in Ringsend with rap group Versatile, took an interest in GAA while supporting the boys in blue and enjoyed a night out in Conor McGregor's Crumlin pub, The Black Forge. Mere months ago, he spoke about working on a "banger" of a track with Aslan frontman Christy Dignam.
Read more: Coolio: Rapper famed for 1990s hit Gangsta's Paradise dies aged 59
Coolio's special relationship with Ireland wasn't a recent development, though. The rapper was part of an iconic moment of Irish TV history when he appeared on RTE One daytime talk show Open House in the early 2000s.
Coolio was supposed to take to the stage for an Irish TV performance of his song 'Ghetto Square Dance'. The exact circumstances that led to how the moment unfolded remain a mystery subject to speculation, but he somehow ended up short on backup dancers, prompting him to use members of the show's production crew instead.
In the clip of the episode, Marty Whelan giddily introduces the Grammy-winner and "the Open House crew". As Coolio launches into the track, there's some fairly typical Irish awkwardness in his backup dancers - who were good sports nonetheless.
Marty Whelan today paid tribute to the late musician and his appearance on Open House.
Taking to Twitter to reshare the clip, he wrote: "Ah Coolio, I remember him with great fondness. To have him dancing with the staff was quite the moment. Which they did willingly."
'Gangsta's Paradise' was released on Coolio's sophomore album as well as the soundtrack for the 1995 movie 'Dangerous Minds' (starring Michelle Pfeiffer). It was the biggest-selling song of the year in the US and went number one in multiple countries, Ireland included.
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