Rapper and singer Juice WRLD has died in Chicago, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said Sunday.
Juice, who was born Jarad Anthony Higgins, turned 21 on December 2.
Chicago police could only confirm a 21-year-old male suffered a medical emergency at Chicago’s Midway Airport and died at a nearby hospital.
An autopsy hasn’t been performed and no cause of death has been determined, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny said.
Juice was signed to Interscope Records in March 2018 after scoring hits on SoundCloud with “Lucid Dreams” and “All Girls Are the Same,” according to Billboard magazine, which profiled the artist in March.
SoundCloud says Juice was the most streamed, liked, and reposted artist on its platform in 2018 and “Lucid Dreams” notched the most plays of any song last year.
Juice WRLD was named Top New Artist at the Billboard Music Awards in May.
Billboard said his songs reached its Hot 100 chart 25 times in less than two years. Juice was included on three songs on the Hot 100 ranking as of Saturday, Billboard said, including two as lead artist.
Music world stunned by the sudden death
A number of Juice’s fellow artists reacted to the news of his death on social media, including Drake.
“I would like to see all the younger talent live longer,” he wrote on Instagram, “and I hate waking up hearing another story filled with blessings was cut short.”
Fellow artist Lil Yachty, who featured Juice on his song “Yacht Club,” went on Twitter to express his shock.
Singer Elllie Goulding collaborated with Juice on the song “Hate Me” earlier this year. She shared photos of them together and said he had “so much further to go” in his career.
Chart topper Lil Nas X paid tribute on Twitter, saying it’s “so sad how often this is happening lately” to up-and-coming artists.
