Juice WRLD: Rapper died from accidental overdose of painkillers, coroner rules
23 January, 2020
A medical examiner has ruled Juice WRLD died after an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers.

The rapper - whose real name is Jarad A. Higgins - died in December 2019 at the age of 21 after having a seizure.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office says: "Higgins died as a result of oxycodone and codeine toxicity," and "the manner of death is accident."

These drugs are used to treat severe pain and contain opioids - they've been linked to an opioid crisis in the US.

Juice WRLD suffered a seizure during a police search of his private jet when it landed in at Chicago airport and later died in hospital.

Officers said at the time they found guns and drugs on his jet after receiving information that banned substances might be onboard.


Juice WRLD was best-known for his viral 2018 hit Lucid Dreams and often talked about mental health, dying and drugs in his music.

Deaths of other music artists in the US have also been linked to opioids.

In 2017, Lil Peep suffered an accidental overdose of fentanyl and anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller that tends to be cheaper and more potent than heroin.

The singer Prince had taken fentanyl before his death in 2016.

A coroner ruled Mac Miller died as a result of an accidental overdose involving cocaine, fentanyl and alcohol in 2018.

A lot of rappers have talked about popping pills like Xanax in their songs.

Who was Juice Wrld?
Juice Wrld was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1998 - he was raised by his single mother and she is described as a religious and conservative woman who didn't allow him to listen to hip hop.

He started rapping in school but rose to fame in 2018, when single Lucid Dreams peaked at No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.10 on the official UK chart.

One of his songs, Legends, was dedicated to 20-year-old XXXTentacion and 21-year-old Lil Peep - who died in 2018 and 2017 - and contained the lyrics "all the legends seem to die out".

In 2018, Juice WRLD talked about using cannabis and Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, in an interview with the New York Times.

In other interviews, he spoke about his use of lean, a liquid mix containing prescription-strength cough syrup and soft drinks.

Credit: BBC Entertainment and twitter

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