AMERICAN rapper Juice WRLD has died suddenly overnight.
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The rapper, who had just wrapped up a sold out Australian tour which included the Spilt Milk Festival in Ballarat, reportedly suffered a seizure after landing at Chicago's Midway airport yesterday morning.
He had played to a packed Ballarat crowd just last weekend at the city's inaugural Spilt Milk Festival, with a full live band supporting him on stage.
A statement from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the rapper, whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins, had died on Sunday but did not give a cause of death.
The news was first reported by TMZ, which cited law enforcement sources saying the rapper experienced a seizure while walking through the airport. He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Born and raised in Chicago, the performer had just turned 21 last week.
He first began posting songs to SoundCloud as a teenager in 2015, working in a style that blended elements of emo and rock with hip-hop.
In 2017 he released his track Lucid Dreams independently and in 2018 it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts.
He signed with InterScope Records in 2018 and released his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance shortly afterwards. With another single reaching number 2, All Girls Are the Same, the album was certified platinum by the end of the year.
Also in 2018 he collaborated on an album with fellow musicians Future and Wrld on Drugs that reached number 2 on the album chart in October, released an EP in memory of rappers XXXTentacion and Lil Peep, and had an original song on the film soundtrack Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
He released his second album, Death Race for Love, earlier this year. It reached number one on the charts.
Juice WRLD was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May.
He had recently toured Europe with Nicki Minaj and had just finished his second headline tour of Australia.
- With AAP
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