LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts) Heavy D, the rapper, died yesterday (November 8) at the age of 44.
Heavy D and The Boyz had a string of very successful chart hits in the 90's including their version of Third World's 'Now That We Found Love'. Will Smith's movie, 'The Hitch' featured this song in 2005.
Famous rapper was referred to in the song 'Juicy' by the Notorious B.I.G.
Heavy D also played a part in the film 'Big Trouble' as an FBI agent and had a cameo appearance in Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy's 'Tower Heist' this year (2011).
Heavy D performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards last month (October 2011). This was his first live performance in 15 years.
The rapper was found unconscious by the walkway to his Beverly Hills home and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Biography
Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 - November 8, 2011), better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American actor, rapper, record producer, singer and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included G-Whiz (Glen Parrish), "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), and Eddie F (born Edward Ferrell). The group maintained a sizable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s.
Heavy D & the Boyz were the first group signed to Uptown Records; their debut, Living Large, was released in 1987. The album was a commercial success, though Big Tyme was a breakthrough that included four hits. Trouble T. Roy died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, in Indianapolis. Dixon's passing led to a tribute on the follow-up platinum album, Peaceful Journey. Pete Rock & CL Smooth created a tribute to Trouble T. Roy called "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" which is regarded as a hip-hop classic.
Heavy D & the Boyz gained even more fame by singing the theme song for the television program In Living Color and also MADtv, and Heavy D performed the rap on Michael Jackson's hit single "Jam" as well as sister Janet Jackson's hit single "Alright". Heavy D then began focusing on his acting, appearing in the television shows before returning the music charts with Nuttin' But Love. After appearing in the off-Broadway play Riff Raff at Circle Repertory Company, Heavy D returned to recording with the hit Waterbed Hev. In 1997, Heavy D collaborated with B.B. King on his duets album Deuces Wild rapping in the song "Keep It Coming." Heavy D was referred to in the song "Juicy" by the Notorious B.I.G., and appears in his music video for "One More Chance".
Heavy D performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards in October 2011. It was his first live performance in 15 years. Myers died on November 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 44. He collapsed outside of his Beverly Hills home and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Vibe reported that he died due to "respiratory issues".
