Rappers who died young

Apr 17, 2006

Jam Master Jay was a member of Run-DMC. (KRISTA NILES / THE AP, 2002)

A partial list of rappers who died before their time:

• Scott "Scott La Rock" Sterling, 25. Shot in the head and neck Aug. 26, 1987, while sitting in a Jeep in the South Bronx.

• Eric "Eazy-E" Wright, 31. Died of AIDS on March 26, 1995.

• Randy "Stretch" Walker, 27. Shot during November 1995 car chase in Queens, N.Y.

• Seagram Miller, 26. Drive-by shooting in Oakland, Calif., July 1996.

• Yafeu "Kadafi" Fula, 19. Shot in the head Nov. 10, 1996, in Orange, N.J.

• Tupac Amaru Shakur, 25. Died Sept. 13, 1996, after drive-by in Las Vegas.

• Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, 24. Drive-by on March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles.

• Lamont "Big L" Coleman, 26. Shot nine times in the face and chest Feb. 15, 1999, blocks away from his Harlem home.

• Raymond "Freaky Tah" Rogers, 28. Single shot to the head on March 28, 1999, while leaving a hotel in Queens, N.Y.

• Karnail "Bugz" Pitts, 21. Two gunshots to the back in Detroit in May 1999.

• Christopher "Big Pun" Rios, 28. Heart attack, perhaps due to obesity, Feb. 7, 2000.

• Anthony "Poetic" Berkeley, 35. Colon cancer, July 15, 2001.

• Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, 37. Shot in head in his Queens studio, Oct. 30, 2002.

• Jason "Camoflauge" Johnson, 21. Shot May 19, 2003, while walking outside his studio in Savannah, Ga.

• James "Soulja Slim" Tapp, 25. Gunshots to face and chest, Nov. 26, 2003.

• Russell "Ol' Dirty Bastard" Jones, 35. Overdosed at studio Nov. 13, 2004, on cocaine and prescription painkillers.

• Deshaun "Proof" Holton, 32. Shot in head in Detroit after-hours club April 11.

The Associated Press