Rapper Mac Miller dead at 26

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Rapper Mac Miller has died at age 26, his family confirmed to CNN.

The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded to a call for a death investigation just before noon local time, according to CNN. The coroner's office is handling the investigation.

Miller was set to begin a tour  Oct. 27. He released what would be his final studio album, "Swimming," Aug. 3.

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"He was a bright light in this world for his family, friends, and fans," Miller's family said in a statement released by the rapper's publicist.

"All of us at Warner Bros. Records are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic news of Mac Millers untimely passing," Tom Corson, co-chairman and chief operating officer of the label, said in a statement on Twitter. "Mac was a hugely gifted and inspiring artist, with a pioneering spirit and a sense of humor that touched everyone he met. Mac's death is a devastating loss and cuts short a life and talent of huge potential, where possibilities felt limitless. We join all of his fans across the globe in extending our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends."

 

In May, it was reported that Miller and pop singer Ariana Grande amicably split. after nearly two years together and recording multiple songs together, including Grande's hit "The Way."

“I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us,” Grande said on an Instagram story commenting on the news at the time.

“Unconditional love is not selfish,” she said. “It is wanting the best for that person even if at the moment, it’s not you. “I can't wait to know and support you forever and I’m so proud of you!!”

Related: Ariana Grande, rapper Mac Miller amicably split

Grande said Miller's substance abuse was part of the reason the relationship ended.

"I am not a babysitter or a mother and no woman should feel that they need to be," Grande said on Twitter May 23. "I have cared for him and tried to support his sobriety and prayed for his balance for years (and always will of course) but shaming/blaming women for a man's inability to keep his (expletive) together is a very major problem." . Each artist addressed the break up on their latest albums.

On May 17, Miller was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and hit-and-run after hitting a utility pole with his 2016 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. Los Angeles Police Department officer Rosario Herrera said Miller and two other passengers fled the scene on foot around 1 a.m. He was arrested at home after he admitted driving drunk and fleeing the scene.

Related: Rapper Mac Miller arrested on charges related to DUI crash, reports say

"I made a stupid mistake," Miller told Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe July 23, according to Us Weekly. "I'm a human being. Like, (I) drove home drunk. But it was the best thing that could have happened. … I needed that. I needed to run into that light pole and literally, like, have the whole thing stop."

People reported that Miller assured fans that he was OK.

“I have people that care about me and fans that love my music and it’s a beautiful relationship with them — people who have been with me through being a 19-year-old wide-eyed kid to being a self-destructive depressed drug user to making love music to all these different stages. Then they see something like that and they worry,” he said. “So your first reaction is, ‘Let me tell them I’m cool.’”

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