(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Gangsta rap luminary Nate Dogg dies at 41
The hip-hop artist known for adding smooth hooks to many of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's classic songs reportedly died Tuesday.
March 17, 2011 at 2:43PM
One of West Coast hip-hop's most memorable voices reportedly died Tuesday. Various news sites are reporting the untimely death of Nate Dogg (real name: Nathaniel Hale). His family confirmed the news with a Long Beach, Calif. newspaper, the Press-Telegram. He was 41.
The singer is known for contributing smooth hooks to numerous hits by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and various West Coast gangsta-rap pioneers. Nate Dogg's cause of death is not known. He had suffered two previous strokes, in 2007 and 2008.
The Los Angeles Times music blog has more info here. News of Nate Dogg's death spread quickly over Twitter late Tuesday night. Many of his past collaborators tweeted their sentiments, including Snoop Dogg:
"We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met" about 7 hours ago via web.
Here's Nate Dogg and Warren G's classic 1994 video for "Regulate":
