Rapper ODB’s death due to cocaine, pain drug

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, who died in a recording studio last month at the age of 35, had taken cocaine and a prescription pain relief drug before his collapse, the Medical Examiner's office said today.

"His death has been ruled an accident," Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told Reuters after the toxicology tests showed the presence of cocaine and Tramadol, a non-narcotic pain reliever.

ODB's criminal lifestyle and strange behaviour overshadowed his work as one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

He died after complaining of chest pains while recording in a Manhattan studio on November 13, two days before he would have turned 36.

Born Russell Jones in Brooklyn, New York, the controversial rap star lived a roller coaster life, marked by lurid tales of shootouts, arrests and drug binges. Media reports said he had up to 13 children.

He was released from a New York state prison in early 2003 after serving time for drug offences and probation violation, and subsequently received treatment at a mental hospital.

Speaking at his funeral last month, childhood friend Robert Diggs, aka RZA, who co-founded the rap collective Wu-Tang Clan, said ODB had lived up to his name in the end.

"When we can't be satisfied with ourselves we turn to other things to make us happy - alcohol, drugs and sex," RZA told thousands of mourners at the funeral in Brooklyn.

- REUTERS