Rapper Lil Peep, a budding star who gained a cult following online, died on Wednesday night of a suspected Xanax overdose aged 21, police said on Thursday.
Police in Tucson, Arizona, said Lil Peep, whose real name was Gustav Ahr, was found dead on his tour bus ahead of a scheduled concert in the city on Wednesday night.
Sgt. Pete Dugan said evidence pointed to an overdose of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax.
Drug overdose: Lil Peep, shown in June at Paris Fashion Week, likely died on Wednesday night of a suspected Xanax overdose, a police official in Arizona said on Thursday
The Pima County medical examiner’s office, which completed an autopsy on Thursday, said a drug overdose was the likely cause but that toxicology test results would take six to eight weeks.
Sarah Stennett, who runs First Access Entertainment, a company that previously worked with Ahr, said in a statement that she was ‘shocked and heartbroken.’
‘He was highly intelligent, hugely creative, massively charismatic, gentle and charming,’ she said. ‘He had huge ambition and his career was flourishing.’
A Long Island native who later relocated to Los Angeles, Ahr built his career on homemade mixtapes released on the audio sharing platform SoundCloud.
Toxicology tests: The rapper, real name Gustav Ahr, posted an Instagram photo on Wednesday that appeared to shows pills on his tongue
Millions of online listens led to the August release of his first full-length album, Come Over When You’re Sober, Part 1.
In a 2016 interview with Pitchfork, he described his confessional music as a new version of ’emo,’ the rock genre that was occupied by bands like Good Charlotte and My Chemical Romance in the 2000s.
With tattoos covering his body and parts of his face and a shock of blond hair, Ahr’s striking appearance caught the fashion world’s attention.
Rising star: Lil Peep, shown in June at Paris Fashion Week, with his striking appearance caught the fashion world’s attention
He made runway appearances for several labels in Europe and his ambitions in that realm rivaled his dreams for his rap career.
‘I think the fashion world really needs me right now,’ he told GQ in August.
In her statement on Thursday, Stennett passed along comments by Ahr’s mother.
Fashion statement: The rapper, shown in June during Milan Men’s Fashion Week in Italy, had fashion industry ambitions that rivaled his rap dreams
‘She asked me to convey that she is very, very proud of him and everything he was able to achieve in his short life,’ Stennett wrote. ‘She is truly grateful to the fans and the people who have supported and loved him.’
Fans and friends took to social media to mourn the rapper’s death including his former fling actress Bella Thorne, 20.
She posted a few pictures of the pair partying together as part of her heartfelt tribute as well as an Instagram story mourning his death.
Cute couple: Bella Thorne took to Instagram and shared images of herself and Lil Peep as part of a heartfelt tribute
Thorne noted that ‘hearts are breaking everywhere’ and that the rapper’s smile ‘always lit up the room.’
In an eerie twist, just hours before his death, the rapper shared an image on-stage with a caption reading: ‘When I die you’ll love me’ while also posting a shot in which he seemed to have placed two pills on his tongue.
Peep was found dead on his tour bus by his manager Chase Ortega, where he was surrounded by drug paraphernalia, according to TMZ.
Eerie twist: Lil Peep posted a photo of himself onstage on Wednesday with the caption ‘When I die You’ll love me’