US: One of the most flamboyant characters in hip-hop, the rap artist ODB, collapsed and died in a recording studio on Saturday at the age of 35.
ODB, born Russell Jones, had complained of chest pains before collapsing outside his Manhattan studio and was dead by the time paramedics arrived.
The cause of death was not immediately clear. Jones had recently finished a prison sentence for drug possession and escaping a rehabilitation clinic but no drug paraphernalia was found at the scene.
Today would have been his 36th birthday.
ODB, also known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt and Big Baby Jesus, co-founded the nine-member Wu-Tang Clan with cousins Gary Grice (aka GZA) and Robert Diggs (aka RZA) in 1992.
Their debut album - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - in 1993 was considered to be a revolution in the world of hardcore rap