The death of rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard was deemed an accident by the New York medical examiner’s office, which said he died from the combined effects of cocaine and a prescription painkiller. The artist, whose legal name was Russell Jones, died Nov. 13 at a Manhattan recording studio.
He died “as a result of intoxication by the combined effects of cocaine and Tramadol, a prescription painkiller but not a narcotic,” said Ellen Borakove, a spokesperson for the New York City medical examiner’s office. “The manner of death is an accident,” she added.
ODB complained of chest pains before collapsing at the studio, and was dead by the time paramedics reached him. He was just days short of his 36th birthday. The rapper had been working on his comeback album for Roc-A-Fella Records for more than a year and was said to be nearly finished.
As previously reported, an album of unreleased material, “Osirus: The Official Mixtape,” will arrive Jan. 4 via JC Records, a new label launched by ODB’s mother, Cherry Jones, and his manager, Jarred Weisfeld.
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