The death has been announced of the De La Soul rapper David Jolicoeur - aka Trugoy the Dove aka Dave - at the age of 54.
US entertainment trade publication the Hollywood Reporter says the New York-born hip-hop star had been suffering from congestive heart failure for a number of years and had worn a LifeVest defibrillator.
De La Soul were part of the hip-hop tribute at the Grammys in Los Angeles on 5 February but Jolicoeur was not onstage.
He founded De La Soul in high school alongside Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Maseo (Vincent Mason Jr), with the trio releasing their classic debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989.
They followed it up with another seminal album, De La Soul Is Dead, in 1991. They made their Irish debut at the legendary Féile Festival in Semple Stadium in Thurles, Co Tipperary in August of that year.
The trio's most recent album, And the Anonymous Nobody..., was released in 2016. Their most recent live dates were last summer.
US music publication Billboard reports that following the resolution of "music industry red tape and sample clearances", De La Soul's music is due to arrive on streaming and digital platforms in early March.
