Chicago-raised Hip Hop artist Jarad Anthony Higgins (aka Juice WRLD) died on December 8, 2019, from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 21. Juice’s untimely passing rocked the Hip Hop world, and many of his fans are still mourning the “Lucid Dreams” hitmaker nearly a year later.
Juice WRLD’s mother has now addressed the situation for the first time publicly. Carmela Wallace recently spoke with ABC 7 Chicago about her son, his legacy, and his cause of death.
“It was devastating, but one thing I decided early on was, I was not going to hide the fact that he died from a drug overdose,” said Wallace. Medical examiner reports claimed oxycodone and codeine led to Higgins losing his life.
She added, “I said, ‘If you have anxiety, then you need to get medicated properly for it instead of medicating yourself.’ I talked to him about it. I told him my biggest fear was him overdosing on the stuff. That’s why I made the decision I have to talk about it with other people. I can’t keep that as a secret.”
Wallace started the Live Free 999 foundation. Its mission is to help other young people dealing with addiction, anxiety, and depression. She stated, “I hope it’s what he wanted, a legacy of healing. To let people know that you don’t have to suffer alone.”
Prior to his death, Juice WRLD rose up the rap ranks with the release of his 2018 debut studio LP, Goodbye & Good Riddance, which is now certified Platinum by the RIAA. Lil Bibby’s protégé also earned a Gold plaque for 2019’s Death Race for Love.
The posthumous project, Legends Never Die, was released on July 10 of this year. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 497,000 first-week units. Legends Never Die still remains in the Top 5 in its 15th week on the album chart.
