Juice WRLD

Juice WRLD Artistfacts

  • December 2, 1998- December 8, 2019
  • Juice WRLD was born Jarad Anthony Higgins in Chicago. His parents divorced when he was three years old, leaving his mom, a student teacher, to raise him alongside one older brother.
  • Jarad Higgins and his mom moved all over Chicago's south suburbs, in part to find a school where he wouldn't misbehave. He told NME that his mother "tried to keep me away from the streets as much as possible."
  • Jarad's mom didn't let him listen to hip-hop, but his older cousins introduced him to some of the classic acts. "They put me on to Cassidy, one of the best battle rappers to do it; Meek Mill, when he had the braids," he told Billboard. "They gave me substance."
  • Higgins began uploading moody raps about heartbreak and drugs to SoundCloud and started to take it seriously in his sophomore year of high school. Originally he recorded his rhymes under the moniker of JuicetheKidd, inspired by his affection for rapper Tupac Shakur and his part in the film Juice. He explained in an interview on Hot 107.9 that he changed his name to Juice Wrld because it "represents taking over the world."
  • For a while, Juice worked in a factory that made car parts. However, after his three-song Soundcloud EP Nothings Different, which included the single "All Girls Are The Same," proved popular, he signed to Interscope Records for $3,000,00. At that point, Juice had only performed in public on one occasion, when he played a party for his classmates at Homewood Flossmoor High School for a fee of $100.
  • Juice is a big fan of retro Playstation games and the title of his second album A Deathrace for Love was inspired by the Twisted Metal PlayStation videogame series he loved growing up.
  • Juice WRLD passed away on December 8, 2019, six days after turning 21. He suffered cardiac arrest following a suspected opioid overdose in Chicago's Midway Airport. The rapper allegedly swallowed multiple Percocet pills to hide them while law enforcement officers were searching his private jet for drugs.
  • Released in July 2020, Juice WRLD's first posthumous album, Legends Never Die, was the most-streamed album of the year on Spotify. The rapper was crowned the streaming service's most-streamed artist in the US and fourth in the world overall in 2020.

Comments: 2

  • Solomonoyeyemi from Benin NigeriaI Love his music
  • Staple from NigeriaWhat a big loss
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.