It has been 31 years, to the day, since Eazy-E died. The iconic West Coast rapper and N.W.A. member died on March 26, 1995, after a battle with AIDS. He was 30 years old.
Eazy-E, real name Eric Wright, was born in Compton, California, in 1964. In the late ’80s, along with Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Arabian Prince, Eazy began forging his rap career as a founding member of N.W.A. The group released their debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, in 1988. The album became one of the most important albums in rap history, moving the genre forward in both critical acclaim and the public consciousness.
While his music career was short-lived, Eazy-E had a noticeable impact. In 1987, he released “Boyz-n-the-Hood” as part of the N.W.A. and the Posse compilation album. That song remained one of the most recognizable tracks in early West Coast hip-hop.
In 1988, Eazy-E released Eazy-Duz-It, his debut studio album. It would be his only solo album released while he was alive. His second album, Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaph—in Compton, was released posthumously in 1996.
As a solo artist, Eazy-E only released one album in his lifetime: Eazy-Duz-It (1988).
In February 1995, Eazy-E developed a concerning cough and was admitted to the hospital. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Eazy-E spent the next month sorting his affairs and reconciling with his N.W.A. groupmates, with whom he’d had a falling out earlier in the decade. At the end of his life, he’d squashed his beefs with Ice Cube, MC Ren, and Dr. Dre.
Roughly one month after his diagnosis, Eazy-E died. He was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. The funeral was attended by over 3,000 people, including Ice Cube.
Ahead of his death, Eazy-E drafted a statement to his fans, revealing his diagnosis. “I’m not religious, but wrong or right, that’s me,” he penned, per the Los Angeles Times. “I’m not saying this because I’m looking for a soft cushion wherever I’m heading. I just feel I’ve got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn about what’s real when it comes to AIDS.”
Eazy-E continued, saying he “would like to turn my own problem into something good” that his friends could learn from “before it’s too late… I’ve learned in the last week that this thing is real, and it doesn’t discriminate. It affects everyone.”
In portions of the statement shared by Swindle, Eazy-E said, “I may not seem like a guy you’d pick to preach a sermon, but now I feel it’s time to ‘testify’ because I do have folks that care about me hearing all kinds of stories about what’s up.”
Eazy-E felt that “success” may have been “too good” for him
“I’ve got thousands and thousands of young fans that have to learn what’s real when it comes to AIDS,” Eazy said. “Like the others before me, I would like to turn my problem into something good that will reach out to all my homeboys and their kin, because I want to save their asses before it’s too late.”
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