Lord Infamous, a founding member of the rap group Three 6 Mafia, was found dead Friday night at his mother's home in Memphis Tennessee, MTV.com reported. He was 40 years old.
Lord Infamous, whose real name was Ricky Dunigan, "passed away in his sleep from a heart attack," his half-brother, Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul, told The Hollywood Reporter on the phone.
"He said he was tired, he wanted to sleep. He sat down at the kitchen table, put his head in his arms to lay down...to get some sleep," DJ Paul said.
Dunigan was visiting his mother when he passed away. His mother, who had left the house for a few hours, returned home to find him dead at the kitchen table, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Dunigan's mother called DJ Paul Saturday morning to tell him what happened.
"Dunigan's family is grateful for all the condolences and prayers, and would like to request privacy in their time of grief," a statement from Dunigan's family said, according to CNN.
Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar in 2006 for Best Original Song for "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" from the 2005 movie "Hustle & Flow." The group's albums include "Mystic Stylez," released in 1995 and "When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1," released in 2000.
Other artists expressed their condolences on Twitter.
"He gave us the name #Triple6Mafia," Lil Wyte tweeted. "He was a pioneer, he was a god, he was my friend. RIP Ricky 'Lord Infamous' Dunigan."
According to MTV.com, Infamous had previously suffered a heart attack and a stroke.
"He'll be remembered as a legend, everybody knew him as a legend, an icon," Paul told THR. "This year was going to make our twenty-fourth year rapping together. His music, our music that we made together, was truly before its time."
