Vigil Planned In NY For Rapper DMX

Rapper Known As DMX

The family of Rapper DMX released a new statement on Sunday asking for the prayers of his fans as they prepare to hold a candlelight vigil outside White Plains Hospital in upstate New York, where the rapper remains in critical condition.

“On Friday night, April 2nd, 2021, our brother, son, father, and colleague DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, was admitted to White Plains (NY) Hospital, facing serious health issues,” read the statement. “We ask that you please keep Earl/DMX and us in your thoughts, wishes, and prayers as well as respect our privacy as we face these challenges.”

The Wrap reports Simmons, age 50, suffered a heart attack at around 11 PM local time this past Friday and was briefly placed on life support at the hospital. His longtime attorney, Murray Richman, told reporters that he was taken off of life support but is still in “grave condition.” Neither he nor any of Simmons’ family or reps have confirmed reports by TMZ that the heart attack was caused by a drug overdose.

“We are concerned. It would be disingenuous for me to say I am not a worried man at this particular point,” Richman said. “Earl Simmons, DMX, in my opinion, is one of the great poets of our time. And what he had to say, if people bothered to listen and could overcome their hostility to rap, would learn a great deal.”

DMX broke through as one of the top rappers of the turn of the century, first breaking onto the charts with the 6x platinum album “And Then There Was X” in 1999 along with its lead single “Party Up (Up in Here).” He followed up that album’s success with the 2003 hit single “X Gon’ Give It To Ya,” off the soundtrack of the action film “Cradle 2 the Grave,” which DMX starred in alongside Jet Li.