An Australian music tour organizer has recalled the unflappable way Coolio, who died this week, handled being denied stage access by mistake.
Rich Moffat, booker for Groovin The Moo, has paid a warm tribute to the singer of Gangsta’s Paradise, who died aged 59 after an apparent cardiac arrest on September 28.
Coolio was found unresponsive on a bathroom floor, according to the star’s longtime manager Jarez.
Mr Moffat, who met Coolio on several occasions and signed him to play at Groovin the Moo in 2019 and the Falls Festival in 2010, said the rapper was a humble man who loved Australia.
Coolio, who died on September 28 at the age of 59, wrote his worldwide hit Gangster’s Paradise for Michelle Pfeiffer’s film Dangerous Minds (pictured, Coolio and Ms Pfeiffer)
Coolio (right) bumps elbows with Groovin the Moo promoter Steve Halpin (right) and music booker Rich Moffat (center) during his 2019 tour
This is despite being denied access to the stage by an overzealous security guard on tour in 2019.
Coolio forgot his lanyard and walked off stage to meet adoring fans during a performance.
In a brain freeze, an overzealous security guard refused to let him back onstage.
But the rapper handled the situation with classic Coolio smoothness, Mr. Moffat recalled.
“I don’t think that security guard was going to let him back down, which was weird because he was the only black man on the show with those short, wiry dreads.
“He was the only person there who could have been Coolio.”
Coolio with Australian DJ Mowgli May during a show in Maitland in 2019
Coolio toured Australia several times, also performed at the Falls Festival and, memorably, in a suburban pub in Brisbane for a cover price of $30 in 2018
‘I had to say ‘it’s Coolio, you have to let him ride!
“Coolio just gestured to himself and shrugged.”
The bouncer assessed the rapper and Coolio’s smooth response allowed him to realize his mistake without embarrassment.
Coolio has toured Australia several times, also performing at the Falls Festival and, memorably, at a suburban pub in Brisbane for a cover price of $30 in 2018.
Music writer Dan Condon told the ABC that Coolio pulled off a pitch-perfect performance in front of “100 drunk people on a Friday night…at the Chardons Corner Hotel, a gritty, seedy pub.”
“Coolio gave it our all on Friday night, and it was glorious,” Mr. Condon said.
He played in Australia as recently as April 2022, at Sydney’s Luna Park.
Mr Moffat said a handful of hip hop acts can be “treated like royalty”.
“Unfortunately a lot of them don’t age gracefully, but he wasn’t demanding.
‘He was a nice man.
Groovin the Moo security denied Coolio access to the stage when he went to greet fans during a performance (Pictured, Groovin The Moo, Canberra in 2019)
Rich Moffat said Coolio’s music has transcended time and is part of the cultural fabric
“He was happy to let the musicians around him share the limelight. It wasn’t all about him.
Mr. Moffat said Coolio was a rare musician.
“They were obviously huge in the 90s, but they’ve become one of those incredibly rare retro bands that everyone knows at least one song about, even kids.
“His music has transcended time and become part of the cultural fabric.”
Coolio released Gangster’s Paradise in 1995, and the song topped the charts in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
The single itself has sold over six million copies worldwide and is from her Grammy-nominated, four-time platinum-selling 17-track album of the same name.
Mr. Moffat also posted on Facebook: “RIP Coolio. Loved meeting this legend in Falls and GTM at different times.