UPDATE: According to Cpl. Kay Lester of the Fulton County police, Kelly’s death “may have been a possible drug overdose,” Fox News reports. Kelly’s mother, Donna Kelly Pratt, has released the following statement in regards to her son’s death (via Buzzfeed):
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that our beloved Chris Kelly has passed away on May 1. To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music. But to us, he was just Chris — the kind, generous and fun-loving life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him. His legacy will live on through his music, and we will forever love him.”
EARLIER: Chris Kelly, one half of the popular 90s rap duo Kriss Kross, has passed away. He was 34 years old. Hollywood.com confirmed the news with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office, but an official comment was unavailable.
According to a report from the Associated Press, Kelly was reportedly pronounced dead on the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center at 5PM EST on Wednesday after being found unresponsive at his home. No further details were provided.
Kelly performed in the popular group alongside his friend Chris Smith as a young child in the early 90s, even scoring a chart-topping hit, “Jump” from their 1992 debut album “Totally Krossed Out.” Kelly was more commonly known as Mac Daddy, while Smith was Daddy Mac. The two were discovered by popular producer/artist Jermaine Dupri at a shopping mall in the group’s hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. In their short career, the men (who were young children at the time) performed with Michael Jackson, and were featured in the music videos of popular groups Run D.M.C and TLC. The pair recently reunited for the So So Def (the record label started by Dupri) 20th Anniversary concert earlier in 2013.
Developing…
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