ATLANTA — Family, friends, and fans plan to come together on Monday to honor DMX with a prayer vigil in New York as he continues to fight for his life.
DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, captured social media users' thoughts and prayers when he suffered from a heart attack on Saturday.
DMX's longtime New York-based lawyer, Murray Richman, said the rapper was still on life support and hospitalized in White Plains, New York on Saturday.
“He had a heart attack. He’s quite ill,” Richman said over the weekend.
Richman said he could not confirm reports that the 50-year-old overdosed on drugs and was not sure what caused the heart attack.
The vigil is set to happen at 5 p.m. outside of the suburban hospital. According to TMZ, the staff held a vigil for the "Ruff Ryders" artist on Sunday.
Fans started to gather outside of the hospital on Easter Sunday to show their support for the superstar, a tweet from BET showed.
Over the years, DMX has battled with substance abuse. The rapper canceled a series of shows to check himself into a rehabilitation facility in 2019. In an Instagram post, his team said he apologized for the canceled shows and thanked his fans for the continued support.
DMX made a splash in rap music in 1998 with his first studio album “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,” which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The multiplatinum-selling album was anchored by several hits including “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Get At Me Dog” and “Stop Being Greedy.”
In 2020, DMX faced off against Snoop Dogg in a Verzuz battle, which drew more than 500,000 viewers and a plethora of memes and gifs.