Lil Peep

Lil Peep
A pink-haired Caucasian male with visible tattoos on his hands, neck, and forehead. He wears a red t-shirt which shows the NHL's New Jersey Devils logo.
Lil Peep in August 2016
Born
Gustav Elijah Åhr

(1996-11-01)November 1, 1996
Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedNovember 15, 2017(2017-11-15) (aged 21)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Cause of deathAccidental fentanyl and alprazolam (Xanax) overdose[1]
Other namesTrap Goose
Citizenship
  • Sweden
  • United States
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active2014–2017
RelativesJohn Womack (grandfather)
Musical career
OriginLong Beach, New York, U.S.
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Formerly ofGothBoiClique
Websitelilpeep.com

Gustav Elijah Åhr (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːr]; November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter.[4] He was a member of the emo rap collective GothBoiClique. Helping pioneer an emo revival-style of rap and rock music, Lil Peep has been credited as a leading figure of emo rap music and served as an inspiration to outcasts and youth subcultures.[5]

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to an American mother and a Swedish father and raised on Long Island, Åhr started producing and releasing music on SoundCloud in 2013 under the name Trap Goose,[6] later changing his stage name to Lil Peep because his mother had called him "Peep" since he was a baby.[7] Two years later, in 2015, he emerged as an immensely popular musician on the platform following the release of his single "Star Shopping", and his popularity grew further with his release of mixtapes Lil Peep; Part One and Live Forever later that year. In 2016, Lil Peep released his widely acclaimed mixtapes Crybaby and Hellboy. He also participated in collaborative musical projects, leading to the release of California Girls and Vertigo.

Lil Peep's first live performance was as a member of Schemaposse on February 12, 2016, in Tucson, Arizona. Later that year, he toured briefly with Fat Nick, Smokepurpp, and others. In the spring of 2017, Lil Peep embarked on his first solo tour, performing to packed venues in three Russian cities, making his way across western Europe, and then across the United States. Soon after the tour, Lil Peep moved to London, where he recorded his EP Goth Angel Sinner, and in August he released his debut studio album, Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1.[8]

While his mixtapes explored emo, trap, lo-fi and alternative rock, his debut album was a transition into pop punk and rap rock.[9] His second album, Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2, was released in 2018 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.[10] A documentary film about him, Everybody's Everything, was released in 2019.

On November 15, 2017, two weeks after his 21st birthday, Lil Peep died on his tour bus before a scheduled performance in Tucson, his second to last scheduled show on a 33-date tour of the United States. The Pima County medical examiner's office, which conducted toxicology tests on Lil Peep, ruled his cause of death an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid, and Xanax, a benzodiazepine sedative. His death was observed as a great loss to 21st-century music. "He could have been his generation's Kurt Cobain", a Rolling Stone profile stated.[11][12]

  1. ^ "Lil Peep Died of Toxic Fentanyl-Xanax Overdose: Report". People.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  2. ^ Weiss, Dan (November 17, 2017). "Lil Peep was going to take emo and rap to new places". Mic. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2020. by coming out in August as bisexual, a rarity in rap-rock, the music world's capital for toxic masculinity.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "an interview with lil peep from september 2017". I-d. December 22, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Hobbs, Thomas (December 13, 2019). "Juice WRLD, Lil Peep and XXXTentacion are symbols of a scene that trades off tragedy". i-D. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  6. ^ "A Timeline of Lil Peep's Career". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  7. ^ "A First Date in a Cemetery with Lil Peep". June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  8. ^ "Lil Peep Biography, Discography, Chart History". Top40-Charts.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  9. ^ "Lil Peep's Rap-Rock Album Sounds Like a Hit | Mass Appeal". February 4, 2019. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  10. ^ Caulfield, Keith (November 18, 2018). "Kane Brown Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Experiment'". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  11. ^ Sommerfeldt, Chris (December 8, 2017). "Lil Peep died from powerful drug overdose". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Peinsner, David (March 8, 2019). "The Tragedy & Torment of Lil Peep". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2023.