Three 6 Mafia member Lord Infamous dead at 40

Ricky Dunigan, known to fans as Lord Infamous from the rap group Three 6 Mafia, died Friday night at the age of 40.

Dunigan died in his sleep at his mother's home in Memphis, said his bandmate, Paul Beauregard (aka DJ Paul).

"He was at home sitting at the table and he just lay his head down and he just left us," Beauregard said, adding that, while Dunigan had not been sick recently, he had suffered a stroke and heart attack in 2010.

Dunigan, Beauregard and Jordan "Juicy J" Houston formed Three 6 Mafia -- then called Backyard Posse -- in 1991, releasing their debut album Mystic Stylz in 1995. A decade later, they became the first rap group to win an Oscar for the Hustle and Flow song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."

The group, rebranded Da Mafia 6ix, had been working on a new album set for March 2014.

"He was a legend in the game, truly ahead of his time," Beauregard said. "He was such a great lyricist and he always came with these different styles in his rap and his flow."

"He just liked to make music, he liked to rap, and he liked to make people happy," he said.

[Rolling Stone]