Tupac Shakur
He was fatally shot several times in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 1996 after attending a boxing match and later died in hospital six days later. Earlier acts of violence have said to have been spurred by antagonism between him and other rappers, bred by gangsta rap.
Conspiracy theories about his death abound: there are some who insist that he is not dead, or that the shooting was a governmental assassination. Due to these rumours, an autopsy photo was released. (That photo can be found here: http://www.tupacnet.org/theories/autopsycolour.jpg ). The autopsy photo is indeed a real photo, leaked by a source in the Police Department, and published in Cathy Scott's "The Killing of Tupac Shakur".
A previous assassination attempt led Shakur to seek protection. After one incident, he was led out of hospital by an entourage of guards and announced he embraced the religion of Islam. His reputation grew after his death.
At the time of his death, Shakur was also building on his acting career. John Singleton wrote the film Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role, but Shakur died before it was made. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place, and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death.
Shakur's mother was Afeni Shakur, an early member of the Black Panther Party and victim of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation COINTELPRO against the Black Liberation movement.
On November 14, 2003, Tupac: Resurrection, a documentary about the rapper will released.
