Nate Dogg

Before achieving widespread recognition as the soulful voice of G-funk, Nate Dogg lent his vocals to multiple blockbuster tracks prior to issuing any solo project, including Warren G’s “Regulate,” 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, and the Murder Was the Case soundtrack. A Long Beach native and cousin of Snoop Dogg, he first teamed with Warren G at the start of the 1990s. Their partnership yielded a number-two pop-chart placement in 1994 for “Regulate,” featured on the Above the Rim soundtrack. After the pair ended their collaboration, Warren G attained multi-platinum status while Nate Dogg returned to the charts in 1996 via “Never Leave Me Alone,” a Snoop Dogg collaboration. His debut full-length, G-Funk Classics, Vols. 1 & 2, arrived on Interscope the next year. Subsequent guest spots on Ludacris’ “Area Codes” and Fabolous’ “I Can’t Deny It” drew further acclaim, culminating in the 2001 Elektra release Music & Me, an album widely regarded as a showcase for his abilities. Two strokes—one in December 2007 and another in September 2008—interrupted his career, the initial episode resulting in partial paralysis. On March 15, 2011, Nate Dogg succumbed to congestive heart failure in Long Beach at the age of 41.