Big Punisher Memorial Service

02/11/2000 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(2/11/00, 5 p.m. ET) - In addition to an eight-hour wake held for Big Punisher on today (Feb. 11), a Saturday (Feb. 12) funeral ceremony, complete with performances from Wyclef Jean, DMX, Cypress Hill and others, was scheduled to be held in the Bronx to celebrate the life of the late rapper.

Television screens were to be placed outside the funeral home to accommodate the thousands of fans that were expected to show up to mourn the death of the Grammy-nominated rapper, who died on Feb. 7. The cause of Punisher's death should be determined next week, after tests are complete on drugs, alcohol and other toxins, according to Dr. Louis Roh, a Westchester County medical examiner.

Roh also said that Big Punisher, born Christopher Rios, had not suffered a fatal heart attack, as had been reported. Big Pun was 28. Big Punisher's second album, Yeeah Baby, is scheduled for an April 4 release.

The Bronx rapper was nominated for a Grammy in the best rap album category for his debut album, Capital Punishment and was the first solo Latino rapper album to have a platinum album. Big Pun, as he was also known, was a member of rap group Terror Squad and had collaborated with Jennifer Lopez, Noreaga , D.I.T.C. and others.

-- Soren Baker, Los Angeles

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