In Memoriam: De La Soul member Trugoy the Dove dies at 54

David “Trugoy the Dove” Jolicoeur, one-third member of the iconic rap group De La Soul, has died, according to reports. He was 54.

De La Soul member dies

In 2018, Trugoy opened up about his battle with congestive heart failure.

In De La Soul’s 208 “Royalty Capes” video, he candidly spoke about how his health kept him from performing.

“I’m ready just to get back to the stage,” he said. “I miss that. I love traveling. I love being around my guys and I want that back.”

According to TMZ, Trugoy died at a hospital in Maryland. However, no cause of death has been revealed at this time.

Career

Trugoy was a member of De La Soul, founded by three high school friends in Amityville, NY in 1988.

De La Soul went on to push out some of the most iconic rap songs of all time, including the hit “Me, Myself, & I”. They released three albums during the ’90s — with two of those being certified platinum and gold, respectively.

Over the course of their career, De La Soul was nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning one for best pop collaboration with vocals for “Feel Good Inc.” in 2006.

The group went some time without their music on streaming platforms. Until recently in August 2021, they announced on Instagram Live that their entire catalog, which includes 8 studio albums, is set to be released on music streaming sites in March 2023.

“We have finally come down to a deal between ourselves and Reservoir Media to release our music in 2021,” Jolicoeur said. “Our catalog will be released this year, we are working diligently with the good folks at Reservoir, and we sat down with them and got it done pretty quickly actually.”

The most recent album that Trugoy and De La Soul released was “And the Anonymous Nobody…” in 2016.

De La Soul was scheduled to perform three shows in the United Kingdom starting April 8, 2023.