It should be no surprise he died fairly young, blow was a big thing back when he was famous. If anyone here is old enough to remember "The Hustle" back in the mid 70's by Van McCoy, you might be surprised to learn he died at age 39. Official COD is a heart attack, but cocaine was rampant back then, and I always suspected that's what really ended his life. Ol' Rick was fortunate enough to get a little more mileage in spite of the copious amount of drugs taken, but he still went long before he should have.