Juice WRLD

Higgins was raised by his mother, Carmella Wallace, after his parents divorced when he was three years old. He also grew up with an older brother. He was in a relationship with Ally Lotti from 2018 until his death, and the pair lived in Los Angeles. Lotti later said that she had been pregnant with Higgins's child on three occasions, with each pregnancy ending in miscarriage.

Higgins began using lean during sixth grade and later misused Xanax and Percocet. He spoke openly about drug use, anxiety, depression, and the ways he used substances to manage his mental health. After friends confronted him during a tour of Australia, he agreed to enter a rehabilitation program in December 2019.

Higgins began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2015 under the name JuicetheKidd. His first track was "Forever," and he recorded many early songs on his cellphone. He later changed his stage name to Juice WRLD, drawing inspiration from the 1992 film Juice and describing the name as representing the idea of taking over the world.

He worked with producers DT and Nick Mira after connecting with them online, and released the EP Juice WRLD 9 9 9 in 2017. The project helped build his following, while the songs "All Girls Are the Same" and "Lucid Dreams" brought him wider attention. Cole Bennett directed the video for "All Girls Are the Same," which rapidly increased interest in Higgins's music.

"Lucid Dreams" became his defining breakthrough. Built around an interpolation of Sting's "Shape of My Heart," the song combined melodic singing and rapping with lyrics about heartbreak. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and later accumulated more than two billion Spotify streams. Higgins said he recorded it in about 20 minutes.

Higgins's debut studio album, Goodbye & Good Riddance, was released in May 2018 and reached number four on the Billboard 200. It included "All Girls Are the Same," "Lucid Dreams," "Lean Wit Me," "Wasted," and "Armed and Dangerous." He followed it with the two-song EP Too Soon.., which honored Lil Peep and XXXTentacion through the song "Legends."

He collaborated with Future on the 2018 mixtape Wrld on Drugs, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 according to Billboard's chart summary. His second studio album, Death Race for Love, was released in March 2019 and became his first number one album on the chart. The project included the single "Robbery," while "Bandit," his final single released during his lifetime, reached number ten on the Hot 100.

Higgins toured with Ski Mask the Slump God on the Death Race for Love Tour and joined Nicki Minaj for the Nicki Wrld Tour in 2019. He also appeared on Travis Scott's "No Bystanders" and collaborated with artists including Ellie Goulding, BTS members RM and Suga, Benny Blanco, and NBA YoungBoy.

Higgins was known for freestyling complete songs rather than writing most of his lyrics down. In 2018, he demonstrated the technique during an improvisational rap on Tim Westwood's radio show that lasted more than an hour. Producers also recalled that he could create lyrics, melodies, and full songs quickly after hearing a beat.

His music combined hip-hop with emo, pop-punk, rock, trap, and R&B influences. His lyrics frequently addressed heartbreak, drug use, anxiety, depression, death, and emotional vulnerability. Songs such as "Lucid Dreams" and "Lean Wit Me" paired melancholic subjects with memorable hooks and melodic vocal performances.

Higgins cited artists including Travis Scott, Chief Keef, Kanye West, Billy Idol, Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Black Sabbath, Panic! at the Disco, and XXXTentacion among his influences. He became one of the most prominent figures in the late-2010s emo rap and SoundCloud rap scenes.

Higgins died on December 8, 2019, after suffering a seizure at Chicago's Midway Airport. The Cook County Medical Examiner determined that his death resulted from an accidental overdose involving codeine and oxycodone. He was buried at Beverly Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

His first posthumous album, Legends Never Die, was released in July 2020 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Five of its songs reached the top ten of the Hot 100 in the same week, including "Come & Go," "Wishing Well," "Conversations," "Life's a Mess," and "Hate the Other Side." His subsequent posthumous albums included Fighting Demons in 2021 and The Party Never Ends in 2024.

The documentary Juice Wrld: Into the Abyss was released in 2021 and used archival footage and interviews to examine his music, mental health, and substance abuse. In 2020, Wallace established the Live Free 999 foundation to support young people dealing with addiction, anxiety, and depression.