Nate Dogg dies

Why it matters

Nathaniel Hale, who recorded as Nate Dogg, died on March 15, 2011, from complications of multiple strokes. He was 41. He had suffered his first stroke in 2007 and had been in declining health since. Nate Dogg is the singing voice on most of the canonical Death Row catalog and most of the canonical West Coast hits of the 1990s and early 2000s. "Regulate" with Warren G. Most of The Chronic. Most of Doggystyle. "The Next Episode." "21 Questions" with 50 Cent. "Area Codes" with Ludacris. "Shake That" with Eminem. The voice was a low, smooth, gospel-trained baritone that had been singing in church choirs since he was a kid in Long Beach. He was the only rapper or singer in the immediate Long Beach Snoop-and-Warren G circle who could hit a melodic hook every time. Almost every G-funk crossover hit of the 90s and early 2000s has Nate Dogg on the chorus. You have heard him. You have probably sung along to him. He was 41.