Last weekend, during the annual Gathering of the Juggalos event, Violent J of Insane Clown Posse shared some saddening news for Juggalos around the world. Due to Violent J’s (whose real name is Joseph Bruce) newly diagnosed heart failure, the duo will be hosting a farewell tour next year. Bruce announced his diagnosis and the tour while being on stage with his fellow bandmate Shaggy 2 Dope, according to Metal Injection.
During the performance Bruce told his fans about the time he realized something was wrong with him, especially when he noticed he was out of breath by just walking the 40 yards to his private recording studio and “Then when I’d walk up to my mailbox, I’d be like, ‘Oh fuck, I’ve got to take a break.’ What the fuck’s the problem?” He then goes on and talks about the time he went to to get checked out and they performed an ultrasound on him, “The lady who was looking at my heart, we could tell she was tripping about something, but she wasn’t a doctor.”
The woman told Bruce to go home and lay down until a doctor called him and asked him to come back to the hospital, “They took me in the back and shit, and basically they just came out and told me I have heart failure. That scared the shit out of me.” With his health in mind, the singer announced that the duo will have a farewell world tour next year, but they will continue to perform during set events, which includes the Gathering Of The Juggalos and other fan favorites, and then hit the stage once a month.
Fans of Insane Clown Posse, or in short ICP, are known as Juggalos, referring to the duo’s stage makeup and their name. Gathering of the Juggalos is an annual festival hosted by ICP and this year they featured, rapper Danny Brown, Vanilla Ice, prankster Steve-O and How to Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen.