On December 8, 2019, just six days after celebrating his birthday, Juice WRLD suffered a fatal seizure—later revealed to be caused by an excess of oxycodone and codeine—aboard a private plane. He was only 21 years old.
At the time of his death, Juice WRLD was a legitimate star, with hit records and co-signs from across the industry calling him one of the best freestylers around. But he wasn’t just a great rapper; his taste in music was remarkably diverse. In interviews, he’d mention Lil Wayne and Kid Cudi in the same breath as Paramore and Panic! At the Disco.
And, it also helped that Juice himself was a talented musician—someone who could play guitar, trumpet, and the drums. That eclectic background showed up in his music: his biggest songs often paired plucky acoustic guitar with speaker-rattling 808s. On top of that, his verses often tackled themes like heartbreak, drug addiction and mental health struggles—topics his very young, very male fans deeply connected with.
Seven months after his death, on July 10, 2020, Juice WRLD’s first posthumous release, Legends Never Die, arrived. His manager, Lil Bibby, and Grade A Productions’ Chief Operating Officer Peter Jideonwo oversaw the project’s creative direction, shaping it into the album Juice had planned to release after Death Race for Love. It was well known that Juice had recorded thousands of unreleased songs, and his fans were reportedly paying tens-of-thousands of dollars for leaks. In putting together Legends Never Die, the team aimed to select tracks that best reflected Juice’s vision. And it worked. Not only was the album critically beloved, but it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, moving 497,000 units in its first week—making it the biggest posthumous release of the 21st century.
A five-year anniversary edition, which you can cop exclusively on Complex Shop, was just released. It features three additional tracks: “In My Head,” “Face 2 Face,” and “The Way” featuring XXXTentacion. In light of this release honoring Juice WRLD, here are 10 things you might not have known about Legends Never Die.
1.“Blood on My Jeans” was Juice WRLD’s favorite track off of the project
In an interview with XXL about the project, Peter Jideonwo revealed that Juice’s favorite song on the album was “Blood on My Jeans,” adding that it was “made towards the end, you know.” Juice even played the track on Instagram Live,, where he freestyled an entirely new second verse and blended it seamlessly with the existing chorus.Though that alternate verse was never officially recorded, the clip remains a powerful reminder of his talent.
2.'Legends Never Die' was not the original title of this project
Die-hard fans know that the next project Juice was working on before his death was called Outsiders. Word of the album first became public via Juice’s Twitter on June 24, 2019, when he announced it with an upbeat message, writing “things are coming together not just music but life in general.
Metro Boomin and Nick Mira were all slated to produce tracks on this project, and Outsiders was supposed to be released on Juice’s birthday that year. But that would never materialize. After his death, his girlfriend Ally Lotti would drop the name of the lost album in an Instagram Live hinting at its release, saying:
“Remember we were talking about Outsiders… That actual album, no one is ready for it. I’m not ready for it. And I promise you, you are not ready for it.”
Just a few days before the release date, the label would later confirm the real title would be Legends Never Die.
3.The album art was created by mural artist Corey Pane
Juju Smith-Schuster, wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, was a huge fan of Juice WRLD. After the rapper’s passing, Juju reached out to mural artist Corey Pane to create a tribute piece for his home. The mural—depicting Juice WRLD split with Juju in a Steelers uniform, where he was playing at the time—closely resembled what would later become the final album cover.
Impressed with Pane’s work, Juju contacted Juice WRLD’s team and recommended him as the artist for the official cover. The team agreed, and Pane was selected to design the artwork in his signature oil paint style. He would later recreate the cover as a mural in Chicago, which was removed in 2022, reportedly by self-appointed neighborhood officials in the city’s West Loop.
4.Halsey has a tattoo of Juice WRLD’s favorite numbers 999 and the title of their song “Life’s a Mess” on her left hand.
In 2018, Halsey did a cover of “Lucid Dreams” for BBC Live that would go viral. Not long after, she and Juice WRLD connected and released the remix to the smash hit “Without Me."
It’s safe to say they were close. On July 10, just days before the release of Legends Never Die, Halsey shared a heartfelt message in tribute to Juice:
“man, juice n I rode one of the best moments of my career together. we had so many more songs to make w each other. means the world to me I could be on this record. as friend and FAN. one of my fav artists of all time. one of the greatest people with the greatest smile. 4 ever 🕊”
In addition, she would reveal that she had a tattoo of their song title on her hand along with Juice’s signature "999," a number he used to flip the negative connotation of “666” into a symbol of positivity.
5.The album cover was originally inspired by the single artwork for Juice and Benny Blanco’s track "Graduation"
This single cover would go on to become arguably Juice WRLD’s most iconic image—immortalized on murals and, most importantly, as the cover of Legends Never Die. While its origin may seem random, the choice makes perfect sense. The photo captures everything Juice embodied: the vulnerability in his eyes, the fusion of hip-hop and rock in his style, and a raw self-expression that resonates deeply.
Benny Blanco, one of Juice’s close collaborators, later reflected on his talent, saying, “He was the most talented person I had ever been in the room with.”
6.The song “Come & Go” was originally meant to be a single for Marshmello and Juice’s collaborative project 'Mellowrld'
Marshmello first heard Juice WRLD’s music in 2018, when he was on the way to Coachella and was instantly drawn to the way Juice blended emo and rap. The two would later meet at an award show when Juice ran up to Marshmello and asked to take a photo with him.
Not long after, Juice’s go-to engineer, Max Lord, came up with a beat and sent it to Marshmello. The resulting track was one of several songs they planned to release on a joint album. In an interview, Marshmello recalled that he left Chicago for LA the same night Juice passed away. The two had been set to shoot the video for their lead single, “Come & Go,” just a week later—but Juice tragically died just days before.
Since its release, “Come & Go” has surpassed 1 billion streams, gone triple platinum, and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Marshmello shared that he never changed the track, it was released exactly as Juice last heard it.
7.“Smile” with The Weeknd was almost lost
In an interview, Max Lord explained how difficult it was to complete "Smile." The first challenge was tracking down all the original sessions—especially the ones with The Weeknd’s vocals. Once they had all the pieces from the different camps, another problem surfaced: The Weeknd’s vocals were recorded at 151.8 BPM, while Juice’s verse was at 150 BPM. To make it work, the engineers had to manually align and edit the vocals to match.
Grammy-winning engineers Rafa Sardina and Colin Leonard stepped in to help, performing their form of surgery to recover and complete the track. In the end, the effort paid off, “Smile” debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
8."The Way” is a mashup of two unreleased ideas
"The Way" was partially inspired by the 2016 meme Ugandan Knuckles, which led XXXTentacion to freestyle the chorus, reciting the viral phrase over a guitar.
Juice WRLD’s verse comes from his unreleased track “Inner Peace,” and together, these two distinct ideas were posthumously combined to form this new track, which is on the five year anniversary edition of Legends Never Die.
Despite originating from entirely different sessions, the result is a remarkably seamless duet.
9.“Tell Me U Luv Me” with Trippie Redd was recorded just days before Juice’s death
During an Instagram Live session, Trippie Redd revealed that “Tell Me U Luv Me” was made just two days before Juice WRLD’s passing.
He also recalled getting extremely high during the session and eating a ton of McDonald’s, since Juice had a partnership with the brand and had been gifted a one-of-one card that gave him free McDonald’s for life.
The track would eventually get a Lyrical Lemonade video, bringing things full circle—Cole Bennett had been the one to break Juice into the mainstream with his visuals for “All Girls Are the Same” and “Lucid Dreams.”
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