DMX found with no pulse and not breathing after reported overdose

Hip-hop star DMX has been rushed to hospital after he allegedly suffered a drug overdose that caused him to temporarily stop breathing. TMZ reported that the 45-year-old star, real name Earl Simmons, needed CPR after losing his pulse.

According to the celebrity news site, law enforcement officials found the X Gon Give It To Ta hitmaker unconscious on his back at a Ramada Inn around 6pm on 8 February. Yonkers police responded to a call about an 'unconscious male' and he was on the ground in the parking lot next to a parked car. Witnesses claim that he "had ingested some sort of powder before lapsing into unconsciousness".

Police administered the anti-opoid medication Narcan at the scene. He was rushed to hospital after paramedics successfully administered CPR and is said to be currently in stable condition. Representatives for the rapper claimed the incident was brought on by an asthma attack.

The health scare caps off a turbulent few months for DMX. In July 2015, the canine aficionado rapper was jailed for six months after failing to pay $400,000 (£256,000) in child support.

Despite multiple run-ins with the law, DMX's only other stint in jail was in 2010, when he served seven months in Arizona for several drug-related probation violations. He was held on drug and animal cruelty charges in 2008. In 2013 he filed for bankruptcy protection in New York. Court papers showed he had less than $50,000 in assets and was between $1m and $10m in debt.