Student Who Partied With Coolio Recalls 'Crazy' Night in English Town

After the death of rapper Coolio, a video of him partying and hanging out with British university students went viral all over again.

One of the students who was there that night has recalled the "life-changing" night for Newsweek.

In 2013, Kelly Maguire uploaded a video of Coolio singing "Gangsta's Paradise" inside a student's house in Preston, England. After his death at age 59 on Wednesday September 28, celebrities have paid tribute to the rapper, with many people sharing their own videos and stories of the man.

The students at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston went viral nine years ago, with millions of people tuning in and hearing the story about how Coolio cooked them a meal and sang for them in their shared accommodation. Since his death on Wednesday, Maguire said people had been returning to view the video leaving comments to pay tribute.

"He was the most friendly, honest and down-to-earth guy, just like one of us," Maguire told Newsweek. "He met my [university] mates and told them he'd cook us all a three-course meal in our uni house (obviously thinking 'yeah right'). And then at 9 p.m. the next night, he knocks at our front door and he's ready to cook! He wasn't fazed by being seen in public, he was friendly to everyone, he shared childhood memories with us all, some very special and some quite secret. So that goes to show the type of person he was, and I hope that also reflected on us that we made him feel comfortable to act himself too. We got the very best of Coolio that evening I think!"

The very best of Coolio went viral at the time as in October 2013, videos of him dancing, cooking and singing with the students were widely shared across the internet. The students involved become local celebrities for a while too and their story is still told at the University of Central Lancashire to this day.

"We definitely put Preston on the map for a while! I've heard that people still today talk about it who go to UCLAN Uni, which is pretty funny all these years later," Maguire said. She's also shared a new TikTok which featured previously unseen pictures from that night.

Almost nine years later and Maguire is still thrilled that she got to be part of a "life-changing" night with a rapper. "We sang 'Gangsta's Paradise' acoustic with an all-time legend. Not many people can say they've done that. I feel really lucky and I'm sure the rest of my uni housemates do too."

The videos shared online didn't tell the full story of the evening. Newsweek asked Maguire if there were moments that were previously untold.

"There's a few... But we've kept them for this long," she said. "He did share memories with us about knowing Tupac [Shakur] which was unbelievable and also stories of his mother."

But that momentous evening in October 2013 wasn't the last Maguire and her friends saw of Coolio.

"The next day he was flying somewhere else to continue his tour appearances that he had planned, but whilst he was flying, that's when my video went viral, and we broke the internet the next day. Within 24/48hrs, he'd canceled his tour and flew back to Preston to do a gig in one of the local bars. We sang on stage with him, and it was pretty crazy at the time, but so much fun. So much respect for him for doing that too," Maguire said.

A self-proclaimed '90s kid, Maguire said "Gangsta's Paradise" was an all-time favorite song of hers so having Coolio sing it live was a big moment. Coolio's death on September 28 was also Maguire's birthday, which brought about a day of "mixed emotions."

"He's gone too soon, too young... I've also briefly spoken to his nephew who reached out to me on social media. Like his lyrics, he did reach 24, and I hope he's now living in paradise."