The death of Super Freak Rick James remains a mystery.
A post-mortem conducted over the weekend failed to pinpoint exactly what caused the troubled funkmeister to die in his sleep Friday morning in his Los Angeles-area home at the age of 56.
His three children--daughter Ty and sons Rick Jr. and Tazman--suspect their father was felled by heart failure, according to a family publicist.
No foul play was evident in James' death, but authorities indicated they would investigate given James' past history of drug abuse and the fact that he had not seen his primary care physician in more than 20 days. Two sources told E! Online Friday that the funk legend had recently returned to his partying ways, and was spotted doing cocaine at a party a week and a half ago.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said Monday that officials were awaiting results of toxicology tests, hoping they might shed light on whether or not James had the drug in his system. Such tests, which were being done as a "precaution," could take "six to eight weeks," the coroner official said.
A diabetic, James battled numerous health problems in recent years. The singer suffered a stroke in 1998 and later had hip-replacement surgery. He also had a pacemaker inserted into his chest.
Fighting back tears, family representative Pat Potter held a press conference late Friday to discuss the Grammy-winning R&B star.
"Rick was about one of the most amazing human beings that I've ever worked for. I've been with him for three and a half years. And in that time, I've never enjoyed working for a client more than him," said Potter.
Motown's Berry Gordy Jr. praised James a "pioneer who took Motown in a whole new direction," while crooner Smokey Robinson called him the "original R&B rock star."
Known as the father of "punk-funk," a precursor to hip-hop mixing funky dance grooves with an '80s new wave rock sound into such tracks as "Mary Jane," "Give It to Me Baby" and his signature tune, "Super Freak." Rappers loved sampling James' throbbing beats--"Super Freak" found a second life as the riff behind MC Hammer's smash, "U Can't Touch This."
James told BET.com last month that he had been laying down some 30 tracks for a new album. He was also has been writing an autobiography called Memoirs of a Super Freak that was slated to be turned into a biopic starring Dave Chappelle.
On Monday, a representative for James' label said a public viewing would take place Wednesday at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. Thursday.
"Rick wanted everyone who loved him to be with him at the end and to celebrate his life," said Universal Music rep Sujata Murthy.
