LAS VEGAS SUN

Club 662 Saturday, Sept. 7, 1996

2:30 p.m. - Tupac Shakur arrives by car in Las Vegas.

5:30 p.m. - People start lining up at Club 662, 1700 E. Flaming Road, where Tupac Shakur and Mike Tyson are to appear after the boxing match.

8:30 p.m. - People start leaving the Mike Tyson - Bruce Seldon fight that was held at the MGM Grand. Tupac Shakur attended the fight which started at 8 p.m. Tyson was declared the winner after 109 seconds in the ring with Seldon.

8:30 to 9 p.m. - Shakur and his bodyguards are involved in a physical scuffle with a man, later identified as Orlando Anderson of Compton, Calif., near the hotel's Grand Garden. Police do not believe the man was in any way connected to the later shooting of Shakur.

11 p.m. - Suge Knight was stopped on Las Vegas Boulevard by Metro patrol cops for playing his car stereo too loudly and for not having license plates on his rented vehicle. He was not cited and was released a few minutes later.

Car 11:15 p.m. - Shakur and Marion "Suge" Knight are shot. Knight is driving and Shakur is in the passenger seat of the 1996 BMW 750 sedan that was eastbound on Flamingo Road. Shakur is shot three times in the chest. Shrapnel grazed Knight's head. A total of 13 shots were fired at the car Shakur was in. After the shooting, Shakur's car made a U-turn and head West on Flamingo. Police reached the car on the Strip where it was caught in traffic at Harmon Avenue. An ambulance then picked up Shakur and Knight taking them to University Medical Center, where Shakur underwent the first of three operations. His right lung is removed to stop internal bleeding.

11 a.m. - Knight is released from the University Medical Center.

6:20 p.m. - Shakur undergoes a second operation at UMC to repair damage from the bullet wounds.

Altercation Monday, Sept. 9

8 p.m. - Metro Police and about 20 friends and fans of Shakur are in an altercation over what police call a "misunderstanding." Tensions are calmed with help from a female friend of Shakur's and four men originally handcuffed during the scuffle are released. No one was arrested. Police have been patrolling outside the hospital out of concern for retaliation after the shooting.

6 p.m. - Knight, accompanied by his attorneys speaks about the shooting to Metro Police for about an hour.

4:03 p.m. - Shakur dies from his injuries.

7 p.m. - Coroner's medical examiner performs an autopsy on Shakur's body.

9 p.m. - Shakur's body is released to Davis Mortuary, which - at the request of Shakur's mother - cremates his remains.

11 a.m. - Shakur's remains are given to his mother, Afeni Shakur, who leaves Las Vegas the same day.

All contents © 1996 - 2001 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.

November 05, 1996

LAS VEGAS SUN

Just past the stroke of midnight, 19-year-old Lisee Shans got what she was waiting for: the last album Tupac Shakur recorded before he was shot to death.

The late rapper's fifth album, "Makaveli," goes on sale on record racks today. But at Odyssey Records, which is open 24 hours a day, today meant 12:01 a.m.

"I'm first," said the 19-year-old Shans, who stood at the counter for two hours waiting to make her $9.99 purchase. "I have all his albums, and I wanted to be the first one in Vegas to get the tape."

CC Miller, 28, who was second in line, said she took off early from her job at a casino where she works so she could buy the 12-song CD.

"Makaveli," produced by Death Row Records, is the late gangsta rappers' last album. After Shakur's "All Eyez on Me" album was released in February, it sold more than 3 million copies, and record store clerks predict the latest album will do even better.

Record stores are predicting a run on "Makaveli" when sales begin today.

Heavyweight Boxer Mike Tyson, who lives in Las Vegas, tried to buy the album a day early from Tower Records on West Sahara Avenue, general manager Steve Unmack said.

"Mike Tyson came in looking for it today," he said. "He didn't believe us when we told him it wasn't available yet. We told him to come back tomorrow."

Julie Mernin, store director for Odyssey Records in the 1600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard, said she expects to sell most of their "Makaveli" stock of 1,200 cassette tapes and CDs this week.

"I want it tonight," Tony Chambliss said.

A steady flow of customers at Odyssey Records continued late this morning. An employee said a count of how many Shakur albums had been sold had not yet been tallied.

Patrol and bike officers kept an eye on the parking lot after security called them to the store.

"They're just worried about rival gangs showing up," one officer said.

"It should be OK unless somebody goofs off," Zimmerman noted. "There's no problem. We're just going to monitor."

November 16, 1996

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Rapper Tupac Shakur, his posthumous album No. 1 on the charts in the aftermath of his violent death, is the focus of an upcoming HBO biographical movie, and talks about a feature film are under way.

The Death Row-Interscope Records album "The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory," by Shakur, aka Makaveli, sold 664,000 copies in it's debut week and it's No. 1 on next week's Billboard magazine's album charts.

HBO Pictures closed the first deal on a Shakur picture. HBO Pictures executive VP Richard Waltzer signed the deal for "Rebel for the Hell of It: The Life of Tupac Shakur." Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

It's based on a six-page book proposal by journalist and film critic Armond White, who will finish the Thunder's Mouth Press book by February.

Unidentified sources quoted in Friday's editions of the entertainment industry trade newspaper Daily Variety that HBO hopes to have the picture ready by late 1997 or early 1998.

Interest was also building for a motion picture production.

Tri-Star Pictures was discussing a Shakur project with producers Quincy Jones and Neal Moritz. Moritz, who produced "Juice," which marked Shakur's acting debut, confirmed he was in talks to partner with Jones.

In another deal, Shakur's mother has a book and feature film proposal to tell the story of a mother and son. A publishing auction will be held soon for "And Still I Rise," by Afeni Shakur.

The project is being prepared by "A Different World" TV star Jasmine Guy with Ilene Kahn and Joan Hyler. Tupac Shakur was shot just as the three producers began shopping Afeni's story, for which he was set to write and perform the music. Hyler said the book will be auctioned soon.

"The story had always intertwined their relationship," said Kahn, an HBO executive for 10 years.

Hyler and Kahn said actress Angela Bassett was interested in playing Afeni Shakur.

The rapper died Sept. 13, a week after he was shot several times in Las Vegas.

12.23.1996

Dec. 23, 1996 -- Death Row Records has agreed to stop selling Tupac Shakur merchandise until a trademark infringement suit brought by Tupac's mother, Afeni, is resolved.

Afeni Shakur filed suit against Death Row in U.S. Federal Court on December 13, claiming that the label had sold millions of dollars of unlicensed Tupac hats, T-shirts, and sweatshirts through an insert in Tupac's "All Eyez On Me" double album. The manufacturer and distributor of the merchandise, who are also named in the suit, have both agreed to halt sales, and promised to deposit potential royalties into a court monitored account.

09.20.1996

MARION "SUGE" KNIGHT, CEO, Death Row Records: I feel like this: I feel that the last word is always God, but Pac saved my life. He's my... Pac saved my life. I got shot in the head -- got grazed some other places -- but I still got the bullet in my head. My whole thing was Pac -- he was shot. I'm like, "You're shot! Let me get you to the hospital." I'm driving, telling him I'm gonna get him to the hospital, kicked back, Pac looked at me and said, "You know what? You need a doctor more than me. You the one shot in your head." And we laughed the whole time finding our way to the hospital. That's the conversation we had. It wasn't... Pac was a man the whole time. It wasn't that he was like, "OOOhhh, I'm shot!" He crackin' jokes. He's like, "Yeah, they shot me." But he said, "But you shot in your head. Look at your head. You see how much it's bleedin'? Look how much it's bleedin'." That was Pac. And I'm like, "Man, shut up, we'll get you to the doctor."

MTV: So he was conscious on the way to the hospital?

KNIGHT: He was conscious on the way to the hospital, he was conscious in the... labs, he was conscious after they did surgery.

MTV: What was the last thing that he said to you?

KNIGHT: That he loved me. You know, he was going... he was gettin' there. I'm like, "Pac, you're gonna be the last one left." But we talked this out. We talked it. He said, "No, I'm straight. I love you, homey. I'm gonna be straight." "I love you too." That's where he was.

01.22.1997

Jan. 22 [8:00 EST] -- On Tuesday, Death Row Records was reportedly ordered to halt all sales of Tupac Shakur merchandise without first obtaining the consent of the estate of the late rapper, and were also ordered to pay the estate up to $500,000 in back revenues.

According to reports, federal judge William Matthew Byrne ruled that Death Row and its merchandise manufacturer Cronies and its distributor Globex must get permission from Shakur's estate before marketing any more Tupac merchandise.

Judge Byrne also ruled that the late rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur, is entitled to 18 percent of all the money made from Tupac merchandise in the last quarter of 1996. It is expected that the total in back revenue paid to Shakur's estate could reach $500,000.

Afeni Shakur filed suit against Death Row on December 13 after noticing that the record label was selling T-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts through a flier including in Tupac's "All Eyez on Me."

01.28.1997

Jan. 28 [8:00 EST] -- According to one of Tupac Shakur's former producing partners, the late rapper left behind an enormous catalog of unreleased material when he died in Las Vegas last September.

Johnny Jackson, who recently sued Death Row Records for royalties he claims he is owed for his work on Tupac's "All Eyez On Me," told the "Los Angeles Times" that Tupac finished work on more than 150 songs before he was fatally shot. Jackson reportedly told the "Times" that the bulk of the unreleased material was recorded during the sessions for "All Eyez On Me."

Some of the songs will trickle out in the near future on the soundtracks for "Gridlock'd" and "Gang Related," two films the rapper completed before his death.

However, the "Times" reports that future of the rest of the Tupac archive is not known.

September 04, 1997

LAS VEGAS SUN

When Lesane P. Crooks died nearly a year ago today in Las Vegas, no paparazzi succeeded in snapping a final shot worth thousands of dollars.

No nation lowered its flag to half-mast. The multitudes did not gather to lay wreaths and flowers at his former residence, though some paused between sips of malt liquor to spill a few drops in tribute.

Raised in ghettos by a single mother who succumbed to the allure of crack, Crooks died at age 25. He espoused violent ideals, cavorted with known felons and died by the same sword he coveted.

Certainly not a conventional life worthy of distinction; seemingly, nothing to sing about; surely, nothing more than a footnote.

Unless, you realize Crooks was also known as Tupac Shakur, a platinum-selling rap star and respected actor. His death has proved just as controversial as his life, both of which are explored in a new book, "The Killing of Tupac Shakur," by Las Vegas SUN reporter Cathy Scott.

A small local publisher is betting that fans infatuated with Shakur's music will be just as fascinated by a detailed account of his slaying.

The rap artist used his tongue to paint a bleak picture of life on the streets, of a lawless society ruled by "thugs" who took no shame in the moniker.

It was a picture that enthralled rather than enraged millions of listeners who made his final posthumously-released album an all-time best seller.

Shakur's violent demise is bound to interest those captivated by his work.

01.09.1998

January 9 [7:55 EDT] -- The ivory-tower world of higher education continues to delve into the life and times of the late Tupac Shakur.

The University of Wyoming, of all places, is offering a course entitled, "2pac Shakur: A Seminar." Besides focusing on the rapper's life, music, and films, attention will also fall on Tupac's poetry, which was the subject of an entire course that started last fall at the University of California at Berkeley.

08.25.1998

Tupac Skur

The late Tupac Shakur will be remembered in a stage version of his life in a new play, "Judgement Day and the Search for the Invisible Man," scheduled to open this fall.

The musical production will be based on interviews with Shakur that were conducted over the course of his career, with the part of Shakur being played by look-alike Dirk Storm.

"Judgement Day" is set to open on September 25 at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, and organizers hope to be able to take the show on tour.

09.15.1999

Tupac

In the time since his death, his legend has only grown, and his fans' appetites for unreleased recordings, unseen video footage and other insights into his life has only grown more voracious.

This fall, fans may get some very different insight into the mind of the slain rapper, when a book of his unpublished poetry will be released. To be titled "The Rose That Grew From Concrete," the hardcover book will be published by Pocket Books' MTV imprint in November and will contain 72 poems written by Shakur when he was 19, all presented in his own handwriting.

The book, which until now has been in the safekeeping of his first professional manager, Leila Steinberg, has been in the works for some time; Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, spoke with MTV News about the project over a year ago (see "Tupac To Live On In Poetry").

11.30.1999

Some new music from Tupac Shakur will arrive in stores just in time for Christmas, as a posthumous album from Tupac & The Outlawz, titled "Still I Rise," is due out on December 21.

"Still I Rise" is being released through Amaru/Interscope Records, a label run by the late rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur. The first single will be "Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)," and a video for the song was just shot by director J. Jesse Smith.

04.20.2000

"Sta

The late Tupac Shakur's time with Digital Underground is documented in a new book called "Static: My Tupac Shakur Story," written by DU co-founder Chopmaster J., and the first 10,000 copies of the book are also packaged with a CD containing some early Shakur solo recordings.

02.23.2001

Tupac Row Records

It's been almost five years since Tupac Shakur died, but his musical legacy continues to grow with the upcoming release of Until the End of Time, a collection of cuts he recorded from late 1995 until his shooting death in September 1996.

The double-disc set, scheduled for release on March 27, was executive produced by the late rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur, and imprisoned Death Row Records mogul Marion "Suge" Knight, according to a press release from Death Row and Interscope, along with Amaru Records, a label run by Afeni Shakur.

Tracks on the new album include "Letter to My Unborn," "Until the End of Time," "Last One Left" and "Happy Home," according to the release. Another two-CD set will be released at the end of the year.

The Don Killimunati 11/05/96 Platinum x4 (04/17/98) Released after his death. $12.99

R U Still Down 11/25/97 Platinum x4 (12/15/97) 90-91 Unreleased songs. 2cd. $22.47

In His Own Words 07/21/98 4 of 5 stars Filled with Tupac interviews $12.99

1 in 21 03/7/99 4 1/2 of 5 stars Unreleased early Tupac. $14.99

Changes (Import) 03/05/99 5 of 5 stars The song that drove GH. $12.99

Runnin' (Rare) 07/09/98 5 of 5 stars Duet with Biggie $8.99

I Ain't Mad at Cha (Import) 07/01/97 5 of 5 stars From All Eyez on Me $12.99

Heaven Got a Ghetto? (Imp) 01/13/98 5 of 5 stars A really great song. $12.99

Static (Import) 07/01/97 ? of 5 stars Unreleased in US. $12.99

Wanted Dead Or Alive (Im) 03/07/99 ? of 5 stars Friends & Eight Mile Road $12.99

Got Your Back June 1998 4 1/2 of 5 Stars By Tupac's bodyguard $16.07

Killing of Tupac Shakur Sept. 1997 4 of 5 Stars By Cathy Scott $4.79

Rebel For the Hell Of It Sept. 1997 4 1/2 of 5 Stars By Armond White $11.16

Gridlock'd 1997 4 of 5 stars Tim Roth $16.99

Gridlock'd (DVD) 1997 4 of 5 stars The same movie on DVD $20.96

Gang Related 1997 5 of 5 stars Belushi and Shakur as cops. $12.99

Thug Immortal 1997 4 1/2 of 5 stars Includes vids of young pac $16.99

Backwards Chair T-Shirt Heaven Ain't Hard 2 Find Distrobuted by Winterland $17.99

Blue and White Stripes T-Shirt Photo of Pac in Black Shirt Distrobuted by Winterland $17.99

Covered Eyes T-Shirt Tupac w/hands on his eyes Distrobuted by Winterland $17.99

Exodus T-Shirt Picture of Tupac's back I'm not sure about the descr. $17.99

Since the events in Las Vegas, more and more evidence has appeared pointing towards Tupac still being alive, and below I have summarized the main reasons Tupac faked his own death:

"Makaveli was my tutor...my father figure" (Tradin War Stories)

Cynics may write this evidence off as being simply put about by the record companies in a bid to boost record sales, but I am a firm believer in Tupac having pulled off the ultimate (????) and faked his own death.

- dream Hampton, from "Tupac Shakur", by the Editors of VIBE.

September 20th 1996

EMMITT: 22: (gesturing to a large tattoo on his stomach): That's for like, all the pain that we done went through. I suffered the same life he just suffered, living that street life, that thug life. All of it's real. Just 'cause you get famous don't mean nothing. Enemies still catch up with you.

MAN: I looked up the night Tupac died, they pronounced him dead, and I seen one star in the sky and it was kind of hazy 'cause it was cloudy. but you know what I figured is that was Tupac... you know what I'm sayin'? That's how I looked at it.

WOMAN: Only God should judge Tupac. We should not, nobody should say whether he was a thug, he didn't represent this, he didn't represent that. God should judge that man, you know? And I just say, I hope he rests in peace. I'll see him at the crossroads.

SPINDERELLA: Salt N' Pepa: I hope his life is an example to a lot of kids out there. He spoke of a lot of things in his music, and that's because he went through a lot, y'know? So, the things that he said, hopefully, it'll teach these kids out there that are tryin' to run around, doin' this, doin' bad things and everything, that there is life ahead. Life goes on.

METHOD MAN: This is an eye-opener right here. Hopefully, for all the youth, kids, I mean, even the grown-ups, everybody, I hope this is an eye-opener, man. Word up. 'Cause they should see, right now, the violence is not the key, and that it's real. Bullets is real, guns is real, you know, all that stuff is real, man. It's up to us as artists to take responsibility for what we're saying in our records and on our albums and things of that nature, you know. But it's like, you can't water down the hip hop, you can't water down the ghetto. It's like, when those shots go off, the kid, the average kid in the ghetto can't close his eyes to it. This is not a television show, this is reality, real-life drama.