44 year old Rap legend Heavy D, real name Dwight Arrington Myers was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon yesterday … and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM EST. The rapper had been understood to be suffering from pneumonia.

Heavy D had several massive hits — including “Now That We Found Love.” He also wrote and performed the theme song for “In Living Color” and appeared as an actor in the movie “Life.”

Heavy just performed at the Michael Jackson Tribute Concert in Wales on October 8. He sang “Jam” with La Toya Jackson and recently at the Hip-Hop BET Awards 2011.

Heavy D had tweeted out on Tuesday on Joe Frazier’s death, “SMOKIN JOE FRAZIER..RIP.. truly one of the best heavyweight champs that ever lived.. GODS SPEED, MR FRAZIER!’ An hour later tweeted,”BE INSPIRED!.”

His last interview took place on Tim Westwood’s 1Xtra Radio show in the UK where he talked about the birth of hip hop, the tragic passing of Troy, performing at the BET awards, working with Jay-Z, producing, touring the UK, Teddy Riley & Pete Rock.

Born Dwight Errington Myers in Jamaica in 1967, Heavy D moved to the Bronx in 1967 and became friends with Glen Parrish (G-Wiz), Eddie F (Eddie Ferrell) and Troy Dixon (Trouble T-Roy), who formed the rap group Heavy D & the Boyz. In 1986, their demo reached Uptown Records head Andre Harrell, and the group became the first artist signed to the label.

“Living Large,” Heavy D & the Boyz’s debut album, was released in 1987 and spawned hits like “Mr. Big Stuff,” while 1989′s “Big Tyme” served as the group’s commercial breakthrough with tracks like “We Got Our Own Thang” and “Somebody For Me.” Following Dixon’s death in 1990, Heavy D released the 1991 tribute album “Peaceful Journey.”

His first No. 1 on the Rap chart was 1989′s “Somebody for Me” and he later scored crossover hits with 1991′s “Now That We Found Love” and “Big Daddy” in 1997. His highest charting single came in 1990 when he teamed up with Janet Jackson on the No. 4 Hot 100 hit “Alright (Remix).”