Nicki Minaj's Father Robert Maraj Dies Following Hit-And-Run Accident, Police Say

Nicki Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, died Saturday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said. He was 64.

His sister, Suzie Maraj, first revealed the news of his death via her private Instagram page. Minaj has not publicly commented on her father's death, but a representative for the rapper confirmed the news to Entertainment Tonight Sunday.

Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola in Long Island, New York, on Friday evening when he was hit by a car, Nassau County Police said in a press release. The driver who struck him fled the scene.

"According to detectives, while walking in the roadway on Roslyn Road at the intersection of Raff Avenue, a 64-year-old male was struck by a northbound, undescribed, vehicle that left the scene of the accident," the statement said.

Maraj was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday. The investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.

Authorities have asked people with any information regarding this incident to come forward and report to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

Minaj's fans and fellow celebrities sent their condolences to the rapper on Twitter.

Comedian Loni Love tweeted: "I’m so sorry @NICKIMINAJ... remember the good times... #rip."

"Sending love, light and prayers to @NICKIMINAJ and family," rapper Rapsody wrote.

Minaj spoke about her father in interviews multiple times over the years. The rapper previously talked about her father's use of crack cocaine and the domestic violence in her childhood home in Jamaica, Queens.

She said in a 2010 interview with Rolling Stone that as a child, she "always felt like being rich would cure everything" and that it would allow her to take care of her mother so they could leave her father. "That was always what drove me," she shared.

In an interview with The New York Times in 2015, Minaj was asked if she had ever been personally abused by her father.

“No. He was just abusive. I would always hear him yelling and cursing, always. And it made me feel it was the way to interact, because that’s how I saw him interacting," she said.

It's unclear what terms Minaj was on with her father at the time of his death.