Adam Goldstein AKA DJ AM 1973-2009
As you all know, DJ AM was the most famous DJ in the world. Sadly, in August he was found dead in his NY apartment from an apparent drug overdose. Nobody knew he had relapsed on this drug addiction that he once overcame.
The New York City Medical Examiner has said the cause of death is "acute intoxication" due to the combined effects of cocaine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and cocain.
Adam was born in Pennsylvania to a Jewish family. As a child, his father verbally abused him. His father abused drugs and was secretly a homosexual. His father was sent to jail for committing bank fraud and later died from AIDS. Adam began taking drugs, so his mother placed him in a treatment center that specialized in “tough love”.
When Adam was 20 years old, he started deejaying, which he'd been obsessed with since seeing Herbie Hancock do the song “Rockit” at the Grammy Awards. During his early 20s, he also battled a drug addiction, specifically to crack cocaine. At one point, he attempted suicide but was unsuccessful when the gun did not go off.Shortly thereafter, he became sober, began attending AA meetings and dedicated himself to working as a DJ. He also distanced himself from friends who were still using drugs, which aided in his recovery. At this point he began booking jobs at every major club and had started to gain a following. He lost more than 60 pounds and began Deejaying for celebrity parties and night clubs. After getting clean, DJ AM was sober for more than 11 years and was held up as a positive example for the recovery process.
He was also a co-owner of the popular club LAX. In 2009, DJ AM became Rain Nightclub's regular Friday night DJ at the Palms Resort & Casino. He had a record deal with Interscope, and had partnered with Travis Barker (Blink 182) to perform a live DJing/drumming set. TRVSDJAM performed about once a month at sponsored events, clubs and concerts. Their act involved mixing live drum beats to scratched records, as they performed side by side. DJ AM had evolved into a prominent brand. He was a partner in a DJing company, as well as the music director for the website doppelganger.com. T-Mobile/sidekick also created a limited edition sidekick featuring him and the artwork of tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon. In Sept 2008 DJ AM and Travis Barker were in a plane crash that killed four people on board. They were the only two survivors. DJ AM had been prescribed medication for pain and post traumatic stress after surviving the Learjet crash. Travis Barker stated "He struggled with pain after the crash,But it seemed like he was functioning fine and never missed work." Sources have speculated that the cause of death may have been a result of a drug overdose, other sources speculate that it was a suicide.Drug paraphernalia, including a crack pipe and a half a bag of crack cocaine, were found in the apartment, but no signs of foul play. Reports indicate that DJ AM was found with nine OxyContin pills in his body.
Before his untimely death DJ AM was in the works of making a TV documentary called "Gone Too Far". MTV is going ahead with plans to air the late DJ AM's "Gone too Far" documentary series, in which he and concerned families staged interventions for young drug abusers, with the first episode set to air Monday.
