DJ AM Dead at 36; Found in NYC Apartment

DJ AM, who fought several battles with drugs in the past and survived a near-fatal plane crash just last year, passed away this afternoon. He was 36.

The star, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, was found dead in his New York City apartment Friday afternoon. The cause of death has not been released by the medical examiner, although it does not look like there was foul play.

Sources say he was found in his apartment at around 5:20 p.m. DJ AM had not been seen or heard from in a few days, prompting one of his friends to check on him.

He got no response after knocking on his apartment door.

The friend called the police, and this afternoon, the fire department finally entered his apartment and found his body, shirtless and wearing sweatpants.

TMZ reports that drug paraphernalia was found at the scene, including a "pipe commonly used to smoke drugs" - later identified as a crack pipe.

There were also reports of prescription pill bottles found in the vicinity of DJ AM's body. Details are just trickling in at this time, but stay tuned.

Adam Goldstein, a.k.a. DJ AM (1973-2009).

Only three days before his death, he Tweeted, "New york, new york. Big city of dreams, but everything in new york aint always what it seems." So true.

Last year, he revealed that he was abused by his father, became addicted to drugs and had even attempted suicide in the past. DJ AM said he attended recovery meetings and has remained drug-free for about a decade.

"He was sober for 10 years, a friend said. "His sobriety was really important to him."

In April, the celebrity DJ signed on to do an intervention-style reality show, called Gone Too Far, on MTV and had began promoting the series this month.

In September, he was badly injured after a plane caught fire during an aborted takeoff in South Carolina. After surviving the crash that left four others dead, the star - who survived along with Travis Barker - said he was "the luckiest guy alive."