DJ AM was found in his New York apartment a little after 5:00 P.M. on Friday, dead from what looks like an accidental drug overdose. They did an autopsy on Saturday, but so far the results are inconclusive. Police and paramedics broke into Adam’s place because his friends hadn’t heard from him, and got worried. When the authorities got into his place on Friday, supposedly they found Adam in bed with a half-filled bag of crack, a crack pipe nearby, and some prescription pill bottles in the kitchen. While DJ AM was a former crack addict, supposedly he’d been sober for about a decade. In the last week, he’d been reportedly upset over a break-up with a model named Hayley Wood, and some people think he was still suffering from post-traumatic stress from the plane crash last fall. Either way, something triggered his recent relapse into using drugs. It’s more likely it was the effect of the plane crash. DJ AM developed anxiety over flying, however he has to fly constantly for work. So he got prescriptions for Xanax and other anti-anxiety medications. But since he’s a recovering addict, they triggered a relapse into addiction. Other than the plane crash with Travis Barker last September, DJ AM was famous for being a DJ who crossed over and kind of became part of the L.A. celebrity scene. He DJ’d famous clubs and private parties for celebrities, was once engaged to Nicole Richie, and dated Mandy Moore. He appeared on a few TV shows, like “Punk’d”, “The Simple Life” and “Entourage”, and he was also part of the band Crazy Town for a while. They’re the guys who did that song “Butterfly”. Which is weird for two reasons. One, he narrowly escaped death when he and Travis were in that plane crash. And two, he was a recovering crack addict who talked frequently about being sober for the past 10 years. In fact, he talked about it so much, it led to an upcoming MTV series about people battling drug addiction called “Gone Too Far” where he would intervene in the lives of drug addicts, and set them straight. In an interview with “Glamour” this past January, DJ AM said, “Every day I have to remind myself that no matter how much time I have behind me, I’m still a drug addict.” In his last interview with MTV news last month, he said, “Something I’ve always done since the beginning of my sobriety, is work with other addicts. Now I’m just doing the same thing, just with a camera on. One of the first shots that we did for the show. I was researching this girl Gina, and where she cops and where she buys, and I went into the bodega right near her house and I bought a crack pipe, that was my drug of choice. And then I realized after I was holding it that my palms were sweaty, and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this is not smart for me to be holding this.’ And I started really kind of freaking out, and just having to kind of vent. And it kind of put that image back in my head. I’m like on the borderline of seeing people in their disease that I used to be in. But I have to know why I’m there, there’s no better way for me to remember how low my bottom was, than to see someone else at their bottom.” DJ AM, Adam Goldstein, was 36.
On Friday, the L.A. County Coroner officially announced that the cause of Michael Jackson’s death was “acute Propofol intoxication” and that, “the manner of his death has been ruled homicide.” They didn’t release the full coroner’s report, it was just an announcement for the press. It read in part, “The drugs Propofol and Lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson’s death.” It also said that the “Benzo-diazepine effect” contributed to his death. Benzo-diazepines are a group of drugs that are used to treat anxiety and insomnia. In other words, Michael’s doctor, Conrad Murray, gave him Propofol, the incredibly strong anesthetic that’s administered intravenously, and it combined with the other drugs he was taking for anxiety and insomnia to kill him. But does that mean Conrad Murray murdered Michael Jackson? No. That’s not what homicide means. ‘Homicide’ is used to define a number of different kinds of death, and it doesn’t always mean that the death was a criminal act. For example, some homicides are considered justifiable as in self-defense – vehicular, as in car crashes – or ‘professional liability’ as in Conrad Murray’s case. In other words, if Dr. Murray was just doing his job, acting in good faith, and treating Michael in the hopes of making him better, he has a legal defense of ‘professional liability.’ Meaning, he didn’t intend to kill Michael Jackson. Obviously, the fact remains that Michael still died as a result of Dr. Murray’s treatment. But unless Murray knew that the dosage of Propofol he gave Michael would kill him, it would be hard to successfully press criminal charges against him. He could still be hit with the charge of medical malpractice though.
A new Michael Bolton track, called “Murder My Heart”, has hit the Internet, and get this: It’s the product of a collaboration with Lady Gaga. Michael explains, “I was taking a break from production when my manager and the label tag-teamed me on the phone about writing with a young artist named Lady Gaga who I had never heard of, but they were raving about. They said that she was a huge fan of mine and wanted to write with me. When I met her in the studio later that night, I realized she was not only about to have a big hit record but Gaga was a superstar about to launch. Her energy was so high and her focus excited me. She reminded me of a young Madonna with more exuberance and emphasis on the art rather than the marketing.” The song was written by Lady Gaga and was recorded earlier this year. For now, there’s no word on how or when it’ll be officially released.
