DJ AM

About DJ AM in brief

Adam Michael Goldstein, known as DJ AM, was an American disc jockey. He was found dead in his New York City apartment from a drug overdose on August 28, 2009. Goldstein became interested in deejaying as a child after watching Herbie Hancock perform his 1983 single \”Rockit\”. He developed a drug addiction as a teenager and was sent to the controversial rehabilitation center Straight, Incorporated. After he attempted suicide in 1997, Goldstein became sober and later sponsored other addicts through Alcoholics Anonymous. He appeared as himself in several television series, contributed mixes to and portrayed a playable character in the video game DJ Hero, and filmed a cameo appearance for Iron Man 2. In 2008, Goldstein and Travis Barker formed the duo TRV$DJAM. Barker and Goldstein were the only two survivors of the 2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash, which killed the other four people on board. Goldstein appeared in the 2009 MTV drug intervention series Gone Too Far, and he appeared to be struggling with his addiction during filming. The DJ AM Memorial Fund, an organization designed to help people struggling with drug addiction, was launched in his memory by his sister, and Iron man 2, which was released in 2010, was dedicated to him. He is survived by his wife, Nicole Richie, and their two children, a son and a daughter. He also leaves behind a wife and two step-daughters, who he met while in rehab and a son who he had with Nicole Richie when he was in his early 20s. He had a son with a different woman, Lara, who is now married and has a daughter, Ava, who was born in 2008.

Goldstein had no children of his own and was adopted by a Jewish couple who had been unable to conceive children naturally. His mother had an affair herself, and she found out she was pregnant with Adam after returning to her husband. While heavily pregnant, she discovered her husband had been adulterous a second time, and then she angrily disclosed to him that he was not the biological father of her baby. As an adult, he realized that this was likely due to resentment that Goldstein was not his biological son. Goldstein witnessed his father openly using cocaine and marijuana throughout his childhood. He said he began overeating as a way of dealing with anger and depression, becoming obese by the age of 10. At 16, he approached his mother and asked for help with his drug problems. He went to rehab and was physically assaulted and spat on by staff while there. At one point, he escaped from the facility, but was arrested and brought back after being recognized at Knott’s Berry Farm. He was eventually indicted and dismissed from rehab for his treatment of younger patients shortly before his 18th birthday. After leaving rehab, Goldstein began attending raves and MDMA and nitrous oxide. In 2006, he accepted a USD 1 million contract to perform weekly at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas strip and was also charging upwards of USD 10,000 for private events. He left the group in 2001 and focused on a career as a solo DJ.