One year ago: Adam Goldstein

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Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, was a disc jockey and Los Angeles club owner sought after by celebrities. He was found dead in his New York apartment one year ago, a result of an apparent accidental drug overdose.

Goldstein spun records at some of the world’s most exclusive parties, including private events for Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Stiller, among many others, and could command more than $25,000 for a three-hour set. He was once engaged to socialite/reality TV star Nicole Richie and dated actress/singer Mandy Moore.

The DJ had struggles in his 20s with drugs, depression and his weight. In 1997, however, he underwent gastric bypass surgery, resulting in a drastic weight reduction, and gave up drugs and alcohol. Just a month before his death, he announced his participation in a reality TV show for MTV called ‘Gone Too Far,’ in which he helps the loved ones of drug addicts stage interventions.

Goldstein, who survived a Learjet crash in 2008 that killed two other passengers and left him with burns over his body, counted himself lucky for surviving the crash and the bouts of depression that brought him close to suicide earlier in his life.

‘There’s no reason why I should have lived or why I lived and they didn’t,’ Goldstein said at a news conference a month before his death. ‘I’m alive and I’m here and I have another chance. So I have to do something better with my life this time.’

For more, read Adam Goldstein’s obituary by The Times.

-- Michael Farr