On this day, August 28, in hip-hop history...

DJ AM
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2009: DJ AM (Adam Michael Goldstein) was found in his New York City apartment dead at age 36 from an apparent drug overdose.

Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Goldstein, who took his stage name from the initials of his first and middle name, was a respected member of the DJ community and was hailed for his innovative approach to music. A former member of the group Crazy Town, DJ AM went on to be one of the first big name celebrity DJs in the early 2000s. Unlike the show up and push play celebrity DJs of today, AM was known for his skills on the turntables.

Those skills translated into production and remixes as well as sharing stages with a wide range of acts such as Dilated Peoples, Jay-Z, Madonna, Will Smith, Three 6 Mafia, Johnny Cash and Weezer. He also was a point person in the development of the video game DJ Hero. In 2009 he was posthumously awarded "DJ of the Year" by the BET Hip Hop Awards.

On Sept. 20, 2008, AM along with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were involved in a plane crash after leaving a South Carolina gig where the two performed as TRVSDJ-AM. The duo were the only survivors of the crash.

AM battled a severe drug addiction in his early twenties but at one point declared that he had been sober for eleven years. At the time of his death he was working on an MTV series called Gone Too Far where he helped to stage interventions for troubled teens.

Even after his death DJ AM is still one of the more revered figures to step behind a pair of turntables. May he rest in peace.

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