As you may already know, DJ AM — born in Philly as Adam Goldstein — was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan on Friday. AM existed within an enclave of celebrity and DJ cultures that was known, and often derided, for being vapid and banal; but his story was neither. His Wikipedia entry reads like something of modern day Horatio Alger tale, with the young Goldstein striving to overcome child abuse, addiction and other social ills. But after a few false starts, DJ AM got over and for years, stood as a totem for overcoming the ills of addiction in a scene that had few to look up to. When news of his death broke on Friday, we couldn’t help but notice Tweets and Facebook updates deriding DJ AM’s death by suspected overdose, with many noting how lucky AM was to be alive anyway (after a fiery plane wreck left him but one of two survivors last year), how his impact on music was minimal, and so on. To which we say: What, are we animals? AM, whether you were in his target demographic or not, was one of us, both as a native Philadelphian and as someone invested in cities, music, nightlife and so on. He will be missed.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 11:33 am.