DJ AM, the celebrity disc jockey who survived a horrific plane crash almost 1 year ago, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his SoHo apartment today, police said.

DJ AM, real name was Adam Michael Goldstein, was found inside his $2 million Manhattan residence at 210 Lafayette Street after the 36-year-old’s lifeless body was found face-down in his bed at 5:23 p.m. by a friend who became concerned he hadn’t heard from the performer in several days.

Emergency medical workers responded to the 911 call from the friend and declared DJ AM dead at the scene. Cops found prescription drugs both in the bedroom and the kitchen in addition to a crack pipe at the scene. The cause of death has not been released by the medical examiner, although N.Y.P.D. Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said there was no apparent evidence of foul play.

In his own last post on Twitter, dated Tuesday, DJ AM quoted a Grandmaster Flash song: “New York, New York. Big city of dreams, but everything in New York ain’t always what it seems.”

DJ AM was scheduled to work behind the turntables tonight at Rain nightclub at the Palms in Las Vegas, where he has a standing gig. “He never drinks alcohol – ever,” says a source who has seen him there. “Every time he’s there he drinks Fiji water and Red Bull – six Fijis and six Red Bulls every night.” He was scheduled to have deejayed at Dusk in Atlantic City on Tuesday evening.

Last September 19, DJ AM and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker narrowly escaped death and were badly burned in the crash of a private plane in South Carolina that killed four other people on-board. The plane crashed as it headed down the runway during takeoff and burst into flames. Four people were killed and the crash left both Goldstein and Barker with severe burns.

Born in Philadelphia, DJ AM battled obesity, depression and an addiction to crack cocaine in his early 20s. Having been sober for the past decade, he recently gave up smoking. Goldstein was slated to star in a intervention-style MTV reality show, helping teens break their drug addictions. He landed in rehab and after beating his drug problem, got gastric bypass surgery.

DJ AM had high-profile romances with Nicole Richie, to whom he was once engaged, as well as with actress Mandy Moore. Goldstein’s relationship with Richie was up and down. They were engaged in 2005. But a few months later, the couple broke off the engagement.

Condolences have been pouring in from Hollywood and the music industry. Lindsay Lohan wrote, “i can’t believe this … I’m in shock. why? why? r.i.p. adam.” Samatha Ronson, another celebrity DJ, tweeted to a friend, “Waiting for someone to say this isn’t true.” Singer John Mayer tweeted, “We’re supposed to lose our friends to time, at an age when we’re ready to agree to the terms of having lived a long life. Not now.”