Mac Miller found dead inside his Studio City home; drug overdose suspected

Rapper and producer Mac Miller was found dead in his Studio City home shortly before noon Friday of a suspected drug overdose, sources said.

Los Angeles paramedics responded to his home in 11600 block of Valleycrest Road, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman.

“Officers went to the scene for a death investigation,” said Los Angeles Police Officer Drake Madison, a department spokesman. LAPD officials determined there was no foul play and are turning the investigation over to coroner’s officials.

Sarah Ardalani, the coroner’s spokesperson, in a statement said Miller was found “unresponsive” and declared dead at 11:51 a.m. An autopsy and cause of death is pending.

The 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Malcolm James McCormick, had long struggled with drug issues.

Shortly after his split with singer Ariana Grande in May, the rapper crashed his Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV into a pole. Miller and two passengers fled the scene, but he was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

Miller was best known for his hits “Self Care” and “Programs.” He garnered attention as a teenager in Pittsburgh with a series of mixtapes. He also worked as a producer under the name Larry Fisherman.

Miller’s struggles had played out in the tabloids, particularly his relationship with Grande.

In an interview published in August in Rolling Stone, Miller said that his break up with Grande was difficult but that he was moving on with a new album.

“I’m just being real. That’s good. Now I have space for me. And that’s great too,” he told the magazine.

He also pushed back against concerns over his drug use.

“If a bunch of people think I am a huge drug addict, OK. Cool. What can I really do? Go talk to all those people and be like, ‘Naw man, it’s really not that simple?’ ” he says. “Have I done drugs? Yeah. But am I a drug addict? No.”

In an interview with Vulture, he said he tried not to worry about the headlines about him and what others think.

“It just seems exhausting to always be battling something … to always be battling for what you think your image is supposed to be. You’re never going to be able to get anything across. It’s never gonna be the real…. No one’s gonna ever really know me,” he said.

In his last Instagram story Thursday, Miller posted a video of a record player spinning “So It Goes,” the last track on his fifth studio album, “Swimming,” that was released Aug. 3. It includes the lyric “Nine lives, never die … I’m still gettin’ high.”

The music industry was stunned by his death.

“Completely devastated and heart broken I’m at a loss for words mac you were like a brother to me and were there for me in the hardest of times, especially this summer. I can’t believe this is real,” rapper G-Eazy wrote on Twitter.

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @lacrimes

UPDATES:

5:10 p.m.: This article was updated with coroner comment.

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated with more reactions and LAPD comment.

3 p.m.: This article was updated with new details about the rapper.

2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with background information.

This article was originally published at 2 p.m.