DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein) was renowned as a wizard behind the decks, but those who knew him well also were aware that the late celebrity DJ was also a major sneaker head.

Now, an online auction of more than 800 of AM's beloved kicks will benefit a few of his favorite organizations that aid with substance addiction and recovery. The eBay auction kicks off at 4:30 on Sunday and lasts through December 14, with the DJ AM Memorial Fund pledging to distribute 100 percent of the proceeds to charity.

AM, who died in August of an accidental drug overdose just as he was wrapping work on the MTV recovery program "Gone Too Far," was an inveterate shoe hound, amassing an impressive collection of Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse and BAPE sneakers over more than a decade.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that the collection for sale includes both worn and unworn items from the collection, including "one of 200 pairs of Nike PlayStation Air Force 1s and one of 50 pairs of Eminem Air Jordan 4s, along with Supreme Dunks; Supa Dunks; Hyperstrikes; Air Jordan PEs; and other rare, retro and limited-edition shoes."

The Los Angeles-based sneaker shop Undefeated will also showcase 18 pairs of Goldstein's sneakers at three of their stores in the city, though those kicks will not be part of the auction. AM's shoe fetish even landed him a cameo on "Entourage" in an episode where he beat out fellow shoe obsessive Turtle in a bid to get a pair of rare Fukijama Laser Air Force 1s.

The end of summer is officially here, which means it's time to tack an extra day onto this weekend. But fret not, as the MTV Newsroom blog will be back on Tuesday to start counting down to the Video Music Awards as well as the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band." Until then, hit up a barbecue, crack open a cold beverage and let the summer wind blow through your hair one final time in 2009. In between rounds of volleyball in the pool, gorge yourself on the highlights from this week's dispatches.

» Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest, but not before a birthday party in Brooklyn that celebrated what would have been his 51st birthday.

» Whitney Houston paid a visit to "Good Morning America" and turned in a performance that can only be described as ... complicated.

» DJ AM was memorialized in Los Angeles this week. Many of his friends came forward to mourn, including the Black Eyed Peas.

» Paramore's Hayley Williams suggested that if you're headed back to school, you should really pick up some vests designed by Miley Cyrus.

» Speaking of Cyrus, she really does have an amazing Twitter.

» In VMA news, it was announced this week that the cast of "New Moon" will be there to present an extended version of the trailer to their upcoming movie. In order to prepare, you should watch a Backstreet Boy turn into a werewolf.

» This week's big lesson: The only reason to have 19 children is if you're developing a Polyphonic Spree tribute act.

» Jay-Z certainly made the rounds, hitting up a Grizzly Bear concert with wife Beyoncé, stopping to give details on his September 11 concert to MTV News correspondent Tim Kash and taking a spin through all of his old album covers.

» Madonna released the new video for "Celebration" this week, which inspired us to dig into the archives and unearth this crazy piece of tape featuring Jim Cantiello as a safari guide.

» TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe told us the band is taking a break for a year to work on other stuff.

» Beyoncé celebrated her 20th birthday. Did you remember to sign the card?

» We laughed when Missy Elliott got hit in the head with an umbrella in at 2006's version of the show, but what are your favorite "WTF?" VMA moments?

» Finally, the NFL season kicks off next Thursday, which gives the Miami Dolphins plenty of time to sign Willy Zoom (also known as Will.I.Am).

Last night before their bouncy, euphoric performance at the Outside Lands Festival, MTV News caught up with Fergie, Taboo and Apl.De.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas to talk about their recent chart record and the inspiration behind their summer smash "I Gotta Feeling," but they also took time out to mourn a friend. DJ AM had worked and partied with the Peas on multiple occasions, and the news of his death hit them hard.

""We couldn't believe it. We were just with him [last] Friday in Las Vegas," explained Taboo. "We DJed with him and we took a couple pictures, and to hear it is devastating." The night in question was AM's standing Friday night gig at the Palms Casino, which often featured guest appearances by the DJ's famous friends (of which he had many).

Fergie not only appreciated AM as a friend and collaborator but also as an artist who inspired her. "I remember going to this club called Firehouse back in the day," she said. "It was, like, the summer of '98 and he used to spin there. It's a big dance club and this one night I remember there was basically 10 people in the club, but I really wanted to dance that night. They kept the club open and he kept spinning really good music. He was so cool like that."

Like many of the artists paying tribute to him, Fergie noted AM's kindheartedness. "There wasn't a mean bone in that guy's body," she told MTV News. Though the Peas did not acknowledge AM during their performance a few minutes later, the group members are clearly holding their fallen friend in their hearts.

(Check out photos from this year's Outside Lands Festival, including Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz and more!)

By Daniel "Monty" Montalto

Shortly after DJ's AM's death, celebrity friends and fans took to Twitter to express their sorrow, and MTV News' own Sway Calloway shared his thoughts on the passing of the 36-year-old DJ, whom he called "revolutionary," "unselfish" and "a true music lover."

Sway was not Adam Goldstein's only fan at MTV News. Tim Kash recalled meeting DJ AM for the first time, live and on-air during the 2008 Video Music Awards post-show in Los Angeles. That night, DJ AM and Travis Barker had served as the show's house band, and Kash recalled grabbing DJ AM for an unplanned appearance.

"We were live on-air and I had to fill for time, so I just rolled up on him — I didn't know him", Kash recalled. "And I remember thinking how unfazed he was that we'd just shoved a camera in his face, because he was kind, he was charismatic, he was funny. He was a good guy and I remember that meeting very well."

"We spoke after that, and we would see each other out a lot and I would go and see him play," Kash remembered. "He was always cool, like effortlessly cool."

Upon hearing of DJ AM's death, Kash said the news was "very surreal initially, because it was only last year that we went through that whole tragedy of the plane crash. And to hear that he had died, I didn't believe it at first." Several phone calls and messages from mutual friends soon confirmed the tragic news.

As for DJ AM's legacy, Kash said that whenever he was behind the turntables, clubgoers always knew exactly what to expect, which was the unexpected: "You're gonna get a set that's very unique and very different, because he's going to play you things that you would never hear in a club," Kash said.

We like to keep it lighthearted here in the MTV Newsroom, but this week seemed to run at all sorts of extremes. Even amidst the excitement of a handful of euphoric concert experiences, tragedy repeatedly crept up to remind us that there is always balance in life. As you pour a little liquor out for DJ AM, Ted Kennedy or anybody else you may have personally lost this week, take a look at the week that was.

» Superstar record spinner DJ AM was found dead in New York, and we have his final MTV interview.

» The country lost a great statesman this week in Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, who always championed the rights of young people and taught MTV some interesting things about government back in 2000.

» In another flashback, we revisited the tragic anniversary of the death of Aaliyah, who left behind an amazing legacy of forward-thinking pop.
Read more...

Adam Goldstein — DJ AM to most of the world — was found dead in his New York apartment on Friday. We at MTV News were shocked by this sudden and tragic news.

We knew DJ AM as a sneakerhead, a VMA performer and a miraculous survivor. He was a tremendously versatile musician and performer who first hit the scene as a member of Crazy Town (remember "Butterfly"?) and who would go on to collaborate with the likes of Jay-Z, Madonna and Will Smith. His tag-team with Blink-182's Travis Barker helped to once again blur the lines between dance music, hip-hop and rock. And he became a superstar for being the the top party DJ for A-list Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson and Ashton Kutcher.

What many people didn't know is that AM was also a former hardcore drug user, having used crack for six years. In advance of his new MTV series "Gone Too Far," MTV News producer Matt Elias sat down with Goldstein to talk about his addiction, recovery and his efforts to help other addicts. That interview — his last with MTV News — happened to be close at hand when the news of his death broke.

In the modern world, news doesn't just travel fast — it travels instantaneously. Even though the 2009 Outside Lands Festival is set in an idyllic portion of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park — among trees and wildlife seemingly far away from the hustle of modern life — the news of the untimely passing of Adam Goldstein — aka DJ AM — spread quickly throughout the festival grounds via Twitter, text and good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. What had been a carefree day full of great music and good San Franciscan vibes took on a darker tenor as people became aware of the news. It seemed like everybody backstage had some sort of connection to him. Every one of the musicians, publicists, band managers and other journalists seemed to have some sort of AM story: A party where they saw him play, a friend of a friend who worked with him, the time he was eating a burrito at Baja Fresh.

Tributes quickly cropped up, as rapper Q-Tip dedicated his late-afternoon set to AM, and one local radio station talked at length about his impact on them (one of the hosts even suggested that AM was the reason he wanted to become a DJ). In a strange way, the news brought people together in a way that hadn't been there for most of the afternoon. While fans wandered around from stage to stage, they now suddenly had a unique connection and a need to spread the news — and the fond remembrances — around to each other. An awful lot is always made about music festivals acting as a way to bring people together, and I've always laughed at that idea. But seeing all sorts of people from all parts of the human spectrum react to the tragic passing of a collaborator, colleague and friend, it suddenly made sense. We're more alike than we know, and sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us.

Revelers at the Bacardi B-Live concert at the M2 Ultra Lounge got a surprise twist of Matt and Kim late last night.

Over 1,500 people were sipping on Bacardi and Coke cocktails and grooving to tunes provided by A-Trak, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Drop the Lime, DJ AM and AutoErotique when Matt and Kim hopped on stage unexpectedly. Matt and Kim are touring with the Bacardi B-Live tour, but they were left off of last night's lineup and kept a secret.

There were some cheers in the crowd, but the audience mostly seemed stunned and confused once they started playing. The band played the first real instruments the crowd had heard all night, and the fans clearly weren't ready for it.

Kim Schifino was all smiles though, and kept the energy going by standing on her drum kit and dancing in between songs. Matt Johnson handed her the microphone near the end of the set and immediately regretted it.

"Boys, you're probably going to catch something in here," Kim said. "Just go with it."

They wrapped up the raucous night with their latest single "Daylight," which also happens to be the tune used in the newest Bacardi commercial.

By Akshay Bhansali

Curiosity brought me to Le Poisson Rouge in New York City last night for the release of N.A.S.A.'s first album, The Spirit of Apollo. Come to think of it, it brought MTV News correspondent Kim Stolz there as well. Why? Well, the debut album from N.A.S.A. (stands for North America, South America) — made up of DJ Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon — features Chuck D, Spank Rock, M.I.A., Lykke Li, David Byrne, DJ AM, Santogold, Kanye West, Kool Keith, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, Method Man, Sizzla and the Cool Kids ... and yes, the list goes on and on. Not bad for a first record from a yet-unheard-of recording pair.

Based solely on the guest roster of The Spirit of Apollo, one would think the music gods commanded "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" and this record was conjured up. But really, as the duo say on their MySpace page: "The Spirit of Apollo is an ongoing creative collaboration between two lifelong music aficionados, Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes."
Read more...

Travis Barker opens up about the plane crash that left him severely burned in this week's issue of Us Weekly. Released from a Georgia burn center just last week, he trekked across the country by bus to get back home to Los Angeles, where he continues his recovery at an area hospital. Barker told the magazine that right now, all he wants to do is chill with his kids and get back on the drum kit.

Read more about Travis Barker's interview here.