Mac Miller was found unresponsive in a bedroom at his San Fernando Valley home today. Authorities pronounced him dead at the scene. He was 26-years old. While no official cause of death has been revealed, authorities are initially attributing Miller's death to an overdose. Miller, whose real name is Malcolm James McCormick, has struggled with substance abuse over the years, which reportedly led to the end of his relationship with pop star Ariana Grande earlier this year.
Mac Miller and Ariana Grande split in May, which was the same month that the rapper crashed his Mercedes G-Wagon into a pole. Miller and two passengers left the scene of the accident, and was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence. At the time, Grande sent out a message to Miller on social media to take care of himself. After their breakup, the rapper seemed content on spending time alone and working through everything with his new album.
Mac Miller started his career in Pittsburgh and signed a record deal with indie record label Rostrum Records off of the strength of his mixtapes. He recorded his debut album Blue Slide Park and released it in November of 2011. The album shot straight to the top of the Billboard chart, becoming the first independently released record since Tha Dogg Pound's 1995 album, Dogg Food. Before signing with Rostrum Records, Miller was being courted by major labels, but decided to sign with the indie because they were from his hometown.
The rapper attended Winchester Thurston School and Taylor Allderdice, noting that he had a pretty typical young life of playing sports and going to parties. However, once he heard hip hop at the age of 15, it became his obsession. Mac Miller then taught himself how to play piano, guitar, drums, and bass, which then led to him recording and mixing his own records. By the time 2010 had rolled around, Miller had already been the part of a rap group and had released his own mixtapes, showing off a maturity that ended getting him some major attention.
Mac Miller had recently been preparing to embark on a North American tour after releasing his latest album, Swimming, which came out on August 3rd. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, supported by three hit singles that dealt with the latest problems in his life, including the recent DUI. Miller tweeted earlier this week that he wanted to go on tour, and that he wanted to leave "tomorrow." The tour was supposed to kick off in San Francisco at the end of October. In addition to Miller's prolific rap career, he also starred in Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family, a reality series that ran for two seasons on MTV2. The news of Miller's death was first reported by TMZ. Rest in Peace, Mac Miller.