Mac Miller Dead At 26; Friends, Colleagues And Industry Pay Tribute

Mac Miller was reportedly found dead Friday at his Los Angeles-area home from an apparent drug overdose, according to a report from TMZ.

The gossip site reports that a male friend alerted authorities, who pronounced the 26-year-old rapper dead at the scene. He was found around 12 p.m. TMZ points out that Miller has struggled with substance abuse for years, including being arrested for a DUI and hit and run in May.

Miller’s last tweet, posted at 6:47 p.m. Sept. 6, talked about how excited he was to kick off his fall headline tour.

“Go get tickets for tour,” Miller wrote. “Thundercat J.I.D. I’m bringing a band. The show is going to be special every night. I wish it started tomorrow. It starts October 27th.”

The trek was supposed to play venues across North America, including the Oct. 27 tour opener at San Francisco’s The Masonic, Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, Miami’s Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Toronto’s Rebel, and New York’s Hulu Theater At Madison Square Garden.

Miller played a handful of festivals earlier this year including Lollapalooza editions in Argentina, Chile and Brazil in March.

Miller’s last full-fledged headline tour took place in 2016, with the majority of shows sold out, including the Terminal 5 in New York; The Marquee in Tempe, Ariz.; Showbox SoDo in Seattle and Emo’s in Austin.

The rapper was featured on the cover of Pollstar as a Hotstar in 2011 before he had released his debut album.

“Every record label there is wants to sign the guy,” Peter Schwartz, his rep at The Agency Group at the time, told Pollstar. “It’s an amazing thing that’s happening to him.” He’s now repped by WME, where Schwartz joined in 2015.

Miller released his fifth studio album, Swimming, in August.

A number of artists have posted tributes to Miller on Twitter, including Chance The Rapper, who posted, “I dont know what to say Mac Miller took me on my second tour ever. But beyond helping me launch my career he was one of the sweetest guys I ever knew. Great man. I loved him for real. Im completely broken. God bless him.”

That 2013 tour also included other prominent and then-upcoming artists like Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt and, at times, Vince Staples and The Internet.

He added, “Its so crazy cause earl literally hit me up this morning him and vince were real friebds I met at a pivotal time in my life through mac. This shit hurts so bad. If you love someone make sure u tell em.”

Wiz Khalifa also toured with Miller, and offered the simple yet poignant message:

“Praying for Mac’s family and that he rest easy #pgh #412”

Miller and Wiz did a co-bill North American amphitheatre tour that year, which grossed $5.4 million with an average gross of $449,346 per show, putting it at No. 150 on Pollstar’s Year End Top 200 North American tours that year. Miller was not even legal drinking age at the time.

Concert industry figures who worked with Mac also had tributes, including Minneapolis promoter Jason Cook, who tweeted.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I have a memory of <a href=”https://twitter.com/MacMiller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MacMiller</a> rapping side stage to every lyric while De La Soul was performing at <a href=”https://twitter.com/soundset?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@soundset</a> in 2011. He was one of the real ones. He will be missed and always remembered. The music will live forever. RIP.</p>— JB⚡️RD (@jbird) <a href=”https://twitter.com/jbird/status/1038176582047752192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>my stomach hurts every time i think about mac… he truly was so special. I remember so vividly him explaining his vision for his path and the excitement he had in his eyes. His passion & love of music will forever be inspiring. Praying for the family and the whole crew. RIP Mac.</p>— Sascha S. Guttfreund (@SaschaStone) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SaschaStone/status/1039401299618328576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 11, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Rest Easy Mac Miller! I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with you in person thanks to Sean Herron, back when I was a club promoter! Thank you for hiring Cincy’s Own DJ… <a href=”https://t.co/1CjemVBcUD”>https://t.co/1CjemVBcUD</a></p>— Renika J. Smiley (@TEAMREUP) <a href=”https://twitter.com/TEAMREUP/status/1038181889817948160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Sitting here thinking about the funeral I was at today and how valuable life is. Then get word that Mac Miller has died today age 26. A lovely guy, talented with the World at his feet. A terrible loss. It was a pleasure to be his promoter. RIP Mac</p>— Chris Wareing (@Chriswareing) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Chriswareing/status/1038164629875253250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Mac Miller was very talented achieved so much in such a short amount of time. Hard drugs have taken so many young rappers these past few years. Managers and agents need to keep having frank discussions with their clients – deaths like this can be avoided. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIPMacMiller?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RIPMacMiller</a> <a href=”https://t.co/xa2TwPstjL”>pic.twitter.com/xa2TwPstjL</a></p>— MC Lars (@mclars) <a href=”https://twitter.com/mclars/status/1038166632613511169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

Also, impossible to avoid in the tabloid press and media headlines, Ariana Grande, who dated Miller for a few years and had made note of his substance abuse being an issue before they broke up, posted a black and white photo of Miller following his passing, with presumably her shoes in the photo she apparently took, with no caption or further message.

<blockquote class=”instagram-media” data-instgrm-permalink=”https://www.instagram.com/p/Bneu_dCHVdn/?utm_source=ig_embed_loading” data-instgrm-version=”12″style=” background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% – 2px); width:calc(100% – 2px);”><div style=”padding:16px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/Bneu_dCHVdn/?utm_source=ig_embed_loading” style=” background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;” target=”_blank”> <div style=” display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;”> <div style=”background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;”></div> <div style=”display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;”> <div style=” background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”><a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/Bneu_dCHVdn/?utm_source=ig_embed_loading” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;” target=”_blank”>A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande)</a> on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2018-09-08T21:28:27+00:00″>Sep 8, 2018 at 2:28pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src=”//www.instagram.com/embed.js”></script>

Grande’s manager, Scooter Braun, however, did make a public message.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Always a kind soul and a big heart. Rest In Peace Mac.</p>— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) <a href=”https://twitter.com/scooterbraun/status/1038477610060148736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 8, 2018</a></blockquote>