RIP

Gene Simmons disputing Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse's icon status is nuts ... so says Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who tells us it doesn't matter how many albums both made.

In case you missed it, Gene told Team Rock Radio this month that Cobain and Winehouse were only considered icons because they died young ... not because of their music.

But Hawkins -- whose been in Foo with Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl for years -- was fired up about the topic ... telling TMZ Gene's opinion is "nonsense."

Multiple sources connected to the situation tell us ... roughly 2-3 months ago, the mother of the child had a paternity test done with an ex she suspected to be the father, in an effort to collect child support from him.

But the test turned up negative, so the woman went to Adrian ... with whom she had a sexual encounter several years ago.

We're told ... when Adrian was first informed about the matter, he didn't question the possibility he was the dad -- but rather asked how he could help the situation.

Sources tell us ... a few weeks ago, A.P. started to plan a trip to South Dakota to meet the child for the first time and he was supposed to fly out later this month.

But when he heard the news about the attack on the 2-year-old, Peterson dropped everything and jetted over to Sioux Falls as soon as he could.

We're told Adrian met the child for the first time while the boy was on life support.

Multiple sources tell us ... Adrian has been very involved since the tragedy and was the one pushing to have the child's organs donated to other people in need of a transplant.

As for the suspect, Joey Patterson, we're told Adrian has never met the guy.

"MasterChef" finalist Josh Marks has been found dead in a Chicago alleyway -- just a few months after his infamous run-in with University of Chicago police -- and officials believe he committed suicide.

A rep for the Chicago PD says they received a call from a woman screaming for help Friday evening ... and after arriving to the alley found a 26-year old male with a gunshot wound to the head.

Multiple sources involved with the investigation tell us the victim is Josh Marks.

We're told officers also recovered a nearby weapon ... and they're still on-scene investigating.

You'll recall, 26-year-old 7-foot-2 Marks was arrested by U. of Chicago cops in July after allegedly punching an officer and trying to grab his gun. Three officers tried to subdue Marks with batons and pepper spray, but he broke free and took off running.

It eventually took 5 officers to chase him down and handcuff him. Once in custody, cops claim Marks blamed Gordon Ramsay for his outburst, claiming the celeb chef had possessed him and turned him into God. There was no evidence of drug use.

Months before the arrest, Marks released a video for the "Make a Sound Project" -- an organization dedicated to helping people struggling with suicidal thoughts -- revealing he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Police believe Marks was in a manic state during the U. Chicago incident.

We KNOW someone's gonna die on "The Simpsons" next season ... and we KNOW Jennifer Tilly is tight with co-creator Sam Simon ... so when we saw her in NY yesterday, it was the perfect opportunity to pry for some inside info.

Tilly wasn't exactly ready to sell out her poker buddy, but she did tell us that the person rumored to be getting the chop is everyone's favorite Kwik-E-mart employee Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

Apu is definitely a candidate ... according to Executive Producer Al Jean who teased, "the actor playing the character won an Emmy for playing that character."

3:00 PM PDT: Peterson just sent a series of Tweets: "God Bless everyone and thank u so much. The NFL is a fraternity of brothers and I am thankful for the tweets, phone calls and text messages from my fellow players. Thank you to my family, my fans and fans of other teams for their support."

Adrian Peterson's 2-year-old son has died ... cops have confirmed.

Cops believe Peterson's son was severely beaten by 27-year-old Joseph Patterson, the man who was dating the mother of the NFL star's child.

As we reported, the mother of the child has decided to donate the child's organs to people in need.

The boy was on life support since 5:30 PM Thursday ... but his condition never improved ... so family members made the decision to take the child off the ventilator.

Sources tell TMZ .. Adrian was informed about the situation before the news went public.

We're told Peterson will be planning the funeral with other members of the boy's family.

Patterson was initially arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for assault and battery of an infant -- and now, it's almost certain the charges will be elevated to murder.

Convicted Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro may have died by pulling a David Carradine ... hanging himself while masturbating -- an act known as auto-erotic asphyxiation -- according to a new investigative report that was just released by the prison.

Castro was discovered in his cell by prison guards Sept. 3rd ... hanging from a hinge in the window of his cell ... with a bed sheet wrapped around his neck. His death was initially ruled a suicide.

The report reveals Castro died with his pants and underwear pulled down around his ankles ... which raised the possibility of auto-erotic asphyxiation ... according to the report.

And there's more ... prison officials found an open Bible in Castro's cell ... which was opened to John Chapters 2 and 3. They also discovered pictures of his family ... arranged in poster-board fashion.

TMZ has obtained an EXPLOSIVE document in the mystery behind Johnny Lewis' alleged love child -- the birth certificate which shows the "Sons of Anarchy" star was listed as the kid's dad.

We broke the story ... Johnny -- who died following a murderous rampage back in 2012 -- believed he fathered a baby girl in 2010 with Diane Gaeta ... an actress who once appeared on "Sons."

But after he died, Johnny's father filed court documents DISPUTING Johnny's belief -- claiming Johnny had NO offspring and therefore his entire estate should be divided amongst his parents.

Now, TMZ has unearthed the birth certificate, which was filed in California -- and it lists Johnny as the father. The document was also signed by Diane.

The document could play a HUGE role in the division of Johnny's estate -- because, if the judge finds that Johnny is, in fact, the little girl's father ... his entire estate would go to her.

Stay tuned ...

The former CIA Chief tells TMZ ... Jack Ryan -- the make-believe character in Tom Clancy's novels -- was the inspiration for many of his agents.

We spied former CIA Director Michael Hayden on the streets of DC Friday morning ... and he told us how Clancy -- who died Tuesday -- had a profound impact on America's spook department.

SPOILER ALERT ... but if you don't know what happened by now, you probably live in a cave and don't have the Internet. Whatever, you've been warned ...

Walter White's death on "Breaking Bad" is apparently hitting some people harder than others ... 'cause the guy just got a real-life obituary in the newspaper where the show took place.

White would LOVE the obit -- which ran in the Albuquerque Journal -- 'cause it credits him as a co-founder of "Gray Matter" ... and we all know how passionate he was about getting his props for that.

As for how he died, the obit says White had a "long battle with lung cancer, and a gunshot wound."

The local paper says the obit was designed, written and paid for by a group of die-hard "Breaking Bad" fans.

One last thing -- In lieu of flowers, the obit says "donations can be made to a drug abuse prevention charity of your choice."

Nice ... bitch.

"Sons of Anarchy" actor Johnny Lewis believed he may have knocked up an actress who appeared on the show a few years before going on a murderous rampage in 2012 ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ.

Lewis died last September ... after snapping at the Los Feliz home where he had been living -- killing 81-year-old Catherine Davis and dismembering her cat, before falling off the roof of the home and plummeting to his death.

Now, Lewis' family has filed court docs in L.A. County Superior Court in an effort to divide the actor's estate -- which is valued at $41,000 ... kinda low for someone who played a major character on the show for a full 2 seasons.

According to the docs, 28-year-old Lewis did not have a will at the time of his death -- and Johnny's father believes he and his wife should be the sole beneficiaries of the estate.

However, under a section of the court docs which lists possible beneficiaries ... Lewis' father lists Diane Marshall-Green ... an actress who appeared on an episode of "Sons."

Lewis also lists Diane's 3-year-old daughter.

And why? According to Lewis' attorney ... before Johnny died, he believed he may have been the father of Diane's kid ... and even went so far as to seek visitation rights.

But for some reason ... we're told Johnny's dad believes his kid was wrong and he was NOT the father of Diane's daughter.

If the kid turns out to be Johnny's, the child would be entitled to the entirety of Johnny's estate.

We reached out to Diane for comment -- so far, no word back.

Michael Jackson's former doctor and convicted killer, Conrad Murray, must be getting pretty strong meds behind bars ... because he thinks the jury in the wrongful death trial proved he's a good physician -- he's dead wrong.

TMZ obtained audio of Murray leaving a message for someone shortly after the judge announced AEG Live was not accountable for MJ's death -- and on the recording, Murray says the decision proves, "I have never been and never will be an inept physician."

Murray's missing one giant point ... which is that the jury really only said they felt he was fit to do what AEG hired him to do -- be a good general practitioner for MJ. The part about pumping Michael full of Propofol every night was never relevant to the questions the jury was asked to answer.

In fact, the jury foreman made it clear they were NOT saying they felt Murray was ethical -- and said the verdict might have been different if ethics were in play during this trial.

Nonetheless, Murray feels vindicated ... so, you gotta hear him gushing and praising God, the jury, and the justice system ... this time, anyway.

The Jackson family just LOST their bid to hold AEG Live accountable for Michael Jackson's death.

The jury ruled AEG Live did hire Conrad Murray. That's huge. The jury then ruled Conrad Murray was NOT unfit or incompetent to treat MJ. Katherine and the kids lose.

So here's the thing. The question that ruined Katherine's case was whether Murray was competent to handle Jackson when he was hired, and the jury said he was. Ironically, a jury in the criminal case ruled Murray then went off the rails and did things that ultimately killed MJ. But because he was competent at the outset -- the Jackson family lost.

The jury foreman confirmed this during a post-court news conference where he said they felt Murray was competent to do the job for which he was hired -- a good general practitioner. However he added, "That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical. Had that question been in there, it could have been a different outset.

AEG claimed Michael hired Murray and what went on between them was a secret to all ... including AEG.

Katherine Jackson has a rather tortured analysis of the jury verdict -- she seems to be saying even if she didn't get any money, she still kinda won.

Katherine says, "We have said from the beginning that this case was a search for the truth. We found the truth. AEG hired Dr. Conrad Murray, the man who is in jail for killing Michael Jackson."

She's right to this extent ... the jury did say AEG Live hired Murray. In fact Katherine scoffs at AEG, saying, "AEG has denied for years, and continues to deny, that they hired Dr. Conrad Murray. The jury found unanimously that AEG hired Dr. Murray."

But then the jury delivered a knockout punch to the Jackson lawsuit, by deciding essentially that when AEG Live hired Murray, they had no reason to believe he was an incompetent general practitioner ... which was the whole point of bringing a doctor on board in the first place. Therefore, AEG was not negligent.

Katherine is pissed, saying, "AEG has repeated the mantra that this lawsuit was a shakedown. Such a statement is a slap in the face of the entire judicial system that allowed this case to go to a jury."

Cory Monteith was shooting heroin and downing champagne in his hotel room on the night of his death ... this according to the final coroner's report obtained by TMZ.

The "Glee" star was discovered alone in his hotel room in Vancouver, Canada on July 13 shortly after noon.

When responders arrived to the scene, they discovered a "spoon with drug residue and a used hypodermic needle."

They also found 2 empty champagne bottles and glasses.

The coroner lists Monteith's official cause of death as "mixed drug toxicity, involving intravenous heroin use combined with the ingestion of alcohol."

The report also notes that Cory "had a history of illicit drug use with intermittent periods of rehabilitation and of abstinence from drugs."

The coroner suggests that Cory's tolerance for substance abuse may have been lower than usual because he had stopped using since a rehab stint in April.

Monteith was 31.

Tom Clancy -- the author behind mega-hits like "The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games" and "Rainbow Six" -- died last night at the age of 66 ... this according to his publisher.

The details surrounding Clancy's death are limited at this point. His publisher revealed Clancy passed away at a hospital in Baltimore, the city where he was born.

Clancy was the first name in military thrillers -- churning out tons of hit books, many of which became blockbuster movies and video games.

Clancy's most famous character was CIA agent Jack Ryan -- who was portrayed on the big screen by actors like Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck. Chris Pine is set to play Ryan in the upcoming movie, "Jack Ryan: Shadow One."

Clancy's "Rainbow Six," "Ghost Recon" and "Splinter Cell" were all monster military strategic video game hits across multiple platforms.

Cher is standing firm that Sonny Bono is inhabiting her Malibu mansion.

We got Cher at LAX yesterday ... and asked her if she was sure Sonny was behind the mysterious light flickering. Cher was certain the mercurial Sonny was hitting the switch.

And there's a reason she KNOWS it's not some other ghost.