RIP

Lex McAllister, a contestant on one of the most popular seasons of "The Bachelor" is dead, and authorities and her family believes it's a suicide ... TMZ has learned.

Lex appeared on season 14 of the show with Jake Pavelka ... she was eliminated after the first week. Lex made waves when she spoke out about Jake's breakup with Vienna Girardi (the season's winner), saying Girardi was not at fault.

Law enforcement sources in Columbus, Ohio tell us they received a 911 call Saturday at around 2 PM ... the caller stated Lex had texted her earlier that day saying she wanted to "end her life" and when the caller went to check on her it appeared Lex had OD'd on prescription pills.

She was taken to a hospital in stable condition but, according to her family, her body started to shut down. The family withdrew life support and Lex died Tuesday morning.

A member of Lex's family tells us, she struggled with depression and bipolar disorder.

Gia Allemand, who was also a contestant on Lex's season of the show, committed suicide in 2013 by hanging.

Vanity, lead singer of the '80s girl group Vanity 6, has died after years of battling kidney failure and, more recently, an abdominal illness.

Vanity, whose real name was Denise Katrina Matthews, passed away in a Fremont, CA hospital on Monday ... according to sources close to her family. A few months ago she set up a GoFundMe page, and said she'd been diagnosed with sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis -- an inflammation of the small intestines.

She also battled crack addiction in the '90s, and after a 1994 OD her kidneys were shot. She had to undergo nearly daily dialysis treatments.

Vanity's biggest hit came in 1982 with "Nasty Girl" ... a song produced by Prince. The group toured with Prince on his 1999 tour, but she quit right after that. She went on to sign a solo record deal with Motown, and starred in movies like "The Last Dragon" and "Action Jackson."

She eventually ditched Hollywood, quit drugs and became a born-again Christian in the mid '90s. She remained active in her local church up until her death. We're told she was in church on Saturday evening and told the congregation she was "ready to go home."

Vanity was 57.

5:50 P.M. PST -- President Obama just set the stage for political war, vowing to "fulfill my constitutional duties" and send a Supreme Court nominee to the Senate. The Republican leadership has made it clear they don't want an Obama nominee. Since the Republicans control the Senate, it's game on.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the heart and soul of the conservative justices, was found dead Saturday morning in Texas.

Scalia arrived at a luxury resort Friday and attended a private party at the resort. When he didn't show up to a breakfast Saturday morning before a hunting trip, a resort employee found Scalia's body in his room.

Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement saying, "He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served."

Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan in 1986 and served for almost 30 years. He had a huge influence on the hot-button issue of abortion rights ... in 1992 when he wrote a scathing dissent to Justice O'Connor's majority opinion and spent many years trying to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Scalia had what some thought was an odd relationship with liberal Justice Ginsburg The two were almost polar opposites professionally but maintained a very close friendship. Both were New Yorkers, Scalia from Queens and Ginsburg from Brooklyn.

With an empty seat on the Court, President Obama is now given a huge opportunity to shape the Court for years to come. The split was 5-4, with conservatives having the edge. Obama could reverse that, but Republican leaders and some presidential candidates are already saying the appointment should be made by the next president.

Scalia was 79-years-old.

R.I.P.

More details emerging in the car crash that killed the wife of OKC Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams -- with cops telling TMZ Sports they believe the other car was speeding at the time of the accident.

Ingrid Williams died Wednesday morning ... hours after her car was struck head-on near downtown Oklahoma City by a car going the opposite direction that veered across the median. The other driver was also killed in the wreck.

Now, a rep for the OKC Police Dept. tells us speed appears to have been a factor -- "The other driver was clearly going at a fast rate of speed. It was really fast."

The other driver also had her dog in her lap at the time of the crash -- leaving many people wondering if the pet distracted the driver on the road.

"I don't know if we'll ever know [if the dog was a factor]. She was in the car by herself."

Motorhead frontman Lemmy is one huge step closer to returning to his favorite watering hole again -- his life-sized bronze monument is now fully funded.

TMZ spoke to artist Travis Moore who says he's already started work on the tribute that's going up at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood. Travis, a die hard Lemmy fan, agreed to waive his artist fee -- but a crowdfunding page was started to pay for materials.

As of Wednesday, they've got $20k!

On Wednesday, Travis started assembling an 18-inch clay miniature which will be used to model the final 6 foot tall sculpture.

And here's a bonus for all crowdfunding donors -- the owner of the Rainbow tells us their names will be plastered in the club, right behind bronzed Lemmy. They're aiming for a May unveiling.

#RockGodsLiveForever

Kristin Cavallari's family says her brother Michael suffered from extreme paranoia leading up to his fatal disappearance in Utah ... fearing a Mexican gang member was after him.

According to the Grand Co. Sheriff's report -- obtained by TMZ -- Michael Cavallari's mother Judy told cops he was diagnosed as bipolar and had recently claimed a gang member was out to get him.

Michael's car was found a few days after he went missing ... with 2 cell phones, a laptop and a golf bag containing $18k in cash inside. One possible explanation for all that loot -- the report says he'd just inherited $24k from a grandmother.

Kristin Cavallari's brother Michael died because of Utah's extreme elements ... according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office.

An autopsy done on the 30-year-old determined his official cause of death to be hypothermia. We're told December temperatures in the area fell as low as the teens at night and the 30s during the day.

Cavallari's body was found after nearly two weeks and located 3 miles from the nearest road. Cops found his abandoned car in a ditch after what appeared to have been an accident.

There was no evidence drugs or alcohol in the car and the working theory was he was walking for help.

Dave Mirra had a rough time finding purpose when his BMX career ended ... he tried filling the void by helping kids ... but it wasn't enough.

Friends of Dave tell us ... in the months before his suicide, he spent his time introducing kids in the Greenville, North Carolina area to extreme sports, such as speed cycling and biking.

Problem was ... the 41-year-old couldn't find anything in his life to even approximate the adrenaline rush he got from BMX. He knew working with kids was important, but the passion he felt while he competed just wasn't there, and it became a significant factor in his deep depression.

We're told Dave tried to convince himself working with kids could be as satisfying as BMX, and from time to time his outlook would brighten. In fact, we're told just hours before he fatally shot himself, he saw someone at lunch and talked about plans to bring a speed cycling track to Greenville.

The friend with whom we spoke said the recurring theme from Dave was that he felt lost.

Seconds after that massive crane came crashing down in NYC ... first responders were on the scene fighting to pull victims from their cars.

TMZ has obtained video of the rescue efforts. The crane, which is longer than a city block, took out multiple cars in TriBeCa.

There's an unknown number of people injured. The 1 person who was killed was apparently a pedestrian who was struck by the crane. We've blurred an image of the victim.

You can see the crane actually falling ... in this video.

BMX legend Dave Mirra may have suffered from CTE -- just like several ex-NFL players -- and it may have been a factor in his suicide ... so says the Mayor of Greenville, NC.

Katie May, a hugely successful model and social media star, died Thursday after a stroke left her in critical condition.

May had been hospitalized since Monday when a blockage in her carotid artery caused the "catastrophic" stroke. She remained in critical condition until her death. Sources tell TMZ she was taken off life support Thursday evening, and she died in L.A. surrounded by family and loved ones.

Katie had a huge social media presence, with nearly 2 million people following her on Instagram. She was also known as the "Queen of Snapchat" and modeled for dozens of websites and magazines, including Playboy and Sports Illustrated.

Katie leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter and her family started a gofundme page to support the little girl. Katie was 34.

Maurice White, co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, died in his sleep Thursday morning ... TMZ has learned.

Maurice died in L.A. after a long battle with Parkinson's. He was diagnosed in 1992 and his condition deteriorated in recent months. The disease had progressed to the point he was forced to stop touring with the band 1994.

New stories are circulating that Diddy was out to kill Tupac Shakur. Well, a similar story was published in a big newspaper years ago ... and the paper was forced to eat crow and retract it.

There's a film Netflix is about to release based on a book with the premise ... Diddy hired hit men to murder Tupac in 1996. The author of the book -- a retired LAPD investigator -- claims Diddy hired a Crip to kill Tupac for $1 million.

Turns out the L.A. Times published a similar story in 2008, claiming 2 years before the murder Diddy's boys shot Tupac 5 times in NYC outside a recording studio, but failed to kill him. The paper relied on FBI files and Diddy's own people as sources.

The Times published a major retraction, saying, "The Times has since concluded that the FBI reports were fabricated and that some of the other sources relied on -- including ... a 'confidential source' cited in the FBI reports do not support major elements of the story."

The paper concluded it believed the story was no longer credible.

As for the documentary, which purports to chronicle the 1996 murder in Vegas, the author relies on a confession from a Crip gang member, who said Diddy hired him to kill Tupac.

Diddy has denied involvement in both the '94 shooting and the '96 murder.

Katie May, a hugely popular Playboy model and social media sensation, suffered a "catastrophic" stroke ... according to her family.

May, known as MsKatieMay on the Internet, is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering the stroke Monday in Los Angeles. We're told she'd recently complained of neck pain and sought treatment. Her family tells us the devastating stroke was caused by a blockage in her carotid artery.

There have been rampant rumors on the Internet that Katie died. People have been posting R.I.P. across all her social media sites. She's only in her mid 30s, so the stroke is especially shocking.

Known as the "Queen of Snapchat" ... she's modeled for Playboy and Sports Illustrated. She has almost 2 million followers on Instagram alone.

Katie has a 7-year-old daughter, and the family has started a gofundme page to support the little girl. We don't know Katie's prognosis yet, but it seems grim.

She captioned her last IG post, "Hope everyone is having a great Monday! It's very windy here today in LA."

Celine Dion rhapsodized about how her late husband would be driven to tears by watching "The Price is Right."

Celine told a packed crowd at the Vegas memorial for Rene Angelil how he would get emotional when someone won the Showcase Showdown.

Celine Dion tearfully recalled moments in her life with late husband Rene Angelil at his Vegas memorial.

Celine told the crowd in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace that she can "still feel his strength and his warmth."

She talked about how Rene kept her grounded, and how he hated no one.

Very emotional.