RIP

Horner's assistant Sylvia Wells confirmed his death on Facebook, writing, "A great tragedy has struck my family today, and I will not be around for a while. I would like some privacy and time to heal. We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart, and unbelievable talent. He died doing what he loved."

Celine Dion tweeted about his death, writing, "Rene and I are deeply saddened by the tragic death of James Horner. He will always remain a great composer in our hearts. James played an important part in my career. We will miss him. We offer his family and friends our deepest sympathy."

A plane owned by James Horner -- the Academy Award-winning composer of "My Heart Will Go On" -- crashed Monday morning, killing the pilot.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the 2-seater S312 Tucano MK1 -- a single-engine turboprop -- went down at 9:30 AM west of Santa Barbara. We're told the pilot was alone in the aircraft when it crashed, but authorities have not identified the body.

The crash sparked a brush fire, and there was almost nothing left of the plane.

Horner composed soundtracks for Hollywood's top directors – Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ron Howard, Mel Gibson -- and won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for "Titanic" ... which included Celine Dion's massive hit.

61-year-old Horner is a known recreational pilot ... much like Harrison Ford.

Jamie Sangouthai -- Lamar Odom's best friend -- did not die from an OD, but it was drug related ... a flesh-eating disease caused by dirty needles.

The exact terms are necrotizing fasciitis -- bacterial skin infection -- and chronic intravenous narcotism -- IV drug abuse ... according to the L.A. County Coroner.

The Coroner says Sangouthai went to the hospital for the infected arm, but the disease spreads quickly and often becomes life-threatening.

Andrew Getty, the grandson of J. Paul Getty, was under the influence of meth ... and his habit was so bad he did an 8 ball a day ... this according to the Coroner's report.

TMZ broke the story, Getty was found dead in March in the bathroom of his L.A. home.

According to the L.A. County Coroner, Getty's ex-girlfriend, Lanessa DeJong, was present when paramedics arrived and appeared to be under the influence of drugs. She told authorities Andrew had a meth problem and did an 8 ball a day.

The official cause of death is a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, but meth was a contributing factor. The autopsy showed toxic levels of the drug.

Getty also had a pharmacy of Rx drugs at his home, including Concerta, Adderall, Norco, as well as Dainabol and Trenabol Acetate (both anabolic steroids).

And according to the Coroner's report, investigators found an interesting clue on Getty's cellphone. There were 2 texts from a person named Robby, who wrote, "Lemme know if you need something. Imma grabbing the good stuff in a minute." The second text reads, "It's a good batch, my man."

Business tycoon Kirk Kerkorian -- the billionaire behind Las Vegas casinos, Hollywood's MGM Studio, and Chrysler ... has died at the age of 98.

Kerkorian died in Los Angeles on Monday after a brief illness.

He's most famous for making Vegas what it is today -- as the founder of MGM Resorts his company went on to purchase more than half of the rooms on the Strip by swallowing up competitors like Mirage Resorts and Mandalay Resorts.

A major notch in his belt -- he's responsible for luring Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand to perform in Vegas.

Kerkorian bought and sold MGM Studios multiple times. He made major bank off his purchase of the James Bond franchise, and merging United Artists with MGM.

He's also famous for his 2001 divorce from his wife of one month, Lisa Bonder. She wanted $320,000 a month in alimony and child support. He eventually paid her $10 million plus $100k/month in child support ... even though he turned out to not be the father!

Lamar Odom's best friend, Jamie Sangouthai -- the man Khloe and others claimed fueled Lamar's disastrous crack binge 2 years ago -- has died, and we're told authorities believe it was a heroin OD.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Jamie died Sunday in a hospital in downtown L.A. He was taken to the hospital after someone called 911.

Jamie was featured on Khloe and Lamar's reality show and they highlighted Jamie's problems on the program.

You may recall a crazy video of an obviously high Lamar and Jamie rapping about Khloe.

Khloe just tweeted, "When does it stop? RIP Jamie Sangouthai."

Jamie was 37 years old.

'90s rapper MC Supreme was killed on the exact same stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway ... where Caitlyn Jenner had her fatal accident.

Supreme ... who's biggest hit was "Black in America" ... was sitting in a parked car on the shoulder of the highway early Saturday, overlooking the ocean in Malibu -- when an alleged drunk driver slammed into his car.

The rapper -- real name Dewayne Coleman -- was pronounced dead on the scene, while a female passenger in his car was taken to the hospital.

The tragedy comes 4 months after Jenner's crash. There's nothing particularly dangerous about that section of the road (nothing like Dead Man's Curve on Sunset) -- other than drivers getting distracted by the ocean views.

Dusty Rhodes was a "national treasure" ... the human embodiment of 24-karat gold ... so says his former ring-mate Rowdy Roddy Piper who's honoring his friend with a HILARIOUS memory.

Piper was clearly emotional about the death of the wrestling legend when we saw him out in L.A. Thursday -- so we asked him to share a memory of Rhodes that would make him smile.

What we got was AWESOME -- a tale of smuggling a donkey (or a zebra) to the 12th floor of an apartment in Minnesota.

"He was in a league of his own," Piper says.

R.I.P.

In a powerfully emotional tribute to their former teammate, several former members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team performed the team's "haka" war dance at the spot where Jerry Collins was killed.

As we previously reported, Collins -- a former All Blacks captain -- and the mother of his child died in a terrible car wreck in France on Friday.

After the crash, several of Jerry's former teammates went to the spot of the accident -- and performed the traditional Maori war dance that the All Blacks do as a team before every rugby match.

One of the players involved, Neemia Tialata, posted the video to social media and wrote, "Saying goodbye 2 the brother and his partner the way we were all brought together #AllBlackFamily."

Dusty Rhodes was laser focused on improving his health when he met with fellow wrestling legend Jerry Brisco last week, and feeling good about his prognosis.

Brisco -- who's known Rhodes for decades -- tells TMZ Sports they hung out in Orlando last Thursday, and Rhodes talked about how he was going to the doctor regularly. He'd been told he needed to bring his blood pressure down, and Brisco says Dusty's weight loss was helping.

Rhodes and Brisco were planning to go to an event Thursday night in Tampa to raise money for a wrestling wall of fame. Jerry says it won't be the same, but he's still going so he can gather with other wrestlers and fans to share Dusty stories.

11:37 AM PT -- Officials tell us ... emergency personnel responded to Dusty's home in Orlando, FL at 5:56 AM Wednesday morning after getting a call reporting a 69-year-old male had taken a fall.

We're told Rhodes was transported to a nearby hospital ... where he eventually passed away Thursday morning.

We're told Dusty's immediate family raced to be by his side as soon as they learned he was in the hospital.

Our sources tell us Dusty suffered "numerous complications" throughout the night ... which ultimately proved fatal.

WWE superstar Dusty Rhodes -- famously known as "The American Dream" -- has died at age 69 ... the WWE confirms.

Rhodes -- real name Virgil Runnels -- passed away Thursday morning.

Rhodes, who famously rocked polka dot tights during his legendary career, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

Dusty had 4 children -- including two sons who also became wrestling superstars -- Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and Stardust (Cody Runnels).

The WWE issued a statement saying, "WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Runnels’ family, friends and colleagues."

WWE superstar Triple H posted a comment about his friend ... saying, "Saddened to hear the passing of Dusty Rhodes. Legend, teacher, mentor, friend...Love you Dream."

Sir Christopher Lee -- who starred in some of the most famous and fantastic film franchises of all-time -- died in London. He was 93.

Lee had been hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure, says The Guardian.

Lee played Saruman in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit" films. He also appeared in two of the "Star Wars" prequels and played Count Dracula in a couple of flicks.

He married his wife Birgit in 1961 and the couple had one daughter together.

He died Sunday.

Victoria Siegel was the victim of vicious cyberbullying ... which her family believes pushed her over the edge and ultimately might have led to her death.

The Siegel family says the ex-girlfriend of Victoria's boyfriend (who we're told she met in rehab) had been sending "hateful text messages" to Victoria. They say the texts were coming from the BF's phone, and our sources say it was also happening on social media.

The family says Victoria got one of the bullying texts the morning of her death, and adds ... "While we cannot be sure, [the messages] may have affected her emotional state at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable."

We're told the family does not believe Victoria intended to kill herself ... because they were taking a family cruise this week, and Victoria rushed to get her passport in time for the trip. Instead, they're leaning toward an accidental overdose ... possibly triggered by the bullying.

Vincent Bugliosi -- the man who put the most dangerous criminals in modern times away for life -- has died.

Bugliosi was an L.A. County prosecutor in 1969 when he prosecuted Charles Manson and his notorious "family."

Manson is responsible for the brutal 1969 murder of Sharon Tate, who was pregnant, and six others. The bloody scene triggered panic in L.A., with thousands of people arming themselves in fear they would be next. A husband and wife -- unrelated to Tate -- were randomly slaughtered the next night.

Manson was trying to trigger a race war, which he called "Helter Skelter." That name ended up the title of Bugliosi's book chronicling the killings and the trial, which became a huge seller.

Bugliosi won convictions against all five defendants, including Manson, and they received the death penalty. The California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty years later and the sentences were reduced to life without parole.

Bugliosi was battling cancer.

RIP.

David and Jackie Siegel's daughter was struggling with addiction, and probably on drugs at the time of her death ... according to the the family's attorney.

The "Queen of Versailles" couple finally addressed their daughter Victoria Siegel's passing with a statement through their attorney, Michael Marder ... who said the 18-year-old had a "history of seizures and was prescribed medication for this condition."

He says, "It is likely that Victoria ingested one or more drugs prior to her death" -- but adds they have not determined if the drugs were prescription or something else.

He added that Victoria had voluntarily checked into rehab to deal with her addiction. As TMZ first reported, Victoria ended a rehab stint just about 2 weeks ago.

Mary Ellen Trainor, best known for her role as the psychologist in the “Lethal Weapon” films, died from pancreatic cancer at her home in Montecito, Calif. last month. She was 62.

Trainor was married to director Robert Zemeckis for 20 years and appeared in several of his films … including “Romancing the Stone” and “Forrest Gump.” They divorced in 2000.

Her other notable roles were as Mrs. Walsh in “The Goonies,” as well as small roles in “Scrooged,” “Die Hard," "Back to the Future Part II" and "Ghostbusters II." She also had a recurring role on the TV show "Roswell."

Victoria Siegel had a problem with prescription drugs and had just recently returned home from rehab before her death.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ ... Siegel struggled with Xanax and the family tried to get her help by sending her to rehab on multiple occasions. We're told her most recent stint ended about two weeks ago.

We're told the family is "shocked" by her death because she'd been doing so well since coming home from rehab. She even attended a premiere party for her parents' recent appearance on "Celebrity Wife Swap" ... and everything seemed fine with her.

It's unclear if Victoria's addiction issues contributed to her death. Neither the family nor investigators have released a cause of death.