RIP

"This is Us" star Justin Hartley's reeling from the loss of his dog ... but it's his second pooch he's even more concerned about.

We got Justin out in Studio City on Thursday and our guy offered his condolences after the passing of Memphis ... the 11-year-old rescue Justin and his wife, Chrishell, adopted in December 2016. Chrishell said Memphis died earlier this week after his kidneys gave out.

Justin says it's been a tough few days but watch the vid to find out why he's also worried for his second rescue, Gracie. And for what it's worth ... he's also kinda concerned about our guy running into trees.

Ex-MTV "Road Rules" star Brian Lancaster has died at just 43 years old ... TMZ has learned.

Brian appeared on season 7 of "Road Rules" back in 1999. His family tells us he was found dead in his Pennsylvania home last Thursday. They believe it was heart failure, and tell us he had a history of arrhythmia.

The family says the death was not drug or alcohol related -- and, as far as they know, no substances were found in the home.

Brian was 23 years old when he competed on "Road Rules." He didn't win the grand prize of $43k, but he competed on 13 different "missions" over the course of 15 episodes while shooting in Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States.

Dolores O'Riordan sounded pumped and ready to belt out her old tune with a new band the day she died ... this according to her last voicemail ever.

TMZ has obtained a voice message Dolores left for her longtime friend and label exec, Dan Waite, on Jan. 15 -- the day she unexpectedly passed away -- which also happened to be the day she was set to record a cover of The Cranberries' song "Zombie" with Bad Wolves.

We're told the voicemail's time stamp was 1:12 AM GMT in London ... and, as you can hear, Dan -- who set up the collab -- is clearly mentioned in the audio. Dolores also says she loved Bad Wolves' version of "Zombie" ... adding it "sounds f****** terribly good."

Clearly, she was excited to get in the studio -- but, unfortunately, she never made it. As we reported ... The Cranberries singer was found dead just hours later in her hotel. Her cause of death has yet to be released -- police have only said she died suddenly.

Reports surfaced Dolores may have taken her own life, especially because she had extreme bouts with depression. If it turns out to be the case, it would be eerily similar to Chris Cornell's death ... where his wife said he was in a great mood hours before he died. You'll recall, Chris seemed as if nothing was wrong just before he took the stage for his final performance.

Dolores was officially laid to rest in her native Ireland a couple days after a public reposal was held for her. She was 46 years old.

As for the Bad Wolves cover ... the band released their version in Dolores' honor about a month after she passed, donating the proceeds of the song to her three children.

WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Valiant -- a 2-time World Tag Team champ -- was killed Wednesday morning near Pittsburgh when he was hit by a truck while crossing the street.

The 71-year-old -- real name Tommy Sullivan -- was walking in Ross Township, Pennsylvania when he was struck by a pickup truck around 5:30 AM.

Valiant was rushed to a nearby hospital but his injuries were too severe and he died shortly after the incident.

After his wrestling career, Valiant went on to manage WWE superstars like Hulk Hogan, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Dino Bravo and Demolition.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter says President Trump can better honor her father on the 50th anniversary of his assassination with real life actions ... NOT tweets.

We talked to Bernice King on Wednesday about Trump's remembrance to Dr. King, which he did on Twitter. Granted, it's his favorite platform to address the world ... but for Bernice it rings a little hollow.

She admits, it's not realistic to hold POTUS to MLK's standard, but thinks we should be encouraging Trump to better embrace her father's ideals.

Ted Kennedy didn't abandon Mary Jo Kopechne when his car plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island ... he didn't even know she was in the car, according to a retired CIA operative.

We've been asked not to use the CIA person's name, but he worked for the agency for decades. He says back in 1969, Kennedy was romantically involved with the wife of a very powerful politician, and if word got out about the affair Kennedy was afraid it would ruin his career.

The operative says the night of the accident Kennedy and some of his buddies were all drunk and drove to a party on the Island. They went there because the politician's wife was at the party and Kennedy wanted to hook up with her. Mary Jo Kopechne was at the party ... she and Kennedy were acquaintances but not romantically involved.

According to the operative, Mary Jo was drunk, said she had a headache, got up and said she was going into one of the bedrooms to lie down.

At some point later in the evening, Kennedy and the politician's wife wanted "some alone time" and didn't want to do anything in front of the group, so they got in the car and drove ... eventually plunging off the bridge into the water. They both swam to shore safely. The operative says both were not injured.

The operative says unbeknownst to either Kennedy or the politician's wife, Mary Jo apparently was unable to sleep in the house because of the noise, so she went into the back seat of the car where she fell asleep ... which is where she died. At least one person at the party knew Mary Jo had gone into one of the cars and told authorities that after the accident.

The operative says cops immediately knew the politician's wife was in the car, because she had left her purse on the front seat. The operative says so began a cover-up to protect Kennedy.

When Van Met Winnie, it was nothing like Harry and Sally ... but CNN host Van Jones still got an unforgettable story out of it.

We got the CNN host Monday at LAX as he was heading to Memphis to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. He also reflected on Winnie Mandela's death ... and the moment he, unexpectedly, came face-to-face with her.

As we reported, Nelson Mandela's wife died Monday after a lengthy battle with illness -- and even though her life was filled with scandals, Van says it's hard to judge her.

Steven Bochco, one of the most prolific creators of TV ever, has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the family tell us, the "Hill Street Blues" creator died this weekend. He had been battling leukemia for several years and put up a hard fight, but one family source says he finally just gave up.

Bochco carved out a specific area for many of his shows -- the law. His police shows were gritty and compelling.

Bochco has been responsible for groundbreaking TV, including, "L.A. Law," "Doogie Howser, M.D." and "NYPD Blue." His credits go on ... "Murder One," "Murder in the First," "Raising the Bar," and "Civil Wars." Bochco was a gift to NBC, providing the network with juggernauts like "Hill Street Blues."

Bochco has won 4 Peabody Awards and 10 Emmys.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

A shot of Jimi Hendrix jamming on his guitar is popping up on all sorts of merchandise, but the guy who took the pic says Jimi's family ripped him off.

David Sygall says he did a photo shoot with Jimi back in the '60s during a rehearsal -- he captured the guitar god strumming his Fender axe, with eyes closed. Kinda the classic Hendrix pose, and it was even featured in Guitar World magazine in 2002.

Sygall says the mag licensed it from him, but Jimi's family did not. In a lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, he says Purple Haze Properties has slapped his photo on its website, social media, marijuana products, credit cards, Christmas tree ornaments and more.

According to docs, Jimi's bro, Leon Hendrix, and his biz partner run and own Purple Haze Properties and negotiated with Sygall for use of the photo. Sygall says they never struck a deal, but they're still using his pic -- just with an overlay of colors and psychedelic swirls.

Venus Williams' cell phone records from the fatal car accident remain under wraps, because AT&T won't give up the goods ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Attorneys for Jerome Barson's estate are trying to put the heat on Venus' cell phone carrier, because according to docs, they first subpoenaed AT&T back in January ... but have yet to get any action.

Barson died from his injuries after his sedan smashed into Venus' SUV last June in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Cops cleared Venus criminally, saying she was "caught in the middle" of the intersection, but the Barsons' attorney, Gary Iscoe, wants to make sure she wasn't on her phone and distracted at the time.

As we first reported, there's surveillance video of Venus approaching the intersection -- just seconds before the accident -- but it's unclear if she's on the phone.

Prince had "exceedingly high" levels of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, according to a new toxicology report obtained by the Associated Press.

The report -- which is said to have been confidential -- gives a glimpse into just how much fentanyl was flowing through the singer's body when he died in 2016. According to the AP, the concentration of fentanyl in Prince's blood was 67.8 micrograms per liter. The report notes people have died from as little as 3 micrograms per liter, and as high as 58.

A medical expert quoted by the AP -- Dr. Lewis Nelson of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School -- calls the level of fentanyl in Prince's blood "exceedingly high" ... even for someone who's a chronic pain patient, he adds.

The toxicology also reportedly shows Prince's liver had a concentration of 450 micrograms per kilogram -- while also noting that levels beyond 69 micrograms per kilogram often signal overdose or fatal toxicity cases. Experts cited in the report also say there were potentially lethal amounts of fetanyl in Prince's stomach, and that he likely took the drug orally.

We broke the story ... Prince died at his Paisley Park compound from an opioid overdose -- the drug, of course, being fetanyl.

3/28/18 -- Zeke Upshaw's autopsy confirmed he died of cardiac arrest ... possibly due to "cardiac abnormalities."

The coroner says he plans to conduct more tests in the coming weeks.

NBA G-League player Zeke Upshaw is dead at the age of 26 ... days after collapsing on the court during a basketball game.

Upshaw -- a swingman for the Detroit Pistons affiliate, Grand Rapids Drive -- collapsed during the final minutes of the 4th quarter of Saturday's game against the Long Island Nets ... after reportedly going into cardiac arrest.

He was stretchered off the court and rushed to the hospital ... where he remained in critical condition until passing away Monday morning.

John Mahoney, the beloved dad on "Frasier," left behind millions of dollars ... and TMZ's learned there's a long list of potential benefactors.

John's friend, Bernard Dowling, filed legal docs in Cook County, Illinois to open a probate case for his estate. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, John's estate is worth north of $5 million, including around $300k worth of real estate. There are also 38 relatives and friends listed as potential benefactors.

TMZ broke the story ... John died in hospice care back in February. As we first reported ... the official causes of death included brain disease, lung cancer and seizures. He also suffered from kidney disease and diabetes.

John played Kelsey Grammer's cranky father, Martin Crane, for 11 seasons on the hit sitcom.

5:01 PM PT -- Chicago Fire producer Dick Wolf released a statement on Brown's death. He says, "The Chicago Fire family is devastated to lose one of its own. Our thought and prayers are with DuShon's family and we will all miss her."

5:25 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us Brown was at home Friday morning when her family called paramedics because she was feeling ill. We're told she was taken to the hospital, where she died around noon. Her death is now being investigated by the medical examiner.

"Chicago Fire" actress DuShon Monique Brown has died after suffering an apparent heart attack.

Production sources tell us Brown admitted herself to a Chicago hospital a few days ago after suffering chest pains, we're told she went through tests but was released a short time later.

Things apparently took a turn for the worse Friday ... our sources say Brown died at home after some type of cardiac episode.

DuShon -- a Chicago native -- has been on "Chicago Fire" since the show started in 2012. She played Connie, the assistant to Chief Boden. She was also on "Prison Break" from 2005 to 2007.

DuShon has a background in social work and a Masters in Counseling and once worked as a counselor at a local high school.

Brown also starred in a made for TV movie titled "Public Housing Unit" about Chicago cops ... the project is set to premiere later this year.

She leaves behind a daughter.

Music manager Jordan Feldstein -- Jonah Hill's older brother -- had Whip-It! canisters all over the room where he was found dead ... according to the Coroner's Office.

In the docs, the Coroner says Jordan had multiple canisters of nitrous strewn about his bedroom when first responders arrived. The report includes toxicology results, which show he had only trace amounts of a cocaine metabolite in his urine. Also, he tested negative for any alcohol in his system.

As we reported ... Jordan had called 911 in December, and when EMTs arrived he was found unresponsive on his bed. The Coroner's report says someone on the scene told officers Jordan had been abusing nitrous oxide for about a month.

Jordan managed Maroon 5, Miguel and Robin Thicke. He was 40.

A huge building fire on the set of Bruce Willis and Ed Norton's movie cost a firefighter his life Thursday night.

The shoot was going down in Harlem when the 5-alarm fire broke out just before 11 PM. Norton is directing and co-starring with Willis in "Motherless Brooklyn" ... and the production crew actually called in the blaze, which started in the basement of the building where they were shooting.

FDNY was out in full force -- 44 fire trucks and 200 firefighters battled the inferno before knocking it down early Friday morning. One firefighter, Michael Davidson, was killed and 5 other people suffered injuries.

The film's producers said, "As soon as we noticed smoke coming up into our set, our crew immediately alerted the fire department and began alerting residents of the building even as we evacuated our cast and crew."

They also sent condolences to the firefighter's family and thanked FDNY, saying, "We watched firsthand with astonishment as they charged into the smoke to make sure all were safely out and then fought to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading."