Top New York Music Manager Found Dead

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

Music manager Chris Lighty, who helped the careers of stars like 50 Cent and Mariah Carey, has been found dead at his flat in New York.

Police say the shooting appears to be a suicide and that there were no signs of forced entry.

The 44-year-old had been going through a divorce and had been having financial and other personal problems.

Stars including Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Diddy have been paying tribute to the hip hop businessman on Twitter.

During his career he worked with stars like LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott and Fat Joe and initially worked for Rush Management, Russell Simmons' first company before he founded rap record label Def Jam.

He set up his own management company, Violator, in the late 1990s.

In a 2007 interview for Associated Press, Chris Lighty talked about how his stars could make money outside music.