Tragic Details About Rick Harrison's Late Son Adam

The following article discusses drug addiction, overdose, and mental health issues.

Adam Harrison, the second of Rick Harrison's three kids, had a tragic life and an even more tragic death. Adam, the second-born to Rick and the first of his four wives, struggled with drug addiction his entire adult life, a disease that also put an end to it. His addiction caused all sorts of problems, ranging from trouble with the law to issues with his family, but through it all, Rick was right there trying to help him behind the scenes.

Unlike Rick's oldest son Corey Harrison, Adam was uninterested in starring next to him on "Pawn Stars" and kept a low profile instead. While he initially worked in his father's pawn shop, he later pursued a career as a plumber. However, the fame that came with the History series must have affected Adam on some level. "I think there has to be some type of jealousy," Corey told HuffPost in 2012. While Rick rarely shared Adam on his social media before his death, he paid tribute to his troubled son following the tragedy.

"You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam," he captioned an Instagram post in January 2024 that included a photo of the two together. He later shared pics from when Adam was young as Rick continued to grieve his son Adam's tragic death. "Amazing memories," he wrote. Corey also paid tribute to his little brother. "I will always love you bubba," he wrote. Rick experienced plenty of tragedies, but witnessing his son's lifelong struggles and heartbreaking death is right at the top. 

Adam Harrison was found dead from a suspected overdose in a Las Vegas home where he had been living on January 19, 2024, TMZ reported. He was 39. Rick Harrison later revealed details surrounding his child's death. "Yes, I can confirm Adam died from a fentanyl overdose," he told the New York Post a few days later. Police determined he died from a mix of fentanyl and methamphetamine, and his death was deemed accidental, USA Today reported. 

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used for pain relief 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, was the leading drug involved in fatal overdoses between 2011 and 2016, according to Addiction Center. As of this writing, opioids as a group are part of about 68% of drug-related deaths, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics reported. The second deadliest — cocaine — doesn't even come close at 21%. Rick believes the government needs to take a more proactive role in the fight against the drug. "The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously," he said. "It seems it is just flowing over the borders, and nothing is being done about it. We must do better."

The loss of his son prompted Rick to become vocal about his political views. In April, he praised President Donald Trump's January executive order that blocked migrants and asylum seekers from entering the southern border, forcing them to await legal proceedings in Mexico. "Closing the border was absolutely amazing. That's where ... that's where it's all coming from," he told Fox News in 2025.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Adam Harrison's fentanyl death was a tragic end to a years-long battle against drug addiction. He started doing drugs in his youth, something that brought considerable strain on his family. Rick Harrison did what he could to help him over the years, though it never had the desired effect. "In his 20s, he had the drug problems," he said on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" in March. "I mean, God, I put him in rehab so many times, and every time he'd be doing great, and then he would just fall back."

Rick was aware that drugs claim the lives of more than a hundred thousand people across the country each year, but he never expected that to be his reality. "God, you just never see the OD coming. You want to give them tough love and everything, but I never thought that would happen," he said. He knows he isn't alone in his experience of dealing with drug addiction in the family, but that didn't make it easier. "You hear the same story from a million people. It got really, really bad," he said.

Besides fentanyl, Rick implied his son had also used heroin. Given that Nevada authorities also found methamphetamine in his system when he died, Adam was likely addicted to different drugs. Adam's overdose made Rick question his parenting decisions over the years. "You just sit in your head, 'What if I did this? What if I did this?'" he told Bensinger.

Adam Harrison had issues with the law. He reportedly spent three months in jail shortly before his death. Two weeks after he was released, he moved into the guesthouse of the home where he was found dead, according to the New York Post. It's unclear whether his drug addiction played a role in his incarceration, but Rick Harrison suggested it did — even if indirectly. "Fentanyl turned my son into someone he wasn't, and that brought with it bad decisions and spending time in jail," he told the outlet.

In the "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" interview, Rick admitted to calling the cops on Adam after he forced his way into his home. It was a desperate last attempt to get him sober. "I figured maybe if we put him in jail for two months, it'll clean him out, but he just went straight back on it," he said. "You try to give him tough love." Corey Harrison told Besinger that his brother called him from jail and told him he was anxiously waiting for his release so he could go back to using drugs.

Rick went back and forth between giving up and taking drastic measures. He continued to opt for the latter, always hopeful something would stick. "What if I just grabbed him, f***ing locked him in the back of my truck, drove him to Oregon, and put him over to where he couldn't get [drugs]? I mean, you have a hundred things go through your mind," he reflected.

In the days leading up to his death, Adam Harrison's neighbors noticed some concerning behavior that suggested he may have been experiencing undiagnosed mental health issues. A woman who lived in a nearby RV told police that Adam blocked his home's door with furniture to barricade himself inside, according to an incident report cited in the New York Post article. "His conversations were often lacking sound reasoning and mental clarity," the report noted.

The same neighbor also reported that Adam hurt himself after learning someone, presumably a recent ex-girlfriend, was seeing someone new. "He did not want to beat up the new boyfriend, so he beat up himself," she said, claiming he ended up with two black eyes. Another neighbor, a 30-something-year-old woman who lived in the main house next to the guesthouse, knocked on his door to check up on him, but he didn't answer. She later received a social media message in which Adam claimed to be quarantining because he was sick.

The resident informed their landlord about the situation. According to the USA Today report, the neighbor took action after Adam was locked inside for two days. After finding him on the bed upstairs, the landlord called law enforcement. As tragic as his son's life was, Rick Harrison learned an important lesson from him. "[You have to] appreciate what you got, because it's not you're not always going to have it," he said on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Rick Harrison got married for the first time when he was just 17. In 1982, he and Kim Harrison tied the knot, knowing they weren't ready for the commitment. "You know what, she got pregnant — I was going to do the right thing," he said on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger." Kim had a miscarriage but got pregnant again right away. Corey Harrison was born in April 1983, and Adam Harrison followed shortly after.

But it didn't work out. "I'm like 20 years old; I've got two little kids ... Any relationship that early with kids is going to fall apart. So it fell apart," he told Bensinger. In 1985, when Corey and Adam were about 1 and 2 years old, Rick and Kim divorced. But the couple couldn't figure out a custody agreement that worked for all involved. "A few months later, she dropped the kids off with me and never showed back up," he said.

From then on, Rick raised the boys alone. "It was really, really hard being a single guy trying to raise kids," he shared. But he said it was also the best thing that happened to him. After becoming responsible for Corey and Adam, Rick buried his rebellious side in the past. He has since valued his role as a father above all others. Now that he is a grandfather, he spends as much time with family as possible. "My amazing newest granddaughter," he captioned a 2023 Instagram post featuring him feeding the baby.