R.I.P.: Mike Starr

Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, who appeared on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab” in 2009, was found Tuesday at his Salt Lake City home today. He was 44.

“It’s a terrible shock and tragedy,” his father told TMZ, who first reported the news.

The musician’s death, the cause of which was unknown, happened less than a month after he was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. Police found he was in possession of six Xanax pills and six pills of Opana, a painkiller.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, an arresting police officer said Starr told them: “Hey, officer, have you heard of Alice in Chains? I used to be the bass guitarist for them. We are down here in Utah . . . putting together a new band.”

Starr, a founding member of the Seattle-based Alice in Chains who left the band in 1993, was treated by Dr. Drew Pinsky for an alleged heroin addiction on the third season of “Celebrity Rehab.”

This is the second time tragedy has struck the group. Another original member, singer Layne Staley, died from a cocaine overdose in 2002.