Rick Harrison Faces Family Tragedy with Mother’s Death

Pawn Stars personality Rick Harrison’s mother Joanne Harrison died at the age of 85 on Wednesday in a Las Vegas hospital.

Harrison’s rep Laura Herlovich confirmed the sad news to Daily Mail Thursday, adding that ‘Rick is handling things privately.’ 

The Las Vegas-based businessman and reality star, 60, also suffered tragedy last year when his son Adam Harrison died as a result of an accidental overdose.

Adam, one of Rick’s three sons, passed away at 39 from accidental fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity on January 19, 2024, the Las Vegas coroner said.

Rick subsequently told TMZ in a statement: ‘Yes, I can confirm Adam died from a fentanyl overdose.

‘The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously. It seems it is just flowing over the borders and nothing is being done about it. We must do better.’

Pawn Stars personality Rick Harrison’s mother Joanne Harrison died at the age of 85 on Wednesday in a Las Vegas hospital. Rick, 60, pictured in Las Vegas in January 

Harrison is keeping a tight inner circle following the family tragedy, his rep said 

Rick said in an Instagram post at the time of his son, ‘You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam.’

Rick spoke in detail to the In Depth with Graham Bessinger podcast in March about his son’s tragic death and how he’s coped with it in the time since.

‘I think about him every day,’ Rick said. ‘In his 20s, he had the drug problems, I mean, I put him in rehab so many times, and every time he’d do great and then fall back; you’ll hear the same story from a million people. 

‘It got really, really bad, and apparently it wasn’t heroin, he got some fentanyl and it killed him.’

Harrison said that he had been very introspective in the wake of his son’s untimely passing.

‘When you lose a kid, you second-guess f***ing everything,’ Harrison said. ‘It’s like, “Could I have done this? Could I have done this?”

‘It goes through your brain constantly. There’s not a day that goes by I don’t think about him. Could I have done something different? I think I did everything right.’

Harrison said that he envisioned a scenario in which he would have ensured his son  couldn’t get his hands on any drugs: ‘What if I just grabbed him f***ing locked him in the back of my truck and drove him to Oregon and put him in the river where he couldn’t get anything?’ 

He added, ‘There’s nothing worse than losing a kid.’

The reality star pictured at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on September 13, 2024 

The Las Vegas-based businessman and reality star, 60, also suffered tragedy last year when his son Adam Harrison died at 39 as a result of an accidental overdose

Rick paid memorial to his father Richard Harrison after he died from Parkinson’s disease at the age of 77 in June of 2018.

‘He will be tremendously missed by our family, the team at Gold & Silver Pawn and his many fans the world over,’ he said. ‘He was my hero and I was fortunate to get a very cool “Old Man” as my dad.

‘That I got to share him with so many others and they got to see what a great family man he was is something I am grateful to have experienced with him.’

Rick said his father ‘lived a very full life’ and, thanks to his appearances on Pawn Stars, ‘ touched the lives of people all over.’

Rick said his father taught viewers ‘the value of loving your family, hard work and humor.’

Rick recently proposed to his fiancé, Angie Polushkin. He used a 6.5-carat ring he had at his Gold & Silver Pawn Shop to propose to her.