Mystery as hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre's son is discovered dead in bed at the age of 20

Andre Young Jr was discovered in his bed by his mother at their Los Angeles home on Saturday morning.

He had been out with friends the night before, but returned home at about 5.30am on Saturday.

Young Jr. was unresponsive when his mother went to check on him at around 10am. She then called the emergency services.

In a statement, his musician father said: 'Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son Andre Young Jr. Please respect his family's grief and privacy at this time.'

A post mortem has been completed but toxicology tests could take some weeks, officials said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Young Jr was the subject of a paternity dispute in 1990 when his mother, Jenita Porter, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Dre, seeking $5,000-a-month child support.

She claimed that although Dr. Dre, real name Andre Young, promised to support their then two-year-old son before his birth, she had received only a small amount of cash, a few gifts and nappies during their four-year relationship.

In reply to the suit, Dr. Dre - aged 25 at the time - admitted being the father of the child but said he promised to pay only $500 a month in support.

Over the last two decades, Dr. Dre has become one of the biggest names in hip-hop.

The Los Angeles-born founder and chief executive of Aftermath Entertainment helped change the face of music by innovating the sound of gangsta' rap with his incendiary group N.W.A in the 1980s, which also made a star of fellow rapper Ice Cube.

After stepping from the production booth into the limelight with his smash solo albums The Chronic in 1992 and The Chronic 2001.

He elevated several of the current rap era's biggest stars from obscurity to superstardom. Among them: 50 Cent, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and The Game.

Dr. Dre's music is also closely associated with the rise of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur.

During his career, he has produced tracks for Gwen Stefani, Eve and Mary J. Blige.

He has four Grammy Awards for both his solo and producing work, including Best Rap Solo Performance in 1994 for 'Let Me Ride'.

In recent months, Dr. Dre had been at work on his self-proclaimed 'final' album, 'Detox'.

Besides Young Jnr, Dr. Dre has four other children, Curtis, 27; Marcel, 17; Truth, 11 and Truly, seven.

Dr. Dre lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 12 years Nicole and his two youngest children.