Michael Jackson dead

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1033811 [headline] => Michael Jackson dead [abstract] => Pop legend Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack after being rushed to hospital in Los Angeles.
[keywords] => Jackson, hospital [content] =>

US pop icon Michael Jackson has died, a Los Angeles County Coroner's office spokesman has confirmed.

Lieutenant Fred Corral told CNN Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead at 2:26pm (0726 AEST) local time after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.

"I can tell you at this time that we were notified by West Los Angeles Police Department detectives that Mr Jackson was transported ... to the hospital, and upon admitting, he was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at approximately 2:26 this afternoon," Corral told CNN.

Corral said an autopsy would "most likely" be carried out on Friday but would not speculate on the exact cause of death.

"Everything is still ongoing. We will be responding to the hospital to move Mr Jackson to our facility where he will be examined to determine the cause of death," Corral said.

"As far as I'm aware, we were notified by LAPD detectives that Mr Jackson was brought in by paramedics to the hospital in full cardiac arrest and then he was later pronounced dead.

"At that point, as I said, there's no further medical history until we get and review the medical records."

Jackson 'on medication before death'

Michael Jackson was taking prescription drugs as he battled to get into shape for his gruelling concert comeback due to get underway in London next month, a lawyer for the family said. 
  
Jackson, who fought long-running battles with prescription medication throughout his career, was taking the drugs after suffering injuries during training for his comeback, attorney and spokesman Brian Oxman said.
  
Oxman told CNN that he had harbored concerns about Jackson's use of drugs, saying members of the star's entourage were "enablers" and comparing his case to the drug overdose death of Playboy centerfold Anna-Nicole Smith.
  
"This is not something that has been unexpected... because of the medications which Michael was under," Oxman said from the hospital where Jackson's family members had gathered.
  
"The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him... if you think that the case of Anna-Nicole Smith was an abuse, it was nothing to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life.
  
"I do not know the extent of the medications that he was taking but the reports we had been receiving in the family is that they were extensive," Oxman added.
  
"When you warn people that this is what's going to happen and then it happens -- where there's smoke there's fire."

Jackson 'not comfortable with the norms of the world'
  
Meanwhile Jackson's former publicist Michael Levine said in an email to AFP that he was unsurprised by the death.
  
"I must confess I am not surprised by today's tragic news," Levine said.
  
"Michael has been on an impossibly difficult and often self-destructive journey for years. His talent was unquestionable but so too was his discomfort with the norms of the world.
  
"A human simply can not withstand this level of prolonged stress."

'Final curtain' concerts already in doubt

The sudden death came as Jackson was preparing to make a keenly anticipated concert comeback in London, his first series of shows in more than a decade and the first since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges.

However those concerts -- billed as the "final curtain" -- had been thrown into doubt after Jackson pushed back the opening dates last month. Organisers of the concerts at the time stressed the delay was not linked to Jackson's health.

Jackson lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges including child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.

Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar struggled to recover.

Four years later, Jackson is still worshipped by fans for revolutionising music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success.

The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery -- which he denies -- his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations.

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Michael Jackson was a child prodigy, a musical genius and remains one of the most idolised artists on earth.
  
The 50-year-old pop megastar was hospitalised after suffering a cardiac arrest, and entertainment website TMZ.com said the pop icon had died after paramedics could not revive him.
  
For all his fame and legions of fans, Jackson has lived as a virtual recluse since he was acquitted in 2005 on charges of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.
  
Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar has yet to recover.
  
Four years later, the 50-year-old is still worshipped by fans for revolutionizing music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success.
  
The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery -- which he denies -- his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations.
  
Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
  
By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label.
  
The Jacksons produced seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS's Epic Records in 1976.
  
Despite the early success, Jackson was to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act broke up, as Jackson went solo.
  
In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.
  
They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson's breakthrough album as a composer and co-producer, "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.
  
According to Robert Thompson, an expert in pop culture at the University of Syracuse, New York, Jackson's later problems can be traced back to the phenomenal success of "Thriller."
  
"He got to the point that he was so rich, so powerful and so famous, that he was allowed to kind of withdraw from any kind of reality," Thompson told AFP.
  
"Thriller" was followed by "Bad" in 1987 (20 million sold) and "Dangerous" in 1991 (21 million sold) with videos whose auto-erotic dance contrasted with Jackson's sweet, childlike personality offstage.
  
A pop culture icon with enormous wealth, Jackson in 1991 signed a deal with Sony Music described as the most lucrative contract ever for a recording artist. Although Jackson's share was not disclosed, Sony estimated the potential in sales at a billion dollars.
  
But in 1993, a 13-year-old boy made sex abuse allegations against his former pal Jackson, and prosecutors and police launched an investigation.
  
A year later, Jackson struck an out-of-court agreement with the family under which he paid out a total 23.3 million dollars, a deal which Jackson has said he now regrets.
  
The deal halted the criminal case, which was being pursued by Tom Sneddon, the chief prosecutor in Jackson's trial.
  
As Jackson's life was complicated by his meteoric rise to fame, he also started undergoing a dramatic physical transformation.
  
Over the years, his skin has become much lighter and he appears to have had extensive plastic surgery on his face. Vanity Fair magazine reported in 2003 that the tip of his nose is actually a prosthesis.
  
In 1994, he stunned the public by marrying Lisa Marie Presley, the 26-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley.
  
The marriage lasted less than two years and was a hot topic for the tabloids. However, the renewed interest in Jackson's love life did not spark interest in his music.
  
In June 1995, he released the double album "HIStory, Past, Present and Future -- Book I" to negative reviews and weak sales -- despite Sony Music's 40-million-dollar investment. And Jackson's next album, "Invincible," flopped.
  
Jackson then married Debbie Rowe, a 37-year-old nurse he met while undergoing plastic surgery in 1997. They had two children, Prince Michael and Paris Michael Katherine, before divorcing in 1999.
  
Jackson had custody of the two children and of a third, Prince Michael II, born to an unknown woman, when in November 2002 he came under fierce public criticism for dangling his youngest child from a fourth-floor hotel balcony in Berlin for photographers.
  
Adding to his woes Jackson has also been hit by a flurry of lawsuits from former aides and promoters and from a slew of people suing over alleged unpaid bills. Last November, Jackson and a Bahraini prince struck an "amicable" deal to avoid going to court in a seven-million-dollar lawsuit.
  
The extent of Jackson's financial woes is unclear, with conflicting reports about the singers assets and debts.
  
But a treasure trove of Jackson memorabilia, including a wrought iron gate from his Neverland Ranch and his famous white glove, are to be auctioned off in Beverly Hills next month, reflecting the singer's change in circumstances.
 

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Below are the principal dates in the life of pop star Michael Jackson, 50, who was reported to have died in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest.
  
- August 29, 1958: born in Gary, Indiana
  
- August 1962: singing debut with his brothers, The Jackson Five
  
- March 1969: first Jackson Five contract with Tamla Motown, Detroit's black-owned record label. Michael's voice propels the group onto the hit parade with "ABC" and "I'll Be There"
  
- 1970: launch of solo career alongside that of the Jackson Five
  
- August 1979: release of "Off The Wall" album, produced by Quincy Jones, which sold 11 million copies
  
- December 1982: release of "Thriller" album, whose seven hits included "Billie Jean" and "Beat It," pushing sales to 50 million copies worldwide
  
- 1984: Jackson's face gets burnt during filming for a Pepsi ad
  
- 1985: buys ATV Music -- a company with rights to John Lennon and Paul McCartney songs -- for 47.5 million dollars
  
- 1985: Jackson writes "We Are The World," which benefited the fight against hunger in Africa
  
- 1987: release of "Bad," which sold 26 million copies and marked the end of his collaboration with Quincy Jones
  
- 1988: his autobiography "Moonwalk" comes out
  
- 1990: Michael Jackson is seen for the first time wearing a surgical mask in public
  
- 1992: release of "Dangerous," which sold 22 million copies
  
- August 1993: a father accuses Jackson of molesting his 13-year-old son, but settles out of court
  
- May 1994-February 1996: marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis
  
- June 1995: release of "HIStory" album
  
- November 1996-October 1999: marriage to Debbie Rowe, a 37-year-old nurse with whom he has two children, Prince Michael and Paris Michael Katherine
  
- October 2001: release of "Invincible"
  
- July 2002: Jackson accuses record labels of exploiting artists, especially African-Americans
  
- November 19, 2002: scandal after Jackson dangles his third son, nine-month-old Prince Michael II, from a Berlin hotel balcony
  
- January 31, 2003: Sotheby's auction house sues for non-payment of 1.7 million dollars for two paintings
  
- February 3: in documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" broadcast on ITV, Jackson claims never to have abused a child, merely to have shared his bed
  
- February: the singer's manager brings a 13-million-dollar lawsuit for back salary, which is settled out of court in June
  
- November 18: police raid Jackson's Neverland ranch in California as "Number Ones" album is released
  
- November 19: warrant issued for Jackson's arrest on several counts of child molestation
  
- November 20: Jackson is arrested and handcuffed after surrendering to police, held briefly then released on bail
  
- December 18: he is formally charged with child molestation
  
- January 16, 2004: Jackson pleads not guilty during his first appearance amid a media circus
  
- January 31, 2005: Michael Jackson trial begins with jury selection
  
- February 28, 2005: Opening arguments begin in trial
  
- June 4, 2005: Jurors begin considering their verdict
  
- June 13, 2005: Jackson acquitted on all charges against him
  
- March 5, 2009: Jackson announces series of comeback concerts in London -- billed as the "final curtain" -- his first major shows for more than a decade
  
- May 20, 2009: Jackson delays comeback shows. Concert organizers say singer's health is "fantastic"
  
- June 25, 2009: Jackson reported dead in Los Angeles after suffering cardiac arrest
 

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