http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090625/entertainment/centertainment_us_jackson
King of Pop Michael Jackson is dead: report
By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson, the child star turned King of Pop who
set the world dancing to exuberant rhythms for decades, died on Thursday, the
Los Angeles Times said. He was 50.
"Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after
arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told
The Times," the newspaper reported on its website.
Jackson had been taken ill at his home and found not breathing by paramedics
who rushed him to a hospital, the paper said.
The paper's report followed news of Jackson's death first reported by the TMZ
entertainment website, which said that the singer suffered a cardiac arrest.
There was no immediate comment from spokespersons for Jackson.
Known as the "King of Pop," for hits that included "Thriller" and "Billie
Jean," Jackson's dramatic stage presence and innovative dance moves were
imitated by legions of fans around the world.
His one-gloved eccentric style also earned him plenty of critics and another
nickname, "Wacko Jacko."
Jackson, who had lived as a virtual recluse since his acquittal in 2005 on
charges of child molestation, had been scheduled to launch a comeback tour from
London next month.
TMZ said on its website that Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday
afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him.
"We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a
pulse back," the site said.
Earlier, the Los Angeles Times said the singer had been rushed to a Los
Angeles-area hospital by fire department paramedics. The newspaper said
paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the singer's home before
taking him to the UCLA Medical Center hospital.
COMEBACK CONCERTS
Jackson had been due to start a series of concerts in London on July 13 running
until March 2010. The singer had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for
the past two months.
The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale
in March.
His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which,
added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful
entertainers of all time.
There were concerns about Jackson's health in recent years but the promoters of
the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour
physical examination with independent doctors.
New Yorkers and tourists in the city's Times Square were shocked at the news of
Jackson's death.
"I don't know what to say. It's sad, it's really, really sad," said Nicole
Smith, an 18-year-old student from Brooklyn, New York, in Times Square. "My
mother was a fan. I listened to his music."
"I'm shocked. I thought someone was lying to me when I first heard it. I was a
fan from when he was a little boy and then he got weird," said Sue Sheider, 51,
a teacher from Long Island.
CHILD STAR TO MEGASTAR
Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine
children. Five Jackson boys -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael --
first performed together at a talent show when Michael was 6. They walked off
with first prize and went on to become a best-selling band, The Jackson Five,
and then The Jackson 5.
Jackson made his first solo album in 1972, and released "Thriller" in 1982,
which became a smash hit that yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21
million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.
The next year, he unveiled his signature "moonwalk" dance move while performing
"Billie Jean" during an NBC special.
In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, but the
marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year
and had two children, before splitting in 1999. The couple never lived together.
Jackson has three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince
Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over
the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.
(Additional Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles and Michelle Nichols in
New York; Writing by Frances Kerry, Editing by Jackie Frank)
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