Michael Jackson, King of Pop, Dies!!!

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Topic started by Nerd on Thu Jun 25 19:13:46 2009. [Full View]

Michael Jackson dead at 50

Sun wrote:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the “King of Pop” and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50.

The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” — remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 26 million copies.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

By some measures, he ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. In fact, he united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie.

As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grownup life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Jackson was preparing for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. He was in rehearsals in Los Angeles for the concert, an extravaganza that was to capture the classic Jackson magic: showstopping dance moves, elaborate staging and throbbing dance beats.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson’s rented home, was roped off with police tape.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson has just died,” a woman boarding a Manhattan bus called out, shortly after the news was annunced. Immediately many riders reached for their cell phones.

In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.

“No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend sent to his telephone. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”

R.I.P. MJ

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From: Wibha on Sat Jul 4 15:59:47 2009. [Full View]

There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That
Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong
It Only Cares For
Joyful Giving
If We Try
We Shall See
In This Bliss
We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing And
Start Living

Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For
Us Growing
So Make A Better World
Make A Better World...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

And The Dream We Were
Conceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We
Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep
Strangling Life
Wound This Earth
Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow

We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart
I Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With
No Fear
Together We'll Cry
Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords
Into Plowshares

We Could Really Get There
If You Cared Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me

So hard to believe he's no more
From: MazhaiKuruvi on Sun Jul 5 12:05:58 2009. [Full View]

Most of the lyrics to Michael's songs are here http://www.azlyrics.com/j/jackson.html
From: raagadevan on Tue Jul 7 23:37:49 2009. [Full View]

"Best father you can ever imagine..."

-Paris Katherine Jackson

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/07/07/sot.paris.jackson.aeglive

"Goodbye, Michael Jackson..."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/07/michael.jackson.wrap/index.html
From: Thalafanz on Wed Jul 8 0:31:58 2009. [Full View]

Jackson hailed as greatest entertainer, best dad

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Usher sang emotional farewells on Tuesday to Michael Jackson, who was hailed as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived" and described by his tearful 11-year-old daughter Paris as "the best father you could ever imagine."

Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly-anticipated series of comeback concerts.

Jackson's brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer's golden casket into the downtown Staples Center.

Carey performed Jackson's 1970 ballad "I'll Be There", Usher's voice cracked as he sang "Gone Too Soon" and the King of Pop's three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.

But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.

"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough," said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson's musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer's life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.

Jackson's sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" back to the top of music charts.

President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was "one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation," and added: "I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles he became a core part of our culture.

The memorial focused on Jackson's 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens' groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.

It was broadcast live on U.S. national TV networks and Internet company Akamai said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January.

The company, which handles 20 percent of the world's Web traffic, reported that it ran some 2.8 million audio and video streams during the webcast.

Gordy was among the few who referred obliquely to Jackson's recent troubles. "Sure there was some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of," said Gordy.

"NOTHING STRANGE" ABOUT DADDY

Jackson was on the eve of a comeback after his career collapsed in the 1990s. The exact cause of his death is still awaiting toxicology results amid reports of abuse of prescription drugs, including the powerful narcotic Diprivan.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has lashed out at media coverage of the bizarre aspects of Jackson's life, had a message for the singer's three children.

"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with," he said, to cheers from the audience.

The children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris and Prince Michael II, 7, appeared with the family on stage to join in a mass chorus of Jackson's inspirational hits "We Are the World" and "Heal the World".

Paris, in tears, took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just wanted to say I love him, so much."

Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier on Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery before bringing the singer's body and casket to the memorial. Questions remained on where exactly Jackson would be buried.

Police had estimated that more than 250,000 people would gather outside the arena but the orderly crowds were much smaller than expected. Many fans and downtown office workers appeared to have stayed at home to watch the ceremony on TV.

Police, security, escorts and sanitation for the memorial ceremony are expected to cost cash-strapped Los Angeles city council nearly $4 million. The city council on Tuesday launched a web site asking for fans to make donations towards the cost of hosting Tuesday's events and said that contributions had started to come in.

(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant, Alex Dobuzinskis and Jim Finkle)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/8/worldupdates/2009-07-08T040609Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-408754-4&sec=Worldupdates
From: app_engine on Thu Jul 16 9:44:55 2009. [Full View]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-jackson-album-sales16-2009jul16,0,7847156.story

9 million record sales since his death.
From: Thalafanz on Thu Jul 16 9:46:30 2009. [Full View]
From: priya32 on Thu Jul 16 9:55:35 2009. [Full View]

app_engine wrote:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-jackson-album-sales16-2009jul16,0,7847156.story

9 million record sales since his death.

Tell me about!

I've been trying to get 'Thriller' album since Michael's passing by going to different stores and online...EmaaRRam thaan michcham!
From: ajithfederer on Thu Jul 16 13:51:05 2009. [Full View]

This is the official clip from BOUNCE & Friends. More than 300 dancers met at 15.30, got informed and then
learned the choreography in 30 min. Less then 1 hour later they performed it.
A big thank you to all the dancers who made this possible....*
OneLove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVJVRywgmYM

See this for the cultural/musical impact of Jackson

.

From: NOV on Tue Aug 18 20:45:39 2009.

[Full View]

CBC wrote:

Birthday burial for Jackson: dad

Michael Jackson's father says the late pop icon will be buried on what would have been his 51st birthday at a cemetery in Los Angeles.

Joe Jackson told the New York Daily News and AFP wire service that his son is to have a private burial on Aug. 29th at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

On Tuesday, a Jackson family spokesman, Ken Sunshine, confirmed the announcement.

Reports speculated that Jackson had already been buried in early August but the family did not make any statements about those stories.

Jackson's death certificate temporarily lists his body as being held at Forest Lawn, but the certificate has yet to be revised with the Los Angeles County to show his final resting place.

Jackson died of cardiac arrest June 25. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has completed its autopsy but will not release its findings until a police investigation is completed.

Authorities are examining whether prescription drugs may have a played a role in the death of the singer, who was in the midst of rehearsals for his 50-concert run at London's O2 arena slated to run from mid-July to September.

Meanwhile, the Jackson family has continued planning tributes for Michael. Brother Jermaine Jackson is organizing a star-studded tribute concert in Vienna for Sept. 26 to be broadcast live around the world.

Jermaine has expressed wishes for his brother to be buried at the King of Pop's Neverland estate, located 200 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles.

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/08/17/jackson-burial-dad.html

From: Thalafanz on Wed Aug 19 8:42:19 2009. [Full View]

Michael Jackson to break huge star's record?

For the seventh consecutive week, Michael Jackson has three of the five best-selling albums in the U.S. Number Ones sold 98,000 copies and would have topped The Billboard 200 for the sixth week if catalog albums were eligible to compete there. The Essential Michael Jackson sold 54,000 and would have held at #3. Thriller sold 47,000 and would have inched up from #5 to #4.

This ongoing success will enable Jackson to make history (or should I say HIStory?) on Nielsen/SoundScan's year-end charts. Do I have a crystal ball? No, I have something better: the tracking company's year-to-date sales chart. Jackson has three albums in the top 15 on that list. Number Ones holds at #2 and will probably pull ahead of Taylor Swift's Fearless, the long-time leader, in two weeks. Thriller jumps to #10, while The Essential Michael Jackson climbs to #15. Jackson is likely to become the first artist to have three albums in Nielsen/SoundScan's year-end top 20 since Garth Brooks achieved the feat in 1992. (All three of Brooks' albums--Ropin' The Wind, The Chase and No Fences, ranked in the year-end top 10.)

Number Ones is vying to become the only the third greatest hits album to rank #1 for the year on either Billboard's "year-end" charts or Nielsen/SoundScan's calendar year rankings. Elton John's Elton John--Greatest Hits was Billboard's leader for 1974. The Beatles' 1 was the magazine's champ for 2001. (On Nielsen/SoundScan, 1 was the #6 seller of 2000.) Number Ones is also likely to become the first catalog album and the first album by a deceased performer to wind up as the #1 album of the year on either list, going back to 1956.
The Essential Michael Jackson is #1 in the U.K. for the sixth straight week. This is the longest continuous run on top in that country since Leona Lewis' Spirit had seven straight weeks at #1 from November 2007 to January 2008. (Coldplay's Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends had six non-consecutive weeks on top last year.)

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/40484/aug-9-2009-better-than-a-crystal-ball/

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