Pop star Michael Jackson dies

Michael Jackson, the iconic entertainer known the world over as the King of Pop, has died. He was 50.

Jackson was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center early Thursday afternoon when paramedics were dispatched to his rented Bel-Air home and found him not breathing after suffering a cardiac arrest. They administered CPR to revive him, but Jackson still slipped into a deep coma by the time of his arrival at the hospital.

TMZ.com reported that sister La Toya Jackson was seen rushing into the hospital in tears. Officials declared him dead shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.

Jackson was due to launch a sold-out 50-date “final curtain call” run at London’s O2 Arena next month, with 750,000 tickets for the stretch of shows selling out in a mere four hours.

That was intended to be the launch of a massive comeback for the tarnished pop star, hoping to restore his reputation after being acquitted in May 2005 on charges of child sexual abuse, as well as replenish his coffers after years of financial problems. He would have made a reported £50 million ($82 million) for his performances.

But recent reports (albeit from not entirely reliable sources) had suggested Jackson was overworked, unhappy with the number of dates he had been booked to perform, and not fully prepared for opening night.

Jackson is survived by his three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

There was a time, of course, when Jackson was on top of the world – unquestionably the most popular and successful entertainer on Earth.

He had risen to his pop throne in stellar fashion. Born Michael Joseph Jackson on Aug. 29, 1958, the seventh of nine children born to his domineering and abusive father (and one-time manager) Joe Jackson and mother Katherine Esther, young Michael was singing in front of family and classmates by age 5 in his hometown of Gary, Ind.

At 6, he and brother Marlon had joined Tito, Jackie and Jermaine in their group the Jackson Brothers, playing percussion, singing backup and developing dance moves learned from James Brown. Two years later he became the outfit’s lead vocalist – and its name was changed to the Jackson 5 not long before the quintet signed with Berry Gordon’s Motown Records in 1968.

Now fronted by the cutest kid in pop, one with a rapidly developing arsenal of high-pitched cries and wild moves performers three times his age couldn’t replicate, the J5’s success was meteoric. Capturing the attention of kids weaned on bubblegum soul and adult fans alike, the teen idols broke past racial barriers and stormed the charts in 1969 with its first four singles. Their run from “I Want You Back” and “ABC” to “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There,” classics all, was like nothing pop had seen, setting a record by consecutively topping the Billboard charts, and making the J5 the first act ever to do so.

By the time disco took hold in the mid-’70s, however, Jackson was already well on his way to becoming a solo sensation. As early as 1972 he was scoring hits without his brothers, notably “Ben,” “Got to Be There” and his remake of Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin.”

But his association with producer Quincy Jones, begun in 1978 when Jackson appeared alongside lifelong friend Diana Ross as the Scarecrow in the film version of the Broadway hit “The Wiz,” would prove the most important and lasting musical partnership of his career.

In August 1979, Jackson and Jones unveiled their first collaboration, “Off the Wall.” It went on to be a commercial monster, to date selling 7 million copies stateside and 20 million globally. Its hits – “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” “Rock with You,” the title track and the weepy ballad “She’s Out of My Life” – all cracked the Top 10, making Jackson the first recording artist to land so many singles from one album in the upper reaches of the Billboard charts.

It was also during this time that Jackson underwent his first rhinoplasty, after breaking his nose during a dance routine. He would spend much of his life making further alterations to his appearance. Suffering from vitiligo, his skin color eventually faded to a pale white, though he was often accused of bleaching his skin. He continued to undergo multiple nasal surgeries, cheekbone and forehead lifts and the thinning of his lips – and around the time of filming “Captain EO” for Disney and director Francis Ford Coppola, he had a cleft inserted into his chin.

None of that had begun, however, by the time Jackson reteamed with Jones for their second effort, “Thriller.” Released just after Thanksgiving in 1982, the album, widely regarded as one of the most important in the history of popular music, spinning off hit after hit: “Beat It,” “Human Nature,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl Is Mine,” the Vincent Price-enhanced title track, the award-winning video of which became a staple during the nascent days of MTV.

In March 1983, Jackson performed the album’s first single, “Billie Jean,” to a reported audience of 47 million on the live television special “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” It was during this celebrated appearance that he debuted his signature dance move, the Moonwalk, as well as his fashion of wearing one sequined glove.

“Thriller” sent Jackson soaring into the pop stratosphere. The album stayed in the Top 10 for an unprecedented 80 weeks, 37 of them spent at the top spot. Estimates of its total worldwide sales are often in excess of 100 million copies, and the album garnered him a record-setting eight Grammy Awards in 1984 – as well as an invitation to meet President Ronald Reagan at the White House.

But shortly before his Grammy sweep, Jackson suffered a set back when his hair caught fire during the taping of a Pepsi commercial at the Shrine Auditorium. In retrospect, that scare combined with the overwhelming glare of the spotlight is perhaps the turning point – the moment when Jackson began to shift from endearing pop star to reclusive eccentric ensconced in his fairy-tale amusement-park estate, Neverland Ranch.

Further chart-topping releases followed: “Bad” in 1987 (featuring one of his catchiest songs, “The Way You Make Me Feel”) and “Dangerous” in 1991, the latter introduced to the world via a controversial and mildly violent video for its initial single, “Black or White.” Yet, though the music stayed consistently strong and appealing, Jackson himself was getting weirder.

Tabloid reports circulated rumors that he had started sleeping in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process. He purchased a pet chimpanzee he called Bubbles, later claiming that the animal shared the singer’s toilet. It was said he bought the bones of John Merrick, better known as “The Elephant Man” – a rumor he was said to have planted in the press for kicks – though that was later proved untrue.

During this time, however, Jackson became a world-renowned humanitarian, raising millions of dollars for children in war-torn and disease-ridden regions via his “Heal the World Foundation,” as well as drawing attention to the plight of AIDS sufferers following the death of Ryan White.

He also purchased the rights to Northern Songs (which includes the Beatles’ catalog) for $47.5 million.

In 1994 he married his first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, not long after allegations arose that Jackson had sexually abused a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler, a matter that was settled out of court for $22 million. Jackson was never charged, but less than a decade later – after Jackson had remarried and fathered three children – he was charged with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit a felony, charges that stemmed from accusations made by Gavin Arvizo, who was 14 at the time of the alleged crime.

Jackson survived the trial and dodged a conviction, but the stains on his reputation were permanent for many – especially after a British documentary from 2003, “Living with Michael Jackson,” painted the increasingly odd superstar as a reckless spendthrift and an arguably unfit father. The previous year Jackson had earned widespread public scorn for dangling his youngest baby, Blanket, out of a fourth-story balcony window in a Berlin hotel.

And yet, no matter how often he lived up to the moniker Wacko Jacko, Michael Jackson remained a towering figure in pop music, beloved by millions who found his eccentricities endearing and revered by legions of progeny, from Justin Timberlake and Rihanna to Maroon 5.

“Rarely has the world received a gift with the magnitude of artistry, talent, and vision as Michael Jackson,” Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy of America, said in a statement. “He was a true musical icon whose identifiable voice, innovative dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and sheer star power carried him from childhood to worldwide acclaim.

“A 13-time Grammy recipient, Michael’s career transcends musical and cultural genres and his contributions will always keep him in our hearts and memories. We are deeply saddened by this tragic news and our hearts go out to his family and to music lovers around the globe who mourn this great loss.”