Michael Jackson, King of Pop, Dies at 50

Where: Los Angeles, USA

June 25, 2009 : Michael Jackson, known as the ‘King of Pop’ died suddenly in his Los Angeles home. He was 50. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. The police have ruled out any possibility of foul play. Fans all over the world were shocked at their idol’s death. Michael was one of the most successful entertainers of all time. He began his singing career with The Jackson 5, a group which featured him and his older siblings, in 1966. He was to register many hits and best sellers in his adult career, and the biggest of them was the 1982 hit Thriller, an album that sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Jackson will be remembered as one of the greatest black singers of all time. He was a very skilled dancer, and his biggest hit albums were released in an age when music videos began to be aired over television.

Michael Jackson was about to begin a world tour to mark his fiftieth birthday. In the last 20 years, Jackson did not register many musical successes. Controversy and scandal kept him in the news, though. His lifestyle was strange. Michael famously went in for a complete change of appearance which included a remodelled face and a procedure that gave him white skin. He battled court cases and confessed to drug addiction. He buried himself in isolation in the fantasy home where he lived for some years – ‘Neverland’, named for its association with Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. Neverland was sold as Jackson was hundreds of millions dollars deep in debt. The pop star pledged a 50 date worldwide concert tour later in the year to pay off his debts. Tickets sold for enormous prices on the internet – but rumours that the star’s health was failing proved to be true.

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