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Emblem of pop culture dies - International Herald Tribune

BROOKS BARNES The New York Times
International Herald Tribune
06-27-2009
Emblem of pop culture dies
Byline: BROOKS BARNES The New York Times
Edition: 2
Section: NEWS

LOS ANGELES: --

For his legions of fans, he was the Peter Pan of pop music: the little boy who refused to grow up. But on the verge of another attempted comeback, he is suddenly gone, this time for good.

Michael Jackson, whose quintessentially American tale of celebrity and excess took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and failed plastic surgery, was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at U.C.L.A. Medical Center after arriving in a coma, a city official said. Mr. Jackson was 50, having spent 40 of those years in the public eye he loved.
The singer was rushed to the hospital, a six-minute drive from the rented Bel Air home in which he was living, shortly after noon by paramedics for the Los Angeles Fire Department. A hospital spokesman would not confirm reports of cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

An autopsy was planned, though results were not likely to be final until toxicology tests could be completed, a process that could take days and sometimes weeks, a Los Angeles County coroner investigator, Jerry McKibben, said, The Associated Press reported.

As with Elvis Presley or the Beatles, it is impossible to calculate the full effect Mr. Jackson had on the world of music. At the height of his career, he was indisputably the biggest star in the world; he has sold more than 750 million albums. Radio stations across the country reacted to his death with marathon sessions.

Mr. Jackson had been scheduled to perform 50 concerts at the O2 arena in London beginning next month and continuing into 2010. The shows, which quickly sold out, were positioned as a comeback, with the potential to earn him up to $50 million, according to some reports.

But there had also been worry and speculation that Jackson was not physically ready for such an arduous run of concerts, and his postponement of the first of those shows to July 13 from July 8 fueled new gossip about his health.

From his days as the youngest brother in the Jackson 5 to his solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Jackson was responsible for a string of hits like 'I Want You Back,' 'I'll Be There' 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' 'Billie Jean' and 'Black or White' that exploited his high voice, infectious energy and ear for irresistible hooks.

As a solo performer, Mr. Jackson ushered in the age of pop as a global product. His early career with his brothers gave way to a solo act in which he became more character than singer: his sequined glove, his whitened face, his Moonwalk dance became embedded in the cultural firmament.

But after his entertainment career hit high-water marks, it started a bizarre disintegration. His darkest moment came in 2003, when he was indicted on child molesting charges. A young cancer patient claimed the singer had befriended him and then sexually fondled him at his Neverland estate near Santa Barbara, California, but Mr. Jackson was acquitted on all charges.

Mr. Jackson is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince 'Blanket' Michael Jackson II.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on Aug. 29, 1958.

The second youngest of six brothers, he began performing professionally with four of them at the age of 5 in a group that their father, Joe, had organized the previous year. In 1968 the group, originally called the Jackson Brothers but now known as the Jackson 5, was signed by Motown Records.

The Jackson 5 was an instant phenomenon. The group's first four singles - 'I Want You Back,' 'ABC,' 'The Love You Save' and 'I'll Be There' - all reached No. 1 on the pop charts in 1970. And Michael was the center of attention: He handled virtually all the lead vocals, danced with energy and finesse, and displayed a degree of showmanship rare in a performer of any age. The Jackson brothers were soon a fixture on television variety shows.

In 1971 Mr. Jackson began recording under his own name, while also performing and recording with his brothers.

The brothers left Motown in 1975 and, rechristened the Jacksons, signed to Epic, a unit of CBS Records. Three years later Michael made his movie debut as the Scarecrow in the screen version of the hit Broadway musical 'The Wiz.'

Mr. Jackson's first solo album for Epic, 'Off the Wall,' in 1979, yielded four No. 1 singles and sold seven million copies.

'Thriller,' released in 1982, became the best-selling album of all time. The video for the album's title track, directed by John Landis, was a horror-movie pastiche that was more of a mini-movie than a promotional clip and helped make MTV a household name.

Mr. Jackson's next album, 'Bad,' released in 1987, sold eight million copies and produced five No. 1 singles and another state-of- the-art video, this one directed by Martin Scorsese. It was a huge hit by almost anyone else's standards but an inevitable letdown after 'Thriller.'

It was at this point that Mr. Jackson's bizarre private life began to overshadow his music. He would release several more albums and occasionally would stage elaborate concert tours. And he would never be too far from the public eye. But it would never again be his music that kept him there.

Even with the millions Mr. Jackson earned, his eccentric lifestyle took a severe financial toll. In 1987 he paid $17 million for a 2,600-acre ranch in Los Olivos, 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Calling it Neverland after the mythical island of Peter Pan, he outfitted the property with amusement-park rides, a zoo and a 50-seat theater, at a cost of $35 million, according to reports, and the ranch became his sanctum.

But Neverland, and Mr. Jackson's lifestyle, were expensive to maintain.

A forensic accountant testified at Mr. Jackson's molestation trial in 2005 that Mr. Jackson's annual budget in 1999 included $7.5 million for personal expenses and $5 million to maintain Neverland. By the late 1990s, he began to take out huge loans to support himself and pay debts.

Last year Neverland narrowly escaped foreclosure after Mr. Jackson defaulted on $24.5 million he owed on it. A real estate investment company bought the note and put the title for the property into a joint venture with Mr. Jackson.

The child molestation trial attracted media from around the world to watch as Mr. Jackson, wearing a different costume each day, appeared in a small courtroom to listen as a parade of witnesses spun a sometimes-incredible tale.

The case ultimately turned on the credibility of Mr. Jackson's accuser, a 15-year-old who said the defendant had gotten him drunk and molested him several times. The boy's younger brother testified that he had seen Jackson fondling his brother on two other occasions.

After weeks of testimony, the jury returned not-guilty verdicts on all 14 counts against Mr. Jackson: four charges of child molesting, one charge of attempted child molesting, one conspiracy charge and eight possible counts of providing alcohol to minors.

After his trial, Mr. Jackson largely left the United States for Bahrain, where he was the guest of a royal family member. He remained in Bahrain, Dubai and Ireland for the next several years.

By early this year, Mr. Jackson was living in a $100,000-a-month mansion in Bel Air, to be closer to 'where all the action is' in the entertainment business, his manager at the time, Tohme Tohme, told The Los Angeles Times.

**

CAPTION:

Some of the fans gathered outside the famed Apollo Theater in New York danced to their favorite Michael Jackson songs.

Photo Credit: Joel Jean-Pierre/The Associated Press

**

CAPTION:

Michael Jackson addressing a news conference at the O2 arena in London in March.

Photo Credit: Carl de Souza/Agence France-Presse

**

CAPTION:

Above, Michael Jackson performing during the halftime show at the 1993 Super Bowl*. Below, the Jackson 5, with Michael Jackson in the center, on a television variety show in 1972**.

Photo Credit: *Rusty Kennedy/The Associated Press, above; **The Associated Press, 1972 file photo, below

(Copyright 2009)

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