One of the biggest and most successful pop stars Michael Jackson is no more....
collect on....(Rajesh Mirchandani
BBC News )
Michael Jackson was brought here to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles around 12 hours ago. Earlier there were several hundred people here, before it got dark - there was a sense of grief, of disbelief.
But in the last few hours, these people have been singing his songs, dancing, there was a guy on a keyboard earlier, playing his songs for people to dance along to.
This has turned into an impromptu celebration of Michael Jackson's music. He's the king of pop as far as they're concerned. They're still shocked by his sudden death but they're here because they want to show their support.
when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back,"
Few people could match his earning ability, having produced the all-time best-selling album, Thriller.
But the singer who rewrote the rules of pop ran out of cash to fund his lavish lifestyle, and hoped a 50-date tour in London would rebuild his finances.
Prosecutors in his 2005 trial on child abuse charges, of which he was cleared, described him as a "spendaholic".
They said he had a "billionaire spending habit for only a millionaire's spending budget".
Michael Jackson, the child star turned King of Pop who set the world dancing but whose musical genius was overshadowed by a bizarre lifestyle and sex scandals, died on Thursday. He was 50.
Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PDT (2126 GMT) after arriving at a Los Angeles hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy would likely take place on Friday, he said.
Paramedics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home at about midday on Thursday after he stopped breathing.
He was pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre. Jackson's brother, Jermaine, said he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest.
Jackson, who had a history of health problems, had been due to stage a series of comeback concerts in the UK, beginning on 13 July.
Speaking on behalf of the Jackson family, Jermaine said doctors had tried to resuscitate the star for more than an hour without success.
He added: "The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time."
"And Allah be with you Michael, always. I love you."
TV footage showed the star's body flown from UCLA to the LA County Coroner's office where a post-mortem is expected to take place on Friday.
Concerns were raised last month when four of Jackson's planned comeback concerts were postponed, but organisers insisted the dates had been moved due to the complexity of staging the show.
Jackson was taken ill at home and his personal physician tried to resuscitate him but could not, his brother Jermaine told reporters. Jackson was taken by paramedics to the hospital, where doctors worked for more than an hour to try to revive him before pronouncing him dead, the brother said.
Known as the "King of Pop," for hits that included "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," Jackson's dramatic, one-gloved stage presence and innovative dance moves were imitated by legions of fans around the world.
His lifetime record sales tally was believed to be around 750 million, and with his 13 Grammy Awards and boundary-breaking music videos he was one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
But Jackson's belief that "I am Peter Pan in my heart," his preference for the company of children, his friendship with a chimp, his high-pitched voice and numerous plastic surgeries also earned him critics and the nickname "Wacko Jacko."
Jackson led a reclusive life after his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation, the second time he had faced ultimately unproved allegations of abuse of young boys.