Michael Joseph Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)[1] was one of the most famous and successful musicians of the last 3 decades. He was referred to as "The King of Pop" and considered to be one of the biggest and most influential entertainers in the history of pop music. He made the highest-selling album of all time, Thriller, in 1982. The song Thriller showed him dancing like a zombie. Thriller, which includes famous songs like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean," has sold 110 million copies worldwide. Jackson wrote other well-known songs such as "Bad", "Black or White", "Heal the World" and "Earth Song". He is known for popularizing dance moves such as the robot and the moonwalk. He won a lot of awards and broke many records. He is often cited as the biggest star since Elvis Presley. He is sometimes referred to as the world's greatest entertainer.[2]

Jackson lived a well-publicized personal life even though he tried to stay private. He was often in celebrity and tabloid magazines. In 1993, he was accused of child molestation, but there was no trial; the case was settled out of court. In 2003, he was accused a second time of child molestation. This time he went to court and was found not guilty. Over the years his changing facial appearance and lightening skin color attracted much attention. He claimed to have had only a little plastic surgery to his face. He said he had a rare skin condition called vitiligo. He was married to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, before divorcing her in 1995 and marrying nurse Debbie Rowe. Jackson also owned a ranch called Neverland, which he bought in 1989 and sold in November 2008. He kept some rights to it. In 2001, Jackson released the album Invincible but sales on the album were disappointing. His last album with all new original songs was produced in 2001. In March 2009, Jackson announced a series of 50 comeback concerts in London. He said this tour was his "last curtain call" and that he would probably retire after the shows. On June 25, 2009, Jackson died of a cardiac arrest.Jackson was proclaimed dead on 25 June, 2009 at 2:25pm at the UCLA Medical Center.[3] It is thought that he went into cardiac arrest, which means his heart stopped.[4] At 4:36 pm local time, the Los Angeles coroner confirmed Jackson's death.[5] However, he was unresponsive by 12:15, even though he was not proclaimed dead at the time of hospital arrival, he already passed on by 1pm. Jackson died just two months before his 51st birthday. Rumors and news of Jackson's death broke web records causing a cyberspace traffic jam. The circumstances of his death and the outpouring of grief which was experienced around the world were on record scales never seen before .[6] His death gave Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Yahoo the most page views they have ever gotten.[7][8] Jackson arrived at the hospital not showing any signs of life.A memorial service was held at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. It began with a reading of a letter by Smokey Robinson of comments by Nelson Mandela, Diana Ross and other close friends of Michael Jackson who could not be at the memorial.[9] Mariah Carey sang I'll Be There at the memorial service, followed by a speech given by Queen Latifah. Lionel Richie performed "Jesus is Love". Berry Gordy, Motown founder, spoke next, offering condolences. Kobe

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