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died of cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles, California.[1] His personal physician, Conrad Murray, says he found Jackson in bed, not breathing but with a faint pulse, and administered CPR to no avail. Initial reports indicated that Jackson died one hour after receiving an injection of pethidine (Demerol), a painkiller to which his friends say he was addicted. Murray has said he did not prescribe or furnish Jackson with Demerol.[2]

His death triggered an outpouring of grief around the world, creating surges of internet traffic and causing sales of his records to soar.[3] He had been scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million people at London's O2 arena, from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010, which he had implied during a press conference would be the last of his career.[4]

Contents [hide] 1 Collapse 1.1 Health 2 Investigation 2.1 Drugs 2.2 Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists 2.2.1 Personal physician 2.3 AEG Live 2.4 Personal advisers 3 Family 4 Probate 5 Reaction 5.1 Media coverage 5.1.1 Criticism of coverage 5.2 Effect on Internet 5.3 Grief 5.4 Tributes 5.5 Record sales 6 Funeral 7 References 8 Further reading/external links 8.1 Obituaries

Collapse Jackson rehearsing on June 23, 2009, in the Staples Center.Jackson became ill at his rented home on 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles during the late morning or early afternoon of June 25 PDT. It was widely reported that he had received an injection of Demerol at 11:30 a.m., though his physician, cardiologist Conrad Murray, has said he neither furnished nor prescribed Jackson with Demerol.[2]

Murray said through his lawyer, Ed Chernoff, that he fortuitously went to see Jackson on the second floor of Jackson's home, and found him in bed, not breathing. There was a weak pulse in his femoral artery, the doctor said, and Jackson's body was still warm. He began to administer CPR.[2] Chernoff told CNN's Anderson Cooper that there was no landline in the bedroom, and although Murray had a cell phone, he did not know the address of the property. Murray alerted other members of the household staff by running downstairs and speaking to security guards and the chef, which led to a delay of around 30 minutes before the emergency services were called, the lawyer said.[5]

Jackson arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center at 1:14 pm local.The New York Post said the emergency services were contacted only after Jackson's father was told by a security guard that Jackson was ill. The Post reported that Jackson's 12-year-old son, Michael Joseph "Prince," was present during the resuscitation attempts.[6]

Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) paramedics received a 911 call at 12:21 pm (19:21 UTC), and arrived three minutes and seventeen seconds later, at which point Jackson was not breathing.[7] The recording of the 911 call was released by the LAFD on June 27.[8] CPR was performed for 42 minutes by paramedics at the house. They moved Jackson to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, arriving at 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC), and continued with CPR for an hour.[7][9] He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm (21:26 UTC).[10]

Health Further information: Michael Jackson's health and appearance J. Randy Taraborrelli, who knew Jackson for forty years, said he had become "very frail, totally, totally underweight," and that his family had been worried about him. Taraborrelli said Jackson had suffered from an addiction to painkillers off and on for decades, resolving it, then losing control of it again.[11]

Grace Rwaramba, a former nanny who looked after Jackson's children, told writer Daphne Barak that Jackson was a drug addict, that she had had to pump his stomach more than once, and that he had stopped looking after himself, becoming dirty and unkempt.[12] Rwaramba has since denied having made these claims, saying she does not even know how to pump a stomach.[13] Other associates of Jackson told journalist Ian Halperin that he may have been suffering from anorexia or bulimia, as well as a lung disease known as Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, for which he was receiving injections of Alpha 1-antitrypsin. The condition meant that on some days he was unable to sing or even speak. He is also believed to have suffered from vitiligo and lupus.[14]

Jackson's staff said he was worried about the London concerts. "He wasn't eating, he wasn't sleeping and, when he did sleep, he had nightmares that he was going to be murdered," one of them told Halperin. "He was deeply worried that he was going to disappoint his fans. He even said something that made me briefly think he was suicidal. He said he thought he’d die before doing the London concerts. He said he was worried that he was going to end up like Elvis. He was always comparing himself to Elvis, but there was something in his tone that made me think that he wanted to die, he was tired of life. He gave up. His voice and dance moves weren't there any more. I think maybe he wanted to die rather than embarrass himself on stage."[15]

Before Jackson's death, Randy Phillips of AEG Live denied that Jackson's health was compromised. "He's as healthy as he can be—no health problems whatsoever," Phillips told CNN.[16]

Investigation Jackson's body was moved to the LA Coroner's offices in Boyle Heights, where on June 26 a three-hour autopsy was performed on behalf of the Los Angeles County Coroner by the chief medical examiner, Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran.[17] Jackson's brain is believed to have been retained by the coroner, and the rest of the body released to his family, who arranged for a second autopsy on June 27.[18] Craig Harvey, chief investigator for the coroner's office, said there was no evidence of trauma or foul play, but that it would take four to six weeks for toxicology tests to be completed.[11]

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) did not secure Jackson's home or any part of it, and allowed the Jackson family access to it, though the police returned days later to remove certain items. This has raised questions about the chain of custody.[19]

Drugs Law-enforcement sources say propofol was found in Jackson's home.[20]On July 1, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) joined the LAPD in the investigation. The involvement of the DEA means that doctor-patient confidentiality is overruled, allowing the DEA to follow what appears to be the complex trail of prescription drugs supplied to Jackson, particularly any controlled substances, from the doctors who prescribed them all the way to the source.[19] California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that his office was helping the LAPD and DEA with a state database of all medical doctors and prescriptions filled.[21]

The website TMZ, which broke the news of Jackson's death, writes that Jackson used a number of aliases to secure prescription drugs, including Omar Arnold and Jack London, and the names of one of his bodyguards and an office manager. One doctor would allegedly call the pharmacy to say that Jackson was coming to get Demerol, and the pharmacy would fill the prescription with the patient's name blank.[22]

One of the drugs found in Jackson's home was propofol (Diprivan), a powerful anesthetic usually administered intravenously in hospitals by anesthesiologists.[23] There were several bottles, some empty, some full, none with prescription labels.[24] Nicknamed "milk of amnesia" because of its milky appearance, propofol has been associated with an irreversible chain of events leading to cardiac arrest and death, according to the Mayo Clinic. The manufacturer, AstraZeneca PLC, advises that patients be continuously monitored during its use.[23] Misuse is an increasing problem. Paul Wischmeyer, an anesthesiologist at the University of Colorado, said, "A lot of people do it because it makes you completely blotto. It totally takes away all anxiety, all fear. It's incredibly relieving of pain anxiety and stress. People do it to escape."[24]

On June 30, Cherilyn Lee, a nurse who had worked as Jackson's nutritionist, said that he had asked her in May to provide propofol to help him sleep, but she refused. He told her he had been given the drug before for persistent insomnia, and that an unnamed doctor had said it was safe. Lee said she received a telephone call from an aide to Jackson on June 21 to say that Jackson was ill, although she no longer worked for him. She reported overhearing Jackson complain that one side of his body was hot, the other side cold. She advised the aide to send Jackson to hospital.[25]

Jackson is also said to have used the painkillers Demerol and Oxycodone (OxyContin),[15] as well as Xanax, an anxiolytic, and Zoloft, an anti-depressant.[1] Other drugs named in connection with him are Prilosec, Vicodin, Paxil, Soma, and Dilaudid.[14] Police found drugs in his home other than Deprivan, some with labels made out to Jackson's pseudonyms, others with no labels at all.[24]

Dr. Deepak Chopra says an injection of naloxone might have saved Jackson's life.Deepak Chopra, a board-certified internist and endocrinologist, who was a friend of Jackson's for 20 years, has expressed concern that Jackson appears to have been given no naloxone, a drug used to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose. "With a weak pulse," he said, "the first thing I would have given him was narcan [the drug's trade name]. Its effect would have been dramatic and Michael might be alive today. No one has been able to answer why he had so many drugs in his house, but the attending physician did not have ... [naloxone] in case of an overdose. I don't understand it."[26]

Chopra has criticized what he sees as "enabling" by some Hollywood doctors. "We put drug pushers in jail but give licenses to doctors to do the same thing," he said. "I know personally that they write multiple prescriptions and they even use false names ... This cult of drug-pushing doctors, with their co-dependent relationships with addicted celebrities, must be stopped. Let's hope that Michael's unnecessary death is the call for action."[26]

Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists The Los Angeles Times writes that the DEA is focusing on at least five doctors who prescribed drugs to Jackson, trying to determine whether they had a "face to face" relationship with him, and whether they provided a diagnosis, as required by law.[24] The London Sunday Times writes that there are 30 doctors, nurses, and pharmacists the police want to question, including Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist.[27] An anethesiologist, Dr Neil Ratner, who accompanied Jackson on the HIStory tour in 1996–1997, declined to comment on the reports when approached by CNN.[20]

Personal physician On June 26, police towed away a car used by cardiologist Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, stating that it might contain medication or other evidence. The car, registered in Murray's sister's name, was released by police on July 1.[19] Murray said he was not present when Jackson fell ill. He said he found Jackson in bed, not breathing but with a pulse, and began to administer CPR.[28][29] During the tape of the emergency call, the doctor was described as administering CPR on a bed, not on a hard surface such as a floor, which would be standard practice.[30] The doctor's attorney said that Murray placed one hand underneath Jackson and used the other hand for chest compression, where the standard practice is to use both hands for compression.[31]

Murray, who is not a board-certified cardiologist, is a 1989 graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He filed for bankruptcy in 1992,[32] and is reported to have had judgments filed against him or his company totalling over $435,000.[30] ABC News reported that Murray's partner in his Houston office had his license revoked and the clinic shut down in 2002 for improperly dispensing medication. Law enforcement officials reportedly called the clinic a "pill mill."[33]

Murray got to know Jackson in 2008 after treating one of his children in Las Vegas. Jackson summoned him in May 2009 to Los Angeles to help with preparations for the London concerts, then insisted that his concert promoter AEG Live hire Murray, who had been living with Jackson for two weeks before the death. Randy Phillips, AEG Live's chief executive, said the doctor had planned to travel with Jackson to Britain for a fee of $150,000 a month.[2] Murray has said through his attorney that he did not prescribe or administer Demerol or Oxycontin to Jackson, but would not say what, if anything, he did prescribe or administer.[23]

Reverend Jesse Jackson (no relation) said the family was concerned about Murray's role. "They have good reason to be," Jackson said, "he left the scene." He said the family wanted to know: "When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did he inject him? If so, with what? Was he on the scene twice? Did he use the Demerol? It's a very powerful drug. Was he injected once? Was he injected twice?"[28] Los Angeles police said the doctor spoke to officers immediately after Jackson's death, and during an extensive interview two days later. They stressed that they found "no red flag" and do not suspect foul play.[30]

AEG Live Further information: Anschutz Entertainment Group and This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts) Jackson's family has raised questions about the role of AEG Live, the concert promoter, in the last few weeks of his life. They would like to see an investigation into the role of the personal advisers and representatives they believe the promoter put in place for Jackson.[28] The company has said it had a three-and-a-half year plan to work with him, including a possible world tour, the release of new music, and a 3D film based on Jackson's video, Thriller,[34] though Jackson himself implied during a press conference in March that the This Is It concerts in London were the last of his career. "This really is it," he said.[35]

Personal advisers After the 2003 raid on Neverland, Jackson turned to the Nation of Islam for security.Stuart Backerman, Jackson's publicist between 2002–2004, told The Vancouver Sun that, after the police raid on Jackson's Neverland Ranch on December 22, 2003, in connection with the child abuse allegations, Jackson turned to the Nation of Islam for help, on the advice of his nanny, Grace Rwaramba, and his brother, Jermaine. Louis Farrakhan and his son-in-law Leonard Muhammad, the Nation of Islam's chief-of-staff, arrived from Chicago, at first to provide security, but they also "took over Michael's business and isolated everybody," according to Backerman, who resigned as a result.[36]

Dr. Tohme Tohme, a Lebanese businessman also reportedly affiliated with the Nation of Islam, has acted as a personal adviser. Ian Halperin writes that Tohme has said at various times that he was the ambassador of Senegal, a Saudi Arabian billionaire, and an orthopaedic surgeon, though he has no medical degree. He was named in a March 2009 affidavit in Los Angeles Superior Court, where he was alleged to have contacted an auctioneer of Jackson's memorabilia, invoked "Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam's" interest in Jackson's life, and said that if the auctioneer did not do as Tohme requested, "lives are at stake and there will be bloodshed."[15][29]

Family Further information: Jackson family and The Jackson 5 Jackson with his children, June 2006Jackson is survived by his three children: a son and daughter from his marriage to Debbie Rowe — Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson Jr. (born 1997) and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson (born 1998) — and a son, Prince Michael Jackson II, (known as "Blanket"), who was born in 2002 to an unidentified surrogate mother.

He is also survived by his brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy; his sisters Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet; and his parents, Joseph and Katherine. Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of Jackson's children on June 29.[37] The family released a statement shortly after the death:

In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.[38]

Probate Further information: Sony/ATV Music Publishing#Value Jackson's will was filed by attorney John Branca at the Los Angeles County courthouse on July 1. Signed July 7, 2002, it names Branca and accountant John McClain as executors. All assets are given to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the details of which have not been made public. The Associated Press reports that, in 2007, Jackson had a net worth of $236.6 million, comprised of $567.6 million in assets, which included Neverland Ranch and The Beatles' back-catalogue, and debts of $331 million.[39] The guardianship of his children is given to his mother, Katherine, or if she is unable or unwilling, to singer Diana Ross.[40] The will states that Jackson's former wife Debbie Rowe was omitted intentionally, though she may nevertheless benefit from the Trust.[41]

Probate could take years.[42] The value of Sony/ATV Music Publishing is estimated by Ryan Schinman, chief of Platinum Rye, to be US$1.5 billion. Shinman's estimate makes Jackson's share of Sony/ATV worth USD$750 million, from which Jackson would have had an annual income of USD$80 million. Sony Corporation has not commented on whether it intends to buy Jackson's share of Sony/ATV from the Jackson estate. Jackson's creditors could force a distressed sale, which would act in Sony's favor since it would lower the sale price, but only if the trust set up by Jackson for his stake in Sony/ATV is revocable. A distressed sale would lower the value of Jackson's estate, and thus might not raise enough to cover the debts owed by the estate.[43]

Reaction

Media coverage Michael Oku of NBC News set-up outside UCLA Medical Center when the news broke. Jackson's death was front page news for several days worldwide.The news that Jackson had suffered a cardiac arrest, and then that he had died, was broken by Los Angeles-based celebrity news website TMZ.com. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm, and 18 minutes later at 2:44 pm, TMZ published: "Michael Jackson passed away today at the age of 50."[7] The first news organization to confirm it was the Los Angeles Times.[44]

Music Television (MTV) and Black Entertainment Television (BET) began airing Jackson's music videos.[45] Other Jackson specials aired on multiple television stations around the world. The British soap opera EastEnders added a last-minute scene to the June 26 episode, in which one character tells another about Jackson's death.[46] TIME magazine published a commemorative edition,[47] and defunct music magazine Smash Hits, last published in February 2006, announced that it would too.[48]

Criticism of coverage American conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh criticized the media coverage as "a horrible disgrace," and lent his support to Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jesse Jackson as they fought to stem the tide of what he called lies. "We don't know anything yet. We don't know diddlysquat yet," Limbaugh told listeners on June 29.[49] The blogger Perez Hilton was criticized for a post suggesting that Jackson might have faked his cardiac arrest as a means of avoiding his forthcoming series of concerts in London. The post was removed when it became clear that Jackson's death had been confirmed.[50]

Critics accused news agencies of saturating news broadcasts and print media. Statistics published by the Pew Research Center showed that two out of three Americans believed the media gave it too much coverage, compared to three percent who felt there was too little.[51] In the UK, the BBC received over 700 complaints about the death dominating the news.[52]

Effect on Internet Wikipedia, Google, Twitter, and several news sites experienced spikes in traffic, causing some to be overloaded. This graph shows a spike at Wikipedia at 15:00 hours in Los Angeles (22:00 hours UTC) the day of Jackson's death.The news of Jackson's death spread quickly online, causing websites to crash and slow down from user overload. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times, two websites that were the first to confirm the news, suffered outages.[44] Google believed the millions of people searching "Michael Jackson" meant it was under attack. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia at 3:15 PDT.[53] The Wikimedia Foundation reported nearly one million visitors to the article Michael Jackson within one hour, which they said may be the most visitors in a one-hour period to any article in Wikipedia's history.[54] AOL Instant Messenger collapsed for 40 minutes. AOL called it a "seminal moment in Internet history," adding, "We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."[55] Around 15 percent of Twitter posts (or 5,000 tweets per minute) mentioned Jackson when the news broke, compared to topics such as the 2009 Iranian election and swine flu pandemic, which never rose above 5 percent of total tweets.[56][57] Overall, web traffic was 11 percent higher than normal.[58]

Grief Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame became a focal point for public grief.Jackson's death triggered an outpouring of grief. Fans gathered outside the UCLA Medical Center, his Holmby Hills home, the Apollo Theater in New York, and at Hitsville U.S.A., the old Motown headquarters in Detroit where Jackson's career began, now the Motown Museum. Streets around the hospital were blocked off, and across America people left offices and factories to watch the breaking news on television.[59] A small crowd, including the city's mayor, gathered outside his childhood home in Gary, where the flag on city hall was flown at half staff in his honor.[60] Fans also mistakenly gathered around the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of another Michael Jackson, a radio commentator, stating that "they didn't care" when told by reporters.[61] Jackson's own star had been temporarily covered for the premiere of Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy, Brüno, which had featured a segment, later cut, involving La Toya Jackson.[62]

President Barack Obama sent a letter of condolence to the Jackson family,[30] and Congress observed a moment of silence.[63] Jackson's former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said the singer had told her he was afraid he would end up like Elvis Presley, her father.[64] Elizabeth Taylor, a long-time friend, said she, "can't imagine life without him."[65] Liza Minnelli told CBS, "When the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose, so thank God we're ­celebrating him now."[66]

Tributes The mayor of Rio de Janeiro announced that the city would erect a statue of the singer in Dona Marta. On June 27, fans began a candlelit memorial in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park.[67]

Black Entertainment Television (BET) re-organized most of its 2009 BET Awards Ceremony which took place soon after Jackson's death. Airing on Sunday June 28, 2009, the show saw several of the artists change their planned routines to sing Jackson's songs, both from his time with The Jackson Five and from his solo career.[68] His father and the Reverend Al Sharpton were in the audience, and Janet Jackson spoke briefly on behalf of the family. Host Jamie Foxx said, "We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else." The show set an all-time ratings high, with a 5.8 rating (over its previous high of 3.7 million), and saw a 61 percent increase over its 2008 broadcast.[69]

“ You were the one that showed us we can moonwalk, You gave us the beat, You gave us the rhythm, You gave us the soul. — "Better on the Other Side," Diddy ” Rapper The Game was among the first artists to release a song in tribute. "Better on the Other Side," features Diddy and Chris Brown, and help from Polow da Don, Mario Winans, Usher, Boyz II Men and production by DJ Khalil.[70] Artist 50 Cent also released "Where You Are." The song samples Jackson's 1972 single "I Wanna Be Where You Are."[71]

The music video for "Do the Bartman", a Simpsons song co-written by Jackson, was broadcast ahead of an episode rerun of The Simpsons on June 28, 2009. It featured a title card paying tribute to Jackson.[72] The 1993 Simpsons episode that Jackson guest starred in, "Stark Raving Dad", will be broadcast on the Fox network on July 5, 2009.[73]

AEG Live, the promoter for Jackson's ill-fated This Is It tour, is reportedly preparing a tribute concert in memory of the artist. Performers being considered for the event include Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé Knowles, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Ne-Yo.[74] The show is scheduled to take place in September 2009, and is slated to follow the style arranged for the This Is It concerts.[75]

Record sales Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michael Jackson Wikinews has related news: Death of Michael Jackson Jackson's record sales increased dramatically in the hours and days following his death, eighty-fold according to HMV.[76] Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president for music and video, said the website sold out of all Jackson's CDs, and those of the Jackson 5 within minutes of the news breaking.[77]

The demand placed enormous pressure on CD manufacturing plants. Sales of his music topped the two leading online music sellers, iTunes and Amazon.com, taking over most of the top twenty spots. His album Thriller climbed to number one on the American iTunes music chart, soon to be replaced by his Essential compilation, while another nineteen albums made it into the top 40. A total of 13 countries pushed Number Ones to the number one spot on their iTunes chart.[78] In Japan, six of his albums made SoundScan Japan's Top 200 Albums chart,[67] and in Poland, Thriller 25 topped the national album chart.[79]

In the UK, his albums occupied 14 of the top 20 places on the Amazon.co.uk sales chart, with Off the Wall topping the chart. Number Ones reached the top of the UK Album Chart on June 28, and his studio albums occupied number two to number eight on the iTunes Music Store top albums in succession. Six of Jackson's songs also charted in the top 40: "Man in the Mirror" (11), "Thriller" (23), "Billie Jean" (25), "Smooth Criminal" (28)", "Beat It" (30) and "Earth Song" (38).[80]

In the U.S., Jackson broke three chart records. The entire top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums featured titles related to him. Number Ones was the best-selling album of the week and topped the catalog chart with sales of 108,000, an increase of 2,340 percent. The Essential Michael Jackson (2) and Thriller (3) also sold over 100,000 units. The other titles on the chart are Off the Wall (4), Jackson Five's Ultimate Collection (5), Bad (6), Dangerous (7), HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Volume 1 (8) and Jackson's Ultimate Collection (9). Collectively, his solo albums sold 422,000 copies in the U.S. in the week following his death. He also broke a record on the Top Digital Albums chart, with six of the top 10 slots, including the entire top four. On the Hot Digital Songs chart he placed a record of 25 songs on the 75-position list. In the U.S., Jackson became the first artist to sell over one million downloads in a week, with 2.6 million sales.[81][82]

Funeral The Staples Center will host a memorial service on July 7.There will be a private family service at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7, at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, followed by a public memorial at the Staples Center, where Jackson rehearsed on June 23, two days before he died. Staples is releasing 17,500 tickets distributed free of charge.[83] The website set up to process applications for the tickets received more than half a billion hits in the first hour, causing the site to crash.[84]

The media reports that the funeral is likely to be the biggest in entertainment history, eclipsing that of Elvis Presley in 1977, which attracted 77,000 people, and of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, which saw 250,000 people gather in Hyde Park alone.[85] The family has purchased a $25,000 gold-plated, solid brass coffin,[27] similar to the one James Brown was buried in.