Michael Jackson, You Are Not Alone, Your Music Shall Live On Forever In All Our Hearts

Words just can’t describe how I feel right now. My heart is broken and I just can’t stop crying. I feel like a part of me died with you today.

I want to thank you Michael for everything you gave me, for the music and the joy you brought into my life. You were an inspiration to me. You were not only the greatest entertainer who ever lived, but one of the greatest person too. The world won’t be the same without you.

May you rest in peace Michael. You will always live in my heart and I will always love you. ~ MJJPictures.com

Michael Jackson was due to make his triumphant return to the stage in London next month – but instead his sudden death has left millions of fans feeling they’ve lost a lifelong friend.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has died at the age of 50. His fans are gathering around the country, indeed around the world, to mourn for him and celebrate his legacy as one of the greatest musicians and entertainers of all time.

The dramatic death of the brilliant singer seemed to obscure his recent controversies and kindle warmer memories of Jackson the child star and Jackson the show-stopping, moonwalking headliner.

The worldwide chorus of grief united the famous – statesmen and superstars alike – and the legions of ordinary people who grew up with “Thriller” and “Beat It.”

Word of Jackson’s death jolted nearly everyone, from a young man in Colombia who was named after the King of Pop, to Malaysians who named a soy drink for him, to a generation of people around the world who have tried, in vain, to moonwalk.

Michael Jackson is still second to no other. He is the king of pop forever. Unbeatable, irreplaceable.

In Memory Of Michael Jackson, A True Apollo Legend – World Mourns The Death Of The King Of Pop

As news of Michael Jackson’s death spread yesterday, stunned fans took to the streets of his adopted L.A. hometown and New York to grieve together, listen to music and pay tribute to one of the most iconic pop stars of all time.

Where a makeshift memorial was erected at the wrong Walk of Fame star and dance parties broke out at UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was declared dead. Our report from the streets of New York is below:

“What’s going on out here?” A boy asked, approaching a woman in a crowd surrounding a news camera last night in New York’s Times Square, where hundreds gathered and roamed under the bright lights in disbelief.

“Michael Jackson died,” The woman motioned to a digital billboard banner repeatedly rolling: MICHAEL JACKSON, KING OF POP, DEAD AT 50. “Oh my God, I didn’t know!” The young man gasped, almost grabbing the woman, then turning away, shocked.

Around the corner on 42nd, Madame Tussaud’s wax museum put MJ on display in the front window. “We love you Michael!” a passerby shouted. “It’s kinda eerie,” Delma Noel Pratt from Miramar, Florida, 39, said, staring at the statue after snapping a few photos. “Everybody tries to be like him.All these little young R&B boys, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown — carbon copies,” Melvin, 33, from Brooklyn by way of Akron, Ohio said. “Weak carbon copies!”

“Part of me, even right this second, thinks he’s going to come back like, I fooled them!” said Rod Gailes from Detroit, celebrating with cast members from his upcoming Broadway play about Richard Pryor. “Even people who were throwing arrows and slings were doing it because they felt he was tough enough to take it. And now he doesn’t have to take it anymore.” Rod choked up. “You wonder how much of the passing is illness and how much is sadness and just being tired of fighting.”

Some 80 blocks uptown, an impersonator — a 25-year-old white woman channeling “Dirty Diana” in a white button down and black pants — posed for pictures outside the Apollo Theater where Jackson first performed with the Jackson 5 at age nine.

“This was a Halloween costume,” the impersonator, Sophie Ricketts from Texas, explained. “Michael was making me nervous the last several years so when I heard today, it didn’t surprise me. It just made me sad because now there will be no more chances for redemption. Now it’s legend.”

One large crowd gathered in front of the Apollo Theater in NY, the place where Jackson was unveiled to the world four decades ago. One of the mourners was the Reverend Al Sharpton, who spoke about his relationship with Jackson and his hope that the King of Pop would be respected in death.

The fans had long taken over as midnight passed. Across the street, a teenager held an iPod with speakers over his head like a boom box while fans danced to hit after hit. “I know he live forever,” Susanna from Argentina said with an accent almost as thick as her makeup, clutching a T-shirt with Jackson’s photo, kissing Michael’s face. Susana started to cry when asked how she felt upon hearing the news. “I die,” she said, “I die too.”

“My parents took me to somebody’s house that had cable to see the ‘Thriller’ video and it changed my life,” said Harlemite Justin Williams, 31, wearing a white glove, fist in the air. Williams spent the day blasting “Enjoy Yourself,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” and “Ben,” from his car, others honking and cheering as he passed. “We celebrate life in Harlem, it’s what we do,” he said, smiled, winked.

Standing against a wall holding a photograph of Mike in his glory days, Al Peterson, 75, observed. “Everybody’s talking about his passing but I’m talking about his living. His great brilliance; So much brilliance that in 50 years they’ll still be discovering brilliance that he produced,” said Peterson of Westchester County.“I guess they’ll compare him with Bob Marley and Elvis but so many of these young people don’t really know who Michael was. They dance to his music but they don’t know the spark behind him.”

“Michael! Michael! Michael!” A pocket of people eager to be captured on camera chanted for CNN after 1:00 a.m.

Under the theater marquee reading “In Memory of Michael Jackson, A True Apollo Legend 1958-2009,” four brown boxes lay flattened on the sidewalk. Covered with hundreds of farewell messages scrawled in marker, fans knelt to add more: Thank You Mike with a heart around it… RIP Brother… We’ll Never Forget You…. Motown Detroit Will Always Love You… You Changed the World… You’re the Best Ever, with Ever underlined three times for emphasis.

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Update

Maya Angelou’s Elegy For Michael Jackson

Among the many notable moments at Michael Jackson’s funeral was Queen Latifah’s reading of the Maya Angelou poem “We Had Him.” The popular poetess wrote the poem specifically for the occasion (no easy task) and just that morning asked Latifah to perform it, which she did with spirit and elegance.

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing,
now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips
like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace.
Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.
In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time.
No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember
that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love,
and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style.
We had him whether we know who he was or did not know,
he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing.
He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

I Can’t Stop Crying Over The Sad News – Madonna

The sudden death of Michael Jackson jolted his friends and family, a second blow to the entertainment world after the loss of another pop icon, Farrah Fawcett, only hours earlier on Thursday.

“We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music but of all music,” Justin Timberlake, who was clearly influenced by Jackson, wrote on his Web site. “He has been an inspiration to multiple generations, and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones.”

“I can’t stop crying over the sad news,” Madonna says. “I have always admired Michael Jackson. The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever! My heart goes out to his three children and other members of his family. God bless.”

Lisa Marie Presley, who was married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996, says, “I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”

In a long, heartfelt statement, Usher said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss and paid tribute to Jackson’s legacy. “May God cover you Michael. We all lift your name up in prayer. I pray for the entire Jackson family particularly Michael’s mother, children and all his fans that loved him so much. I would not be the artist, performer, and philanthropist I am today without the influence of Michael.

I have great admiration and respect for him and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to meet and perform with such a great entertainer, who in so many ways, transcended the culture. He broke barriers, he changed radio formats!With music, he made it possible for people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama to impact the mainstream world. His legacy is unparalleled. Michael Jackson will never be forgotten.”

“He was magic,” said Beyoncé Knowles. He was what we all strive to be. He will always be the King of Pop!”

On Friday, Chace Crawford said on Britain’s GMTV that he heard the news while at a party hosted by Elton John at the musician’s home just outside of London. When word got out, “It was … like an instant viral just spread,” said Crawford. “It just instantly changed the energy of the party.”

In a statement Thursday afternoon Britney Spears said, “I was so excited to see his show in London. We were going to be on tour in Europe at the same time and I was going to fly in to see him. He has been an inspiration throughout my entire life and I’m devastated he’s gone!”

Whitney Houston, who has battled her own demons and is on the verge of a comeback (just as Jackson was), released a statement saying simply, “I am full of grief,” while Paul McCartney, who collaborated with Jackson at the height of his success, writes on his Web site: “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.”

Elizabeth Taylor, one of Jackson’s closest and longstanding friends, was “too devastated” to issue a statement, her rep says, while Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson’s biggest hits, says, “I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words.”

Cher, calling in to Larry King Live on CNN, shared many memories of Jackson, including dancing together on the Queen Mary and seeing the musical Dreamgirls together. “I am having a million reactions,” said Cher. “When I think of him, I think of this young boy, this teenager I first met … He was a great teenager, optimistic and adorable.”"

My heart is overcome with sadness for the devastating loss of my true friend Michael,” adds Brooke Shields, who raised eyebrows when she briefly dated Jackson. “He was an extraordinary friend, artist and contributor to the world. I join his family and his fans in celebrating his incredible life and mourning his untimely passing.”

Oscar winner Jane Fonda used Twitter to express her grief, writing, “I am stunned. My friend, Michael Jackson is dead. He lived with me for a week on the Golden Pond set after ‘Thriller.’ ”

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, which honored Jackson with 13 Grammys, says, “Rarely has the world received a gift with the magnitude of artistry, talent, and vision as Michael Jackson. He was a true musical icon.”

On his Web site, former child actor Corey Feldman, who was once very close friends with Jackson, posted a statement mourning his old pal. “I come to you today with great sadness, acknowledging the loss of the greatest entertainer in the history of mankind. For me he was more than that, he was my idol, he was a role model, he was someone to cry to when my childhood was unbearable, he was a brother, he was a dear friend,” Feldman writes.”

Unfortunately Michael and I had a falling out on September 10th 2001 and that broken friendship had never been repaired,” he adds. “I am filled with tremendous sadness and remorse. All I choose to remember from this point is the good times we shared and what an inspiration he was to me and the rest of the world. Nobody will ever be able to do what Michael Jackson has done in this industry, and he was so close to doing it all again. I am truly, and deeply sorry for all of the heartbroken fans and supporters worldwide.”

“It’s horrible news, so unexpected,” the Italian actress Sophia Loren told The Associated Press by telephone. “The world has lost an icon and music has lost treasures. He wrote songs that generations of yesterday, today and tomorrow will all keep on singing. What he wrote was amazing.”

Loren and her children had been frequent visitors to Jackson at his Neverland ranch in California, developing an enduring friendship.

“I hope that Michael will find that peace that maybe he did not have in the last 15 years.”

In London, shocked fans gathered at the Lyric Theatre, where a live show based on Jackson’s record-selling album “Thriller” is being performed, and waited for news about refunds for some 750,000 tickets to his sold-out, 50-night run.

A spokeswoman for AEG Live – the promoters for the London concerts – declined to comment as to how ticket refunds would be handled. She spoke on condition of anonymity, saying she was not authorized to speak to the media.

There were poignant memories of his final public appearance when he came to London for a March news conference to announce his “This is it” concerts, which he said would mark his farewell to the London stage.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela issued a message through his foundation saying Jackson’s loss would be felt worldwide.

Jackson sang at a birthday concert for Mandela in 1998, and in 1999, according to local media reports at the time, lunched with Mandela at a small gathering at which the South African anti-apartheid leader celebrated both his 81st birthday and his and wife Graca Machel’s first wedding anniversary.

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, UNESCO and the Red Cross were given proceeds from a huge benefit concert in Germany in 1999 that featured Jackson and other international stars.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney, who recorded with Jackson before they had a falling out over ownership of the Beatles catalogue, said his prayers went to Jackson’s family and fans.

“It’s so sad and shocking,” he said. “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.”

Former British child star Mark Lester, who is godfather to Jackson’s children, said he had visited with Jackson several weeks ago and believed the star was ready for the rigors of performing 50 live gigs.

“He was absolutely fine,” said Lester. “I can’t believe this, it’s such a shock. I’ll always remember him as being a very sweet, kind and loving man.”

Rocker Lenny Kravitz recalled working with Jackson in the studio on an unreleased track and finding the man far different from the eccentric recluse often portrayed in the media.

“It was the most amazing experience I’ve had in the studio,” Kravitz said. “He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time. I also saw what a beautiful father he was. He was a beautiful human being. If not for him, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. He gave me joy as a child and showed me the way to go.”

Jackson’s death prompted broadcasters from Sydney to Seoul – where the news came early Friday – to interrupt morning programs, while fans remembered a “tortured genius” whose squeals and sliding moves captivated a generation and who sparked global trends in music, dance and fashion.

Several world leaders weighed in. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called it “lamentable news,” though he criticized the media for giving it so much attention. Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who had met Jackson, said: “We lost a hero of the world.”

The grief crossed all borders.

In Romania, where a tumultuous Jackson concert in 1992 helped mark the country’s new freedoms after the fall of the Soviet bloc, singer Lucian Viziru said he was stunned by the tragedy.”

I feel like crying,” he told the AP, rubbing his eyes. “I grew up with him, I learned his dances, his songs, everything. My first ever cassette was ‘Thriller.’”

A condolence board went up in downtown Bucharest, and radio and television stations played his music, and broadcast clips from the heady concert.”

My heart is heavy because my idol died,” said Byron Garcia, security consultant at a Philippine prison who organized the famous video of 1,500 inmates doing a synchronized dance to “Thriller.” The video has had 23.4 million hits on YouTube.

Garcia said the inmates in Cebu will hold a tribute for Jackson on Saturday with their “Thriller” dance and a minute of prayer.

The flamboyant former Philippine first lady, Imelda Marcos, who cheered Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005, said she cried on hearing the news.

“Michael Jackson enriched our lives, made us happy,” she said. “The accusations, the persecution caused him so much financial and mental anguish. He was vindicated in court, but the battle took his life. There is probably a lesson here for all of us.”

In Bogota, Colombia, a 24-year-old tattoo artist named Michael Tarquino said his parents named him after Jackson. He recalled growing up with electricity rationing for hours at a time and waiting for the power to return.

“When the light came back on I would play my Michael Jackson LP, and I’d stand at the window and sing along,” he said.

Japanese fans were always among Jackson’s most passionate supporters, and news of his death came as a huge shock. Michiko Suzuki, a music critic who met Jackson several times in the 1980s, said the country was likely to be mourning for some time.

“Everyone was imitating his ‘moonwalk’ when it was a hit. He was a true superstar,” she said.

Jackson also had a huge fan base in Seoul, South Korea, where his style and dance moves were widely emulated by Korean pop stars.

“He is my master and the prime mover to make me dance,” pop star Rain told the South Korean sports and entertainment daily Ilgan Sports. “Even though he is dead, he is an eternal performer.”

Aaron Kwok, one of Chinese pop’s most accomplished singer-dancers, said he was deeply saddened by the news.

“It’s so sudden. I can’t accept the news as fact,” Kwok said in a statement. “No one can replace Michael Jackson’s contributions to pop music.”

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Update

Michael Jackson Touched The World, Changed People Forever

Michael Jackson went from being Gary, Indiana’s most talented kid to one of the most recognizable human beings on the planet. While his worldwide album sales were astounding, that wasn’t the sole reason for his fame.

His ascendancy went far beyond the cash register — he inspired dance moves, dictated fashion trends and raised awareness for social causes around the globe.

Following is a roundup of international reaction to the pop star’s death and recollections of him.

BRAZIL

Less than a day after Michael Jackson’s death, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, announced that the city would erect a statue of the singer in Dona Marta, a favela that was once notorious for drug dealing and is now a model for social development.

The change was spurred partly by Jackson’s 1996 visit to film the video for “They Don’t Care About Us.”

Jackson shot two videos for “They Don’t Care About Us,” the fourth single from “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I”: one in a prison and another in Dona Marta and Salvador da Bahia, a colonial Brazilian city known for its Afro-Brazilian culture and music.

When Jackson came to Brazil to shoot the video, directed by Spike Lee, Rio’s local government became concerned that the singer would show the world an unflattering picture of poverty.

At the time, Brazilians, like people the world over, saw Jackson as an idol. He’d been to the country twice before, once with the Jackson 5 in the ‘70s and again in 1993, when he played two concerts in Sao Paulo to 100,000 people each night.

At the time, the concert promoter Dodi Sirena recalls a “sensitive” artist who asked for an amusement park to be reserved for his use, then invited children from the poorest public schools.

“He displayed great concern for everything in the country, with poverty, with street children,” Sirena says.

In that context, Jackson’s choice of locale for his video made sense. “The video is about the people no one cares about,” says Claudia Silva, press liaison for Rio’s office of tourism.

When Jackson shot the video in Rio, Silva was a journalist for the daily newspaper O Globo. Lee and his staff had banned journalists from the shoot because Dona Marta drug dealers didn’t want the attention, but Silva found a family that let her spend the night at their home and saw the favela residents washing the streets to prepare for Jackson’s arrival.

“The people were so proud,” Silva says. “That was the best thing for me. People got up early to clean the area, they prepared for him, they took out the trash.”

Jackson arrived by helicopter but walked the streets of Dona Marta shaking hands and distributing candy. “People were very surprised in the end, because they were expecting an extraterrestrial guy,” Silva says. “And he was — it sounds strange to say this — a normal guy.”

Jackson shot scenes in Salvador, alongside throngs of people, accompanied by the Afro-Brazilian cultural group Olodum. In the video, he can be seen dancing to the beat of hundreds of Olodum’s drummers and with cheering fans who reach out to touch him — and at one point burst through security and push him to the floor.

“This process to make Dona Marta better started with Michael Jackson,” Silva says. “Now it’s a safe favela. There are no drug dealers anymore, and there’s a massive social project. But all the attention started with Michael Jackson.”

SOUTH AFRICA

“Growing up as a young black kid in a township, you either dreamed of being a freedom fighter or being Michael Jackson. It was as simple as that.”

So recalls leading South African R&B artist Loyiso Bala, whose five South African Music Awards are a testament to the fact that he chose to follow the King of Pop.

The 29-year-old likens Jackson’s impact on his family — which includes his high-profile musician brothers Zwai and Phelo — to that of former President Nelson Mandela.

“The whole family would drop what they were doing and watch, mesmerized whenever Michael or (Mandela) came on,” he says of life in his Kwa-Nobuhle township home, located outside the Eastern Cape town of Uitenhage.

Lupi Ngcayisa, a DJ on Metro FM, South Africa’s biggest national urban commercial station, says Jackson’s “rich lyrics changed the complexion of black radio.”

“He forced black families to debate issues surrounding individualism and race, so his cultural impact here extended beyond simply the music,” he says.

That impact was most visible in 1997 when the HIStory tour came to the country for a five-date run that ended October 15 at Durban’s King’s Park Stadium, the performer’s final full-scale concert in support of a studio album. The shows are still the largest the country has ever seen, attracting 230,000 people, according to Attie Van Wyk, CEO of the presenting promoter, Cape Town-based Big Concerts.

Equally notable for a country just three years into post-apartheid democracy was the audience mix. “Black and white, young and old, Michael drew a huge crossover audience that we still don’t see often at shows,” tour publicist Penny Stein says.

Duncan Gibbon, now strategic marketing director at Sony Music Entertainment South Africa, who worked Jackson’s catalogue as far back as the apartheid era, says Jackson sold more than 2 million albums in South Africa. More important, he says, Jackson’s music was a unifying point for a deeply divided society.

“South African radio was very racially segmented in the years before 1994,” he says. “But Michael proved to be the one artist whose music was played on white pop stations and black R&B stations. It doesn’t sound like much now, but it was a very potent thing when you think back to how apartheid attempted to keep everything about black and white society separate.”

CHINA

After 30 years of vilifying everything American, Beijing re-established diplomatic relations with Washington, D.C., at the beginning of 1979, the same year Jackson released “Off the Wall.” At the time, most of China was still clad in drab blue Mao suits, state-controlled radio was almost devoid of Western pop music, and record companies had little distribution. But Jackson’s music soon took root — with a vengeance.

Beijing-based musician Kaiser Kuo says that the only time he felt physically threatened during the volatile spring of 1989 was an indirect result of Jackson’s popularity.

On June 3, 1989 — just as pro-democracy students reached what would prove a fatal deadlock with the government in Tiananmen Square — Kuo’s heavy rock band, Tang Dynasty, was playing a show in Jilin Province, unaware it had been billed as “Michael Jackson’s backup band.” Realising they’d been scammed, the audience “went nuts and burned down the ticket booth,” Kuo says. “Jackson was just that popular.”

For many in China, reflecting on Jackson means dredging up memories of that era of dashed hopes. Blogger Hong Huang lived much of her childhood in the ‘70s and ‘80s in the United States, where her father was a Chinese diplomat. “Back then, I thought nobody in China could be listening to Michael Jackson,” she says. Yet Hong hosted three evenings of her late-night TV talk show “Straight Talk” about Jackson’s death while the Chinese Internet lit up with discussion of his life and music.

The top video-sharing Web site Youku.com has dozens of posts of Chinese youths moonwalking to his songs in black loafers, white socks and high-water pants.

Jackson’s sales in Asia have been strong despite rampant piracy, according to Adam Tsuei, president of Sony Music Entertainment Greater China. Sony says that since 1994 it has sold about 1.2 million Jackson albums in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jackson never visited mainland China, but Sony says it has sold about 300,000 albums there since 2002, although censorship has prevented the release of his entire catalog.

There had been unconfirmed reports that AEG Live planned to bring Jackson to China after his sold-out London dates. Instead, Shanghai warehouse manager Jin Hailiang says the 150 regular members of the local Jackson fan club he helps manage will host a party August 29, Jackson’s birthday.

“His music is so important because it’s about love,” he says, “and it makes us feel free to dance.”

INDIA

For many people in India — a market where international repertoire accounts for just 5 per cent of physical music sales — Michael Jackson is Western pop.

Alone among Western artists, his popularity isn’t confined to English-speaking urban Indians. Among the country’s rural youth his celebrity competes with Bollywood stars for one reason: his trademark dance moves.

“Anybody who dances well is compared with Michael Jackson,” says Nikhil Gangavane, who founded India’s official, 13,000-member Jackson fan club. “The moonwalk made Michael reach from the classes to the masses in India.”

The way Bollywood appropriated Jackson’s moves and style connected with Indian fans. “Actors, established choreographers, aspiring composers, kids in dance shows — everybody borrowed ideas,” says British-born hip-hop star Hard Kaur, now a Bollywood star. Indian actors, from Javed Jaffrey to Hrithik Roshan, say they were inspired by Jackson’s dancing. And the southern Indian movie industry still uses Jackson-esque routines, thanks to the influence of dancers and choreographers like Prabhu Deva, known as “India’s Michael Jackson” for his lightning-fast moves.

Jackson’s recorded-music sales are also significant. Arjun Sankalia, associate director of Sony Music Entertainment India, says the 25th-anniversary edition of “Thriller” sold 15,000 copies. The album’s initial release sold more than 100,000, according to Suresh Thomas, former branch manager of the southern region for CBS India — a joint venture between India’s Tata Group and CBS America. “Bad”, which had an inlay card translated into regional languages, sold 200,000. None of the totals include the millions of pirated versions that have been sold.

Jackson proved his popularity on the subcontinent with the one show he performed in India — November 1, 1996, at Mumbai’s Andheri Sports Complex. A 70,000-seat sellout, it was organised by Shiv Sena political party leader Raj Thackeray to raise funds to provide jobs for young people in the state of Maharashtra — and boost the party’s popularity among young urban voters.

Jackson arrived at Mumbai airport October 30 and was greeted by actress Sonali Bendre, who put the traditional Hindu “tilak” mark on his forehead. A motorcade escorted him to the concert, and he stepped out of the car several times during the journey to wave at the thousands of fans lining the streets between the airport and his hotel lobby.

Fans still remember. “Go to any village, any corner in India and you’ll find everyone is familiar with the name Michael Jackson,” Kaur says. “There is no musician who can replace MJ.”

JAPAN

The news of Michael Jackson’s death caused such a stir in Japanese society that three Cabinet ministers took the unusual step of commenting on his passing.

Fans ranging from teenagers to 50-somethings — many dressed in Jackson’s trademark outfits — staged an impromptu candlelit memorial June 27 in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park. While some showed off dance moves and sang songs, others wept openly and prayed at makeshift altars.

“It’s funny,” one attendee said. “The gathering at (Harlem’s) Apollo Theater was like a celebration of his life, but Japanese people go straight into mourning.”

Jackson won over Japan like few Western stars before or since. Famous in the country since the release of “Off the Wall,” he became even bigger in 1987, when he started his “Bad” world tour at the Tokyo Dome. He sold out 14 shows, drawing about 450,000 fans and taking in an estimated ¥5 billion (RM184.44 million). Hundreds of screaming girls greeted his arrival at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, which was covered by 1,000 journalists; another 300 covered the arrival of Bubbles, Jackson’s chimp, who came on a separate flight.

“No other performer had Michael Jackson’s star power in Japan,” says Archie Meguro, senior VP of Sony Music Japan International. “He was so loved for his talent, his music, his dance and his gentle soul.”

Sony reports career album sales of at least 4.9 million for Jackson in Japan, making him one of the top-selling international artists. “Thriller” alone sold 2.5 million copies. But his impact went beyond sales. His 1987 tour helped reshape J-pop’s choreography, as performers tried to appropriate his moves.

Sales of Jackson’s catalog have spiked, and six of his albums made SoundScan Japan’s Top 200 Albums chart. By the morning of June 27, Tower Records’ seven-story flagship store in Shibuya had three displays of his albums and DVDs. Jackson had attended an event there in 1996, presided over by then-Tower Records Japan president Keith Cahoon. “The fan club members who attended were mostly young girls who shrieked ‘Michael!’ in incredibly loud and high-pitched voices,” he recalls, “and Michael replied in a soft voice that was nearly as high.”

“Michael is the biggest entertainment influence on the Japanese people after the Beatles,” says Ken Ohtake, president of Sony Music Publishing Japan. “He will always remain in the hearts of the Japanese people as an extraordinary and unparalleled artist.”

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Update

Michael Jackson Is Much More Than The King Of Pop

When Michael Jackson anointed himself “King of Pop” over two decades ago, there was considerable rumbling about his hubris: Yes, he may have become a world sensation with record-setting sales of “Thriller,” and yes, he may have had a string of No. 1 hits with smashes like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” but the KING OF ALL POP MUSIC?

Surely, in a modern music history that has given us Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and so many musical greats, that title was a more than a bit inflated.

But in actuality, Jackson understated his significance.

While his elaborate, stop-on-a-dime dance moves and sensual soprano may have influenced generations of musicians, Michael Jackson stood for much more than the pop greatness — or tabloid weirdness. One of entertainment’s greatest icons, he was a ridiculously gifted, equally troubled genius who kept us captivated — at his most dazzling, and at his most appalling.

At the height of his fame, he was among the world’s most beloved figures. Heads of state clamored to meet him, screen legends like Elizabeth Taylor were his close friends, and worldwide, simply the mention of his name could make people do the moonwalk, from Los Angeles to Laos (The New York Times once accurately described him as one of the six most famous people on the planet).

His whispery, high-pitched speaking voice was constantly imitated, his fedora hat on his lean frame instantly recognizable, his childlike image endearing.

He influenced artists ranging from Justin Timberlake to Madonna, from rock to pop to R&B to even rap, across genres and groups that no other artist was able to unite.

He changed music videos with “Thriller” in 1983, still considered by most to be the greatest music video ever made. Stars like Beyonce still mimic his moves. His one glove, white socks and glittery jackets made him a fashion trendsetter, making androgyny seem sexy and even safe.

Almost everyone wanted that Michael Jackson connection (and those who didn’t were afraid to say so out loud). His celebrity and adoration was staggering.

So when his image began to crumble, becoming twisted and disturbed, that aspect, too, was larger than life. His multiple plastic surgeries and his vitiligo illness, which saw him transform from a masculine looking black man to a wispy, pale-faced, almost noseless figure, was held up as the standard for bad plastic surgery, a freakish-looking character.

His eccentric behavior left people confused, and when allegations (and later criminal charges) that accused him of sexually molesting two separate boys surfaced on two separate occasions, people were repelled by his alleged behavior and the man that their former idol had become.

And yet, it was hard to look away.In the early days, no one wanted to. Jackson came into our public consciousness as an impossibly cute preteen wonder in 1969, an unbelievably precocious singer of his family band, The Jackson 5. The soon-to-be Motown legend channeled songs like “I Want You Back,” and “I’ll Be There” with a passion and soulfulness that belied his young years. Even then, his dance moves, copped from the likes of James Brown and Jackie Wilson, were exquisite, and his onstage presence outshining season veterans.

The spotlight began to dim when he entered his late teens, however, and while he still had R&B hits with the Jacksons, it seemed as if he would never recapture the pop success that he burst onto the scene with as a child.

But then he met Quincy Jones, and the musical landscape changed. With the legendary producer, Jackson crafted what for most artists would be a career-defining album, from the string-enhanced disco classic “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” a party staple which he wrote, to the bitter ballad “She’s Out of My Life.” The best-selling CD showed the world a grown-up Michael Jackson with grown-up artistry, showcasing his breathy alto-soprano voice and providing a springboard to his early videos, which gave a glimpse of the dance wizardry to come.

At the time, it was Jackson’s music that was front and center. A 21-year-old who spoke in a breathy, high voice, still lived at home, had his first, barely noticeable nose job and was a self-claimed virgin in an industry known for his hedonism, he was certainly an odd figure, but his personal life had yet to become intertwined with his public image.

That began to change during “Thriller” — the album that would become his greatest success and his career-defining achievement.

Also produced by Quincy Jones, it featured even more of Jackson’s songwriting talents; Selling more than 50 million albums worldwide to become the globe’s best-selling disc, it spawned seven Billboard top 10 hits, including two No. 1s with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” won an then-unprecedented eight Grammy awards, and numerous other awards.

It was an impact was measured much more than in stats.

He broke the MTV’s color barrier, becoming the first artist played on the young, rock-oriented channel when the success of “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” became so overwhelming it could not be ignored. He also established the benchmark for the way videos would be made, with stunning cinematography, precision choreography that recalled great movie musicals.

Jackson’s amazing talents as a dancer were also displayed to the world during his Emmy-nominated performance for Motown’s 25th anniversary, is still considered one of TV’s most thrilling moments, from his moonwalk strut to his pulsating pelvic movements.

But as Jackson’s fame grew, his eccentricities, from his strange affinity for children and all things childlike, to his at times asexual image to his fascination with plastic surgery, began to dull the shine off of his sparkling image. As the years went by, those “eccentricities” would become more bizarre, and completely tarnish it.

His skin, once a dark brown, became the color of paste, a transition he blamed on the skin disease vitiligo, though some believed he simply bleached his skin in order to appear more Caucasian. That belief was rooted in his frequent plastic surgeries, which whittled his nose from a broad frame to an almost impossibly narrowed bridge. His image was a tough one to look at, much yet embrace.

If his plastic surgery made him disturbingly unwatchable, soon, allegations of child abuse would make him reviled among many. He was first accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1993; no charges were ever filed, a civil lawsuit was settled out of court and he always maintained his innocence.

Although he had a chart-topping album with “HIStory” in 1995 and was still a superstar, he was a damaged one — and would never fully recover from the allegation.

A criminal charge of molestation of another young boy 2004, which resulted in his acquittal in 2005, further stripped his marketability and his legacy; after the trial ended, he went into seclusion, and while top hitmakers from Ne-Yo to Akon courted him to make new music, no new CD was ever released. He was overwhelmed with legal and financial troubles, with what seemed like weekly lawsuits against him seeking money owed.

A comeback seemed to be most unlikely. His reputation was considered irreparably damaged, his image mocked and his name an automatic punchline. But when he announced he’d be doing a series of comeback concerts at London’s famed O2 Arena in London, not only did the initial dates sell out immediately, the demand was so insatiable he was signed on for an unprecedented 50 shows, and was expected to embark on a worldwide tour sometime after the concert series was complete in March.

Of course, there will be no comeback now, no Jackson 5 reunion, no new music to share with millions of fans. But the legacy he leaves behind is so rich, so deep, that no scandal can torpedo it. The “Thriller” may be gone, but the thrill will always remain.

***

Update

We’ll All Remember Where We Were The Day Michael Jackson Died

On a dark February night in 1984 hundreds of fans stood shivering in the cold outside New York city’s Metropolitan Museum of Natural History, hoping for a glimpse of one of the world’s most famous faces.

The occasion? The Guinness Book of Records had stopped their presses to include the new record holder for the biggest selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller

Jackson was the most successful recording artist of the last 30 years. He sold 750 albums worldwide.

During his extraordinary career, he released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award.

But the boy from Gary Indiana, who dazzled the world at age 11 when he belted out Rocket Robin with his four brothers, was a flawed genius, a troubled soul.

And if his life was extraordinary, it was equally bizarre.

He was the child star who grew up to become the adult who fought against the prospect of middle age by turning to prescription drugs and plastic surgery and closing himself off in the fantasy world of Neverland to all but the company of children.

Contrary to popular belief the Jackson 5 were not discovered by Diana Ross, with whom Jackson had a lifelong friendship, though Motown did engage the Supremes leading lady to introduce the boy band to the world.

The other famous woman who featured large in his life was Elizabeth Taylor whose looks he tried to emulate under the surgeon’s knife with sad and pathetic results.

Perhaps what forged that friendship was that he, like the celebrated actress, was one of the few truly great child stars who became even a bigger star in adulthood — albeit at times one marred by a tragic and whacko lifestyle.

A Peter Pan of Pop who became a king of sorts, much of Jackson’s early childhood, as the world was to learn, was beset by a physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. Joseph Jackson, a steelworker, had failed to make any indent as a guitarist in a band called The Falcons and so heaped upon his sons, young Michael in particular, his longed-for ambition for stardom.

His father, in his efforts to goad him on to bigger and better things, told young Michael he was no good. That he was ugly. Little wonder then that he spent a large part of his 40s undergoing plastic surgery in what seemed at times a desperate, unrelenting urge to ‘scrub off’ his blackness.

But it was his very blackness that was to imbue him with a talent that was, quite simply, unique. Michael Jackson was a one-off.

If the early hits of this curly-headed boy, Rocket Robin and the syrupy but emotionally catchy Ben, had young girls screaming at their posters on bedroom walls, his multi-million selling albums of the Eighties, Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad gave us perfect pop songs — Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, The Girl Is Mine, Beat It, Billie Jean, The Way You Make Me Feel.

His music defined a generation, the MTV generation. The epic Thriller video has yet to be beaten by any music video since. Jackson’s sound and style was to inspire future generations of artists, not least those who gave birth to hip-hop.As a song and dance man he was up there with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Anyone fortunate enough to have seen him in Cork in 1988 will give testament to the truly marvellous movement and dexterity of his limbs.

But after that it was mostly a downhill journey for Michael Jackson. He was past his peak both critically and commercially and his remaining years were to be beset with health problems and an even more bizarre lifestyle.

It was all there paraded out before us — the first marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, followed by his marriage to Debbie Rowe, mother of two of his three children. Children he gave strange names to — Prince Michael, Paris Michael and Prince Michael 11 — and children kept hidden from the world by having them wear masks when in the public eye. And let’s not forget his one-time companion, Bubbles, the chimp.

But the most damaging blow to his career was the allegations of child abuse and, though he was never found guilty, the smear remained streaked across that strange, and changing, face.

How will be remembered? Undoubtedly, fans should brace themselves for new revelations, perhaps more extraordinary than anything that has gone before.

But nothing can detract from the fact that he belongs to a very select band of the now departed — we’ll all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news that Michael Jackson was dead.

***

Update

Michael Jackson Dies – World In Shock

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” who once moonwalked above the music world, died Thursday as he prepared for a comeback bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. He was 50.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital, where doctors continued to work on him.

“It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known,” his brother Jermaine said. Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in high-profile cases.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” _ which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” _ is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.

At the time of his death, Jackson was rehearsing hard for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13.

As word of his death spread, MTV switched its programming to play videos from Jackson’s heyday. Radio stations began playing marathons of his hits. Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital. In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.

“No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend had sent him. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”

The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.”

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.”

For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” said Quincy Jones, who produced “Thriller.” “He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and Jackson’s death immediately evoked comparisons to that of Presley himself, who died at age 42 in 1977.”

It seemed to me that his internal essence was at war with the norms of the world. It’s as if he was trying to defy gravity,” said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist who represented Jackson in the early 1990s. He called Jackson a “disciple of P.T. Barnum” and said the star appeared fragile at the time but was “much more cunning and shrewd about the industry than anyone knew.”

Michael Joseph Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary. He was 4 years old when he began singing with his brothers – Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito – in the Jackson 5. After his early success with bubblegum soul, he struck out on his own, generating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music.

The album “Thriller” alone mixed the dark, serpentine bass and drums and synthesizer approach of “Billie Jean,” the grinding Eddie Van Halen solo on “Beat It,” and the hiccups and falsettos on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”

The peak may have come in 1983, when Motown celebrated its 25th anniversary with an all-star televised concert and Jackson moonwalked off with the show, joining his brothers for a medley of old hits and then leaving them behind with a pointing, crouching, high-kicking, splay-footed, crotch-grabbing run through “Billie Jean.”

The audience stood and roared. Jackson raised his fist.By then he had cemented his place in pop culture. He got the plum Scarecrow role in the 1978 movie musical “The Wiz,” a pop-R&B version of “The Wizard of Oz,” that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy.

During production of a 1984 Pepsi commercial, Jackson’s scalp sustains burns when an explosion sets his hair on fire.

He had strong follow-up albums with 1987’s “Bad” and 1991’s “Dangerous,” but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy’s family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed.

Jackson’s expressed anger over the allegations on the 1995 album “HIStory,” which sold more than 2.4 million copies, but by then, the popularity of Jackson’s music was clearly waning, even as public fascination with his increasingly erratic behavior was growing.

Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.

Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems.

Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde said Jackson’s star power was unmatched. “The world just lost the biggest pop star in history, no matter how you cut it,” Werde said. “He’s literally the king of pop.”Jackson’s 13 No. 1 one hits on the Billboard charts put him behind only Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey, Werde said.”He was on the eve of potentially redeeming his career a little bit,” he said. “People might have started to think of him again in a different light.”

Michael Jackson’s Music Shall Live On In All Our Hearts

Play.com said sales of Jackson’s 10 top selling albums had soared by a staggering 7,860% while searches for Jackson had increased by nearly 9,000%.

The first 14 slots in Amazon’s best selling 50 albums are now taken up by Jackson’s albums.

Top of the pile is Jackson’s first solo album, Off The Wall, which featured tracks such as Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough and She’s Out Of My Life.

It was followed by the world famous 1987 album Bad and Thriller. Thriller was the biggest selling album of all time, selling between 50 million and 100 million albums and was promoted by probably the most famous video in pop.

A further two copies of Thriller figure in the top 20, which also features an array of compilations of his material, including the recently released King Of Pop at number eight.

Jackson’s music also dominates the Apple iTunes downloads.

Eighteen songs are in the top 100 downloads, with Man In The Mirror at no 11.

The former pop star failed to make a dent in the HMV downloads charts. But the store gave its homepage over to promoting Jackson’s entire back catalogue.

Jackson’s career had stagnated in recent years.

But Gennaro Castaldo, of HMV, said sales of the star’s material was increasing after Jackson unveiled his 50-date This Is It residency at the 02 arena in London.

“We always find where a great icon dies that there’s a massive uplift in their music sales as fans want to connect and express their grief through the records,” he said.

Mr Castaldo said it was likely Jackson would now take over the download charts.

“Now, with downloads and the instant access they give, we can probably expect the charts to light up with his songs,” he said.

Supermarket giant Tesco said it has seen a tenfold increase in sales of Jackson’s compilation albums King of Pop and Number Ones.

***

Update

Michael told me he was excited to get back on stage … but the stress of those concerts killed him

ONE of MICHAEL JACKSON’s oldest friends has attacked the shadowy characters who infiltrated the King Of Pop’s life and took advantage of him.

Producer and TV star David Gest, who was a close pal of Jacko for 40 years, said he was particularly angry about the influence of mysterious Lebanese doctor Tohme R Tohme, who met Jacko when the singer was staying in Bahrain in 2005.

He said: “We all have weaknesses and Michael’s was that he trusted the wrong people most of the time. He thought all people were good, which they are not.”

David, who won huge popularity in Britain with his appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2006, chatted to the singer on the phone just two weeks ago.

He also revealed that Dr Tohme had masterminded Michael’s mammoth run of 50 comeback concerts at London’s O2 Arena, which were to have started next month, without telling the singer the full facts.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, David said: “Michael told me he was excited about getting back on stage. I told him I was proud of him. But I really believe in my heart of hearts that the pressure of those concerts killed Michael.”

He thought there were going to be ten dates as announced. But then all of a sudden Tohme, along with Randy Phillips, president of organisers AEG, had arranged 20, 30 then 50 dates.”

Michael was being told, ‘You are going to set the world record for concerts at the O2, you are going to beat Prince’s record.’”

They knew how to feed into his ego. But when Michael realised his schedule, he began to panic. It was one show after another, with hardly any days off. He should never have been tied to so many, especially a guy who dances through more than half of his set.”

Poignantly when Jacko unveiled his concerts at the O2 at a Press conference in March, he told the crowd: “This will be it. When I say this is it, I really mean this is it. This is the final curtain call.”

For 56-year-old David, besides being convinced it was the gruelling schedule in the run-up to the concerts which killed Jackson, he also feels promoters AEG were irresponsible to book so many dates with only four months to prepare.

He said: “They should have realized doing a concert one day on, one day off, would be tough for any performer, let alone someone who hadn’t been on stage for nine years. It was ridiculous.

“Michael was working his ass off for eight hours a day to prepare, the schedule didn’t allow him proper time to rest.”

Referring to the singer’s 2005 acquittal following a five-month trial over child sexual abuse charges, David added: “And they didn’t factor in that he was raising three kids and getting his life back together after that terrible trial. Michael wanted to put on the most amazing show ever. I know for a fact he was rehearsing until 2am the morning before he died.

“I produced the last concert Michael did in 2001. He was brilliant but it was only two shows and he had many months to prepare and a sensible schedule when we rehearsed in the day so he could get a good night’s sleep.

“It is ridiculous to have an artist to rehearse until the wee hours of the morning because when he got home his adrenaline was so up, the only thing he could do was revert to pills or shots or alcohol to relieve the tension.”

David became friends with the star when he was 16 and Michael was 11. They grew so close that Jacko was best man at his wedding to LIZA MINNELLI in 2002.

The singer’s long-term battles with ill health were a regular concern to David, who told how Michael’s recent determination to be agile on stage led him to start obsessing over his weight.

David said: “Michael was getting thinner and thinner. He lost close to 15lb in the last six weeks – he wasn’t eating enough. Supposedly the chef who had worked for him was let go two weeks ago, with no one there to cater to Michael’s dietary needs.”

David – who called Michael “M” – revealed that in the last month of his life, Jackson brought back Frank DeLeo, the man who managed him in his 1980s heyday, pushing Tohme into the background.

David said: “Frank had Michael’s best interests at heart. He would never have let Michael sign for 50 shows so close together.” As I chatted to David in his London flat, it was clear he was still struggling to come to terms with the reality that his friend has gone.

During the interview, he shared a tearful phone call with Michael’s heartbroken brothers TITO, JERMAINE and JACKIE, who rang to discuss the funeral.

David dismissed rumours that it would be a Muslim ceremony and told me: “It won’t be held until next week because the family wants another autopsy. I will be flying out for it.”

He also told how, in the day after Jacko’s death, he had more than 400 texts of commiseration from celebrities, ranging from WHITNEY HOUSTON to LIAM HOWLETT from THE PRODIGY and his wife, ALL SAINTS singer NATALIE APPLETON.

But at the same time as the texts flooded in expressing grief for the star, Hollywood-based Julien’s Auction House was organising a sale of Jackson memorabilia. It was advertised as being from David Gest’s collection and took place the day after his death at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Furious David said: “I never consigned any of these items to Julien’s Auction House in LA. I have instructed my legal representatives Sheridans solicitors to sue the auction house and let buyers know this was not my auction.

“I think it is terrible that the auction house would carry out a sale of items belonging to a man who had not been buried yet. Even if I once owned any of these items this should not have been misleadingly portrayed as my personal auction to the Press and buyers. I received no money from this sale.”

Last night Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said: “The items were consigned to us by a third party who got them from David Gest at some time in the past. This is an auction that we had planned back from the spring. When we heard Michael had passed away we did toy with the idea of pulling the 21 items but this was an important part of history and we decided to go on.”

David also told how money worries weighed heavily on Michael’s mind in the last years of his life.

He said that the way Jacko lost his grip over his career and finances towards the end of his life was in stark contrast to the acute business sense the star displayed in his younger days.

He added: “Michael was one of the shrewdest men in the industry. He controlled every facet of his career, he knew every dollar. No one could make money like him.”

But David believes Jackson slowly began to lose his grip on his affairs following the freak accident in 1984 in which his hair was set ablaze during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

David said: “He was in terrible pain and all he cared about was feeling better. He started taking prescription pills to numb the pain and he also started drinking. It was then that his judgment started to become clouded.”

But despite Jacko’s controversial life, David believes it will be his brilliant music and innovative dancing that the world will remember as his permanent legacy.

He said: “I believe people are going to look back at Michael Jackson as the most extraordinary entertainer of the last 40 years.

“He was an innovator who broke down barriers no black man had done before.

“Michael came up with the name King Of Pop and over time people agreed he deserved this title.”

***

Update

Mourning In Every Corner Of The World

TENS of millions of fans around the world were united in grief yesterday over the death of music legend Michael Jackson.

From the streets of his childhood home to the crowded cities of the Far East fans turned out to pay tribute in an outpouring of public grief reminiscent of the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.

Here in Britain shocked fans gathered to mourn at London’s Lyric Theatre, where a live show based on his record-selling album Thriller is being performed.

The news of his death spread like wildfire through campsites at Glastonbury. The music festival site in Somerset soon rang to the sound of his hits.

In California, fans flocked to the UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles where he died, everyone paying homage in their own way – from five-year-old Victor Chupina, dressed as his idol, or the fans who held up a sea of gloved hands in an impromptu celebration of his life.

Some travelled to his former home, Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County. Others left candles on Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.The scene was repeated on America’s East Coast. Hundreds of people flocked to New York’s Apollo Theatre in Harlem where the Jackson Five performed in the Seventies.

Fans sang his songs, chanted his name and performed some of his signature dance moves, like the Moonwalk. Times Square came to a standstill as fans watched huge news screens.

In Gary, Indiana, the town of Jackson’s birth, people gathered outside his childhood home to pay tribute to their famous son.Leading US civil rights campaigner, the Rev Al Sharpton, said: “I was a friend of his for 35 years. Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama. He was a trailblazer.”

World leaders weighed in with their tributes. Former South African President Nelson Mandela said Jackson’s loss would be felt worldwide.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called it “lamentable news” and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said: “We lost a hero of the world.” A Downing Street spokesman for Gordon Brown said: “The Prime Minister’s thoughts are with Michael Jackson’s family.”

Tory leader David Cameron said: “Despite the controversies, he was a legendary entertainer. Everyone will be thinking of his family, especially his children.”

In Romania, a condolence board went up in downtown Bucharest. Radio and TV stations played his music and broadcast concert clips.

There were tears, too, in a Philippines jail. “My heart is heavy because my idol died,” said Byron Garcia, a security consultant who organised the famous video of 1,500 inmates doing a synchronised dance to Thriller. The video has had 23.4 million YouTube hits.

Garcia said inmates will hold a tribute today with their Thriller dance and a minute of prayer.

The flamboyant former Philippines first lady, Imelda Marcos, who cheered Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005, said she cried on hearing the news.

She said: “Michael Jackson enriched our lives. The accusations, the persecution caused him so much financial and mental anguish. He was vindicated in court, but the battle took his life.”

Japanese fans were always among Jackson’s most passionate supporters. Music critic Michiko Suzuki said: “Everyone was imitating his Moonwalk when it was a hit. He was a true superstar.”