Jackson until the singer cut his ties with Sony in 2001. “He bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and pop music and made it into a global culture,” said Mr. Jackson “the cornerstone to the entire music business.” Tommy Mottola, a former head of Sony Music, called Mr. And we could all see that he was a winner at that age. Jackson, as a boy, “always wanted to be the best, and he was willing to work as hard as it took to be that. “I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”īerry Gordy, the Motown founder who helped develop the Jackson 5, told CNN that Mr. “I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news,” the music producer Quincy Jones said in a statement. Reaction to his death started trickling in from the entertainment community late Thursday. A young cancer patient claimed the singer had befriended him and then groped him at his Neverland estate near Santa Barbara, Calif., but Mr. His darkest moment undoubtedly came in 2003, when he was indicted on child molesting charges. His entertainment career hit high-water marks with the release of “Thriller,” from 1982, which has been certified 28 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and with the “Victory” world tour that reunited him with his brothers in 1984.īut soon afterward, his career started a bizarre disintegration. He became more character than singer: his sequined glove, his whitened face, his moonwalk dance move became embedded in the cultural firmament. Jackson ushered in the age of pop as a global product not to mention an age of spectacle and pop culture celebrity. Jackson was responsible for a string of hits like “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” “Billie Jean” and “Black or White” that exploited his high voice, infectious energy and ear for irresistible hooks.Īs a solo performer, Mr. Jackson’s groundbreaking videos, reprised its early days as a music channel by showing his biggest hits.įrom his days as the youngest brother in the Jackson 5 to his solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. MTV, which grew successful in part as a result of Mr. Radio stations across the country reacted to his death with marathon sessions of his songs. At the height of his career, he was indisputably the biggest star in the world he has sold more than 750 million albums.
He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm.Īs with Elvis Presley or the Beatles, it is impossible to calculate the full effect Mr.
A hospital spokesman would not confirm reports of cardiac arrest. The singer was rushed to the hospital, a six-minute drive from the rented Holmby Hills home in which he was living, shortly after noon by paramedics for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Jackson was 50, having spent 40 of those years in the public eye he loved. Medical Center after arriving in a coma, a city official said. Michael Jackson, whose quintessentially American tale of celebrity and excess took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and failed plastic surgery, was pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at U.C.L.A.
But on the verge of another attempted comeback, he is suddenly gone, this time for good. LOS ANGELES For his legions of fans, he was the Peter Pan of pop music: the little boy who refused to grow up.