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.
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.
Michael Jackson’s death stuns fans across nation
Across the country, people reacted in stunned disbelief Thursday as word spread that Michael Jackson had collapsed and died. Within minutes of Jackson’s arrival by ambulance at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center people began arriving by the hundreds, the crowd quickly filling a grassy entrance outside the hospital. Overhead, news helicopters whirred noisily and TV trucks clogged streets.
As word spread a few minutes later that Jackson had died, several people burst into tears. Others stood silently, looking pensive, as they waited for official word from the hospital. Still others whipped out cell phones and began calling or texting friends to pump them for information.
at Glastonbury…
As the news of Michael Jackson’s death slowly filtered through the crowds at the world’s largest music festival this evening, there was a feeling of confusion and shock among fans.
Festival goers at Worthy Farm in Somerset, England could not quite believe the news as it was sent by text message and email from friends and relatives on mobile phones.
Fans at the festival are essentially cut off from the outside world and every year rumors and hearsay abound. This means as many as 137,000 people estimated to be attending Glastonbury will take this news with a pinch of salt until they read it in one of the Glastonbury music newspapers which are printed daily.
Currently there has been no official statement from the organizers of Glastonbury to tell fans of the news or to say how they will respond to the entertainers’ death. iReport: Share your memories of Michael Jackson
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