Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Michael collapsed at the rented mansion where he was living.  Paramedics were called at about 12:30 P.M.  They arrived within minutes and found him unresponsive and in CARDIAC ARREST.

They spent the next 42 minutes or so trying to revive Michael, both at his home and en route to the hospital.

Their attempts were unsuccessful.  Michael was pronounced dead at about 2:30 P.M. at UCLA Medical Center.

Here's the video of the ambulance leaving.

Click here for pictures of Michael throughout the years.

PopEater.com has posted Michael's top 10 songs of all time and linked the videos for all the songs. Click here to see!

MICHAEL JACKSON:  THE TRIBUTES: 

--DIDDY:  "Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat.  He made the music come to life!!  He made me believe in magic.  I will miss him!"

--JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE:  "I can't find the words right now to express how deeply saddened I am by Michael's passing.  We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only pop music, but of all music.

--"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."

--LUDACRIS:  "If it were not for Michael Jackson I would not be where or who I am today.  His Music and Legacy will live on Forever.  Prayers to the fam.  R.I.P."

--MC HAMMER:  "I have no words.  I loved Michael Jackson.  RIP."

--JOHN MAYER:  "Dazed in the studio.  A major strand of our cultural DNA has left us.  RIP MJ.  I think we'll mourn his loss as well as the loss of ourselves as children listening to 'Thriller' on the record player."

--SHERYL CROW . . . (--who was a backup singer on Michael's "Bad" tour):  "His was a rare talent that we witness once in a lifetime . . . I had the great privilege of watching him every night doing what he did best - entertain.

--"I am grateful to have known him for the 2 years I worked for him and will mourn his loss with his many millions of fans across the world."

--BRITNEY SPEARS:  "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!"

--MILEY CYRUS:  "Michael Jackson was my inspiration. Love and blessings."

--LINDSAY LOHAN:  "NO OMG . . . sending my love and prayers out to Michael and his family . . . I feel sick."

--AL SHARPTON:  "I have known Michael since we were both teens, worked with him, marched for him, hosted him at our House of Justice headquarters in New York, and we joined together to eulogize our mutual idol, James Brown.

--"I have known him at his high moments and his low moments and I know he would want us to pray for his family."

--LOU FERRIGNO'S wife, Carla, also released a statement.  As you probably know, Lou was supposed to be getting Michael into shape for his upcoming run of shows in London.

--Carla said, quote, "He was so great and we all loved him.  Lou can't even form words right now . . . he's in total shock . . . he thought he was going to be training Michael tomorrow. 

--"He was planning on flying back to Los Angeles to do it.  He's very shocked right now.  Michael was so cute and sweet . . . he didn't deserve this."

MICHAEL JACKSON:  THE BIOGRAPHY: 

Here's MICHAEL JACKSON'S life in a nutshell . . .

--Michael was the seventh of NINE children born to JOE and KATHERINE JACKSON in Gary, Indiana.

--Joe pushed his kids to be entertainers from early on.  Michael and four of his brothers debuted as the JACKSON 5 in 1964 when Michael was just six years old.

--They recorded numerous chart-topping hits over the next several years, including "ABC", "Dancing Machine", "I Want You Back" and "I'll Be There".

--In 1978, Michael played the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" . . . a quote-unquote "urban" remake of "The Wizard of Oz" that starred DIANA ROSS as Dorothy and Michael as the Scarecrow.

--One of Michael's bosses on that film was legendary music producer QUINCY JONES.  They ended up forming a partnership that led to Michael's HUGE solo success in the 1980s.

--Quincy produced Michael's 1979 solo album, "Off the Wall" . . . then "Thriller" in 1982 . . . and "Bad" in 1987.

--"Thriller", as you probably know, is likely the best-selling album of all time.  (--Some sources actually give that title to the EAGLES' "Greatest Hits" album.)

--In March of 1983 . . . riding the success of "Thriller" . . . Michael performed "Billie Jean" on a TV special celebrating the 25th anniversary of Motown.  That's where he first unleashed the MOONWALK upon the world.

--The following year, his hair caught on fire while he was filming a Pepsi commercial.

--In 1984, he threw his older brothers a bone by doing one last JACKSONS album, "Victory" . . . followed by a world tour.

--In 1985, Michael co-wrote the charity single, "We Are the World", with LIONEL RICHIE on behalf of USA For Africa.  Just about every major pop star at the time contributed vocals and showed up for the video shoot.

--In 1993, Michael sat down with OPRAH WINFREY, and denied rumors that he bleached his skin.  From that moment until his death, he blamed his pale skin on a dermatological condition called VITILIGO.

--He also revealed that his father had beaten him and his siblings when they were young.

--Also that year, Michael was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch.  He settled that case out of court for an undisclosed sum . . . which was said to be at least $15 million.

--Before settling, though, Michael made a statement in which he denied the allegations . . . claimed he would be vindicated in a court of law . . . and complained about how his penis was photographed during the police investigation.

(--He also admitted to having been treated for a dependency on painkillers.  That dependency allegedly continued right up until Michael's death . . . and many people are speculating that it CONTRIBUTED to his demise.)

--Despite settling the case, the specter of those allegations would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.

--In 1994, Michael married his first wife, LISA MARIE PRESLEY.  They divorced in 1996 . . . but not before turning millions of stomachs by KISSING for the cameras at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.

--Several months after divorcing Lisa Marie, Michael married DEBBIE ROWE . . . a nurse at his dermatologist's office. 

--Debbie bore Michael his first two children . . . son Michael Joseph Jackson Jr . . . (--a.k.a. Prince Michael Jackson Jr.) . . . and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.

--Michael and Debbie divorced in 1999 . . . and Debbie subsequently signed all parental rights over to Michael. 

--In 2001, Michael released his 10th and final album, "Invincible".  But by then, Michael was seen as more of a freak show than a bankable artist. 

--Even though it sold something like 10 million copies worldwide, it wasn't really seen as a success when measured against his past achievements.

--In 2002, Michael produced a THIRD child, Prince Michael Jackson the Second . . . also known as BLANKET.  The mother's identity was never revealed . . . but Michael claimed the child was conceived via artificial insemination . . . using HIS sperm.

--Michael introduced the kid to the world by dangling him from the balcony of a fourth-floor hotel room in Germany.

--2003 saw the release of journalist MARTIN BASHIR'S documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson".  In the video, Michael discussed sharing his bed with children.

--Shortly thereafter, one of the kids featured in that documentary accused Michael of sexual harassment.

--Michael was hit with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit abuse. 

--In May of 2005, Michael was acquitted of all charges.

--With his finances allegedly in ruins, Michael sold off the Neverland Ranch in November of last year.  Michael hadn't lived there since the place was searched by police as part of the investigation into the child molestation allegations years earlier.

--Michael retained an undisclosed ownership stake in the property . . . which had fallen into pretty serious disrepair from years of neglect.

--Michael was scheduled to kick off a 50-date run at London's O2 arena, beginning July 13th.  All 50 shows were sold out.

--Despite being dogged by the usual rumors of failing health . . . including talk of skin cancer . . . Michael was getting in shape for the gigs right up until the end.

--He'd hired "Incredible Hulk" star LOU FERRIGNO as his personal trainer, and even held a rehearsal gig the night before his death at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.