American singer Michael Jackson, 50, died on Thursday June 25 after being rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles. “Mr. Jackson was taken to hospital (…), he was unconscious when he was admitted and his death was pronounced at 2:26 p.m. (11:26 p.m. in Paris) this afternoon”, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Forensic Institute, Lt. Fred Corral. According to Los Angeles Times and website TMZ.com, which first broke the news, Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Holmby Hills, an affluent neighborhood in the northwest of the city where he had rented a mansion since January.
Lieutenant Corral refused to give any details on the causes of death, explaining that an autopsy would be performed, probably on Friday, to determine them. The authorities have warned that it will probably take several weeks before determining the exact cause of death, pending the results of toxicological examinations.
The role of drugs in the death of the singer is pointed out by some of his relatives. Tarek Ben Amar, a former manager, accused doctors “charlatans” who according to him benefited from the fact that the star was a “hypocondriaque” stuffing himself with drugs. Jackson is said to be dead “from a heart attack because he was taking all kinds of drugs” but he doesn’t have it “never seen taking drugs”. Two doctors and his attorney are currently charged in California with improperly giving him access to medication. “I don’t know the extent of the medication he was taking but what I heard from the family is that it was very important”added Brian Oxman, the attorney for the Jackson family.
Shortly before 7 p.m., the body wrapped in a white shroud was taken to the Los Angeles morgue, a transfer filmed live by local television from helicopters. One of Michael Jackson’s older brothers, Jermaine, briefly appeared to the press at the hospital. Reading a statement, he said doctors tried to revive his brother for an hour, without success. His face ravaged by grief, he too spoke of a “cardiac arrest”.
A RECOGNIZABLE VOICE AMONG ALL
Since his acquittal in California in 2005 after a resounding trial for sexual touching of a minor, Jackson had lived almost withdrawn from the world, especially in Bahrain and Las Vegas. But on March 5, the singer announced in London that he would give a series of concerts in July. “I will sing all the songs my fans want to hear”, had declared the American star who was to make a spectacular comeback after several years of absence. Author, composer, performer, dancer, choreographer, Michael Jackson, nicknamed “The King of Pop”, was one of the most famous singers of the XXe century. Five of his studio albums are among the best-selling in the world: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).
Endowed with a recognizable voice among all, an extraordinary dancer, the king of pop began his career very early: under the leadership of his father, Joseph Jackson, little Michael began to perform at the age of 6 with his brothers, in the Jackson Five, of which he was the lead singer. The more the years pass, the more Michael eclipses his brothers by his talent and his voice. In 1979, he signed solo with Epix Records and released Off The Wallwhich met with worldwide success and sold a dozen million copies.
“THRILLER”, BEST-SELLING ALBUM OF ALL TIME
But it will be necessary to wait for 1982 and the album Thriller for Michael Jackson to achieve real popular and critical success. The album sold one million copies in a month and ten million over a year. Best selling album in the United States in 1983 and 1984, it was certified at 25 million copies in the United States and 20 million abroad between 1982 and 1996. In May 1984, Thriller is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling album of all time (25 million copies at the time) and current estimates vary between 65 and 108 million copies. With Thriller, Michael Jackson wins eight awards at the American Music Awards and eight at the Grammy Awards. His total number of sales is estimated at 750 million which ranks him as the biggest selling album of all time for a solo artist.
The three video clips (Billie John, Thriller and Beat It) accompanying the album Thriller are real mini-films with many special effects. The 14-minute music video for the $1 million song Thriller, released on December 2, 1983, is one of the first videos by a black American artist to receive widespread airplay on MTV.
From the mid-1980s, the question of the physical modification of Michael Jackson made the “one” of the tabloid newspapers and raised questions. According to his statements, Michael Jackson suffered from a skin disease called vitiligo. In 1987, Michael Jackson released the album Bad and goes on a world tour for the first time without his brothers. Bad is again a huge success and even if the album does not reach the sales records of Thrillerit nevertheless contains more “hits” including Bad, illustrated by Martin Scorsese.
In 1991, Michael Jackson signed a nearly billion dollar record deal with Sony and released the album Dangerous. It reached 7 million copies sold in the United States and became the third best-selling album in Michael Jackson’s career, reaching 30 million copies sold behind Bad with 32 million copies sold. His double album HIStory : Past, Present and Future – Book I, released in June 1995, will be the best-selling double album of all time. It contains new achievements: Screamin duet with his sister Janet, You Are Not Alone and Earth Song. In October 2001 comes out Invinciblewhich remains to this day the most expensive album ever produced (about 30 million dollars).
International star, his image will have been tarnished by his private life. Twice he will be accused of pedophilia, each time he will be released or acquitted. In 1993, the singer was notably accused of sexual abuse of a minor by a 13-year-old child, but a 22 million dollar agreement signed with the child’s family put an end to the case a year later. A few months later, Michael Jackson marries the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa-Marie Presley, for a marriage that will last less than two years. Jackson then remarried on November 15, 1996 to Deborah Rowe, a dermatology nurse whom he had known since 1981. He will have a son with her, Prince Michael Junior, and a daughter called Paris Katherine Michael. Michael and Deborah divorced on October 8, 1999.
From its historical producer Quincy Jones, “totally upset”to the singer Madonna who “can’t stop crying anymore”the entertainment world paid unanimous tribute to “one of the most influential and iconic figures in the music industry”, in the words of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. While all the televisions in the United States competed with special editions, outside the hospital, hundreds of admirers, some wearing T-shirts – some of them printed for the occasion – bearing the image of their idol, gathered all afternoon. Same scenes on the other side of the country, in front of the legendary Apollo concert hall in Harlem, New York.