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發表於 2009-6-26 08:26:04
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Michael Jackson dead at 50
Michael Jackson dead at 50
ASSOCIATED PRESS
US singer Michael Jackson is shown at a press conference in London, announcing plans to appear at the London O2 Arena in July.
Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted "King of Pop," died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told Associated Press. He was 50.
The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home at about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson's rented home, was roped off with police tape.
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" – remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 26 million copies.
He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.
As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure. His skin became lighter and his nose narrower. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while travelling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.
In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.
Born on Aug. 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, Jackson started singing as the youngest member of brother group the Jackson 5, which clinched its first record deal in 1968 when he was 11.
Hits like "ABC" and "I'll Be There" helped the brothers become the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the U.S. pop charts, and by 1972 Jackson released his first solo album.
Those early years, under a strict father, took their toll. Jackson said later that he built his home Neverland, with a zoo, train rides, movie theatre and carousel, because he "wanted to have a place that I could create everything I never had as a child."
He teamed up with producer Quincy Jones to make Off the Wall in 1979, an album that yielded four hit singles, and then Thriller with its dance, rock and pop tunes that produced seven Top Ten singles and stayed on U.S. charts for over two years.
In 1985, he wrote the famine relief charity single "We Are The World" with Lionel Richie, which became one of the fastest selling singles of that era.
The hit albums Bad and Dangerous followed and Jackson began calling himself the "King of Pop" as rumours mounted about his odd private life. In 1994, he made an out-of-court payment to settle accusations that he molested a boy in California.
A few months later, he stunned the world by marrying Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley, but the couple divorced in 1996. The same year, he married former nurse Debbie Rowe and had two children – Prince Michael Jackson I and Paris Michael Katherine. They split up in 1999. Four years later he had another son, Prince Michael Jackson II with an unidentified surrogate mother.
Jackson appeared set for a comeback attempt in 2009. Jackson and music promoter AEG Live announced he would perform 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena. Jackson had been due to start the concerts on July 13. Jackson had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the London shows, which sold out within hours of within hours of going on sale in March. |
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發表於 2009-6-26 07:55:16
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Terrible private life. Like a freak show.
發表於 2009-6-26 08:55:29
