Michael Jackson King of Pop Dies At Age 50

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Sadly it has been confirmed that Michael Jackson, also known as the King of Pop has died suddenly at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles on Thursday at the age of 50. After a 911 call paramedics arrived quickly and performed CPR before taking him to the hospital but it was not enough unfortunately.

Michael Jackson will go down as one of the most talented musicians and performers of all time. His career began with the Jackson Five at age 11 before starting his own solo career in 1971. Despite a bumpy career at times he went on to achieve many great things and will always be known for revolutionizing the music industry in many ways. For example, his music videos for popular songs such as "Beat It", "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" just to name a few, are part of the reason MTV became so popular in the 80's and 90's and are also what made music videos become such an art form that they are today. He also smashed the barrier between black and white music.

His incredible talent and highly complicated dance techniques such as the moonwalk and robot are partly why Michael Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame not once, but twice, which is very rare for any music artist. Throughout his solo career he had a total of 13 number one singles as well as 13 Grammy Awards, several Guinness World Records and also went on to sell over 750 million albums worldwide.

Many people remain in shock over his death which was all too sudden. He was expected to perform several live shows again beginning this July at the 02 Arena in London, and although those plans have come to a halt his legacy will live on forever. This is a sad day not only for the music industry but for many people of all cultures. Michael will be truly missed by many friends, fans and family members.