Death of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, aged 50, in Los Angeles.

The death of Michael Jackson, on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50, triggered an outpouring of grief from fans around the world, slowing down Internet traffic and causing his album sales to soar. Jackson, nicknamed the "King of Pop," died at his rented home in Los Angeles, reportedly one hour after receiving an injection of pethidine, known as Demorol, a painkiller he had allegedly been addicted to for 20 years, according to ABC News.

Jackson had been scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million people at London's O₂ arena, from July 13, 2009, to March 6, 2010, which he implied during a press conference would be the final concerts of his career.

Collapse

Template:Wikinewshas Jackson collapsed at a rented home on North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles during the late morning or early afternoon of June 25 PDT. His personal physician was present and tried to resuscitate him. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:21 pm, and arrived nine minutes later, at which point Jackson was reportedly not breathing. CPR was performed on the way to the UCLA Medical Center, and for one hour after he arrived at the hospital at 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC), but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm (21:26 UTC).

Investigation

The Los Angeles County Coroner has taken over the investigation into Jackson's death, and his body has been moved by helicopter from UCLA to the LA Coroner's offices in Lincoln Heights. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2009.

Reaction

News management

News of Jackson's death spread quickly online, causing websites to crash and slow down from user overload. Google believed it was under attack from hackers, while Twitter reported a crash. AIM, an instant messaging service operated by AOL, collapsed for forty minutes, and Wikipedia crashed at 3:15 PDT. AOL called it a "seminal moment in Internet history," adding, "We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."

Grief

Crowds outside the UCLA Medical Center on June 25

Jackson's death triggered an outpouring of grief among fans, as they gathered outside the UCLA Medical Center and his Holmby Hills home. Fans also gathered outside the Apollo Theater in New York, and at Hitsville U.S.A., the old Motown headquarters in Detroit, now the Motown Museum, where people created a shrine. A small crowd, including the city's mayor, gathered outside Jackson's childhood home in Gary.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Representatives Diane Watson and Jesse Jackson Jr spoke about Jackson, before asking members to observe a moment of silence in his honor.

Record sales

Jackson's record sales increased dramatically in the hours following his death. His album Thriller climbed to number one on the American iTunes music chart, and another eight made it into the top 40. In the UK, where he would have performed in less than three weeks, his albums occupied 14 of the top 20 places on the Amazon.co.uk sales chart, with Off The Wall topping the chart. Nine of his albums were featured on the American iTunes Top 10 chart, including Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, and three compilations.