Michael Jackson has died at age 50 of a heart attack

Michael Jackson has died at age 50 of a heart attack. Jackson started his career as a child star who fused R&B and soul before his life deteriorated amid increasingly freakish scandals.

The King of Pop: 1958-2009

In a musical career that spanned more than 40 years and began at age 5, Michael Jackson set album sales records and earned millions of fans around the world

Michael Jackson was a tarnished genius - loved by so many, understood by so few. Now fans mourn the man they hoped would emerge from the shadows.

Elizabeth Renzetti

From Friday's Globe and Mail, Friday, Jun. 26, 2009 06:03AM EDT

Of all modern pop legends, Michael Jackson has been the most present, and the most elusive. His final press conference, to announce the concert dates in London that were to bring him back to respectability and erase his debts, was no different.

Hundreds of journalists and fans – many of them not born at the time of his greatest success, 1982's Thriller – milled about the 02 Centre while the King of Pop kept them waiting for hours.

When he finally did appear, in trademark black wig and shades, and a military-style sequined shirt, he seemed energized and healthy, contrary to reports that had said he was wasting away, or that he needed the help of a wheelchair.

In fact, he seemed so healthy as he spoke his few lines – “I love you all so much … I'll be singing the songs my fans want to hear” – that a rumour went around that this was not in fact Mr. Jackson but an impersonator he used for public appearances.

A rumour that bizarre would quickly have been batted away if anyone else were involved.

But really, this was Michael Jackson, whose nose no longer looked human, whose best friend was a chimpanzee, who slept in an oxygen tent, who made his children wear masks in public.

Key facts about Michael Jackson's life

Katherine Laidlaw, National Post, with files from news services Published: Thursday, June 25, 2009

Michael Jackson, 50, one of pop music's biggest stars, was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived at his home. Later that afternoon Jackson was pronounced dead, the cause of death is believed to be a cardiac arrest. Below are key facts about Michael Jackson's life:

1958

Born Aug. 29 to Katherine Esther Scruse and Joseph Walter Jackson, in Gary, Indiana as the seventh of nine children.

1963

Michael and his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon first perform together at a talent show when Michael is 6. They walk off with first prize. They form the Jackson 5. Their father is instrumental in shaping the group and promoting their talents in New York and Philadelphia.

March 1969

The Jackson 5 signs a recording contract with Motown Records. A year later, the band records some of its top hits including "I'll Be There," "I Want You Back" and "ABC."

1972

Michael Jackson records his first solo album. The first hit, "Ben," is a love song to a pet rat.

1979

Mr. Jackson's album, Off the Wall, is produced by Quincy Jones and sells 11 million copies.

1982

Michael Jackson releases Thriller, also produced by Quincy Jones. The album yields seven top-ten singles including "Billie Jean" and "Beat it." It sells 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million more worldwide.

1983

Mr. Jackson unveils his trademark "moonwalk" dance move while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.

1984

Mr. Jackson's head is burned while filming an ad for Pepsi. He begins to remodel his facial features, starting with the reduction of his nostrils. His skin colour also begins to lighten.

1985

Mr. Jackson writes the charity hit, "We Are The World," to benefit the fight against hunger in Africa.

1987

Mr. Jackson's album Bad is released, selling 26 million copies and marking the end of his collaboration with Quincy Jones.

1988

Mr. Jackson moves into the $17-million U.S., 2,700-acre Neverland ranch outside Santa Barbara, Calif. He turns it into a real-life Neverland, including a zoo, a video arcade and an amusement park with a merry-go-round and a ferris wheel.

1990

Mr. Jackson begins wearing surgical masks in public. Thriller reaches 21 times platinum, making it the highest-selling album of all time.

The video for "Black or White" is released, prompting discussion over Mr. Jackson's strikingly different skin tone.

1991

Mr. Jackson's album Dangerous is released, selling 22 million copies.

1992

Enters the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-paid entertainer in the music industry.

1993

Mr. Jackson reveals to Oprah Winfrey in a rare interview on her show that he has a skin condition called vitiligo, which causes the skin to lose its pigmentation.

The same year, Mr. Jackson is accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy and police raided his ranch.

He also announced in 1993 he was addicted to painkillers and cancelled a world tour.

1994

Mr. Jackson reaches an out-of-court settlement in the sexual molestation lawsuit arising from his friendship with a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler. The settlement was later reported to be $23-million. Mr. Jackson denied the allegations. No criminal charges were ever filed.

The same year, Mr. Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, in a secret ceremony on May 26. The marriage lasts 18 months.

1995

Mr. Jackson releases HIStory - Past, Present and Future, Book I.

1996

Mr. Jackson divorces Ms. Presley and marries Australian dermatology nurse Debbie Rowe the same year. He and Ms. Rowe have two children, a son, Prince Michael Joseph, and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine. The couple divorced in 1999. They never lived together.

Ms. Rowe granted Mr. Jackson sole custody of the children, whose faces he often kept covered in public.

2001

Mr. Jackson releases his sixth solo album, Invincible, which reportedly cost $30-million U.S. to make. It flops. Mr. Jackson was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

2002

In July, Mr. Jackson accuses record executive Tommy Mottola of exploiting African-American artists. Mr. Jackson fathers another son, Prince Michael II and nicknamed "Blanket" from a surrogate mother he reportedly never met. On Nov. 19, 2002, Mr. Jackson dangles the nine-month-old baby over a fourth-floor balcony at a hotel in Berlin, Germany, eliciting panic from fans and media gathered below and garnering widespread criticism. He said later he regretted the incident.

2003

In an interview with Martin Bashir, Mr. Jackson is pictured holding hands with an adolescent boy. In the interview, the singer said sharing a bed with a young boy was a "beautiful thing."

"It's very right, it's very loving. Because what's wrong with sharing a love?" he said in the interview. He also said he never abused a child.

Later that year, Mr. Jackson was accused of multiple counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo. He posts $3-million bail.

On November 18, police raid Mr. Jackson's Neverland ranch. The same day, his Number Ones album is released.

2004

On April 30, Mr. Jackson is charged with 10 counts, including child molestation, extortion, child abduction, false imprisonment and giving a minor an intoxicating agent. He pleads not guilty.

February 2005

The prosecution accuses him of being a closet pervert who used wine and pornography to lower the inhibitions of a 13-year-old boy. The defence counters that authorities investigating the allegations of child molestation found no DNA from his accuser when they searched the pop star's bedroom.

June 13, 2005

A jury finds Mr. Jackson not guilty on all the counts against him. A member of the jury later says in an interview that he believes Mr. Jackson "probably has molested boys," but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. Mr. Jackson subsequently spends time in Bahrain, Ireland and France with his children.

March 5, 2009

Mr. Jackson announces a comeback tour in London. He was set to start his slate of 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena on July 13. The shows sell out within hours of going on sale in March.

Sources: Reuters, AFP, National Post