Source:Reuters

June 26, 2009

Legendary pop star Michael Jackson died at the age of 50 on Thursday.

Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PDT (9:26 p.m. EDT) after arriving at a Los Angeles hospital in full cardiac arrest. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy would likely take place on Friday.

Jackson was taken ill at home and his personal physician tried to resuscitate him but could not. He was taken by paramedics to the hospital, where doctors worked for more than an hour to try to revive him before pronouncing him dead.

Jackson had 13 number one hits during his solo career, won 13 Grammy Awards, and his lifetime record sales tally was believed to be about 750 million. He is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

Jackson was getting ready to start a series of concerts in London that would have lasted from July 8th until March 6th, 2010.

Jackson's music appeared on many movie soundtracks. He played Scarecrow in the 1978 movie The Wiz, appeared as Captain EO in the Disney resort attraction, had a small role in Men in Black II and starred in the extended videos for "Thriller," "Bad" and "Moonwalker."