Michael Jackson announces a 50 date tour, bags the cash and then dies...

you've been hit by a smooth criminal!

^^actually... http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartDiseaseOverview/story?id=4222711

 

TECHNICALITIES, TECHNICALITIES.

Michael Jackson announces a 50 date tour, bags the cash and then dies...

you've been hit by a smooth criminal!

 

Dammit, I was WONDERING how to use that song in a pun :whip:

 

JD beat me to it.

mj is all over amazon.

he entered the charts and took every spot from 1-15. :stunned:

Dammit, I was WONDERING how to use that song in a pun :whip:

 

JD beat me to it.

 

:lol:

mmmmmmmkay so he is a freak this day and a hero, the next?

mmmmmmmkay so he is a freak this day and a hero, the next?

 

Who said he was a hero??:confused:

Was Michael Jackson killed by injection to ease his pain? Police to quiz star's doctor

 

By Michael Seamark and David Gardner

Last updated at 11:46 PM on 26th June 2009

 

 

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Police in Los Angeles were preparing to question one of Michael Jackson's doctors last night.

The move followed claims that, only minutes before he died, the star was given an injection of a painkiller which can cause cardiac arrest.

The doctor, named as cardiologist Conrad Robert Murray, was said to have tried to revive Jackson, then disappeared for several hours.

 

 

Conrad Robert Murray (right) is to be questioned by Los Angeles police over the death of Michael Jackson

 

Sources said the singer had been using the drug Demerol as he battled to be fit for his first London show next month. The heart specialist had been living at his rented house.

The new mystery over Jackson's sudden death came as:

 

• Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of his three children, vowed to fight 'tooth and nail' for custody against the singer's mother Katherine;
  
• Creditors began staking their claims to what remains of Jackson's fortune;
  
• Thousands of British fans were left unsure whether they will get refunds for the London shows as the promoter faces a £500million payout;
  
• Fans gathered at makeshift shrines around the world while tributes to Jackson were led by Paul McCartney, Steven Spielberg and Madonna.
  

Police, who said prescription drugs had been found at the house, refused to identify the doctor. But the US celebrity website TMZ.com - which first broke the news of Jackson's death - named him as Dr Conrad Murray, from Texas.

 

 

Fans grieve for Michael Jackson at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

 

Another website, based in Houston, said a BMW towed away by police from outside Jackson's home belonged to the doctor's sister, Susan Rush.

It quoted an assistant at Dr Murray's practice as saying the cardiologist had been living with 50-year-old Jackson and was with him when he suffered the fatal cardiac arrest.

 

The emergency 911 call from Jackson's home said a personal doctor was trying to revive him. The caller, a young man, said: 'He's pumping his chest but he's not responding to CPR or anything'.

Click here to hear the full tape, courtesy of TMZ

 

Asked if anyone had seen what happened, the caller replied: 'Just the doctor, the doctor's been the only one here'.

TMZ quoted a close relative of Jackson as saying he was receiving a daily injection of Demerol and the dose was 'too much'. The relative said the singer was injected at 11.30am on Thursday. The 911 call was made less than an hour later, at 12.21pm.

 

 

 

The singer pictured last month during rehearsals for his O2 show

 

What is Demerol?

 

Similar to morphine, Demerol is a fast-acting narcotic pain reliever.

The nearest British equivalent is pethidine, a painkiller used in childbirth.

In the U.S., Demerol is a controlled drug, monitored by enforcement authorities.

Doctors are supposed to prescribe it for limited periods, either as injections, tablets or oral solution.

This is because it may be habit-forming and has a high potential for abuse, which can lead to severe psychological and physical dependence.

Demerol is also highly toxic and side-effects, such as depressed breathing, can lead to respiratory arrest, shock or cardiac arrest.

 

A post-mortem was under way last night but the coroner warned there would be no immediate result.

As the police inquiry was launched an inner circle of 'enablers' was blamed for Jackson's death.

Long-time family lawyer Brian Oxman accused personal physicians, businessmen and media agents of helping the singer abuse prescription drugs to prepare for his gruelling 50-concert London comeback.

 

He said they had pushed him too hard physically.

Mr Oxman said: 'This was something which I feared and something I warned about. This is a case of abuse of medication, unless there is another cause I don't know about.

 

'This family has been trying for months and months and months to take care of Michael Jackson. The people surrounding him have been enabling him.

'I do not know the extent of the medications that he was taking but the reports we have been receiving in the family is that they were extensive.

'I have told people in no uncertain terms that if I woke up one day and Michael was dead I would not be silent.'

 

 

The 911 call description for Michael Jackson as seen on the monitor of the firetruck outside of his home

 

In this video frame grab from KNBC4 video, the body of the pop star is loaded into a van to be taken to the Los Angeles County Coroner's office

Jackson's former record producer and friend, Tarak Ben Ammar, accused the pop icon's doctors of taking advantage of his hypochondria.

 

Joe Jackson, father of Michael Jackson, waves to media and fans outside the family home in the Encino area of Los Angeles

 

He said: 'They are the ones who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave him medicine to ease his pain.

'He was a hypochondriac and one never really knew if he was sick because he become surrounded by charlatan doctors who were billing him for thousands and thousands of dollars worth of drugs, vitamins.'

Singer Liza Minnelli, a close friend, also warned that the cause of the singer's death would spark controversy.

'I'm sure when the autopsy comes all hell is going to break loose,' she said, 'so thank God we're celebrating him now.'

Jackson's final moments were described by a source at the emergency room at UCLA Medical Centre.

He said: 'His staff told paramedics he started to experience slow shallow breathing. His breathing gradually got slower and slower until it stopped.

Paramedics found he was in full respiratory arrest, no breathing and no pulse.

'When he arrived here they started resuscitation, giving him heart shocks, inserting a breathing tube and taking other supportive measures.

But he never regained consciousness.'

 

How the stars twittered their tributes

 

The reaction to Michael Jackson's death spread like wildfire around the globe thanks to the latest social networking phenomenon, Twitter.

Within seconds, millions of subscribers - who can instantly leave messages of up to 140 characters - had posted their thoughts.

Among those who 'tweeted' were:

Stephen Fry: 'Goodness. Michael Jackson. Poor old soul. Oh dear.'

Jonathan Ross: 'Sad news about Jacko and Farrah Fawcett. I'll play an MJ track on the radio 2moz.'

Chris Moyles: 'Michael Jackson was to me what I imagine Elvis was to another generation.'

Miley Cyrus: 'Love and blessings' to Jackson and his fans, saying the 'King of Pop' was her inspiration.

Sean 'P Diddy' Combs: 'Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic.'

Demi Moore: 'I am greatly saddened for the loss of both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Especially for their children!'

Ashton Kutcher: 'RIP. Sending love and light to family and friend but especially his kids.'

 

 

Elsewhere, scores of celebrities and politicians queued up to pay tribute.

 

Cher: 'An extraordinary child touched by this ability'

 

Madonna: 'I can't stop crying over the sad news. I have always admired Michael Jackson - the world has lost one of its greats but his music will live on for ever.'

Gordon Brown: 'This is very sad news for the millions of Michael Jackson fans in Britain and around the world.'

David Cameron: 'I know Michael Jackson's fans in Britain and around the world will be sad today. Despite the controversies, he was a legendary entertainer. Everybody will be thinking of his family, especially his children, at this time.'

Barack Obama: 'A spectacular performer and music icon whose life nonetheless had sad and tragic aspects.'

Cher: 'An extraordinary child touched by this ability. He could sing like nobody else.'

Liza Minnelli: 'He was a kind, genuine and wonderful man. I will miss him every remaining day of my life.'

Jane Fonda: 'I am stunned. My friend, Michael Jackson, is dead. He lived with me for a week on the Golden Pond set after Thriller.'

Brooke Shields: 'My heart is overcome with sadness for the devastating loss of my true friend Michael.'

Britney Spears: 'He's been an inspiration throughout my entire life.'

Steven Spielberg: 'Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, there will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson.'

Mark Lester, the Oliver! star who is godfather to Jackson's children: 'He put his children first always. They really are lovely kids and it's just heartbreaking.'

Robin Gibb: 'If even a small portion of the praise that is bestowed on Michael Jackson now in death was given to him last year, in life, he might well still be with us.'

Dame Elizabeth Taylor: 'Oh God! I'm going to miss him. My heart, my mind are broken. I can't imagine life without him.'

 

One person who most certainly did not 'tweet' was Foreign Secretary David Miliband. He appeared to leave a Twitter post saying: 'Never has one soared so high and yet dived so low. RIP Michael.' But the Twitter account was set up mischievously in his name.

Who said he was a hero??:confused:

 

I don't know. It's just that while he was alive, people treated him like a freak. Maybe he was, but nobody cared then. What good does it help him to care now?

I'm been listening to Will You Be There (The Free Willy theme all day. Good tune. Nostalgia.

we treat our stars and celebrities like trash, until they die. And then they are suddenly legend. It's like these people feel guilty for what they put them through. This is why I hate celebrity gossip. I even think the only reason this is so big is because it's gossip. One day it will be Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Who went to save them? Nobody. Who will talk about them being dead, everyone.

Yeah I agree, but Paris basically didn't do anything of her life :P So nothing to celebrate ;)

^I see what you're getting at, but there's a big difference between criticising someone's behaviour and wishing them actual harm.

When someone dies it's the decent thing to forget any prejudices/disagreements and give them a respectful epitaph.;)

Yeah I agree, but Paris basically didn't do anything of her life :P So nothing to celebrate ;)

 

Maybe so, but I bear her no ill-well as I don't believe she's ever set out to harm anyone.;)

^I see what you're getting at, but there's a big difference between criticising someone's behaviour and wishing them actual harm.

When someone dies it's the decent thing to forget any prejudices/disagreements and give them a respectful epitaph.;)

 

You don't have to wish someone harm to do harm. I respect your opinion, but I hate all celebrity gossip, because it just proves that we are craving to judge other people. (here I am judging people :rolleyes: ) But sometimes I want to defend a celebrity while they are alive, even though I know they won't hear. And I admire the news people who refuse to talk about Britney Spears, etc. Talking about these people on the news destroys their lives. It's no wonder they try to escape through strange means during their lifetimes, and strange means in the end, suicide usually.

 

I also think that an epitaph is useless for a dead person. It might help their family, but Michael Jackson is dead. He is dead. All that matters is life.

I hope you understand, Mark, that I'm not attacking you. It's this concept. I've always felt this way... Maybe today a little more.... oh, and I've also laughed at jokes about him. No one is not guilty here.

I hope you understand, Mark, that I'm not attacking you. It's this concept. I've always felt this way... Maybe today a little more.... oh, and I've also laughed at jokes about him. No one is not guilty here.

 

That's not what I'm saying. I had been very critical of him in recent years, and certainly feel he had been "creatively" deceased for a long time.

I also felt his "comeback" was a bit of a waste of time, and would have been more likely to have harmed his reputation than to have enhanced it. In a way, it's probably for the best that these concerts won't now go ahead, as nobody will now know either way.

 

His story is ultimately a sad one, as he was a victim of the global fame which was foisted on him at a very young age.;)

It was this that eventually destroyed him.

^I see what you're getting at, but there's a big difference between criticising someone's behaviour and wishing them actual harm.

When someone dies it's the decent thing to forget any prejudices/disagreements and give them a respectful epitaph.;)

 

 

I LIKE THAT YOU SAID THIS. ^^

 

no matter what jokes he was the brunt of/or even if allegations were ever proven true or not, he was, at the end of the day, someones Son, brother, father,uncle, friend.

 

AND A SOUL IN TORMENT, for many reasons.

 

Liza Minelli summed it up best, i thought. Give the man any due kudos now, cause his legacy is soon to be ripped to shreds.

R.I.P.

I LIKE THAT YOU SAID THIS. ^^

 

Thanks. :D

no matter what jokes he was the brunt of/or even if allegations were ever proven true or not, he was, at the end of the day, someones Son, brother, father,uncle, friend.

 

And at his peak, an unbelievable singer and dancer who was responsible for two phenomenal albums.

 

Liza Minelli summed it up best, i thought. Give the man any due kudos now, cause his legacy is soon to be ripped to shreds.

 

Well it looks like lots of stuff is going to come out about drug dependency over the next days and weeks...........................

I agree with Leoeoruiiwholws for once, nobody cared about him a few days ago

 

now everyone is his biggest fan and thinks it's a "huge loss to music" :/

^For example, me. I never liked this Jackson character very much.

Let's not get angry here. :shifty:

 

It's sad that Michael Jackson died because he was a famous and a very talented musician. He will always be remembered and the pop music world will not be the same after this day June 25, 2009.

 

:bigcry:

 

I Agree With You :(

I had no idea he had a heart condition...

 

Not to sound racist, but black men in general have weak hearts by the time they're in their 40's, and as much as he hated to think so, Michael Jackson was black.

 

whoever told you that must have been taking the mickey out of you.. :D

TECHNICALITIES, TECHNICALITIES.

 

don't worry, i always thought they were the same too. :shrug: