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Jackson death stuns world, spotlight on role of drugs
2009-06-26
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Amid global tributes to pop superstar Michael Jackson on Friday, friends highlighted the mounting stress and dependence on medication as a possible cause of the King of Pop's sudden death. Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion in Los Angeles and was rushed to hospital by paramedics before being pronounced dead on Thursday. An autopsy was expected to be carried out on Friday by the Los Angeles county coroner but amid heartfelt tributes from Hollywood and music superstars speculation mounted about the cause of death for the 50-year-old whose "Thriller" album was the biggest selling disc in history. Jackson family spokesman and attorney, Brian Oxman, told CNN of concerns about Jackson's use of drugs, saying members of the star's entourage were "enablers." "This is not something that has been unexpected... because of the medications which Michael was under," Oxman said. "The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him... If you think that the case of Anna-Nicole Smith was an abuse, it was nothing to what we have seen in Michael Jackson's life. "I do not know the extent of the medications that he was taking but the reports we had been receiving in the family is that they were extensive," Oxman added. Jackson's former producer Tarak Ben Ammar denounced the doctors around the late pop icon as "criminals". "It's clear that the criminals in this affair are the doctors who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave him medicine to ease his pain," he told France's Europe 1 radio. "He was a hypochondriac and one never really knew if he was sick because he had become surrounded by charlatan doctors who were billing him thousands and thousands of dollars worth of drugs, vitamins...," said the Tunisian producer. One of the most influential figures in pop history, Jackson had been preparing for a concert comeback in London next month that he had dubbed "the final curtain." Canadian singer Celine Dion said stress could have contributed to his death. "When we saw him, we sensed his fragility. It is bad because, yes, he was larger than life. But it was not possible to be a human being and to live like that every day. What we see today, I think, unfortunately, is a result of stress," she told Europe 1. News of his death triggered an outpouring of grief as celebrities and fans paid tribute to the troubled star whose superstar success had been overshadowed by a paedophilia court case and his eccentric private life. Jackson's brother Jermaine, the family's official spokesman, revealed physicians had battled for more than an hour to revive the star after his arrival at the UCLA Medical Center before he was pronounced dead. "May Allah be with you, Michael, always," the brother said. As the sun began to sink over Los Angeles, a coroner's office helicopter bearing Jackson's body took off from the UCLA Medical Center, where hundreds of media and fans had gathered. Police motorcycle riders surrounded Jackson's gated mansion as crowds of tourists and fans congregated. Street vendors sold hastily designed commemorative T-shirts for 25 dollars. Pop diva Madonna was among the celebrities who paid tribute. "I can't stop crying over the sad news," the singer said in a statement. "The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever!" The star's first wife Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, told MTV News: "I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family." Fans staged spontaneous gatherings across the world. In Los Angeles, Lana Brown, a 49-year-old tourist from Dallas, broke down in tears as she digested the news. "I can't believe we might have lost the best entertainer this world has ever seen," she told AFP. In New York's Times Square, Chantal de Roy van Zuydewijn watched a giant screen broadcasting the news of Jackson's death with tears running down her cheeks. "He is a legend. He is a genius," said the 28-year-old Dutch tourist, who had a ticket to the pop legend's scheduled comeback tour in July. Jackson's concerts in London were to be his first shows in more than a decade. While Jackson ruled the charts and dazzled audiences with electric dance moves like the backwards "moonwalk" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career was overshadowed by his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse. He lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser. Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar, who named his ranch after Peter Pan's "Neverland" and furnished it with Disney-inspired rides, struggled to recover. Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his elder brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves. In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies. They teamed up again in 1982 for "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million. "I'm absolutely devastated at this news," Jones said after being informed of Jackson's death. "I just don't have the words. Divinity brought our souls together and allowed us to do what we could do through the '80s."
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