Michael Jackson Dead At 50

Above, Michael Jackson at the White House in 1984 with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Jackson died at a hospital named in honor of President Reagan.

Michael Jackson Dead At 50

by Armand Vaquer

Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop”, died today at age 50 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood from an apparent heart attack.

At around 12:21 PM, paramedics were called to his residence and found Jackson non-responsive and in full cardiac arrest. It is rumored that he had an injection of Demerol or other drugs just prior to the attack.



He was rushed by ambulance (above) to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where doctors tried to revive him for about an hour, but couldn’t, according to his older brother Jermaine Jackson.

When news got out of Jackson’s passing, throngs of people gathered at the medical center and at Jackson’s home. The only comparable events of a celebrity’s passing of Jackson’s magnitude were John Lennon’s murder in December 1980 and Elvis Presley’s death in 1977. Media trucks from U.S. media outlets along with those of Australia, Japan, France, England and others gathered at the medical center or at the Jackson residence.

As with Presley’s and Lennon’s deaths, radio stations began to play Jackson’s music. Fans continued to gather at his home and at the hospital. All subsequent events received non-stop coverage. Television cameras tracked the helicopter bearing Jackson’s body from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s facilities on North Mission Road, northeast of downtown L.A.

The news of Jackson’s sudden death eclipsed the news earlier in the day of actress Farrah Fawcett’s passing. Her death was not unexpected. Jackson’s was. He was about to embark on a 50-concert tour “comeback” within weeks.

It cannot be denied that Michael Jackson had talent. He began his career with four of his brothers as the “Jackson Five” in the 1960s. He decided to go solo in the 1980s. His “Thriller” album is still the biggest-selling album of all time. He moonwalked his way to the top. Musically, the 1980s were Jackson’s.

In the mid-1990s, Jackson showed up at a monster convention dressed as Nosferatu. Nobody knew that it was him. It was allegedly arranged by "Thriller" video director John Landis.

Somewhere along the way, something happened to Jackson. He began to act eccentric and reclusive. He morphed into what the tabloids called “Wacko Jacko.” He underwent plastic surgery on his face. His skin inexplicably turned lighter. He wanted to buy the “Elephant Man’s” skeleton. He married Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa (that lasted about 19 months). He gave a bizarre interview in which he said he liked to share his bed with little boys. He had to settle a child molestation suit for millions of dollars out of court. He was charged by another child to be a child molester and had to undergo a trial that turned into a bizarre media circus. Jackson showed up to court one day in pajamas. Although he was acquitted of the charges, the damage was done.

Jackson fled the United States and his “Neverland Ranch” to live abroad. But he felt the pressure to rebuild his musical career (he was also heavily in debt) and was rehearsing his act for a tour. A new album would also be released.

Whether or not the molestation charges were true and despite his bizarre behavior in his later years, Jackson will be forever immortalized by his music. It is too bad that things went awry personally for him. Maybe now he found peace. It is too bad that he had to die to get it.

UPDATE (6/26/09): I was heading home from work at 11:00 tonight in the San Fernando Valley and noticed helicopters hovering over Encino, the location of the Michael Jackson's parents' home. As I approached Ventura Blvd. and Hayvenhurst Ave., I saw that Havenhurst was barricaded by traffic control officers. The Jackson's residence is only a few yards south of Ventura Blvd. I grabbed a quick video with my cell phone (after all, this is history) of the location. The video is below. You can't see a whole lot as it was dark and I was moving.



UPDATE (6/26/09): Reports are circulating that authorities are looking for a doctor, allegedly his personal physician who lived with Jackson, to question him on injecting Jackson with Demerol about an hour before Jackson suffered a full cardiac arrest. A vehicle, purporting to belong to this physician, was seen towed from Jackson's residence. The doctor has not been found. This is sounding like a "Dr. Nick" (George Nichopoulos) who fed Elvis Presley with drugs, all over again.