Michael Jackson Dead

[Lara]

I've been on YouTube for tha last couple of hours and I just can't believe how many great MJ songs there are that I had completely forgotten about! 

Each and everyone is so much better and different than all the bullshit that's coming out lately, yet so contemporary.

And don't even get me started on the videos.

Who can make music like that?

I feel so fortunate having grown up with MJ, considering that today's kids grow up with RnB so-called stars.

Although I know he probably died from a medicine or sth, I believe the real cause of death is cannibalism and the media, the managers, the agents, the haters, the fans, the entourage and everyone who knew who he was all have their share of responsability.

This is what usually happens with larger-than-life people.

[w.axl.rose]

anyone know if Chris Tucker has said anything about Michaels death?

[D]

I haven't heard anything from he or Macauley Culkin which is weird.

[metallex78]

Have been watching videos being played on Aussie cable tv, and man, there's no denying he had a shitload of good songs.

RIP

[Jim]

Like many, I wasn't a fan of his, at least not in the sense that I owned any of his albums. But I always liked his songs, the songs that I knew... All of them, pretty much. Maybe I should finally buy Thriller, now.

I'm hoping that we see a tribute from Buckethead at some point... His tribute to ODB was spot on.

RIP.

[Albert S Miller]

I was OBSESSED with Michael Jackson when I was 9 years old...I owned all his albums and knew everything you could possibly know about the guy.  Then "Use Your Illusion" and the "Black" album came out and GNR and Metallica toured together.  It was that summer that  my musical interest and focus completely shifted forever.  I have always remained a fan of Michael Jackson, he is the greatest solo artist the world will ever know(along with Elvis). 

Although I was around 12 when Elvis passed and living not far from Nashville at the time, Michaels passing is touching home in the same way as it did so many years ago.  Hell I was so exposed to Elvis through my parents, so even at the age of 12, I remember all to well, the effects his passing had on the world, not that I thought that would be the last time I felt such shock, but wished it were.  Can't seem to get this out of my waking mind.  Huge Huge loss....I already miss Michael, though unique in his ways, his talents seemed endless.

[russtcb]

RIP Michael.

[faldor]

Part of what makes his passing hit so close to home is like him or not he was a HUGE part of our life history.  He's an icon, one of the most famous and recognizable people in the world.  He was a brilliant entertainer and performer.  As "weird" as he seemed he was a deeply caring person with a good heart.  Not like the stars of today.  Again I'm not saying the man didn't have his faults, those are well documented, but he was a revolutionary.  There will never be another like him.  Part of our youth has been lost, which is sad.  No artist will have families gather around the TV in primetime to watch the premier of one of their music videos.  In part because things just aren't done that way anymore.  Those things leak to the internet or debut there.  It's the sign of the times, and that's sad too in a way.  You long for the good old days when such things were an EVENT.  But Michael Jackson was that big and that important that he could make the world pause and take notice.  He really hasn't been the same the last 15 years health or otherwise and he lived a glorious yet tortured life.  Hopefully he's finally completely at peace.  He certainly left his mark and will never be forgotten.

[D]

If u think about it, there is no other artist that comes close to getting the attention or just the pandemonium he would stir up when he'd perform or what not.

people would absolutely lose their minds. I've never seen anything like it.

Big thing about Jackson that goes unnoticed a lot is, he was  a songwriter and a musician as well. Not some studio created fraud that sang nothing but other people's songs crafted for him.

No body could touch him dancing and his voice was just perfection.

[Mysteron]

Demerol is a pain killer kind of like Morphine.

It is a derivative of morphine. It was once handed out freely in American and Canadian hospitals to those in severe pain. It has less side effects than morphine which is why it was used, but it was found later on that it reacted badly with alcoholic beverages and acidic foods (sometimes fatally). It is now not used unless necessary.

There are alot of money grabbing Hollywood doctors who need to be struck off.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Look at the media now.

The very same people that tried to bring him down are now playing nice and acting sad.

Ugh.  No wonder our favorite redhead just dropped out of sight, they were going to try and chop him down in 94.

The LAPD is interviewing the butcher, err, doctor now.

[Dark Angel]

MJ and Freddie Mercury. Didnt know they had done some together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9_BwMtPeWU

RIP to both 

[Is he struggling?]

"THE nanny who became ?mother? to Michael Jackson?s three children has told how she regularly had to pump his stomach to remove dangerous cocktails of drugs.

Grace Rwaramba, 42, who flew from London to Los Angeles yesterday in the hope of being reunited with his children, has given a graphic account of the singer?s increasingly desperate final months.

She paints a grim picture of Jackson, sometimes penniless but deluded about his ?riches?, leading a nomadic life, moving from country to country and hotel to hotel, before allegedly falling under the increasing influence of the Nation of Islam, the extremist sect.

Jackson is believed to have been taking up to eight different drugs a day, including three narcotic painkillers. Rwaramba, who is expected to be interviewed by detectives about whether she helped administer the drugs, said: ?I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it.

?There was one period that it was so bad that I didn?t let the children see him . . . He always ate too little and mixed too much.?

The nanny says she once called in the singer?s mother, Katherine, and sister, Janet, to attempt an ?intervention?, trying to persuade the singer to come to terms with his addiction. Instead Jackson turned on her, accusing her of betraying him. ?He didn?t want to listen; that was one of the times he let me go,? she said.

Rwaramba, who is from Rwanda, worked for Jackson for more than a decade, starting as an office assistant before becoming nanny to his children, Michael Jr, known as Prince, aged 12; Paris, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7, nicknamed Blanket to distinguish him from his brother.

She was dismissed for a final time last December but still went back to see the children. When she visited them in April she claims Jackson was so hard up she had to buy ?happy birthday? balloons for Paris on her own credit card.

On a previous occasion he had sent her to Florence to buy antiques for $1m. ?We didn?t even have a home to live in. So we had to put the antiques in storage,? she said.

Yesterday an official with the Los Angeles police revealed the singer had become ?heavily addicted? to the powerful painkiller OxyContin and had received an injection of Demerol, another painkiller, an hour before his death. It is now almost certain the police will begin a full investigation into the singer?s death and that Rwaramba will be regarded as a witness. Coroners in the case said yesterday there was no suspicion of foul play but toxicology tests would take several weeks.

One theory is that Jackson was taking an increasing amount of drugs to combat the stress of his forthcoming 50 concerts at the O2 in London. The nanny said: ?Fifty performances! I told him . . . what are you doing? He said ?I signed only for 10?. He didn?t know what he was signing. He never did.?

Detectives have made contact with Dr Conrad Robert Murray, a cardiologist who was with Jackson at his rented mansion when he died, and have made clear they want to interview him. Police denied a report that they also want to talk to a second doctor.

Police will also want to know whether early CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) efforts to save the singer?s life were botched. On a tape of conversations between the Jackson home and the ambulance service, one of Jackson?s staff tells the dispatcher that Jackson is on the bed and that a ?doctor is here?, meaning Murray.

Medical experts say it is usual for the patient to be on a hard surface because it is difficult to compress the chest on a soft surface. The operator told the caller to ?get him on the floor?. A car towed by police from Jackson?s home is registered in the name of Murray?s sister in Texas.

Rwaramba claims the Nation of Islam, the sect that had become increasingly prominent in Jackson?s life, told him it cost $100,000 (?60,000) a month to rent the mansion, but she believes similar properties were on the market for no more than $25,000 a month.

The sect has supplied bodyguards to the singer and allegedly intimidated auction houses that were selling Jackson memorabilia.

?Michael had no idea about money,? Rwaramba said. ?He got a proposal to make an appearance in Japan for $1m . . . By the time everyone took their share, he ended up with $200,000.? At one stage Jackson and his entourage flew economy class to Germany. One of the worst periods was after Jackson was acquitted following a five-month trial in 2005 on charges of sexually abusing a boy during sleepovers at his Neverland ranch.

Jackson, Rwaramba and the children went to Bahrain as guests of Sheikh Abdullah, a son of the king, who hoped to make a CD with the singer.

People there described yesterday how they sometimes saw Jackson walking through a mall, his frail body draped in a woman?s abaya, or robe, which covered part of the face. He drew a crowd since he did not walk like a woman.

When the singer and the sheikh fell out, Jackson and his family moved to Ireland to stay with friends of Rwaramba and then in a small house in New Jersey where Jackson slept in a downstairs room while she and the children shared a bedroom.

When Jackson did have money, he hid it in black rubbish sacks and under the carpets at the Los Angeles house. Rwaramba says Katherine Jackson rang her in London at 7am on Friday to ask where the money was, possibly to stop it being stolen.

Sources close to the Jacksons yesterday told the TMZ entertainment website, which broke the news of his death, that the children would stay with their grandmother and grandfather Joe at the family home in Encino, California.

They said: ?We?re told the family is 100% behind this - feeling that Katherine and Joe Jackson are the only people who can help the children understand who their father was, help them grieve, and teach them to deal with life in the spotlight.?

ORIGINAL MEDIA SOURCE UNKNOWN/b]

[Is he struggling?]

If u think about it, there is no other artist that comes close to getting the attention or just the pandemonium he would stir up when he'd perform or what not.

people would absolutely lose their minds. I've never seen anything like it.

Very true. Michael understood the presentation and psychology of 'pop' better than any performer before, and (probably) since. Just listen to his albums, there's something on each one for everyone.

Wure, a lot of what he did was latching on to the latest trends and adapting them for a mass, crossover audience (a ot of his dance moves, for example, were copped from underground breakdancers). But, the crowds sure enough ate it up. Hell I ate it up too.

Sadly, I think the almost religious levels of adulation that he sought, (and got0 was his downfall. It's also fair to say that the Wacko jacko image that he cultivated in the 1980's came back to haunt him in later life, with all of the allegations and rumors that dogged him.

In his autobiography, Quincy Jones recalled visitng MJ at home in 'Neverland' whilst they were working on 'Thriller' and Michael's pet python 'Muscles' poked its head into a bird cage and swallowed a parrot whole. But the parrot got stuck in 'Muscles' throat at the point where its body was coming through the bars, so the poor python ended up trapped in the cage. That, according to Quincy, was a good analogy for MJ's career after Thriller. After he ate the bird of mega-stardom, he could not get his head out of the cage of fame.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Another disturbing drug story.



Jesse Jackson: Family wants 2nd autopsy
AP, Jun 27, 2009 4:53 pm PDT
Michael Jackson's family wants a private autopsy of the pop icon because of unanswered questions about how he died and the doctor who was with him, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday.

"It's abnormal. He couldn't be found," he told The Associated Press from Chicago a day after visiting the Jackson family. "We don't know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed."

People close to Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about the superstar's use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed an autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken prescription medication.

Medical officials also said there was no indication of trauma or foul play. An official cause of death could take weeks.

The coroner's office released the body to Jackson's family Friday night. There was no immediate word on who would perform the second autopsy or where it might take place. Jesse Jackson described the family as grief-stricken.

"They're hurt because they lost a son. But the wound is now being kept open by the mystery and unanswered questions of the cause of death," he said.

Two days after Jackson died at a Los Angeles hospital, his most famous sister, Janet, arrived at the mansion Jackson had been renting. She drove up in a Bentley and left without addressing reporters.

Moving vans also showed up at the Jackson home, leaving about an hour later. There was no indication what they might have taken away.

There was also no word from the Jackson family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

A person close to the family told The Associated Press they feel upset and angry by about a perceived lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days. The person requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.

Jackson had been rehearsing for 50 London concerts aimed at restoring his crown as the King of Pop. He died Thursday at age 50 after what his family said appeared to be cardiac arrest.

A 911 call from Jackson's rented home reported that his personal doctor was trying to revive him without success. Police have talked to Dr. Conrad Murray and have said they intend to speak with him again but have stressed he is not a criminal suspect.

Murray has yet to speak publicly since Jackson's death. Police towed his car from Jackson's home hours after Jackson died and said later it could contain medication or other evidence. Coroner's officials also said Jackson was taking prescription medication but declined to elaborate.

A lawyer at a Houston firm, William M. Stradley, confirmed Murray had hired his firm and said one of its partners was meeting with Los Angeles police on Saturday. Stradley said Murray accompanied Michael Jackson to the hospital.

"He was there from the beginning and he's been cooperating with police from the very beginning," Stradley said. "Dr. Murray has never left L.A. since Mr. Jackson's death, and he remains there."

Murray lives in Las Vegas but apparently left his practice and moved in with Jackson about two weeks ago. No one answered the door Saturday at his Las Vegas home, which property records show Murray bought five years ago for $1.1 million.

The promoter of the series of London concerts that Jackson was to begin next month has said Jackson personally insisted Murray be on the payroll.

Also Saturday, spiritual teacher Dr. Deepak Chopra said he had been concerned since 2005 that Jackson was abusing prescription painkillers and most recently spoke to the pop star about suspected drug use six months ago.

Chopra said Jackson, a longtime friend, asked him for painkillers in 2005 when the singer was staying with him following his trial on sex abuse allegations. Chopra said he refused. He also said the nanny of Jackson's children repeatedly contacted him with concerns about Jackson's drug use over the next four years.

He said she told him a number of doctors would visit Jackson's homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Whenever the subject came up, Jackson would avoid his calls, Chopra said.

[norway]

It's very sad, and such a bad timing for death too but thats the way it is.

He was about to release a cd and do some shows.
His wishes was to do some farewell shows but they kept booking of course, money as usual.

MJ was obviously all about the performance and the music...when he did it.

Thanks for the great music and good memoriers of history!

[loretian]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1196009/Im-better-dead-Im-How-Michael-Jackson-predicted-death-months-ago.html

No idea if this article is legit, but it has a lot of claims I have not read elsewhere.  Much of it is very ugly, so I won't paste it here, but beware if you read.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Yellow journalism at its finest.

[kmorgan]

Yellow journalism at its finest.

My thoughts exactly.

[AxlsMainMan]

I just heard on the radio that according to a source close to Michael, he made plans to leave Paul McCartney the rights to the Beatles catalogue in his will.