King of Pop Michael Jackson is dead

King of Pop Michael Jackson is dead: report
By Bob Tourtellotte, Reuters


LOS ANGELES — Pop giant Michael Jackson, who took to the stage as a child star and set the world dancing to exuberant rhythms for decades, died on Thursday after being taken ill at his home, the Los Angeles Times said. He was 50.

"Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times," the newspaper reported on its website.

The paper's report followed news of Jackson's death first reported by the TMZ entertainment website.

There was no immediate comment from spokespersons for Jackson, who was known as the "King of Pop," for hit albums that included "Thriller" and "Billie Jean."

He had been scheduled to launch a comeback tour from London next month.

TMZ said on its website that "Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back."

Earlier, the Los Angeles Times said the singer had been rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by fire department paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived at the singer's home.

The newspaper said paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene before taking him to the UCLA Medical Center hospital.