King of Pop is no more.

On the morning of June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at a home he was renting in west Los Angeles. Paramedics responded to a 911 call at 12:12 pm local time. He was not breathing at the time that paramedics arrived, and CPR was quickly performed. He fell into a coma and died shortly after being rushed to the UCLA hospital. The cause of death is suspected to be cardiac arrest. At 4:36 pm local time, the Los Angeles coroner confirmed Jackson's death. Although there is no evidence of criminality, Los Angeles Police Department detectives have opened an investigation into his death.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sales of over 750 million albums worldwide. Cited as one of the world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades.

On a personal note, Michael Jackson was my childhood hero, I grew up with his music and I had my first dance moves on his beats. It seems unreal that just a few hours ago we lost a great artist who still had alot of joy and value to bring to this world. It is a very, very sad day.

Jacko lives on!

Sources:

Wikipedia
Yahoo! News