Michael Jackson, the ‘King of Pop is now no more

Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead Thursday after being rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after a heart attack left him in a coma, according to published reports. He was 50.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson’s home around 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center.

Website TMZ reported that “Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. A cardiologist at UCLA tells TMZ Jackson died of cardiac arrest.”

Jackson, a singing and dancing star who found fame at an early age as a member of The Jackson 5, went on to become the “King of Pop,” a sort of Elvis for the MTV and internet generations.

Like “the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” before him, Jackson became an entertainer beloved around the world for a body of work produced in the distant past but whose musical output had long since been eclipsed by strange behavior and a larger-than-life persona.