Michael Jackson, Pop’s Thrilling King, Dead at 50
The crowns fit: Michael Jackson was the King of Pop; Elvis Presley was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Both men commanded the pop-culture landscape, as much as the charts. Both men influenced their industry, as well as scores of artists.
And both men died suddenly and barely into middle age.
Jackson, whose landmark Thriller broke records and racial divides, whose smooth moves revolutionized dance as much as pop, and whose penchant for headline-making helped burnish his brand, and, following child-abuse allegations, helped tarnish it as well, died today after being found unconscious at his Los Angeles-area home.
Jackson suffered cardiac arrest around noon, according to father Joe Jackson, and never recovered. He was prounced dead at 2:26 p.m., officials said.
Music’s eternal Peter Pan was 50. In the end, the King of Pop outlived Presley, whose daughter Lisa Marie Presley Jackson would wed, by just eight years.