Mourning Michael Jackson: Love and Admiration, Shock and Anguish
No one—and we mean no one—was ready for this. But the tributes to Michael Jackson, the pioneering pop-rock artist who died today at the tragically premature age of 50, started pouring in immediately.
And the flood isn’t likely to dissipate anytime soon, as evidenced merely by the throngs of fans who lined the street outside UCLA Medical Center, where the King of Pop was pronounced dead shortly after suffering a massive heart attack.
Lisa Marie Presley, whose short marriage to Jackson in the early 1990s was far more notable for its randomness than for the mingling of two of rock’s greatest families, says she is “completely shocked and saddened” by his death.
“I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children who I know were everything to him and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me,” Presley said.
Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson’s seminal album Thriller, “We Are the World” and many more hits, was one of the first to publicly react to his longtime friend and colleague’s passing.