Pat Dollard

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The Sun:

PARAMEDICS dashed to dying Michael Jackson’s side after a panic-stricken phone call from the superstar’s Los Angeles home.

The dramatic call was made by a member of staff last night at just after 8pm UK time.

Fire Department medics responded to the alert and arrived to find the 50-year-old singer collapsed and not breathing. He had suffered a cardiac arrest.

The emergency staff rushed him to hospital in their vehicle, where a computer screen revealed chilling details of his condition.

A record of the call-out read: “50 year old male Not breathing at all.” It gave the time of the call-out as 12.21pm local time.

Medics administered heart massage and oxygen along the route. But they could not revive the star.

Jacko’s family were informed and rushed to his bedside as weeping fans began massing outside the city’s UCLA Medical Centre.

There were screams of “You’ve got to save him, you’ve got to save him” as the star was stretchered in.

Mum Katherine made it to the hospital shortly after her son, although his father Joe was in Las Vegas when told the news. Close pal Elizabeth Taylor also rushed to the hospital to say her goodbyes.

Finally a doctor appeared and told shocked relatives and aides that all efforts to restart his heart had failed and that he had died.

Sister La Toya was seen running into the hospital sobbing after her brother was pronounced dead.

Los Angeles County Coroner Fred Corell last night confirmed that Jackson had died of heart failure at 2.26pm local time.

Last night it was suspected his collapse could have been caused by an overdose of painkiller.

An Emergency Room source at UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medics he had collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol — similar to morphine.

A Jacko source said: “Shortly after taking the Demerol he started to experience slow shallow breathing.

“His breathing gradually got slower and slower until it stopped.

“His staff started mouth-to-mouth and an ambulance was called which got there in eight minutes “But found he was in full respiratory arrest, no breathing and no pulse. They started full CPR and rushed him to hospital.

“When he arrived they started resuscitation, giving him heart shocks and inserted a breathing tube and other supportive measures to try and save his life.

“He never regained consciousness.The family was told that he had passed.”

As news spread of Jackson’s death, thousands of fans gathered outside the hospital.

Many were dressed in the eccentric singer’s trademark costumes and others blasted out his smash-hit tunes.

Family lawyer Brian Oxman said the star collapsed at his rented home in LA’s Holmby Hills area while brother Randy was present.

Los Angeles City Fire Department confirmed the emergency call was made from Jackson’s home.

“The call came in because a person was not breathing,” said a spokesman.

“When the team arrived, they saw that CPR was already in progress by someone at the home.

“The person not breathing was transported to UCLA Medical Centre.”

Other stunned family members said that Jackson, who was due to begin a series of comeback concerts at London’s O2 arena next month, “was in really bad shape”.

The singer had been staying at the LA house while he rehearsed for his comeback tour.

More than 750,000 tickets had been sold for the former King of Pop’s “This is It” concerts.

The opening dates were postponed last month after concert promoters AIG said Jackson needed more time to rehearse the complex dance routines.

But after The Sun revealed that he was suffering from skin cancer there were fears that he was not fit enough to complete the tour.

Experts found spots of skin cancer on his upper body and pre-cancerous cells on his face.

Jacko’s close pal Uri Geller was “too upset for words” last night.

He said: “The whole world is absolutely devastated and I am lost for words because everyone expected him to come to England to do his concerts.

“He was in good health. He was rehearsing, dancing, practising for the shows in England and I am shocked, that is all I can say.”

Jacko had been blighted by a string of past health problems — including rumoured heart trouble.

But he had vowed to perform his £150million comeback gigs.

He is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.
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The LA Times:

[Updated at 3:15 p.m.: 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.]

[Updated at 2:46 p.m.: Jackson is in a coma and his family is arriving at his bedside, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Jackson was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home at 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took him to the hospital, Ruda told The Times.

[Updated at 2:12 p.m.: Paramedics were called to a home in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson had rented the Bel-Air home for $100,000 a month. It was described as a French chateau estate built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater.

The home is about 2 1/2 miles, about a six-minute drive, from UCLA Medical Center. An earlier version of this post incorrectly described the time to travel between the home and hospital as two minutes.]

The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

In May, The Times reported that Jackson had rented the Bel-Air residence and was rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London’s O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called “King of Pop” back on stage.

His backers envision the shows at AEG’s O2 as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a “Thriller” casino. Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson’s massive debt.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Michael Jackson, the record-breaking, sensationally gifted “King of Pop” who emerged from childhood superstardom to become the entertainment world’s most influential singer and dancer, and the tabloid world’s most disturbing celebrity, has died. He was 50.

A person with knowledge of the situation says Jackson died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

His death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV,

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UPDATE: Fox News reports that The Associated and The LA Times press confirmed that Michale Jackson has died at 3:15 PM Pacific time.

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Update: TMZ appears to be the only website that has thusfar confirmed Jackson’s death. FOX News and CNN are hesitant to confirm it either way, but as soon as I get a second, perhaps more official confirmation, i’ll be sure to put it up. FOX just reported that he was in a coma. And yes, there is an amazing Thriller joke in here somewhere, I just can’t quite word it.

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I have not been able to fully confirm the fact that Michael Jackson has actually died, given that doctor patient privacy and whatnot makes it difficult. None the less, according to TMZ:

We’ve just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

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.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

We’re told one of the staff members at Jackson’s home called 911.

LaToya ran in the hospital sobbing, after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

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FOX News Video:

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TMZ:

We’ve just learned Michael Jackson was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Los Angeles … and we’re told it was cardiac arrest and that paramedics administered CPR in the ambulance.

He was picked up at his home around 20 minutes ago — we’re told his mother is on the way to visit him.

UPDATE: The 911 call came in at 12:21PM at his Holmby Hills home in L.A.

UPDATE: A Jackson family member tells TMZ Michael is in “really bad shape” and the brothers are headed to UCLA.

UPDATE: We just got off the phone with Joe Jackson, Michael’s dad, who says “he is not doing well.”