King of Pop Michael Jackson dies, aged 50

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson, the child star turned King of Pop who set the world dancing but whose musical genius was overshadowed by a bizarre lifestyle and sex scandals, died on Thursday. He was 50.

Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PDT (9:26 p.m. EDT) after arriving at a Los Angeles hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy would likely take place on Friday, he said.

Jackson was taken ill at home and his personal physician tried to resuscitate him but could not, his brother Jermaine told reporters. He was taken by paramedics to the hospital, where doctors worked for more than an hour to try to revive him before pronouncing him dead, the brother said.

Late Thursday, his body was flown by helicopter from the hospital to the coroner's office.

The self-styled "King of Pop," whose hits included "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," leaves behind a mountain of debt and an unfulfilled series of comeback concerts set for London in July. Many hoped the shows would rake in millions and erase his financial troubles.

Jackson's dramatic, one-gloved stage presence and innovative dance moves were imitated by legions of fans around the world who mourned his death.

His lifetime record sales tally was believed to be around 750 million. With his 13 Grammy Awards and boundary-breaking music videos he was one of the most successful entertainers of all time.

But Jackson's belief that "I am Peter Pan in my heart," his preference for the company of children, his friendship with a chimp, his high-pitched voice and numerous plastic surgeries also earned him critics and the nickname "Wacko Jacko."

Jackson led a reclusive life after his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation, the second time he had faced ultimately unproved allegations of abuse of young boys.

"I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news," said Quincy Jones, who helped arrange the music on the album "Thriller" and produced the "Off the Wall" album, said in a statement.

Celebrity tributes poured in for the singer who was one of the first black entertainers of the MTV generation to gain a big crossover following.

Pop star Madonna said: "I can't stop crying over the sad news ... I have always admired Michael Jackson. The world has lost one of the greats but his music will live on forever."

JACKSON'S HEALTH A QUESTION

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery Homicide division searched Jackson's home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, saying they had been directed to do so by Chief William Bratton because of the media frenzy.

Police called the investigation an "every day" event and said they were assigned due to the high profile nature of it.

But Jackson was plagued by ill health throughout his adult years leading to speculation about his condition when he died.

As Jackson grew older he appeared to lighten his skin to a pale white -- which he said was caused by the skin pigmentation condition vitiligo. Last year he was photographed in Las Vegas in a wheelchair for reasons that were never explained.

Yet, even as he seemed to be sick, Jackson planned the series of comeback concerts in London starting July 13 to help erase debts that the Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, citing people familiar with Jackson's finances.

He had been rehearsing for the past two months, including Wednesday night at Los Angeles' huge Staples Center arena.

Brian Oxman, a spokesman for the Jackson family, told CNN that the family had been concerned about the pop star's health and had tried in vain to take care of him for months.

"Michael appeared at rehearsals a couple of times, he was very seriously trying to be able to do those rehearsals. His use of medications had gotten in the way, his injuries which he had sustained performing, where he had broken a vertebrae and he had broken his leg from a fall on the stage, were getting in the way," Oxman told CNN.

But the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors.

CHILD STAR TO MEGASTAR

Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. Five Jackson boys -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael -- first performed together at a talent show when Michael was 6. They walked off with first prize and went on to become a best-selling band, The Jackson Five, and then The Jackson 5.

Jackson made his first solo album in 1972, and released "Thriller" in 1982, which became a smash hit that yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.

The next year, he unveiled his signature "moonwalk" dance move, gliding across the stage and setting off an instant trend, while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.

But his personal life was troubled.

In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, but no charges were filed against him and the matter was settled out of court in 1994 with the boy's family.

The same year, Jackson announced he had become addicted to painkillers and abruptly canceled a world tour to promote his album, "Dangerous."

In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996.

"I'm so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. ... This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me," Presley said in statement.

Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999, and he later had another child with an unidentified surrogate mother.

He is survived by three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.

Dozens of fans gathered near Jackson's modest boyhood home in Gary, to pay their respects to the entertainer who left the city long ago. Some deposited flowers or toys and others blared his hit songs from their car stereos.

In Los Angeles, fans waited outside the hospital, the coroner's office, and in New York, people gathered at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, singing Jackson hits and dancing in celebratory tribute.

(Additional Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Dan Whitcomb, Alex Dobuzinskis and Laura Isensee in Los Angeles, Andrew Stern in Chicago and Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Frances Kerry, editing by Anthony Boadle)

Santana in las vegas

carlos santana from woodstock to las vegas

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Guitarist Carlos Santana has an answer for anyone who questions what a self-proclaimed hippie is doing playing a months-long residency in Las Vegas: He doesn't buy into anyone's illusions of who he is.

Santana opened his new show last week at the Hard Rock Hotel -- 40 years after the guitarist thrilled the crowds at Woodstock -- becoming one of the biggest music-makers from the generation of peace and love to take up digs in Sin City.

The 61-year-old Mexican native told Reuters this week that he does not care about anyone who might criticize him for straying from his hippie roots by taking the gig in Las Vegas.

"I don't buy into other people's illusions about who I am," Santana said. "First of all, they don't even know about what I do with my money."

Santana, an 11-time Grammy winner, said he has a long history of supporting political causes, such as Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu's fight against apartheid in South Africa, and charities, such as earthquake relief in Nicaragua.

He noted that fellow 1960s superstar Bob Dylan, with whom Santana has toured in the past, will play at minor league baseball parks this summer. "What's the difference if I play at a parking lot, Woodstock or Las Vegas?" Santana said.

Santana, whose hit songs include "Smooth" and "Black Magic Woman," opened his show "Supernatural Santana" on May 27 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, in the first of 72 shows he will play this year and next at the venue.

Music critic Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Santana's show opened with video images from Woodstock and it seemed an odd fit for Las Vegas' crowd of weekend revelers.

"The fact that Santana's show worked in this setting proves what an unusual rock icon he is," Powers wrote.

'IDOL' MOMENT

A week before opening in Las Vegas, Santana performed on the finale of top-rated talent show "American Idol" on the Fox network, and gave advice to the singing contestants.

"You have to make ugly faces to make pretty notes," Santana said. "The first thing I noticed at rehearsal is they looked really good, like models, and they were sucking their cheeks and looking like they belong in an agency for beauty."

"I couldn't feel the notes, so I said you need to start making ugly faces," he said.

Raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Santana learned his own musical lessons from his father, Jose, a mariachi violinist. As Santana tells it, he once saw his father on the violin play call-and-response with a bird in the backyard.

"And he goes, 'See if you can talk to birds, you can definitely talk to people's hearts,'" Santana said. "That was the biggest lesson that he taught me."

Even though he will tour Europe in July, Santana said the idea of staying in one place attracted him to Las Vegas because it allows him to avoid the hassle of flying to shows.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert industry news source Pollstar.com, said Santana's residency at the Hard Rock is a natural progression for a Las Vegas hotel industry increasingly attracting top acts.

"Part of it is the realization that the audience coming to Vegas is much more varied than it used to be, and it includes many of the Woodstock generation," he said.

Prior to Santana, one of the few rock stars to play Las Vegas as a resident was Elton John, who this year ended a five-year run that resulted in more than $120 million worth of ticket sales, according to figures from Pollstar.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Eric Walsh)

Carlos Santana is a Grammy Award -winning Mexican rock musician and guitarist . He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which created a highly successful blend of rock, salsa, and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin percussion such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a sudden resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Carlos Santana has been known as "The Carlos". Rolling Stone also named Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.

Guitar Hero with Van Halen to be released

Guitar Hero: Van Halen to be released later this year.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is being developed as we speak, according to gaming blog Joystiq. Game publisher Activision Blizzard has confirmed to them that Van Halen fans will have the game in their hands by the latter part of this year.

The site reports that Activision said the game will contain Van Halen's "greatest hits," as well as guest acts like Queen, Weezer, Blink-182, The Offspring, and Queens of the Stone Age.

The game will also feature Van Halen's original lineup with David Lee Roth. Activision's Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management told Joystiq, "Oh this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar."

The Van Halen game will be the third version of Guitar Hero to be based around a single rock artist/band, following succesful Aerosmith and Metallica games.

Steven Tyler autobiography: "I can't retire"

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's long-awaited autobiography, titled Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?, will be published on October 27th, according to a press release. The book follows Tyler's childhood in the Bronx, his early musical career, his now-historic partnership with guitarist Joe Perry and the rise, fall and rebirth of Aerosmith. The book will also trace Tyler's romantic liaisons, his relationship with his four children, and his dealings with the sex-and-drug-filled life of a rock star. Tyler commented, "This is not just my take -- this is the unbridled truth, the in-your-face, up-close and prodigious tale of Steven Tyler straight from the horse's lips."

Publishing house Ecco, a division of Harper Collins, reportedly paid more than $2 million for Tyler's memoir, according to Blabbermouth.net.

A band memoir, called Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith, was published in 2003.

Tyler, who has been singing for more than 40 years, told us that even a recent string of injuries and illnesses wouldn't make him think of retiring: "No, I don't know if I know how to do that. I know that Joe and I, we questioned it a couple of times about whether, you know, whether we would go out again. We took a year off. I remember I had hep-C (hepatitis-C) and decided to take a year off, and I literally got rid of it. I mean, it's one of the few miracles known to man. I kicked its ass."

Tyler will promote the book at BookExpo America in New York City on May 28th, where he and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who has also written a book, will be interviewed by author Chuck Klosterman.

Aerosmith will hit the road next month with ZZ Top for a two-month North American trek, before returning to the studio later in the year to continue work on a new album.
source the rockradio.com

donation to titanic last survivor

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Titanic" stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and the film's director James Cameron have responded to a challenge and donated $30,000 to support the last survivor of the Titanic in her last years, a representative for DiCaprio said Monday.

The survivor, 97-year-old Millvina Dean, has reportedly resorted to selling her autograph to pay her nursing home bills in Southampton, the English city from which "Titanic" began its fateful maiden voyage in 1912.

Dean was only 9 weeks old when her family traveled on Titanic in hopes of beginning a new life in the United States. Her father was one of the 1,517 casualties after the supposedly unsinkable ship hit an iceberg in the Atlantic.

DiCaprio, Winslet and Cameron made their combined $30,000 donation after Irish author and photographer Don Mullan publicly challenged them to match his donation, said Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for DiCaprio. Mullan, who photographed Dean for an exhibition, made his appeal last month in the Irish Independent newspaper.

The 1997 drama "Titanic" made more than $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing film of all time in figures not adjusted for inflation. It went on to win 11 Oscars, including best picture.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Dean Goodman and Bill Trott)

michael jackson 50 million pay day

Michael Jackson could take home more than $50 million from his much-anticipated 50-show stand at London's O2 Arena, his first shows in 12 years, according to Billboard calculations.

The concert series begins July 8, and the so-called "King of Pop" has been busy rehearsing at a soundstage in Burbank, Calif., for the past four weeks.

Tickets average about $115 and capacity will be about 15,000 per show, taking the gross for the run to about $90 million. Premium and VIP packages and secondary market sales will boost the gross to more than $100 million. Merchandise sales could bring in another $15 million.

The deal is set up where Jackson shares in net ticket revenue which, according to Billboard calculations, would make Jackson's take on ticket sales alone north of $50 million, though producer/promoter AEG Live would not confirm this.

The company has footed the bill for a $20 million production, and the show layout is coming together.

"Originally we tried to keep the show down to 90 minutes, but Michael has so many must-do songs in his repertoire that the shows now will be two-plus hours," AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips tells Billboard.

Britney Spears Circus european tour

Singer Britney Spears has extended her "Circus" concert tour to include a dozen European shows taking her from London to Russia, the pop star's representatives said on her Web site on Wednesday.

Spears kicks off the European leg of her tour with a June 19 show in Dublin, Ireland, with later stops in France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland and a final European stop July 26 in Berlin.

She began her "Circus" tour March 3 in her home state of Louisiana, and the tour features 39 North American dates.