Goodbye Jacko

POP superstar Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest yesterday after an incredible, bizarre and entertaining career as the king of pop.

Millions of heartbroken fans worldwide flooded the internet as the news broke last night to pay tribute to the 50-year-old legend.

He was the most exciting live performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his crazy, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters.

His single, white glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his weird, ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as one of the biggest pop sensations of all time. He brought together two of music's biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie.

And people have immediately compared Jackson's death to that of Presley himself, who died aged 42 in 1977.

But as years went by, Jackson began to transform into a freakish figure.

A middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice.

Family ... Michael with sister Janet Jackson

He often wore a germ mask while travelling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions, and surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, a storybook playland filled with toys, rides and animals.

Jackson shocked crowds in 2002 when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below.

In 2005, the world tuned in to watch as he was cleared of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003.

He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behaviour with other children.

The case followed years of rumours about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

Despite being cleared of all charges, the allegations that came out in court seriously damaged his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

History ... Michael (middle) performing with Jackon 5

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, USA. He was four-years-old when he began singing with his brothers - Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito - in the Jackson 5.

After his early success with "bubblegum soul", he struck out on his own, creating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music.

The album Thriller mixed the dark bass and drums of Billie Jean, the classic Eddie Van Halen solo on Beat It, and the jazzy funk on Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.

His peak came in 1983 when Motown celebrated its 25th anniversary with a huge televised concert.

Jackson moonwalked off with the show, joining his brothers for a medley of old hits and then leaving them behind with a pointing, crouching, high-kicking, crotch-grabbing performance of Billie Jean.

By then he had cemented his place in pop culture. He got the plum Scarecrow role in the 1978 movie musical The Wiz, a pop-R&B version of The Wizard of Oz, that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy.

He had great follow-up albums with 1987's Bad and 1991's Dangerous, but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was first accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy's family, reported to be £12million, and criminal charges were never filed.

Jackson's expressed anger over the allegations on the 1995 album HIStory, which sold more than 2.4million copies, but by then, the popularity of Jackson's music was clearly disappearing, even as public fascination with his increasingly erratic behaviour was growing.

Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, known as Prince Michael, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.

The name of the mother of his third child, seven-year-old Prince Michael II - also known as 'Blanket' - has never been revealed.