Michael Jackson dies from cardiac arrest

Michael Jackson died reportedly from cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009. He was 50.

Jackson collapsed at a rental home in Holmby Hills in Los Angeles, news media reported. After he collapsed, Jackson's personal physician, with him at the time, tried to resuscitate him. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a 911 call at 12:21 pm (PST), arriving nine minutes later. Jackson was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued both en route to the UCLA Medical Center, and after arrival at approximately 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC), for a further hour. Jackson remained in a coma and died shortly after arrival. He was noted to have already been in cardiac arrest by the paramedics who attended his house. Jackson was pronounced dead at about 2:26 pm local time (21:26 UTC). The cause of death is currently unknown.

The case was transferred to the Los Angeles coroner for investigation. Jackson's body was transported by helicopter from UCLA to the LA Coroners offices in Boyle Heights. The autopsy is scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2009. 

At the time of his death, Jackson was scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million people, at London's O2 arena, from July 13, 2009, to March 6, 2010. During a publicity press conference, Jackson made suggestions of possible retirement. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, had stated that the first 10 dates alone would have earned the singer approximately £50 million. 

Jackson's death caused an outpouring of grief among fans not seen since the deaths of Elvis Presley and John Lennon as fans gathered outside the UCLA Medical Center and his Holmby Hills home. Fans also gathered in New York City outside the Apollo Theater and in Detroit outside Hitsville U.S.A., the old Motown headquarters now the Motown Museum, where fans created a shrine. 

In the hours following Jackson's death, his record sales increased dramatically. His seminal album Thriller climbed to number one on the American iTunes music chart, while another eight have made it into the top 40. In the UK, where Jackson would have performed less than three weeks after his death, fifteen of his albums occupied the top 15 spots on the Amazon music chart. 

Cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.

Sudden cardiac arrest kills 95 percent of patients who experienced the event and results in 310,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, a number that is far much more than those caused by breast cancer, lung cancer, stroke and AIDS combined, according to Newsweek.

(Acknowledgement: much of the article is cited from wikipedia)