Known lovingly as Jacko to his legion of fans, Jackson breathed his last at 2:26 pm (2126 GMT) local time following a massive cardiac arrest. Lieutenant Fred Corral, a Los Angeles County Coroner's office spokesman said an autopsy would most likely be undertaken to determine the exact cause of death.

Jackson was brought to the Ronald Reagan UCLA medical centre in full cardiac arrest after paramedics failed to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm local time after emergency procedures failed to work at the hospital as well. Jermaine Jackson, his brother said in a statement that it is a tough time for the family and asked the media to respect their privacy.

Born on August 29, 1958, Michael Jackson showed musical genius early in his life, prompting his father to include him in the Jackson Five pop group. The group signed up with Motown Records in 1969 and went on to produce seven platinum singles for the label, which sold over a million copies and three multi-platinum albums that sold over 2 million.

Jackson went solo soon after the group signed for CBS's Epic Records in 1976. MJ's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," went on to become a huge hit and sold 10 million copies. Jackson's biggest hit was yet to come and in 1982, "Thriller" became the top-selling album of all time. It did brisk business selling almost 41 million copies.

However Jacko was unable to deal with the success and began to behave in a wild manner, getting skin transplants done. He married Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, but divorced her in 1996. He married 37-year-old nurse Debbie Rowe in 1997 and has two children named  Prince Michael and Paris Michael Katherine from her. The couple divorced in 1999. Jacko also has a third child Prince Michael II.

In early 2000, allegations of child molestation surfaced, but no charges were brought. However in 2003, charges were brought against him for lewd behaviour with a 13-year-old boy. Jackson was acquitted in 2005 after which he became a recluse.

Recent rumors indicated that he had skin cancer, but were refuted by people in the know. Jackson was preparing for the "final curtain call", which was to be a series of 50 concerts starting with a massive one at London's O2 arena on July 13.

However his sudden death puts paid to hopes of millions of fans who wanted to see him croon again. But one thing is for sure - his legacy lives on. Thank you Michael - for all the memories.