It’s been confirmed that Michael Jackson has passed away at the age of 50.
At approximately 12:21 pm PST this afternoon Los Angeles paramedics responded to a call to his home. It’s been reported that Jackson was not breathing when the paramedics arrived and resuscitation attempts were made as he was transported to UCLA medical center.
The health crisis came as the singer was trying to mount a massive comeback with a series of London concerts after his acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005.
In the last few months there have been reports that Michael Jackson was suffering from skin cancer and a lung disorder however his concert promoter has denied those rumors. Michael had to undergo several medical tests in order to be insured for his upcoming UK concert series and his health, as stated by the concert promoter was good.
Jackson had apparently been preparing for the upcoming concerts by working out so he’d be able to physically withstand the toll the concerts would take on him. He was training with Lou Ferrigno, the star of the TV show The Incredible Hulk. Perhaps his concert preparation weakened his heart.
It’s thought that Michael Jackson passed away due to a cardiac arrest. An autopsy will be performed on Friday.
As word of Jackson’s death spreads fans are gathering outside the UCLA medical center. His fans were always deeply faithful.
There are reports that some of Jackson’s family is already at the hospital and his parents who have a home in Las Vegas are on route to Los Angeles.
Michael has three children Prince Michael Jackson, born in 1997, and daughter Paris Michael Jackson, born in 1998 with his wife Debbie Rowe. Jackson later had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed “Blanket”)
From People Magazine:
The tragic turn of events was just the latest twist in a life that will be remembered for career highs and personal lows. In his 50 years, Michael Jackson went from the cute little singer in his family’s group to dazzling headliner and unquestionably the reigning pop star of the ’80s to – amid accusations of child molestation – social outcast.
Early Career
The seventh of nine children of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Michael was born in Gary, Ind., on Aug. 29, 1958, and began his career performing with his brothers. His professional debut with the Jackson 5 came at age 11.
The group set chart records with its first four singles, including “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” As a solo artist, Jackson also recorded four studio albums for Motown Records before moving, with his brothers, to Epic Records, where they continued to record as the Jacksons until 1984.
Forming a partnership with producer Quincy Jones after working together on the 1978 movie musical The Wiz – in which Jackson played a rather sheepish Scarecrow to Diana Ross’s Dorothy in this urban adaptation of The Wizard of Oz – Jackson released his solo album Off the Wall, which he co-produced with Jones. The disc spawned enduring hits including “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You.” His second Epic solo album, 1982’s Thriller, is often cited as the best-selling album of all time.
King of Pop
Photo by: Toru Hanai / Reuters / LandovMichael Jackson Dies at 50| Michael Jackson
The video for Thriller all but defined the music video genre and sent the album to the top of the sales charts for 37 weeks. (All told, it remained on the list 80 weeks.) It was also nominated for 12 Grammys and won eight.
On March 25, 1983, Jackson performed his single “Billie Jean” live on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special, where he debuted the moonwalk, which was to become his signature dance move. The following year, the singer was filming a Pepsi-Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where he suffered second-degree burns after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire before a full house. The singer settled out of court and established the Michael Jackson Burn Center with the $1.5 million he won after settling out of court.
In 1984, Jackson did his final tour with the Jacksons to the support the album Victory. The one major hit from the recording was Michael’s duet with Mick Jagger, “State of Shock.” The next year, Jackson began to put charity first and co-wrote and sang (along with Willie Nelson, Tina Turner and nearly every pop star known at the time) “We Are the World,” on behalf of USA for Africa.
Then came the 1987 album Bad, which was when some slippage in his popularity was beginning to show. But still, the album contained many hits.
Also at this time, the reclusive Jackson, who was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, started construction on a mini-Disneyland as his residence, which he called Neverland, to make up for the childhood he claims he never had.
In 1993, Jackson addressed some personal rumors telling Oprah Winfrey on her TV show that, contrary to reports that he was bleaching his skin a lighter shade, he in fact suffered from a condition called vitiligo. He also said that his father physically abused him as a child.
Not long after, Michael himself was accused of abusing a 13-yerar-old boy who slept over at Neverland, though police found no evidence to support the claim when they searched the ranch. The case was settled by Jackson for an undisclosed sum. When other allegations of a similar nature emerged, Jackson maintained his innocence.
In August 1994, Jackson and the daughter of the late rock icon Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, were married – and very soon split up. After their 1996 divorce, Jackson married Debbie Rowe, a nurse in the office of one of his doctors. Two children were born to the couple through artificial insemination: son Prince Michael Jackson, in 1997, and daughter Paris Michael Jackson, in 1998. Jackson later had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed “Blanket”).
Published by Tricia //
Farrah Fawcett died early this morning (9:28 am PST) after a three year battle with cancer.
She was in St. John’s Heath Center in Santa Monica, Calif when she passed away. She was with longtime partner Ryan O’Neal, friend Alana Stewart, friend and hairdresser Mela Murphy and her doctor Lawrence Piro. She had recently returned to St. John’s for treatment of complications from anal cancer, first diagnosed three years ago.
Ryan O’Neal, her long time companion stated “She’s gone. She now belongs to the ages,” he also confirmed that she received the last rites of the Catholic Church. “She’s now with her mother and sister and her God. I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She’s in a better place now. She was with her team when she passed … Her eyes were open, but she didn’t say anything. But you could see in her eyes that she recognized us.”
Just a few days ago there were reports that Ryan and Fawcett had planned to wed before she died however, in the end, there just wasn’t time.
Friends and family plan to honor Fawcett with a funeral service at a Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles in the next few days.
A little background on Farrah Fawcett from People Magazine:
In 1973, Fawcett married actor Lee Majors, forever known as Col. Steve Austin on TV’s The Six Million Dollar Man. Three years later, she appeared in the cult sci-fi film Logan’s Run and began her stint with costars Jackson and Jaclyn Smith on Charlie’s Angels. Well-coiffed and scantily clad, the threesome created an instant sensation, with a weekly following of 23 million fans.
Farrah Fawcett’s 1976 poster Photo by: Pie InternationalFarrah Fawcett Dies of Cancer at 62| Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O’Neal
Fawcett moved on after just one season. By then, she was already a phenomenon, having donned a one-piece red bathing suit and a perfect smile for her legendary pin-up poster, which sold a still-record 12 million copies.
“I became famous almost before I had a craft,” Fawcett told The New York Times in 1986, four years after her divorce from Majors. (By then, she was already involved with Ryan O’Neal.) “I didn’t study drama at school. I was an art major. Suddenly, when I was doing Charlie’s Angels, I was getting all this fan mail, and I didn’t really know why. I don’t think anybody else did, either.”
Bumpy Film Career
Though she left TV for what was assumed to be greener pastures – feature films – Fawcett’s initial three big-screen vehicles all crash-landed. Her first, 1978’s Somebody Killed Her Husband, was lampooned in MAD magazine under the title, Somebody Killed Her Career.
It took some serious dramatic TV roles, including that of a battered wife in 1984’s The Burning Bed (which earned her an Emmy nomination), as well as starring in small-screen biopics about pioneering photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White and ill-fated Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, for Fawcett to bounce back.
“What would you do if someone said to you, ‘You’re so popular right now that you can be on the cover of every magazine, but if you do that, you might get overexposed and a backlash will develop’?” Fawcett told The Times after she had emerged from one of the valleys of her career.
Still, she said of fighting for survival in Hollywood, “That’s life. Everything has positive and negative consequences.”
We’ll miss you Farrah.
Published by Tricia //
Yesterday a $50,000 arrest warrant was issued for Lindsay Lohan. The warrant stems from her May 2007 DUI arrest that culminated in a trip to rehab for the celebrity.
“In response to media inquiries, [the] Beverly Hills Police Department is confirming a warrant was in fact issued for the arrest of Lindsay Lohan,” said department spokesman Lt. Mark Rosen.
“The $50,000 warrant issued by the Beverly Hills Superior Court stems from a May 2007 arrest of Miss Lohan for DUI and hit-and-run. The circumstances leading to the issuance of the warrant by the court are not readily available at this time. It is our hope that Miss Lohan will surrender herself so that this matter will be resolved in a timely manner.”
In May 2007, Lindsay was busted for driving under the influence after losing control of her car and running up a curb. Police found cocaine in her car and lab tests showed the drug in her system. After a stint in a treatment center, she was arrested for drunken driving on July 24, 2007.
After pleading guilty in August 2007, Lohan was sentenced to one day in jail and placed on probation for three years.
Published by Tricia //
I was saddened to learn that early this morning actor and screen legend, Paul Newman, died in his farmhouse near Westport Conn.. He was 83.
The actor, who’d had a long battle with cancer, died surrounded by his family and close friends.
Newman’s long career on the stage, screen and television included nine Oscar nominations and a win for The Color of Money. He truly was one of his generations greatest leading men. Newman remained in demand as an actor from the 1950’s through the 2000’s. His final on screen role was as a conflicted mob boss in Road to Perdition.
In later years his interests turned to philanthropy and racing cars.
Here’s a brief bio of his life and acting career from TVguide.com
Newman was born in 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up as the son of a successful sporting goods store owner in Shaker Heights. He acted in grade school and high school plays, then joined the Navy, serving in the Pacific in World War II. After his discharge he enrolled at Kenyon College, then spent a year at the Yale Drama School. He finally headed to New York, where he attended the famed New York Actors Studio.
He married his first wife, Jackie, in 1950. They had three children — Scott, Susan and Stephanie — before divorcing in 1958. In the same year Newman met and fell in love with his future wife, Joanne Woodward, when they filmed the The Long, Hot Summer. They married in Las Vegas, and went on to have three daughters, Elinor, Melissa and Claire.
The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January. He was often asked how a Hollywood marriage could persevere so successfully.
“I have steak at home,” he once explained. “Why should I go out for hamburger?”
In the decade after his marriage he made some of the most important films of his career. Newman’s rebels meshed perfectly with the mood of the 1960s, when he made such box office and critical hits such as The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
In 1968 he directed his first feature, Rachel, Rachel. The film earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination and a Best Actress nomination for Woodward.
After his only son, Scott, died of an accidental overdose in 1978, Newman started the Scott Newman Center for drug abuse prevention. He later started The Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, an organization for terminally ill children that took its name from Butch Cassidy.
Perhaps the most recognizable effort by the Newman clan is their food company Newman’s Own, which produces all-natural food, with proceeds going to charity.
An avid and passionate race car driver, he became co-owner of Newman-Haas racing in 1982.
He earned his Academy Award for his portrayal of The Hustler’s Fast Eddie Felson, now middle-aged, in The Color of Money.
After a public appearance in which Newman looked weak and gaunt, family friend A.E. Hotchner confirmed in June that Newman had a form of cancer, but said the actor was “dealing with it nicely.” More recent reports have said the actor decided to end treatments so he could die peacefully at home.
Published by Tricia //
Only hours after performing for thousands of South Carolina College students the Learjet that former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and Celebrity DJ AM were traveling on went down in a fiery crash.
Four people were killed and two critically injured.
Travis Barker and DJ AM were transported to a burn center in Augusta, Ga about 75 miles southwest of Columbia and both are said to be in critical condition. Passengers, Chris Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif., and Charles Still, 25 of Los Angeles died, as did the pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31 of Anaheim Hills, Calif., and Co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsblad. Baker was an assistant to Barker and Still was a security guard for the musician.
The plane apparently departed just before midnight on Friday. Air traffic controllers reported seeing sparks as the plane took off. The plane hurtled off the end of the runway and crashed through antennas and a fence coming to rest on an embankment across a five-lane highway. The plane was quickly engulfed in flames.
At the crash site Saturday, the air was still heavy with the odor of jet fuel. A trail of black soot led off a runway. The nose of the aircraft was gone and the roof was missing from two-thirds of the charred plane.
“It’s absolutely terrible and tragic,” Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said.
Barker and Goldstein had performed together under the name TRVSDJ-AM at a free concert in Columbia on Friday night. Event sponsor T-Mobile said their hour long set ended at about 7:15 p.m.
The show, which included performances by former Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and singer Gavin DeGraw, drew 10,000 people into the streets of Five Points, the neighborhood near the University of South Carolina, Coble said.
Peter Kastis, Farrell’s manager, said he and Farrell didn’t find out about the crash until they arrived at the airport Saturday morning to find it closed.
“I just hugged them hello less than 24 hours ago. I wish I could hug them now,” Kastis said.
Published by Tricia //
