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(CNN) -- Entertainer Michael Jackson died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday having suffered cardiac arrest, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's office.



Paramedics took Jackson, 50, from his west Los Angeles home Thursday afternoon to UCLA Medical Center, where a team of physicians attempted to resuscitate him for more than an hour, said brother Jermaine Jackson. He said the famed singer was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PT.

An autopsy is scheduled Friday, he said. Results are expected Friday afternoon, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles coroner's office, who also said Jackson was unresponsive when he arrived at the hospital.



Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told CNN paramedics were sent to a west Los Angeles, California, residence after a 911 call came in at 12:21 p.m.

Law enforcement officials said the Los Angeles Police Department Robbery-Homicide Division opened an investigation into Jackson's death. They stressed there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but that they would conduct interviews with family members and friends.

CNN Analyst Roland S. Martin spoke on Thursday with Marlon Jackson, brother of Michael Jackson.

"I talked to Frank Dileo, Michael's manager. Frank told me that Michael last night was complaining about not feeling well. He called to tell him he wasn't feeling well.

"Michael's doctor went over to see him, and Frank said, 'Marlon, from last night to this morning, I don't know what happened.' When they got to him this morning, he wasn't breathing. They rushed him to the hospital and couldn't bring him around."



Michael Jackson, the music icon from Gary, Indiana, was known as the "King of Pop." Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time.

Jackson was the seventh of nine children from a well-known musical family. He is survived by three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

Jackson's former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said she was "shocked and saddened" by Jackson's death. "My heart goes out to his children and his family," she said.

At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.


Some of Jackson's music was being played outside. The sounds of "Thriller" and "Beat It" bounced off the walls.

Outside Jackson's Bel Air home, police arrived on motorcycles. The road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic back, but several people were gathered outside the home.

Along with his success Jackson had some legal troubles later in his career.

He was acquitted of child molestation charges after a well-publicized trial in Santa Maria, California, in March 2006.

Prosecutors charged the singer with four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment or extortion.

Jackson body released to family

The body of Michael Jackson has been released to his family, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said today after an autopsy failed to immediately determine what killed the troubled pop star.

Members of Jackson's family were said to be gathering at his parents home in suburban Los Angeles to make final arrangements for the pop star, whose sudden death on Thursday dominated worldwide headlines and touched off two days of tributes from fans.

No funeral or public memorial plans have been disclosed, and ABC News reported that the family might seek a second, independent autopsy on the remains.

Coroner's officials have said that with no outward signs of trauma to Jackson's body or evidence of foul play, they would have to wait for the results of toxicology tests and other studies to establish a cause of death.

Speculation has centred on Jackson's use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before collapsing at his rented mansion in a Holmby Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

The 50-year-old entertainer was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, with his personal physician, identified as Dr Conrad Murray, trying desperately to revive him.

Police towed Murray's silver Mercedes from the driveway of the home where Jackson died, saying they wanted to search it for evidence and medication, and have sought to further interview the 51-year-old, Houston-based cardiologist.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Dr Murray, who had been living in the Holmby Hills mansion with Jackson, had agreed to meet with detectives with his attorney present during the weekend, although he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The Rev Jesse Jackson, who has been acting as a spokesman for the singer's family, told ABC News that they also had questions for Murray.

"When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did he inject him? If so, with what?" he said in an interview with the network. "Was he on the scene twice? Before and then reaction to? Did he use Demerol? It's a very powerful drug. Was he injected once? Was he injected twice?"

The celebrity website TMZ.com reported that police were also interested in speaking with another Jackson advise about the superstar's use of prescription medication.

Jackson's body was held under tight security at the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, a spokesman said, and transferred to an area mortuary shortly after 9pm local time last night.

Few details were released about the autopsy's findings, but Fox News reported on its website that investigators found his body to be healthier and stronger than they had expected with some scarring on the face.

Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with a "close member" of the Jackson family, reported the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest.

TMZ, citing family members, said Jackson received a daily shot of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, and that the family believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug.

A senior law enforcement official told ABC that Jackson was "heavily addicted" to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol.

Facing a battered reputation and a mountain of debt that The Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, Jackson spent the last two months of his life rehearsing for a series of London concerts that were seen as a make-or-break comeback for the man who dominated the pop charts in the 1980s.

Fans and fellow pop stars revived memories of Jackson's musical genius, tarnished over the past decade by accusations of child molestation and eccentric behaviour.

US President Barack Obama called Jackson a "spectacular performer" but said he believed aspects of his life were "sad and tragic," the White House said.

"My heart, my mind are broken," actress Elizabeth Taylor, long a close friend of Jackson, said in a statement.

"He will be in my heart forever but it's not enough," Taylor said. "My life feels so empty. I don't think anyone knew how much we loved each other."

On Hollywood Boulevard, police put up barricades to control thousands of fans who filed past Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame to honour the child prodigy who became one of the top singers of all time with an estimated 750 million albums sold.

Michael Jackson tops charts, memorabilia sales surge
By Chris Lefkow

WASHINGTON (AFP)
Like Elvis before him, Michael Jackson is topping the charts in death as in life.

And the "King of Pop" is rivaling the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" in another category as well -- posthumous sales of memorabilia.

Over 45,000 Michael Jackson-related items were being offered for sale on Saturday at online auction house eBay.com, two days after the sudden death of the singer at his rented Beverly Hills home at the age of 50.

They ranged from Web domain names -- michaeljacksonmemorial.com, for example -- at hopeful prices of one million dollars or more to copies of US newspapers featuring front-page news of his death for as little as 99 cents.

Of the products offered for sale, nearly 17,500 were music recordings and nearly 17,000 were memorabilia.

EBay's home page displayed a special "Remembering the King of Pop" category offering "Memorabilia, Music, Autographs, Records."

The collectibles for direct sale or auction included Michael Jackson posters, dolls, ticket stubs, concert programs, newspapers, magazines, tote bags, pins, badges, stickers, T-shirts and other clothing.

And, of course, albums, thousands and thousands of albums.

One of the more unusual items listed on eBay was a white glove doubling as an invitation to a "Michael Jackson party." It can be had for 50,000 dollars with the money purportedly going to support an orphanage in Kyrgyzstan.

A "rare and original" black felt fedora said to have been autographed by the pop legend himself had attracted 18 bids by late Saturday, the highest at 9,899 dollars.

An electric guitar also said to have been signed by the singer was being offered for 10,000 dollars. By late Saturday, it had been either sold or removed from the site.

Dozens of replica red leather jackets like the ones Jackson wore in the music videos of "Thriller" and "Beat It" are on sale for prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Earlier, a 1984 Michael Jackson "Thriller" doll had attracted 27 bids with a top offer of 167.50 dollars.

Thousands of items of Michael Jackson memorabilia were also being offered for sale on online classifieds site Craigslist.

Over at online retail store Amazon.com, the top 15 selling albums were all by Jackson, including two made with his brothers when they were the "Jackson 5."

Nine of the top 10 selling albums at Apple's iTunes music store were from the "King of Pop" with "The Essential Michael Jackson" leading the way.

Seven of the top 10 songs being downloaded on iTunes were by the singer, with "Man in the Mirror" the most popular.

The surge in Jackson popularity was not limited to the United States.

Jackson was also set to top the British album chart on Sunday.

His greatest hits album "Number Ones" was set for top spot and up to half a dozen of the singer's other albums could also make the Top 75, according to the Official Charts Company.

"We always find where a great icon dies that there's a massive uplift in their music sales as fans want to connect and express their grief through the records," said Gennaro Castaldo of retailer HMV.

"We've seen this with people like John Lennon, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra over the years. With Michael Jackson in particular, he was just on the cusp of a big comeback anyway and we were already beginning to see a lift in sales."

Jackson had been scheduled to play the first of 50 comeback concerts in London on July 13.

Michael Jackson had been planning to start a series of comeback concerts in London and had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months. Promoters of the shows said in March that he had passed a lengthy physical examination.
Paramedics took Jackson, 50, from his west Los Angeles home Thursday afternoon to UCLA Medical Center, where a team of physicians attempted to resuscitate him for more than an hour, said brother Jermaine Jackson. He said the famed singer was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PT