JACKSON FANS GATHER NEAR HOSPITAL

Tracy Drendella, 36, from Los Angeles, said: "Michael is the greatest, and then they said he was dead and I was just like in shock. I feel like a part of me has died a little bit.

"I knew people would be down here paying their respects and I just wanted to show mine and support him."

She added: "He had a very troubled life. There was a lot of stuff that happened to him, there was a lot of choices he made, and I know he wasn't very well loved in the US anymore because of all the trials and everything."

Stef Casteel, 28, who described himself as "a superfan", said: "His music is going to live on forever. His legacy lives on beyond music and I think people are going to know Michael Jackson for centuries and centuries. He's an icon."

Meanwhile, New York came together to celebrate the life and music of the tragic star.

At the legendary Apollo Theatre people gathered to sing the songs made famous by the King of Pop.

Elsewhere on a warm New York evening, cars opened their windows and blasted Jackson's tunes into the night.

In 1967, the Jackson Five won an amateur night competition at the Apollo. In a tribute on Thursday, the venue lit up his name. It's marquee referred to him as "A True Apollo Legend".