UK NEWS

MOURNING IN EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD

The world mourns the death of the King of Pop

Saturday June 27,2009

By John Chapman

TENS of millions of fans around the world were united in grief yesterday over the death of music legend Michael Jackson.

From the streets of his childhood home to the crowded cities of the Far East fans turned out to pay tribute in an outpouring of public grief reminiscent of the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.

Here in Britain shocked fans gathered to mourn at London’s Lyric Theatre, where a live show based on his record-selling album Thriller is being performed.

The news of his death spread like wildfire through campsites at Glastonbury. The music festival site in Somerset soon rang to the sound of his hits.

In California, fans flocked to the UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles where he died, everyone paying homage in their own way – from five-year-old Victor Chupina, dressed as his idol, or the fans who held up a sea of gloved hands in an impromptu celebration of his life.

Some travelled to his former home, Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County. Others left candles on Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

‘Jackson was a race trailblazer before Obama’

The scene was repeated on America’s East Coast. Hundreds of people flocked to New York’s Apollo Theatre in Harlem where the Jackson Five performed in the Seventies.

Fans sang his songs, chanted his name and performed some of his signature dance moves, like the Moonwalk. Times Square came to a standstill as fans watched huge news screens.

In Gary, Indiana, the town of Jackson’s birth, people gathered outside his childhood home to pay tribute to their famous son.

Leading US civil rights campaigner, the Rev Al Sharpton, said: “I was a friend of his for 35 years. Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama. He was a trailblazer.”

World leaders weighed in with their tributes. Former South African President Nelson Mandela said Jackson’s loss would be felt worldwide. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called it “lamentable news” and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said: “We lost a hero of the world.” A Downing Street spokesman for Gordon Brown said: “The Prime Minister’s thoughts are with Michael Jackson’s family.”

Tory leader David Cameron said: “Despite the controversies, he was a legendary entertainer. Everyone will be thinking of his family, especially his children.”

In Romania, a condolence board went up in downtown Bucharest. Radio and TV stations played his music and broadcast concert clips.

There were tears, too, in a Philippines jail. “My heart is heavy because my idol died,” said Byron Garcia, a security consultant who organised the famous video of 1,500 inmates doing a synchronised dance to Thriller. The video has had 23.4 million YouTube hits.

Garcia said inmates will hold a tribute today with their Thriller dance and a minute of prayer.

The flamboyant former Philippines first lady, Imelda Marcos, who cheered Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005, said she cried on hearing the news.

She said: “Michael Jackson enriched our lives. The accusations, the persecution caused him so much financial and mental anguish. He was vindicated in court, but the battle took his life.”

Japanese fans were always among Jackson’s most passionate supporters. Music critic Michiko Suzuki said: “Everyone was imitating his Moonwalk when it was a hit. He was a true superstar.”

Jackson also had a huge fan base in Seoul, South Korea, and China, where his style and dance moves were widely emulated by their homegrown pop stars.

The whole world seemed to speak as one yesterday.

Michael will live on in the memory of his fans and his unique contribution to pop music.