Michael Joseph Jac-kson, the man who gave the world the bt break dance and the biggest selling record in human history, has been reported dead two months to his 51st birthday.
He died yesterday in a Los Angeles hospital in the United States , closing the chapter on the story of a man who became world-famous as a child, charmed the world with his dance steps and hit songs – and left the stage with more myths and puzzles in his trail.
The Los Angeles Times reported on its website yesterday that “Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.”
The TMZ entertainment website had broken the news which shocked the world, coming a month to his scheduled comeback tour.
TMZ said on its website that “Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.”
Earlier, the Los Angeles Times said the singer had been rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by fire department paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived at the singer’s home.
The newspaper said paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene before taking him to the UCLA Medical Center hospital.
Jackson had been due to start a series of concerts in London on July 13 running until March 2010. The singer had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months.
The shows for the 50 London concerts sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.
His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
He lived as a virtual recluse since his acquittal in 2005 on charges of child molestation.
There were concerns about Jackson ‘s health in recent years but the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a four-and-a-half hour physical examination with independent doctors.

Culled from This Day

Music was a medium used by the group to encourage and strengthen the people of South Africa during the Apartheid era. This was imperative because people were losing hope and constantly hearing that a black person in South Africa had no future. The ultimate goal of the band at the time was to ensure that South Africans stuck to their culture ultimately preventing erosion by the West.

“As a group their talent definitely brought them together. At the beginning they faced difficult periods such as the ban of the group from public competitions. This was depressing at the time because a musical contest was the only path to making it big in the music industry. With time they met a promoter who gave them, their much needed break.

“Our music is unique because it is a gift . We work patiently and extremely hard to get everything properly done. We are inspired by everything around us particularly because our music is really about what is happening in people’s lives and around the world. Each song has a special meaning. They reflect what has touched our lives; we believe they touch our fans.

“But Homeless is one song that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. The song was produced and recorded during the apartheid era. Suffering of the black populace was at its peak. Today, that song still holds true, many are still suffering and homeless. So to those who listen and understand it is indicative of the need to always be of assistance to the less fortunate.

“As a group we have performed with notable stars from around the world, but our most memorable experience was in Norway. There, former President Nelson Mandela received the Nobel peace price. Also, Performing with numerous stars such as the Lighthouse Family and Dolly Patton, amongst others.

Working with Paul Simon on the Graceland album was a dream come true. Initially as a group we worried about how successful it would be. But, meeting with him ditched what ever misgivings we had. Some reports that he was unfair to us were just not true. He gave the group a wonderful opportunity .

“Our latest CD is doing very well in the market and we are glad that we went back to our roots. It’s very traditional and the compositions and stories are great; there’s a story about the late king Chaka Zulu who was one of the greatest kings in Africa. His story is very interesting. Self educated, raised by a single parent, his mother. He united his people and brought kingdoms together despite the many wars he fought. He believed in unity making a nation powerful, thus making the Zulu nation a powerful one.

“Our future plan is to set up a school for children from across the continent. To teach, preserve and promote African music. We do not want our type of music becoming extinct.

Her childhood during the apartheid regime was very traumatic. It was such a painful time that she looks back and wonders how she got through it. With no opportunity for a formal education she moved from the rural village to Johannesburg with her sister . In 1987, she entered a talent competition.

At the second attempt she won, a recording contract, Moving, on to release her first single in 1988. Her desire to sing gospel did not immediately happen, the recording company refused all the gospel songs because gospel was not big in South Africa at the time.

Having, dropped out of school at an early age. The award of a doctorate degree from the University of California amazed her, but she knows God made it all possible.

She describes her music as healing and “soothing”. Several people have been miraculously cured of ailments through her music.

Her music inspires pastors and Young upcoming artists all want to sound like Rebecca Malope. For her, the most important thing is making sure they do the right thing and are on the right path.

Despite her success her faith has grounded her and her purpose is to go on singing in his name. She confidently sees as herself as vessel used by God to reach out to people.

She never forgets her life on the wheel chair, a period she describes as “painful”.

Yannis Markopoulos born in Heracleion, crete in 1939. is one Greece most renowned composers. His love for Metanastasties(immigrants)led him to compose songs that he played at a Gala concert organised for Refugees. His personal path in music has led to a dynamic course of new compositions that have evolved with time.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH MUSIC? YOU STARTED PRETTY YOUNG. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
I was twelve when I composed my first melody, but music came to me much earlier. It was a major part of my life while growing up, especially coming from Crete which is between three continents,–Asia Africa, and Europe–that exposed me to different kinds of melodies. Music automatically becomes part of you. My mother was also instrumental in getting me interested in music. She took me to lots of conservatories where I learnt to play the clarinet and violin. When I was seventeen, I left Crete and came to Athens to study law and to learn to read and write music. I later studied under Yorgos Sklavos, a very important Greek who helped in developing my interest in music.
YOU WERE ABLE TO CREATE YOUR OWN PATH IN MUSIC. HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT AND WHAT HAS KEPT YOU GOING OVER THE YEARS?
Ethnic music originated from me which is why I am often times referred to as the father of ethnic music, I am a person who searches and in searching I have found that the magic of Africa really overwhelms me,and this has played a great role in the musicalmovement that I express called “return to the roots.” This means a planning of the future, life elements of the past and the people of the world. Also, a combination of modern data information impacts my path in music. Besides,talent and knowledge are very important keys that enable you to continuously create a path or role.
YOU PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN HELPING TO TOPPLE THE DICTATORSHIP. WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED?
My father was in prison during the German occupation and in Crete we had over a thousand battles for independence so I became a great believer in independence and liberation. My mother, who is from a very liberated part of Crete, Sfakia, taught me from an early age the essence of freedom using songs whose lyrics emphasized the importance of liberation. These songs created a dynamic understanding and expression about how we got our independence or democracy. So this pushed me to compose songs that became hymns during the dictatorship and were instrumental in toppling the dictatorship, but the politicians don’t like this idea. They like to believe they toppled the dictatorship.
GREECE IS A GROWING MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THIS? AND DO YOU THINK YOUR MUSIC WILL INFLUENCE THE MIGRANT POPULATION?
In my opinion, there are two kinds of music, popular music and personal music. Very often the big elements of popular music help in our personal music because I believe that people create popular music. But popular music has a reason for being played, maybe during festivals, celebrations, weddings, etc. In all cases, my personal music has left the path of popular music. Very often it serves the path of the theatre and opera. Now it is the epoch of compositions and multi compositions, and it embodies the unification of the arts. This must be done with a philosophy which Greece has had from ancient times before it went into renaissance. My point is that exchange is pivotal in growth and development which creates change. I write music that is expressed through symphonic instruments and with local instruments. This has universal appeal.
WHAT ABOUT AFRICAN MUSIC? WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT IT?
I very much like to hear the rhythms of Africa . I heard the wonderful Burundi ensemble with thirty percussions, instruments playing together to create a wonderful atmosphere of string and rhythm. I am not sure if Africa has found her face. They should not take foreign songs and combine with traditional songs. Nobody should import the sea to the land of the sea.
YOUR MUSIC HAS A UNIVERSAL APPEAL.YOU ARE APPRECIATED ALL OVER THE WORLD. HOW DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL?
I feel very glad; I see that very minimal elements exist worldwide. I have had the opportunity to meet some great musical talents like Phillip Glass, John Lennon etc. It says a lot about how useful the art of music is, especially how much education is needed so we can feel close to it, appreciate it and understand it. Unfortunately the market has destroyed the true essence of music, and people without talent have come into music and they create unpleasant music. These classes of people write for the public without touching the public.
WHAT ABOUT IMMIGRATION? YOU PERFORM FOR REFUGEES. TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE REFUGEES AND WHY.
I wrote the metanasties (immigrants) because I wanted to express the feelings and the knowledge of the person who works in a factory or other industries in Europe having left his village or country behind. Unfortunately this work was not translated worldwide. Today migrants appreciate the work and derive a great deal of comfort and inspiration from it. Immigration exist around the world and wherever you find an immigrant, you find a people who deserve to get their rights, live their lives comfortably, have their education and build their lives. It’s no longer easy to expel them because they carved a niche for themselves. They play a very important role in their new country and are often the most vibrant influence within their adopted countries. If you consider the blacks in America , they were initially forced to be migrants, but today they cannot be suppressed. They have freedom of expression and are responsible for themselves. These people should not be isolated because their role in a country makes for a new social dynamics that is far away from politics and war but essentially helps to make a new social era worldwide.
WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
I admire Duke Ellington, a classical jazz legend. In him is the greatest jazz movement and his music goes beyond the message of jazz. I also like music expressed through symphonic instruments. I don’t like the gathering of important musical messages of rhythms and melodies collected into one piece and someone puts his name on it.
IN MUSIC, DO YOU SEE A BLEND BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW?
This is what I want and have done. All my compositions are completely from my desire to showcase a new way, work or standard which will be long and lasting. People are tired of television which overlooks and ignores important works and simply commercializes whatever comes their way.
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS AND WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR MUSIC GOING?
I am planning a big tour to the States; I think my friends over there will be very happy. I liked the black gospel band that visited recently. If this can express my music, then I can start to calculate where things will go from there. A revolution is taking place and I want to be a part of bringing it about. This revolution will involve a combination of symphonic instruments and band instruments which will give a new color and a new message that will express message and color that no musical ensemble can isolate from another. As long as it has the level, knowledge, standard and talent which is necessary in all types of music and arts? Finally, in years to come there will be a tremendous rapport with man and creation. Anyway that’s were my music is going and I feel I am just starting out. Finally, I look forward to playing in Africa.