As we all know,Michael Jackson was a beloved pop icon who inspired people of every race across the world.Here is how the world is reacting to the news that this legend has passed from the Telegraph:
"Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights campaigner and close friend: "Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama.
"Michael Jackson was a trailblazer. He was a historic figure that people will measure music and the industry by."
Uri Geller, illusionist and close friend: "I'm shocked and devastated. I am hoping this is a dream I will wake up from, but it is not. Michael is dead.
"Michael was a genius. There was so much more to come from him. He will be greatly, greatly missed."
Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and Governor of California Governor: "Michael was a pop phenomenon who never stopped pushing the envelope of creativity.
"Though there were serious questions about his personal life, Michael was undoubtedly a great entertainer and his popularity spanned generations and the globe."
Max Clifford, publicist: "He was a unique talent and nobody who was around when Thriller came out could be anything other than astonished.
"Worldwide his fans are going to be devastated, he was incredibly close to his fans and he had a loyal following right up to the end as shown by his sell out shows."
Quincy Jones, musician and record producer who collaborated with Jackson on Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad: "He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever.
"To this day that music is played in every corner of the world, and the reason is because he had it all – talent, grace, and professionalism." (END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.
And the reaction to his death was so intense & sudden that it brought the internet to a screeching halt.More on that from UTV News:
"It may be more than nearly 20 years since Michael Jackson was the dominant personality in the music industry, but news of his death caused an avalanche of online traffic as millions of people turned to the web to find out the latest news about the singer's health.
Shortly after 4pm in New York - less than an hour after Michael Jackson was taken to hospital in Los Angeles - TMZ, the popular celebrity gossip website, broke the story after a tip-off that a paramedic had visited the singer's home.
"It's looking bad," the site claimed, reporting that he had suffered a heart attack. "We're told his mother is on the way to visit him."
Other sites soon had the news too - US entertainment channel E! spoke to Joe Jackson, the 50-year-old's father, whose grim prognosis - "He is not OK" - foreshadowed the news that would be confirmed just a few hours later.
Within seconds of the first reports hitting the web, information started spreading online - flushing a mixture of confirmed reports and hearsay through a string of other news websites, blogs and social networks. Tributes to the controversial entertainer began flooding in even before his death was confirmed at 3.15pm local time.
The volume of traffic temporarily took down TMZ, causing many interested surfers to try visiting other gossip blogs for updates - however, the sheer number of visitors then caused other sites to crash, including Perez Hilton's popular page. Many web users reported that their connections had become slow or unresponsive as hordes of people fled online."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.
