Death of Michael Jackson: History and Background

On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 50. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said that he found Jackson in his bedroom at his North Carolwood Drive home in the Holmby Hills area of the city not breathing and with a weak pulse; he administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to no avail, and security called 911 at 12:21 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (UTC–7). Paramedics treated Jackson at the scene, but he was pronounced dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood at 2:26 p.m.

On August 28, 2009, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner concluded that Jackson's death was a homicide. Jackson had been administered propofol and anti-anxiety benzodiazepines lorazepam and midazolam by his doctor. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011, and was released in October 2013 after serving two years of his four-year prison sentence with time off for good behavior.

At the time of his death, Jackson had been preparing for a series of comeback concerts, This Is It, that were due to begin in July 2009 in London, England. Following his death, there were unprecedented surges of Internet traffic and a spike in sales of his music. A televised memorial service, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, had an estimated 2.5 billion viewers. In 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a US$250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017 and to release seven posthumous albums of unreleased material over the following decade, although only two were ever released.

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