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As you will have undoubtedly heard by now, Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles at the age of 50.

A few hours after making a desperate rush to the UCLA medical centre, hospital staff announced that the King Of Pop had passed on after suffering what is believed to be a massive cardiac arrest.

The megastar was previously in rehearsals for a huge 50-show series of concerts at London's O2 Arena and was expected to have made the ultimate comeback after years spent in the wilderness.

Arguably the most famous singer on the planet, he was a man who experienced both the heady highs and crushing lows of life in the spotlight. Often vilified by the Press for his bizarre behaviour (how many times have we heard tales of hyperbaric chambers and chimpanzee mishandling?) and his constantly changing appearance (those plastic surgery stories just wouldn't stop coming), it's a truth universally acknowledged by one and all that his music was magnificent.

As fans around the world gather to pay their last respects and radio stations pump out his greatest hits on loop, now is the time to remember a man who, however odd in his private life, brought genuine, unfettered joy to billions.

The singer, who made appearances on the big screen in the likes of Moonwalker and The Wiz, scored seven UK number ones as a solo artist and won a total of 13 Grammy awards. His 1982 album, Thriller, is still the biggest-selling album of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records. However, the past few years saw a number of court cases take their toll on his physical and mental wellbeing (and his fortunes) and it was only with the announcement of his O2 gigs that things finally seemed to be looking up for Jackson.

Clearly, he'll never have the chance to prove his naysayers wrong but in a bizarre irony that would undoubtedly not be lost on the oft-derided star, already the singer's albums are occupying the top 15 slots of online music retailer Amazon's current best-seller chart. His comeback, it seems, will not be stopped by mere death.

Please leave your tributes below...

Glen Ferris