Fans of Michael Jackson hold up banners and flowers to commemorate him in Beijing, China, Friday, June 26 , 2009. Michael Jackson was due to make his triumphant return to the stage in London next month _ but instead his sudden death has left millions of fans feeling they've lost a lifelong friend. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Ng Han Guan /
Published June 26, 2009 11:35 am - Michael Jackson was due to make his triumphant return to the stage in London next month — but instead his sudden death has left millions of fans feeling they've lost a lifelong friend.
Leaders, superstars, fans mourn King of Pop
By GREGORY KATZ Associated Press
LONDON — Michael Jackson was due to make his triumphant return to the stage in London next month — but instead his sudden death has left millions of fans feeling they've lost a lifelong friend.
The dramatic death of the brilliant singer seemed to obscure his recent controversies and kindle warmer memories of Jackson the child star and Jackson the show-stopping, moonwalking headliner.
The worldwide chorus of grief united the famous — statesmen and superstars alike — and the legions of ordinary people who grew up with "Thriller" and "Beat It."
Word of Jackson's death jolted nearly everyone, from a young man in Colombia who was named after the King of Pop, to Malaysians who named a soy drink for him, to a generation of people around the world who have tried, in vain, to moonwalk.
"It's horrible news, so unexpected," the Italian actress Sophia Loren told The Associated Press by telephone. "The world has lost an icon and music has lost treasures. He wrote songs that generations of yesterday, today and tomorrow will all keep on singing. What he wrote was amazing."
Loren and her children had been frequent visitors to Jackson at his Neverland ranch in California, developing an enduring friendship.
"I hope that Michael will find that peace that maybe he did not have in the last 15 years."
In London, shocked fans gathered at the Lyric Theatre, where a live show based on Jackson's record-selling album "Thriller" is being performed, and waited for news about refunds for some 750,000 tickets to his sold-out, 50-night run.
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