Fun House Bugga’s

Today the music industry mourns the passing of Michael Jackson at age 50. Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958.

Michael Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. He was born 7th in a family of 9 children, his father reportedly nicknamed him “Big Nose”.

It was reported by TMZ that he was rushed to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. The L.A. Times reported he was not breathing when the paramedics arrived.

Jackson had been dogged by a $40 million lawsuit filed earlier this month by promoter AllGood Entertainment Inc., claiming breach of contract and fraud in an attempt to stop Jackson from performing in London. The New Jersey-based company filed the suit in federal court in New York stating that it signed a deal with Jackson’s manager, Frank DiLeo, in November 2008 that commits the singer to appear at a Jackson family reunion concert in the U.S. this summer.

AllGood CEO Patrick Allocco told MTV News that the contract was for a concert that was originally scheduled to take place this July. “The date we now have on hold is July 3 in Cowboy Stadium in 2010,” Allocco said, adding that the contract stipulates that Jackson cannot perform individually before the AllGood show or for three months after the July event.

Michael Jackson debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the “King of Pop” in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums are among the world’s best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as “Beat It”, “Billie Jean” and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as “Black or White” and “Scream” made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time”—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sales of over 750 million albums worldwide. Cited as one of the world’s most famous men, Jackson’s highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades.

On June 25, 2009, he collapsed at his home in Los Angeles. After being taken to the hospital in a coma, Jackson was pronounced dead.