Michael Jackson died of a cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, at his home in Los Angeles, California. The cause of the cardiac arrest is not clear. There are reports that his death came approximately one hour after receiving an injection of pethidine (Demerol), a painkiller to which his friends say he was addicted His personal physician, Conrad Murray, says he found Jackson in bed, not breathing but with a faint pulse, and administered CPR to no avail. Murray denies prescribing or furnishing Jackson with Demerol.
His death triggered an outpouring of grief around the world, creating surges of Internet traffic and resulting in soaring album sales.[3] He had been scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million people at London’s O2 arena, from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010, which Jackson implied during a press conference would have been the final concerts of his career.