Michael Jackson was a legendary singer and dancer, known for unforgettable hit pop songs
that are often considered among the best of all time.
The world was shocked when he passed away at the age of 50 in 2009.
Here's what the last 12 months of his life were like.
Jackson was planning to dazzle his fans with a series of concerts called This Is It.
They were touted as a comeback for the singer, who was slated to first perform in London
and eventually perform a total of 50 concerts.
His choreographer for the tour, Kenny Ortega, told Good Morning Britain,
"It was really driven by Michael.
From the very, very start, when Michael called me, he said to me, 'Kenny, this is it.'
He said 'this is it' so many times that I went back to him and said, 'Why don't we just
call the tour, 'This is It?'...He really wanted to do a tour so that his children could have
an opportunity to see him in action, and to see him doing what he's loved all his life."
The show generated a lot of excitement among Jackson's fans, especially since he was returning
to the stage after several years away.
It was estimated that around 750,000 tickets were sold in five hours, and crystal maker
Swarovski had even made Jackson a suit for his performances that cost approximately 1
million pounds.
The comeback was also supposed to include DVDs of the tour, a video game, and the release
of Jackson's first new singles in years.
"We were going to places that were new and fresh and stimulated."
After getting promoter AEG Live on board for his tour, Jackson decided to reach out to
many old friends and people he had worked with in the past to collaborate with them
again.
Some notable names included manager Frank DiLeo, choreographer Travis Payne, and lawyer
John Branca.
A lot of these professionals were people that Jackson previously had to part ways with,
so he was happy to now be reconnecting with them.
DiLeo told Rolling Stone,
"He understood that he would be working toward financial freedom, and he was very excited
about that.
It encouraged him, he knew he was working toward something."
Payne spoke with ABC News about how Jackson was determined not to compromise on anything
regarding the tour.
As he put it,
"He wouldn't allow any of us to settle."
DiLeo, for his part, couldn't help but notice how Jackson was aching to sing and put on
a show.
He told ABC News,
"I saw a guy that wanted to perform.
But he wanted to do it right.
And he was strong enough.
He was working out every day.
If he wasn't healthy, if there was something wrong, I would have stopped him.
No.
There was nothing to stop."
While Jackson was fretting over getting his comeback tour right, he was also dealing with
a lot of debt.
After the 1993 court case in which charges of child abuse were brought against him, he
paid a massive sum in a settlement.
His publicist at the time, Michael Levine, believed that the case was a turning point.
He told Billboard in 2009,
"That kind of represents the beginning of the walk down a tragic path, financially,
emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, legally."
Jackson continued to deal with financial troubles.
He tried to salvage the situation by striking a deal with Sony and borrowing money from
Bank of America.
His court troubles didn't stop either, as he was arrested in 2003 on new charges of
child abuse.
He was acquitted of all charges two years later, but his financial situation was painfully
clear.
A forensic accountant testified that he was spending at least 20 to 30 million dollars
more than what he managed to earn every year.
When Jackson passed away, his overall debt had ballooned to approximately $500 million.
Jackson was suffering from health issues throughout his final 12 months.
Not only was he battling acute insomnia, he also often came across as disoriented and
stressed to those around him.
His lack of sleep was so bad that he had to rely on prescription drugs such as propofol
to keep him going.
Jackson underwent 60 days of propofol infusions, which means that he likely went two months
without REM sleep, which was incredibly damaging to his health.
Dr. Charles Czeisler, a sleep researcher at Harvard Medical School, testified about this
at a wrongful death trial, saying,
"The symptoms that Mr. Jackson was exhibiting were consistent with what someone might expect
to see of someone suffering from total sleep deprivation over a chronic period.
I believe that that constellation of symptoms was more probably than not induced by total
sleep deprivation over a chronic period."
Dr. Czeisler also said that he believed that the deprivation of REM sleep caused by the
propofol might've ended up killing Jackson on its own.
In his final days, Jackson also struggled with non-physical ailments like paranoia.
He even told Kenny Ortega that he could hear God.
This scared Ortega, who cried with associate producer Alif Sankey during a rehearsal.
They were worried about how thin and weak Jackson was starting to look.
These facts emerged at a trial to decide whether the tour's promoter, AEG Live, was liable
in Jackson's death.
Sankey even called Ortega after Jackson left their rehearsal and said that she thought
the singer was dying.
She stated,
"I was screaming into the phone at that point.
I said he needs to be put in the hospital now."
In order to cope, Jackson was relying heavily on alcohol.
He was anxious and also obsessive as he tried to make sense of what he was going through.
Ortega emailed Randy Phillips from AEG and explained his concerns, saying,
"It is like there are two people there.
One trying to hold on to what he was and still can be and not wanting us to quit him, the
other in this weakened and troubled state."
Despite his health issues, Jackson was unwilling to compromise, as he worked out every week.
He even hired a personal trainer to ensure that he was on track before the tour's start.
That trainer was Lou Ferrigno, who's best known for playing the Incredible Hulk on TV.
The two men had been acquainted with each other for 15 years.
A week after Jackson passed away, Ferrigno told ABC News that the singer was in good
shape.
As he put it,
"He might have been a little thin because he was under a lot of stress training for
the tour.
But when I put him through the routine and everything, I mean, it was just fine.
I mean, very energetic."
Lots of speculation about Jackson's health arose after his sudden cardiac arrest.
According to Ferrigno, though, he seemed good to go on the outside.
He told ABC News,
"He was dancing as good as anyone.
And, you know, I'm an expert.
And I was with Michael.
If I didn't feel Michael could've pulled this off, I would've told him.
I think he was going to give the greatest tour in his entire life."
Ferrigno said that Jackson mostly focused on exercises that weren't intense, such as
core conditioning.
He also revealed that the singer ate only once a day, and he took supplements based
on Ferrigno's recommendations.
As Ferrigno explained,
"The most important thing was the attitude, the mind because he really wanted to be in
his best shape."
"Were you just absolutely shocked when you learned he had cardiac arrest, that he had
died?"
"I mean, I was just shocked because I didn't want to believe it, because we're talking
about a guy, 50 years old."
Jackson was extremely dependent on prescription drugs, and that was hard to ignore for those
around him.
According to ABC News, his family tried to intervene and help him several times.
Back in 1993, he stated publicly that he was checking into rehab to wean himself off drugs.
As he put it at the time,
"I remain out of the country.
I have been undergoing treatment for dependency on pain medication.
This medication was initially prescribed to soothe the excruciating pain that I was suffering
after recent reconstructive surgery on my scalp."
Author and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra was one of Jackson's friends who spoke
out about his battle with drugs.
He told Rolling Stone,
"I became aware of it in 2005.
I brought it up with him many times.
His assistant would call frequently about it, saying he was being given medication by
a lot of doctors.
He would go to great lengths to get it, if one doctor didn't give it to him, he'd try
another.
It was an addiction that was created and perpetuated by doctors."
"You know, I confronted him with that, and he tried to avoid that, and every time I did
confront him with that, he would kind of disappear."
The day before he died, Jackson was pumped after what would be his final rehearsal, which
lasted for six hours.
As promoter Randy Phillips told ABC News,
"We all had goosebumps.
I had never seen such exultation in the cast and crew."
Jackson even put his arm around Phillips as they were leaving and told him,
"Thank you for getting me here.
I got it now, I know I can do this.
I'll take it from here."
Everyone present at the session was speechless.
The energy of the performance reminded everyone of Jackson from his greatest years and of
his music legacy.
After he finished singing, he hugged his manager Frank DiLeo and declared,
"This is our time again.
It's time for us to take it back."
On the final night of his life, Michael Jackson was restless.
After finishing his rehearsal, he headed back home and tried to rest.
But sleep evaded him, so he asked his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, for help.
Murray was Jackson's personal doctor, specifically brought in for the tour at a cost of $150,000
per month.
At this point, Murray had decided to stop giving Jackson propofol and tried to use other
medications, including Valium, Ativan, and Versed, to help him get some sleep.
However, his efforts were in vain, as Jackson was restless all night.
The next morning, he told his doctor that he needed rest before rehearsing.
After listening to Jackson plead for some "milk," which is what he called propofol,
Murray agreed to administer some of it.
"You believe according to medical standards that you were reasonable with that?"
"Absolutely.
Absolutely."
Later, during investigations after Jackson's passing, Murray explained that he had everything
he needed to keep track of Jackson and his heart rate during this time.
He also stated that he left Jackson by himself for only two minutes to quickly visit the
bathroom.
But when he got back, he noticed that Jackson had stopped breathing.
He tried to revive him, but to no avail.
Several hours later, Jackson was declared dead at UCLA Medical Center at 2:26 PM on
June 25, 2009.
As for Murray, he was eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
After Jackson's death, many people around the world reacted.
Fellow pop star Madonna said,
"I can't stop crying over the sad news."
Jackson's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley said,
"I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible.
I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family.
This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me."
And filmmaker Steven Spielberg noted,
"There will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson.
His talent, his wonderment and his mystery make him legend."
Other reactions were a bit more divided.
Some fans expressed their grief, while others made crude jokes about topics like plastic
surgery.
Tourists riding a bus to get a glimpse of Jackson's mansion from the outside ended up
witnessing the final moments.
The driver of the bus revealed that she was asked to stop the bus by emergency personnel.
An ambulance was on its way into Jackson's property.
By the time that Jackson was taken into the ambulance, there was a crowd outside the property
that included tourists, journalists, and others.
Jackson's brother Jermaine said to members of the media,
"May Allah be with you, Michael, always."
If you or anybody you know is struggling with substance abuse, please call the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 24/7 national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
That's 1-800-662-4357.