LOS ANGELES - The family of Michael Jackson claimed the body of the late pop star late Friday following an autopsy earlier in the day, Los Angeles Countycoroner's spokesman Ed Winter said.
Jackson's family removed the singer's body at around 9pm (0400 GMT), eluding hordes of camera crews and photographers.
There was no immediate indication of where Jackson's body was being moved to.
No information regarding funeral arrangements has been released.
Jackson died Thursday after apparently suffering a cardiac arrest at his rented mansion in Beverly Hills, sending shockwaves through the music world and triggering a global outpouring of grief. - AFP/vm
Fans of Michael Jackson lays flowers under a poster to commemorate him in the Bulgarian capital Sofia
LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's cause of death will not be confirmed for several weeks, officials said Friday, as attention turned to the possible involvement of drugs in the tragic King of Pop's demise.
As a global outpouring of tributes to the tortured icon showed no sign of abating, Los Angeles coroners began the task of trying to determine what caused the 50-year-old star to collapse and die at his home on Thursday.
After an autopsy lasting several hours, Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey told reporters that examiners had found no evidence of "external trauma or foul play" on Jackson's body.
However Harvey said a cause of death had been deferred until the results of exhaustive toxicology tests were known.
"Those tests, we anticipate, will take proximately four to six additional weeks to complete. At that time, once those test results have been completed, we anticipate being able to close the case and issue a final cause of death," said Harvey.
Jackson's autopsy took place Friday amid heartfelt tributes to the singer, and as speculation mounted about the cause of death for the 50-year-old who sold more than 750 million records and whose music defined the 1980s.
Jackson lawyer Brian Oxman said he and family members voiced concerns over the star's use of drugs as he prepared for a gruelling series of comeback concerts in London designed to relaunch his career.
"I know Michael was rehearsing and working extremely hard to get in shape in order to perform in London," Oxman told ABC television's Good Morning America.
New age guru and Jackson confidante Deepak Chopra -- a qualified cardiologist -- told CNN bluntly: "I think drugs killed him."
Jackson's former producer Tarak Ben Ammar denounced the doctors around the late pop icon as "criminals."
"It's clear that the criminals in this affair are the doctors who treated him throughout his career, who destroyed his face, who gave him medicine to ease his pain," he told France's Europe 1 radio.
Celebrity website TMZ.com -- which broke the news of Jackson's death -- reported Friday that the star had been injected with the powerful painkiller Demerol about an hour before he lost consciousness.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said investigators spoke with the doctor briefly Thursday, but they wanted to speak with him again.
A tape-recording of the 911 call from Jackson's home was released Friday in which a caller could be heard telling an operator that repeated attempts to revive Jackson had been unsuccessful.
The caller also said Jackson's personal physician had been the only witness to the singer's collapse. "(The doctor) is pumping the chest but he's not responding to anything, sir, please," the caller is heard saying.
Jackson's family, including the star's three young children, were reportedly huddled at an estate in the northern Los Angeles suburb of Encino.
Meanwhile there were tributes from Jackson's close friend Elizabeth Taylor and a spokesman for US President Barack Obama.
"My heart... my mind... are broken," Taylor said in a statement. "I loved Michael with all my soul and I can't imagine life without him... I still can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. It can't be so."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday the US leader regarded Jackson as an icon but thought aspects of his life were sad and tragic.
"The president... said that he had aspects of his life that were sad and tragic, his condolences went out to the Jackson family and fans that mourned his loss," Gibbs said.
Fans staged gatherings across the world. At Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, fans left flowers and lit candles.
While Jackson ruled the charts and dazzled audiences with dance moves like the "moonwalk" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career was overshadowed by his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse.
He lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.
Despite the acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar, who named his ranch after Peter Pan's "Neverland" and furnished it with Disney-inspired rides, struggled to recover.
Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his elder brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic Records, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.
They teamed up again in 1982 for "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.
Michael Jackson with one of his children, with a cloth over draped his head, in Berlin in 2002
LOS ANGELES - The fate of Michael Jackson's three children remained unclear Friday as reports raised the possibility of a custody challenge from the biological mother of the late star's eldest offspring.
The three children -- Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, -- were reported to be in the care of Jackson's mother Katherine at the family estate in Los Angeles as the musical clan mourned the star's death.
Jackson's former wife of three years Debbie Rowe is the mother of the two eldest children, while the third was born in 2002 to a surrogate whose identity has never been made public.
There were conflicting reports over whether Rowe, who separated from Jackson in October 1999, had already signed away her parental rights.
TMZ.com website cited a lawyer familiar with the case as saying that Rowe had never had her parental rights legally terminated, which could clear the way for her to gain custody and win a multi-million-dollar settlement.
However Jackson family lawyer Brian Oxman was quoted as saying that the children would likely be looked after by Katherine Jackson.
"Probably Mrs Jackson will take care of them, she loves them dearly," Oxman told the celebrity website Radaronline.
Gloria Allred, a celebrity lawyer told CNN she was "very concerned" about Jackson's children. "What will happen to them?" she said. "If the mother relinquished parental rights then who's to have custody?"
Scott Altman, a professor at the University of Southern California and an expert in family law, said Rowe's custody claim could hinge on what had been agreed with Jackson at an earlier hearing.
"She signed an agreement purporting to give up her parental rights but then more recently she went to court to seek custody and succeeded having that agreement declared invalid," Altman said.
"Ultimately they settled that legal disagreement, and she did not pursue a final custody decree. She could come forward and seek custody as a legal parent to the children."
If Rowe's custody claims were challenged by Jackson's family and the case went to trial, much would depend on details of the children's relationship with Rowe that remained opaque, Altman said.
"There are a lot of factual details we just don't know about -- how much contact has she (Rowe) actually had with these children over the years? What is the nature of their relationship at a social level? Are the children close to her on a psychological level?
"The answers to those questions may make it more or less difficult for her to get custody."
In the end, the children's own preferences could decide the issue, he said.
"My assumption is that if this gets to trial a great deal is going to turn on expert psychological testimony about the children's relationship with the various caretakers involved and the judge's impression of that and potentially the children's own preferences," Altman said.
Meanwhile, even less was known about the surrogate mother of Jackson's youngest child, Prince Michael II, or "Blanket," who was famously dangled from a fourth floor window in Berlin by his late father in 2002.
"I don't think they know much about who she is and whether she'll come forward," Altman said.
"I gather she was a surrogate but we don't know anything about the legal arrangements or whether she's had any contact with the child."
LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business.
Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the United States and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.
The moonwalking pop star drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream after its launch in 1981. His 1982 hit "Thriller," still the second best-selling US album of all time, spawned a John Landis-directed music video that MTV played every hour on the hour.
"The ratings were three or four times what they were normally every time the video came on," said Judy McGrath, the chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks. "He was inextricably tied to the so-called MTV generation."
Five years later, "Bad" sold 22 million copies. In 1991, he signed a $65 million recording deal with Sony.
Jackson was so popular that The Walt Disney Co. hitched its wagon to his star in 1986, opening a 3-D movie at its parks called "Captain EO," executive produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The last attraction in Paris closed 12 years later.
One of Jackson's shrewdest deals at the height of his fame in 1985 was the $47.5 million acquisition of ATV Music, which owned the copyright to songs written by the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The catalog provided Jackson a steady stream of income and the ability to afford a lavish lifestyle.
He bought the sprawling Neverland ranch in 1988 for $14.6 million, a fantasy-like 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) property nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara County's wine country.
But the bombshell hit in 1993 when he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.
"That kind of represents the beginning of the walk down a tragic path, financially, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, legally," said Michael Levine, his publicist at the time.
He settled with the boy's family, but other accounts of his alleged pedophilia began to emerge.
When he ran into further financial problems, he agreed to a deal with Sony in 1995 to merge ATV with Sony's library of songs and sold Sony music publishing rights for $95 million. Then in 2001, he used his half of the ATV assets as collateral to secure $200 million in loans from Bank of America.
As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment Corp. that sought $12 million in unpaid fees and expenses.
In 2003, Jackson was arrested on charges that he molested another 13-year-old boy. The 2005 trial, which ultimately ended in an acquittal, brought to light more details of Jackson's strained finances.
One forensic accountant testified that the singer had an "ongoing cash crisis" and was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned.
In March of last year, the singer faced foreclosure on Neverland. He also repeatedly failed to make mortgage payments on a house in Los Angeles that had been used for years by his family.
In addition, Jackson was forced to defend himself against a slew of lawsuits in recent years, including a $7 million claim from Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain.
Memorabilia auctions were frequently announced but became the subject of legal wrangling and were often canceled.
Time and again, however, Jackson found a way to wring cash out of high-value assets, borrowing tens of millions at a time or leaning on wealthy friends for advice, if not for money.
Al Khalifa, 33, took Jackson under his wing after his acquittal, moving him to the small Gulf estate and showering him with money.
In his lawsuit, Al Khalifa claimed he gave Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances, cut an album, write an autobiography and subsidize his lifestyle — including more than $300,000 for a "motivational guru." The lawsuit was settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Neither the album nor book was ever produced.
Another wealthy benefactor came to Jackson's aid last year as he faced the prospect of losing Neverland in a public auction.
Billionaire Thomas Barrack, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital LLC, agreed to bail out the singer and set up a joint venture with Jackson that took ownership of the vast estate.
Barrack was unavailable for comment Thursday, but referred to the singer in a statement as a "gentle, talented and compassionate man."
A final piece of the financial jigsaw puzzle fell into place in March, when billionaire Philip Anschutz' concert promotion company AEG Live announced it would promote 50 shows in London's O2 arena. Tickets sold out, and the first show of the "This is It" tour was set for July 8.
Jackson, who has won 13 Grammys, hadn't toured since 1997. His last studio album, "Invincible," was released in 2001.
But the opening date was later postponed to July 13 and some shows moved back to March 2010, fueling speculation that Jackson was suffering from health ailments that could curtail his comeback bid.
His death, caused by cardiac arrest according to his brother Jermaine, raised the question whether an insurer would refund money to ticketholders. AEG Live did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jackson was practicing for the concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center with Kenny Ortega, a choreographer and director of the "High School Musical" movies, who has worked on previous Jackson videos like "Dangerous" in 1993.
"We had a 25-year friendship. This is all too much to comprehend," Ortega said in a statement. "This was the world's greatest performer and the world will miss him." - AP
Michael Jackson's fans weep at news of his sudden death in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES: Tears flowed outside a hospital here on Thursday as hundreds of Michael Jackson fans gathered to mourn the loss of the music legend, stunned by his sudden death at the age of 50.
"I can't believe we might have lost the best entertainer this world has ever seen," sobbed Lana Brown, 49, from Dallas, overcome with emotion as she struggled to come to terms with the news.
Brown, who described herself "as the biggest Jackson fan ever", was on holiday with her family in Los Angeles when her friend phoned to tell her that Jackson had collapsed and was being treated at the UCLA hospital.
Like hundreds of others, she made her way to the hospital, hoping against hope that Jackson, whose music and dance thrilled generations of fans, would pull through.
"I left my office. Everyone should. It's so shocking. Because you think someone like Michael Jackson will live forever, like Peter Pan," Yoshiko Plair, clasping a sunflower for her icon, told AFP.
The 49-year-old real estate agent heard the news, like so many others, via a text message on her phone when she was in the bank.
Dropping her business, she rushed home, put on her "Thriller" T-shirt and hustled her sister and two children to the hospital to stand vigil.
"He changed music, he's the reason all that black music is on MTV now," Plair said. "I followed him from that first song. I'm going to mourn him today and probably for the rest of my life."
She added she was going to stay until the hospital officially announced Jackson's death. "I want to hear with my own ears, I can't believe it until I hear it myself.
Student Ashley Leon, 20, also decided to come after hearing of the news of Jackson's collapse.
"I called my room mate who is the extreme Michael Jackson fan because, you know, this is one of the biggest things we'll live through in our lives. We all grew up with his music."
The crowd swelled through the afternoon in the bright summer sunshine waiting for news of their hero.
And most of them brushed off the past scandals that had blighted Jackson's life, after he was charged with and then acquitted of child-molestation.
"You know Michael Jackson has his stuff going on. You knew he's crazy. But he's Michael Jackson," said Leon.
While Brown was more emphatic, saying: "All of that did not matter to me because I knew it wasn't true."
Fawcett died in hospital in Los Angeles surrounded by friends and family shortly before 9:30 am (1630 GMT) following a three-year battle with anal cancer, reports said.
Speculation that Fawcett's death was close at hand had mounted earlier Thursday after veteran ABC television interviewer Barbara Walters said the actress had been given her last rites.
Walters made the disclosure in comments to the "Good Morning America" breakfast television show.
"I'm not sure if she's going to make it through the day," Walters said. "She's had her last rites."
Walters said close family and friends including long-time companion Ryan O'Neal were gathering at Fawcett's hospital bedside in Los Angeles.
"This is all he wants to do is be with her," Walters said of O'Neal.
Earlier this week it was revealed that O'Neal planned to marry Fawcett, who has been battling cancer for three years.
"I've asked her to marry me, again, and she's agreed," an emotional O'Neal told Walters.
O'Neal, 68, and Fawcett had been romantically involved off-and-on since 1982. The couple had a son together but never married.
LOS ANGELES - Pop icon Michael Jackson died Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest, multiple US media outlets reported, sending shockwaves around the entertainment world.
The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com celebrity news website reported Jackson, 50, died after suffering an arrest just after 12:00 pm (1900 GMT) local time and paramedics were unable to revive him.
The Times cited multiple city and law enforcement officials as confirming the pop icon's death.
Jackson's manager Tohme E. Tohme was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. Officials at UCLA Medical Center where Jackson was treated also could not be reached for comment.
National and local television networks showed hundreds of media gathered at UCLA Medical Center for what appeared to be a briefing. CNN was unable to confirm the death, stating that Jackson was in a coma.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales did not confirm Jackson's identity but said paramedics went to an address corresponding to the star's home at 12:21 pm (1921 GMT) and the person was taken to UCLA Medical Center.
An unidentified family member earlier told TMZ -- the first outlet to report that Jackson had suffered a cardiac arrest -- that the star was in "really bad shape."
Michael's father Joe Jackson told E! Online he was aware of the emergency but did not know further details.
"I am in Las Vegas, but yes, people in Los Angeles called me and are with Michael and tell me he was taken to the hospital," he said. "I am not sure what's wrong. I am waiting to hear back from them."
The reports came as Jackson prepared to make a keenly anticipated concert comeback in London, his first series of shows in more than a decade and the first since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges.
However those concerts -- billed as the "final curtain" -- had been thrown into doubt after Jackson pushed back the opening dates last month.
Organizers of the concerts at the time stressed the delay was not linked to Jackson's health.
In a press conference from the United States broadcast over the Internet, AEG Live president Randy Phillips was asked about Jackson's health and said: "I would trade my body for his tomorrow. He's in fantastic shape."
While Jackson reigned as the "King of Pop" in the 1980s, his once-stellar career had been overshadowed by his colorful public behavior, his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse.
Jackson lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges including child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.
Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar struggled to recover.
Four years later, Jackson is still worshipped by fans for revolutionizing music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success.
The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery -- which he denies -- his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations.
Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label.
The Jacksons produced seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS's Epic Records in 1976.
Despite the early success, Jackson was to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act broke up, as Jackson went solo.
In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.
They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson's breakthrough album as a composer and co-producer, "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.
LOS ANGELES: Hundreds gathered to honour actor David Carradine at his funeral in Los Angeles on Saturday, including many of his former co-stars.
His casket was carried to Forest Lawn Cemetery in a white hearse, accompanied by a Hell's Angels on motorcycles.
Born 1936 in Hollywood, Carradine "split" the world in 2009 in Thailand, as the funeral programme describes it.
Many of the Hollywood elite turned up to say goodbye to the man best known for his role in the 1970s "Kung Fu" TV series. Among them were Michael Madsen and Lucy Liu - his co-stars in "Kill Bill", the two-part saga that gave his career another jump-start.
Lucy Liu
Others who worked with him, including Rob Schneider, Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour, were also there to say their farewells.
According to the Associated Press, the burial was private and security guards ensured only invited guests gained entry. Carradine's family stayed out of sight from reporters and cameras.
The 72-year-old actor was found hanging naked and bound in a closet in a Bangkok hotel.
Thai authorities are still investigating his death.
LOS ANGELES: Make-up wearing "American Idol" star Adam Lambert has ended the guessing game over his sexual orientation by confirming he is gay in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
Glam-rocker Lambert, 27, who finished runner-up to clean-cut Kris Allen in the television singing contest last month, told Rolling Stone he had been living openly as a gay man for several years.
"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear I'm gay," Lambert told Rolling Stone in its latest issue due on newstands Friday.
"I've been living in Los Angeles for eight years as a gay man. I've been at clubs drunk making out with somebody in the corner."
Lambert, who wowed "Idol" judges with his extraordinary vocal range, was seen as the overwhelming favourite to take the title in the May 20 finale.
However he lost in a final hyped as a smackdown between the conservative values of "red states" represented by Arkansas-based Allen and the liberal mores of "blue states" personified by the flamboyant Lambert.
Lambert meanwhile joked that he had been attracted to "Idol" nemesis Allen, who he shared a room with during the series.
"He's the one guy I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type - except that he has a wife," Lambert said. "I mean he's open-minded and liberal, but he's definitely 100 per cent straight."
"American Idol" was exported to the United States from Britain in 2002, rapidly establishing itself as the most watched show on US television and pop-culture phenomenon.
The programme aims to unearth the next big singing talent and past contestants such as Carrie Underwood and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson have gone on to forge successful careers in the entertainment industry.
Protesters gather outside the California Supreme Court in San Francisco on Tuesday.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- California's highest court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages Tuesday but allowed about 18,000 unions performed before the ban to remain valid.
Supporters of November ballot initiativeProposition 8 hailed the ruling, but about 1,000 advocates of same-sex marriages who gathered outside the court building in San Francisco met the 6-1 decision with chants of "Shame on you."
"It is impossible to square the elation that we felt just a year ago with the grief that we feel today," said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "And it is impossible to reconcile the court's ruling from a year ago with its upholding of Proposition 8 today."
The same court, dominated by Republican appointees, ruled in May 2008 that the state constitution guaranteed gay and lesbian couples the "basic civil right" to marry. Voters responded in November by approving the marriage ban by a margin of 52 to 48 percent.
Opponents of the ban argued that it improperly altered California's constitution to restrict a fundamental right guaranteed in the state charter. Its supporters argued that Californians long have had the right to change their state constitution through ballot initiatives.
Tuesday's ruling found that the proposition restricted the designation of marriage "while not otherwise affecting the fundamental constitutional rights of same-sex couples," as Chief Justice Ronald George wrote.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Carlos Moreno -- the court's only Democratic appointee -- wrote that the decision "is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution."
The decision sparked protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
"It's nice that my marriage is still intact, but that's not the point," said Kathleen White, who was among those awaiting the ruling in San Francisco. "The point is that everybody should have the same civil rights across the board."
But Miles McPherson, pastor of the Rock Church in San Diego, said the court "did the right thing."
Voters in 28 other states have approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriages, and none has been rejected, he said.
"God didn't create the family that way," McPherson said. "You can't have a family with a mother and a mother, because [children] need a mother and a father to nurture their personality and their character."
Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said the ruling "should encourage pro-family activists not only in California but across the country." But he said that by preserving marriages performed before the ban, the justices could have opened a door to a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
It was unclear whether advocates had an avenue to appeal Tuesday's ruling, however. And Dennis Herrera, San Francisco's city attorney, said the fight for same-sex marriage rights would most likely go on "in the electoral arena."
"Today we're faced with a disappointing decision," Herrera said. "But I think we also know it could have been worse."
A new effort, dubbed Yes on Equality, has begun working to place an initiative on the 2010 ballot that would repeal Proposition 8.
State justices left unaddressed whether same-sex marriages performed in other states before the ban was adopted would be recognized in California, and advocates would have to argue that the measure violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
California took its first steps toward recognizing same-sex marriages in 2004, when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. iReport.com: React to court decision and share photos, video
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposed the initiative, praised the court for leaving the previous marriages intact and urged opponents of the decision to respond "peacefully and lawfully."
"While I believe that one day either the people or courts will recognize gay marriage, as governor of California, I will uphold the decision of the California Supreme Court," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement.
Four states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Iowa -- currently allow same-sex marriages. A Vermont law making such marriages legal will take effect in September. And the District of Columbia voted May 5 to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, though it does not itself give marriage licenses to same-sex couples.