On June 25, 2009, Jackson stopped breathing while attempting to sleep under the care of Conrad Murray, his personal physician. Murray had reportedly given Jackson an array of medications in an attempt to help him sleep at his rented mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating Jackson were unsuccessful. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 pm (PDT, 19:22 UTC), arriving three minutes later. Jackson was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts continued en route to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after arriving there at 1:13 pm (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm Pacific time (21:26 UTC).
Jackson’s death triggered a global outpouring of grief. The news spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user overload, and putting unprecedented strain on services and websites including Google, AOL Instant Messenger, Twitter, and Wikipedia. Overall, web traffic ranged from 11% to at least 20% higher than normal. MTV and BET aired marathons of Jackson’s music videos. Jackson specials aired on television stations around the world. MTV briefly returned to its original music video format,[306] airing hours of Jackson’s music videos, accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV personalities and other celebrities.
Jackson’s memorial was held on July 7, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park’s Hall of Liberty. Tickets to the memorial were distributed via lottery; over 1.6 million fans applied for tickets during the two-day application period. 8,750 names were drawn at random, with each recipient receiving two tickets each. Jackson’s casket was present during the memorial but no information was released about the final disposition of the body. The memorial service was one of the most watched events in streaming history, with an estimated U.S. audience of 31.1 million, an amount comparable to the estimated 35.1 million that watched the 2004 burial of former president Ronald Reagan and the estimated 33.1 million Americans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess Diana.
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the event. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read “We Had Him”, a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou. The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson’s children: “Wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway.” Jackson’s 11-year-old daughter Paris Katherine, speaking publicly for the first time, wept as she told the crowd: “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine … I just wanted to say I love him … so much.” Reverend Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer.
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