On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home on North Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles’ Holmby Hills neighborhood. Conrad Murray, Jackson’s physician, stated that he discovered Jackson in his room not breathing and with a weak pulse; he administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to no avail, and security dialed 9-1-1 at 12:21 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (UTC–7). Although paramedics treated Jackson at the scene, he was pronounced dead at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner on August 28, 2009. Jackson’s doctor had given him propofol as well as the anti-anxiety benzodiazepines lorazepam and midazolam. Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011 and released in 2013 after serving two years of his four-year sentence with time off for good behavior.
At the time of his death, Jackson was preparing for his This Is It tour, which was set to begin in July 2009 in London. His death sparked global outpourings of grief, resulting in unprecedented spikes in Internet traffic and sales of his music.
A televised memorial service at Los Angeles’ Staples Center was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide. In 2010, Sony Music Entertainment agreed to pay the Jackson estate $250 million to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017 and to release seven posthumous albums over the next decade.
What was Michael Jackson’s cause of death?
American musician Michael Jackson passed away on June 25, 2009, at his North Carolwood Drive home in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, California, due to acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication.
