June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Jackson, the world-renowned pop icon whose life veered from stardom to tabloid fodder as he transformed himself by plastic surgery and endured allegations of child sexual abuse, has died. He was 50.

Jackson was pronounced dead today at 2:26 p.m. local time at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The office will seek to determine the cause of death, he said in an interview.

“There was no doctor in attendance” when Jackson died, Corral said. “That’s why he’s being brought in.”

As a singer, songwriter, dancer and self-proclaimed “King of Pop,” Jackson “transfixed the world like few entertainers before or since,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2001. “As a solo performer, he has enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known only to Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra.” His pop and dance routines crossed racial lines and international borders.

“Of all the thousands of entertainers I have worked with, Michael was the most outstanding,” producer Dick Clark said in a statement. “Many have tried and will try to copy him, but his talent will never be matched. He was truly one of a kind.”

Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a 911 call around 12:21 p.m. at 100 block of Carolwood Drive in the wealthy Bel-Air area. Jackson wasn’t breathing when they arrived, and paramedics treated the singer at the scene before taking him to the hospital.

Troubled Finances

An auction of some of Jackson’s possessions in Beverly Hills, California, was called off in April after the singer sued to block the sale of about 2,000 items, including a trademark crystal-covered glove, a 1999 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph and the entry gate to the Neverland Ranch he once owned.

In 2006, Jackson gave Sony Corp. an option to buy half of his 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, allowing him to refinance about $300 million of loans. He also sanctioned the 25th anniversary release of his “Thriller” album and in March announced a series of 10 London concerts backed by Anschutz Entertainment Group to raise money.

Publishing rights to Jackson’s music are held by Warner Music Group Corp., according to company spokesman Will Tanous in New York.

Jackson rose to stardom by performing with his brothers in the Jackson 5. He was just 11 years old when the group’s first single, “I Want You Back,” climbed to No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s charts in 1970.

Solo success followed in the 1970s and peaked with the 1982 release of “Thriller,” the biggest-selling album in history. In 1985, he co-wrote and sang on “We Are the World,” an all- star benefit single that raised funds for famine relief.

Bubbles the Chimpanzee

From then on, Jackson’s career took a back seat to his increasingly bizarre behavior, which led to the nickname Wacko Jacko. He reshaped his nose with multiple plastic surgeries and befriended a chimpanzee named Bubbles. He was reported to have slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and bought the bones of John Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man.

The singer has sold more than 750 million records, according to publicists for his planned comeback concerts, and he has won 13 Grammy Awards.

His last series of concerts was the HIStory Tour in 1996- 1997 and his last studio album was “Invincible” in 2001.

Jackson also has released greatest-hits compilations, such as “King of Pop” to mark his 50th birthday, and new editions of his bestselling albums, such as “Thriller 25,” on the 25th anniversary of that record’s release.

Legal Troubles

The singer married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, in 1994. They divorced within two years. He then married a nurse, Deborah Jeanne Rowe, and they had a son, Michael Jr., and a daughter, Paris. (A third child, Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, was born to Jackson and a surrogate mother in 2002.)

Jackson and Rowe had met when Jackson received treatment for vitiligo, a rare disorder that discolors the face and body. Jackson disclosed he had the condition in 1993 to answer critics who said he was intentionally bleaching his skin. A Beverly Hills dermatologist, Arnold Klein, came forward to confirm the claim and say he was treating the pop star.

Jackson also had brushes with the law. In 1993, lawyers for a 13-year-old boy accused him of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit. Jackson denied the accusations and reached an out-of- court settlement, with the terms kept secret.

In June 2005, he was acquitted by a jury in Santa Maria, California, of charges that he sexually molested a 13-year-old boy in 2003 and served alcohol to the boy with the intent to molest him.

Reclusive Turn

Jackson was cleared on all counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14 years old. He was also acquitted on additional charges that he conspired to hold the boy and his family captive at the singer’s Neverland ranch.

His image sullied, Jackson spent many years out of the public eye, spending his time in the U.S. behind the walls of the amusement park-like estate in California.

Jackson had been attempting a comeback of late and was rehearsing for sold-out shows at London’s 20,000-seat O2 arena, with the first show set for July. In May, the organizers delayed some of the 50 performances to give the singer more time to prepare.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic news today about Michael Jackson,” Thomas J. Barrack, chairman and chief executive of Colony Capital LLC, the Los Angeles-based company that was financing the comeback, said in a statement. “Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to know and work with this gentle, talented and compassionate man. We were privileged to help support his return to public life for his family, friends and fans, who meant so much to him.”

Musical Family

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh child of a musically gifted family. He was 11 when he made his debut as a member of The Jackson 5, with older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon.

His solo career began in 1971 with the single “Got to Be There.” His first No. 1 single came in 1971 -- “Ben,” the title song from a film about a rat.

In 1979, at 21, he came out with “Off the Wall,” an album that produced four hit singles, according to the Hall of Fame.

“Thriller,” his 1982 album, and especially the 14-minute music video made for the title song and released a year later, propelled Jackson into the upper echelon of pop stardom. It topped the album charts for 37 weeks in 1983, according to the Hall of Fame.

“Billie Jean,” the second single from the album, led the charts for another seven weeks. It was with that song that Jackson introduced his famous and much-imitated “moonwalk” dance move.

His 1987 album, “Bad,” produced seven more hit singles, including the title song.

He performed at halftime of Super Bowl XXVII in 1993.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Arnold in Washington at larnold4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 25, 2009 20:36 EDT