Michael Jackson was fascinated by celebrity tragedy. He had a statue of Marilyn Monroe in his home and studied the sad Hollywood exile of Charlie Chaplin. He married the daughter of Elvis Presley.

Shortly after noon on Friday, Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics rushed the arguably greatest star in the history of pop music to the UCLA Medical Center, a six-minute drive from his rented Bel-Air home. Jackson was in a coma when he arrived at the hospital. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm.

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, US time. No final reason for the death was given, but there were suspicions of medication having gone wrong. Authorities said it could be some days before a definite reason was identified.

In his death, and more than any of those past icons, Jackson left a complicated legacy. As a child star, he was so talented he seemed lit from within; as a middle-aged man, he was viewed as something akin to a visiting alien who, like Tinkerbell, would cease to exist if the applause ever stopped.

It was impossible in the early 1980s to imagine the final chapters of Jackson’s life. In that decade, he became the world’s most popular entertainer thanks to a series of hit records — Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller — and dazzling music videos. Perhaps the best dancer of his generation, he created his own iconography: the single shiny glove, the Moonwalk, the signature red jacket and the Neverland Ranch.

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