Just as controversy swirled around Michael Jackson’s life, so too his death is shrouded in mystery, with numerous unanswered questions.

Michael’s father, 80 year old Joe Jackson, who used to beat his boys if they sang off key, claims that his son’s death was ‘foul play’.

Leaked details of the first autopsy claim the King of Pop was bald headed, weighing a mere 112 pounds, was barely eating one meal a day and hardly sleeping.

A legacy of narcotic painkillers being injected three times a day into hips, arms and thighs, fuels rumours that the star could no longer sing and would make use of the O2 Arena’s state of the art lip synching technology. This would have limited Jackson’s personal contribution to each concert to just 13 minutes. Yet other reports said Jackson did a full rehearsal in front of some 50 technicians, businessmen and performers, in the Staples Centre arena in Los Angeles, without even taking a break, the night before he died, in preparation for the upcoming concerts.

Jackson had been due to head to London on the day of his death, in preparation for what he had believed to have been 10 concerts, which his enablers had manipulated into 50. Yet some reports say the singer was far too fragile to even contemplate the journey. One source inside the Jackson camp is reported to have said, “He has no choice. He needs the money. His people are pushing him hard.” The first of the concerts had already been postponed for five days.

Other reports say that the singer’s $600 million stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing company, that has the copyright to all the Beatles’ songs, had fine print that will protect his share from his creditors. If that is true, the sale of Jackson’s share would go to his three children, ensuring them financial security for the rest of their lives. Others say that Sony is now in a position to regain full control of Jackson’s half share of the copyrights to The Beatles’ catalogue, as Jackson was in hock to Sony for hundreds of millions of dollars. Sony is reported to have been picking up the tab for all of Jackson’s bills.

There are reports that Jackson has left his children an inheritance of 200 original songs. Jackson was the song writer of the family, for the songs that he and his brother’s performed in the early part of his career. Others believe that Jackson’s estate will make more money during the coming 12 months, than the star made in the last decade of his life.

Rumours continue to swirl, of a huge debt that teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, to pill pushing ‘enablers’ with ties to the black militant organization, the Nation of Islam, through the children’s nanny,  Grace Rwaramba. Some believe that Jackson no longer had control over his own life and was in fact longing for death.

There are reports that the 911 call for an ambulance was deferred for 50 minutes and Jackson was dead long before he left his rented mansion. Whatever the truth is about Michael Jackson, no one will ever deny that the iconic singer died a lonely and deeply troubled man, even while people around the world perform elaborate tributes of mourning to the icon.

There were times when he may not have been the most loved person in the world, but he certainly was one of the most controversial, has died at the age of 50, having collapsed at his home in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson was taken to hospital in a coma, he was announced dead.

It is thought Jackson’s death could possibly be related to a large injection of Demerol, given to the singer for pain, after a rehearsal for 50 comeback concerts. It was believed that Jackson had managed to kick a morphine and Demerol addiction, but has experienced health concerns since the early 1990’s.

Dr Conrad Robert Murray, cardiologist from Houston, Texas, was reportedly with  Jackson when he lost consciousness. Murray had been living with Jackson in his rented mansion, in the role of a personal physician. Police are now searching for Murray, who has disappeared, leaving his car outside Jackson’s house.

Entertainer extraordinaire, businessman and recording artist, the seventh of nine children of the Jackson family, whose sensational singing gift was discovered when he was just 6 years old. He was later referred to as the ‘King of Pop’, just as Elvis Presley has been dubbed the ‘King of Rock and Roll’.  Some likened his unique dancing style to Fred Astaire and in particular Jackson’s ‘Moon Walk’. Jackson’s entertaining life spanned almost four decades.

Jackson revolutionized the music world, being the first to make music visual through videos, rather than merely audio. Jackson was also the first African-American entertainer to successfully break the black and white barriers on MTV, an American music cable television network, based in New York. His very distinctive high tenor vocal style heavily influenced hip hop, pop, as well as many contemporary artists. Jackson sold 61 million albums in the US alone.

Jackson supported 39 charities, as well as donating and raising millions of dollars for benefits and his own charity. Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Jackson in 1993 became the most-viewed non-sport program in the history of the United States.

Changing his appearance to a lighter skin, narrower nose, as well as controversial and at times bizarre behavior in his private life, drastically damaged his public image. Jackson made an out of court settlement when accused of molesting a child in 1993.  Reports of the the singer suffering financial difficulties surfaced in 2006, after the child sex abuse trials of 2005.  It is believed the musical icon died around $400 million dollars in debt.

Twice married, having fathered three children, another cause for controversy, Jackson’s closest companion was a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles. Elizabeth Taylor has always been a high profile friend of Jackson.

Jackson is one of the few artists to be twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jackson also appears several times in the Guiness World Book of Records, including an entry as the ‘Most Successful Entertainer Of All Time’ and the biggest selling album of all time.

From July 13, 2009 – March 6 2010, Jackson was to perform concerts to over one million people, at London’s O2arena. Sales for the tickets to the concerts broke several records. The first ten concerts alone would have earned the iconic singer around $100 million. The concerts were organized by entrepreneurs who recently bundled Jackson’s debt into one place. Reports say that Jackson’s finances were getting back in order, but the concert promoter, AEG Live, is facing the task of refunding $85 million in ticket sales, for the sold-out concerts.

The question is what will happen to Jackson’s three children - Prince Michael Jackson aged 12, Paris Michael Katherine aged 11 and Prince Michael Jackson11 aged 7? Children who never went to school, living a nomadic life with their famous father. Michael Jackson was the only parent the children knew.