Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles aged 50.

Paramedics were called to the singer’s Beverly Hills home at about midday on Thursday after he stopped breathing and he was later pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre in west Hollywood.

Jackson’s brother, Jermaine, said that the singer was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest and that doctors had attempted to resuscitate the star for over an an hour without success.

Tributes from around the world have been made to the singer.

Quincy Jones, who produced some of his most famous records said:

‘I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. [Michael] had it all – talent, grace, professionalism and dedication. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.’

Pop star Justin Timberlake said in a statement that the world had:

“lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only pop music, but of all music”.

Wyclef Jean, the rapper and former member of the Fugees, added:

“Michael Jackson was my musical God. He made me believe that all things are possible, and through real and positive music. He can live forever. I love Michael Jackson. God Bless him.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Governor, issued a statement lamenting the loss of:

“one of the most influential and iconic figures in the music industry.”

In the UK, prime minister Gordon Brown has said the singer’s untimely death was “very sad news” for his fans, whilst opposition leader David Cameron described Jackson as a “legendary entertainer”.

Some of Jazz FM’s programming this weekend will also be paying tribute to the music of Michael Jackson.

Peter Young (Saturday 3-6pm) will be playing songs by jazz greats associated with Jackson from Miles Davis, Charles Earland, Grover Washington Jr, Stanley Jordan and Maysa. Plus, he’ll also be playing the tune that influenced Michael’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” from Manu Dibango.

Mike Vitti (The Jazz Funk Party, Saturday 6-8pm) will also be playing songs from Jackson’s early years including tracks from The Jackson Five such as “Walk Right Now” and “Rock With You”.

On Friday, Anthony Davis recorded this tribute to the man:

The passing of Jackson is the final chapter in an extraordinary life and career, which saw him become one of the biggest acts in music history.

He was born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana and was the seventh of nine children.

At the age of five he began performing with his siblings in The Jackson 5 and in 1968, the band signed to the Motown label.

He was just 11 when the group released its first single and – after a memorable appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show –  hits like “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” all went to number one in the United States in 1970.

Their first album, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5,” also went to Number 1. In 1972, while still active with the Jackson 5, Michael put out his first solo album, “Got to Be There.”

But his career was to hit another level in 1979 with the release of his first solo album as an adult, “Off the Wall”. Produced by Quincy Jones, it included the chart-topping singles “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You” and ended up selling 20 million copies worldwide.

Although his adult solo career was proving to be an enormous success, it went into the stratosphere with the release of Thriller in late 1982.

Including a raft of smash hit singles, such as the famous title track, ”Billie Jean” and “Beat It” it won eight Grammys and became the biggest selling record of all time.

A year later Jackson performed for 50 million viewers of the “Motown 25″ television special by singing and dancing to “Billie Jean” while wearing what would become his signature look for the mid-1980s: a black fedora and one white glove.

In 1985 Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote what becomes one of the fastest-selling singles ever with “We Are the World.”, a song produced to raise money for victims of the Ethiopian famine.

It was also in this year that Jackson paid $47.5 million for the rights to more than 250 songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, securing him a valuable source of income in future years.

1987 saw the release of ‘Bad’, another huge selling album which produced five No. 1 singles (”I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Bad”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana) and sold at least 22 million copies worldwide.

The Bad world tour began in September, 1987 and finished in January 1989. Jackson performed a total of 123 concerts to a total audience of 4.4 million people, including seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium.

In 1988, Jackson released his first autobiography, Moon Walk, in which he wrote about his childhood, his experiences in The Jackson 5 and the abuse he suffered as a child.

In the book, he attributed the change in the structure of his face to puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style and stage lighting.

In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million and released his eighth album Dangerous later that year.

It sold over 32 million copies worldwide and included the hit singles single “Black or White”, “Remember the Time” and “Heal the World”.

However, the early 90s would mark the end of a golden period for Jackson as the biggest musical act in the world as the next two decades would see his musical successes dogged by allegations and controversy.

In 1993 Jackson revealed in a TV interview that he had an inherited disorder that caused his skin pigmentation to fade, which was his explanation as to why his physical appearance had changed over the years.

In the summer of that year he was also accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing and later reached a settlement with the boy’s family and criminal charges were never filed.

Jackson also hit the headlines a year later in 1994 when he married Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic, although they were to divorce two years later.

In 1995 he released the album “HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book I.”, which was a double album of greatest hits and new material. It included the singles ”Scream” (a duet with sister Janet), ”You Are Not Alone” and “Earth Song” and sold over 20 million copies worldwide.

The HIStory world tour from 1996 to 1997 was a big success and in 1997 he released a remix album, “Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix”. Although it sold over 7 million copies by Jackson’s standards, this was something of a disappointment.

The last decade of Jackson’s life would see a decline in his record sales and more controversy surrounding his private life.

His final album, Invincible, was released in late 2001 and was dogged by Jackson’s bitter feud with his record company (Sony). Although it sold 10 million copies, it was deemed a relative disappointment and was soon overshadowed by stories of his personal and financial problems.

In 2002 he made headlines by dangling his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while fans watched from below and then in 2003 took part in a TV documentary, “Living With Michael Jackson.”

Jackson’s comments about allowing kids spend the night in his bedroom prompted authorities to look into his relationships with children.

Shortly after the documentary aired on US TV, Jackson was arrested on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy and after a high profile trial was eventually cleared in June 2005.

As rumours of bankruptcy circled after the trial, Jackson was forced to sell his Neverland Ranch moved for a period to the Middle East, where he befriended the king of Bahrain’s son, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who helped fund Jackson’s lavish lifestyle.

However, the sheikh later sued Jackson for $7m, claiming the star had reneged on a music contract that would have been used to pay back loans. Despite this, the pair settled out of court last year.

Jackson was due to begin a series of sold-out comeback concerts, starting with an appearance in London next month at the 02 Arena. Hundreds of fans queued as tickets went on sale to the public and more than a quarter of a million people queued online.

In the end, around 750,000 tickets were sold for the 50-date residency – which Jackson had billed his “final curtain call”.

Rehearsals for the show were under way when the star reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Bel Air.

He was later pronounced dead at the UCLA medical centre in Los Angeles.

The star had three children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.

He is survived by his mother, Katherine, father, Joseph and eight siblings – including Janet, Randy, Jermaine and La Toya Jackson.