Fans pay tribute to Michael Jackson in Las Vegas

By Torey Van Oot

Friday, June 26, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

The typically buzzing crowd traversing Fremont Street’s casino-lined pedestrian walkway paused last night to pay tribute to pop icon Michael Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Passers-by stopped to take pictures and video as photos, album covers and the words “Michael Jackson: King of Pop” flashed across the electronic canopy that runs the length of five football fields in downtown Las Vegas.

“I just loved his songs, his dancing,” said Lucy Rostron, whose husband captured the tribute on his camera. She remembered seeing Jackson live during his “History” tour as a teen in the United Kingdom. “It was so cool to watch,” she said.

Jackson, 50, died in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest at a home he had been renting. He reportedly was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to the call. Hours after Jackson’s death was announced by his brother at a frenzied Los Angeles press conference, several fans on Fremont Street could hardly believe the news.

“It was a total surprise. I was in a shock,” said longtime fan Gail Hayes, adding that she cried when she first heard the news.

An eccentric, dazzling and skilled performer, Jackson wooed listeners with Motown hits as a young child and thrilled crowds with exciting dance moves and chart-topping hits in the 1980s.

Jackson’s star power and trademark style built him a wide and loyal fan base and earned him the title “King of Pop.” His 1982 album “Thriller” sold 26 million copies and remains the biggest-selling album of all time.

“He is very original and he did something for pop music that no one else could do,” said fan Peter Seifert. “He was the biggest thing for music since The Beatles.”

Seifert and his brother, Joseph, also remembered Jackson, who captivated with his dance moves, including his classic moonwalk.

“There wouldn’t be any night clubs in Las Vegas if it wasn’t for him,” Joseph Seifert said. “He brought dancing to people like me who suck at it. Before him, there was nothing to dance to.”

Jackson’s long career touched many generations.

Joel Sherwood of Riverside County, Calif., remembered his classmates singing Jackson 5 hits like “ABC, 123” on the playground jungle gym set when he was 5 years old.

Jackson, whose career had taken several strange turns in the last decade, was preparing for a comeback at the time of his death.

He was in Los Angeles to rehearse for a series of 50 shows at a London arena scheduled to kick off on July 13. Though the latter years of his career were marked by increasingly odd behavior, physical transformations, enormous debt and allegations of child molestation, some fans said they believed Jackson would be remembered as just one thing — a legend.

“He’ll be like an Elvis,” Sherwood said.