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TOKYO : Michael Jackson's legions of Asian fans expressed shock and grief at news of the sudden death of the "King of Pop".
"I am just shocked. One of the world's great men has died," said Masato Tanaka, a 30-year-old bass player who was shopping in Tokyo, Japan. "He was a star no matter what he did. I think his fans of the world believed in him."
"It becomes so lonely without him," said Mayumi Takeda, 35. "He is definitely a superstar. He was a man of dreams."
Even government ministers expressed their sorrow over the passing of the 50-year-old.
"I feel sad as I had watched him since he was a member of Jackson Five," Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato, 57, told reporters.
"With a lot of popular songs, he built a generation," said Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada, 53.
Jackson drew screaming crowds when he visited Japan in recent years.
In 2007, he threw a private party here for hundreds of well-heeled fans who paid thousands of dollars each for an exclusive dinner and photo with the music legend.
Jackson also amazed fans by making a lavish shopping trip to Tokyo electronics stores, for which he reserved an entire building, and private visits to Tokyo Disneyland during which other people were kept out.
He also visited Tokyo in May 2006 to receive a "Legends Award" at MTV Japan's Video Music Awards, making his first public appearance in nearly a year following his trial on child molestation charges.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed that Jackson was pronounced dead at 2126 GMT Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.
Australian fans of Jackson were stunned and devastated by the sudden death of the pop icon, while the country's music industry paid tribute to the singer's musical legacy.
"OMG Michael Jackson is dead. This is a very sad moment. I am over here in tears. He was a hero to me," wrote one fan, identified as Anya, in a posting on the public broadcaster ABC's website soon after the singer was confirmed dead.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's officer confirmed that the "King of Pop", 50, was pronounced dead at 2126 GMT in a Los Angeles hospital after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest.
Shocked Australian singing sensation Delta Goodrem hailed Jackson's towering talent.
"I feel so thankful for him sharing his brilliance," she wrote on the Internet microblogging site Twitter.
Her fiance, the singer Brian McFadden, said Jackson had been his "first and greatest idol."
"It's strange how I cry and grieve when I've never even met (him). Just feels like a big part of my life."
One of the members of the Australian group The Veronicas said Jackson's musical legacy had altered her life.
"I wish I got to tell him how much his music existence changed my life," Lisa Origliasso wrote on Twitter. "He was my biggest inspiration and will forever live on in my heart."
The death gripped China as fans spoke of how his music became the soundtrack for the nation's early years of opening to the outside world nearly 30 years ago.
"I was in love with him and his music when I was in college," Wang Fang, a 45-year-old businesswoman, told AFP.
"His life was bizarre, but his music has stayed with me since my youth."
His most popular album, "Thriller," was released here just as China opened its doors to the outside world in the early 1980s, giving the once-isolated nation its first taste of Western pop music, Wang said.
Jackson's death was the top news item on popular Internet portals Soho.com and Sina.com, which called him the "most remarkable singer ever."
- AFP/vm
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