Like the passing of Princess Diana or John F. Kennedy Jr., his was an epoch-defining death, an event that announced itself in ways both large (Google News buckled under the volume of searches) and small (in New York City, bodega owners looped Thriller all weekend in tribute). On June 25, a caller summoned an ambulance to Jackson's Los Angeles mansion; the star wasn't breathing. The King of Pop was rushed to a Westwood hospital, where he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest, the victim of a lethal cocktail of prescription pills. (In August, his death was ruled a homicide by a Los Angeles County coroner; no charges are pending.) For days, the world kept vigil, and for months after that, battles were waged over everything from Jackson's place of burial to the custody of his children. Through a summer of tributes and an autumn of fresh keepsakes, the applause did not subside. This Is It, a film documenting Jackson's rehearsals for his planned string of 50 London concerts, earned glowing reviews. In November, the sale of more than 80 of his prized possessions hauled in $2 million at auction.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists