London/Los Angeles - Even before his sudden death was confirmed by the Los Angeles coroner, the passing of pop icon Michael Jackson triggered a wave of nostalgia and remembrance. At the Glastonbury Music Festival in Britain, fan David Harris, 27, compared Jackson to Kurt Cobain, the rock star of the 1990s who committed suicide.
"Michael Jackson is like Kurt Cobain for people of my generation. He is central for our generation," he said.
On tweeter.com, luminaries of the rap and rock world chimed in in the hours after Jackson's death on Thursday from what his brother Jermaine said was likely cardiac arrest. An autopsy is planned to determine the exact cause, with results expected later Friday.
Rap impresario Sean Combs wrote: "Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic."
Singer John Mayer said: "Dazed in the studio. A major strand of our cultural DNA has left us. RIP MJ."
Politician and one-time presidential candidate the Reverend Jesse Jackson - no relation to the late pop idol - talked about the singer's talent and problems.
"We are out of joy, he is out of his pain," Jackson said in broadcast remarks.
At Harlem's Apollo Theatre in New York City, where the Jackson 5 group got its start when Michael was a young child, hundreds gathered to play tribute and sing his songs.
"Michael Jackson's death is something shocking. He was a person full of music, an artist that you think will be eternal," Stefan Bill, a fan, told the German Press Agency dpa.
For singer Sheryl Crow, Jackson's death at a young age in a way preserved his eternal image.
"Did we ever think he would grow old before our eyes? It would have been surreal," she told CNN's Larry King.
The late singer gave an unwitting foretaste of finality in March, when he revealed his plans to stage at least 10 more performances - a plan that at times had aimed for 50 concerts.
"This is it. This is really it. This is the final curtain call. See you in July," he said in London in March.
The curtain may have fallen Thursday on his life, but not by a long shot on his story.
