London - British friends and fans of Michael Jackson poured out their grief on TV and websites Friday, as the country where the so-called King of Pop was due to make a month-long concert comeback tour reacted to his shock death. "I can't stop crying over the sad news. I have always admired Michael Jackson - the world has lost one of its greats but his music will live on forever," wrote London-based US pop star Madonna.
Jackson's friend and psychic Uri Geller told the Press Association from his home in Britain: "I'm shocked and devastated. I am hoping this is a dream I will wake up from, but it is not. Michael is dead."
He said he feared that it may have been the "stress" of Jackson's planned comeback tour in Britain that killed him. "He was a lonely man, under enormous stress," said Geller.
Jackson was due to play a historic 50-night run of concerts at the 02 Arena in London starting next month. "This is it," was the tour's advertising slogan.
Singer Cher wrote on the BBC website: "I'm having a million different reactions I didn't expect I would feel. He was a great singer - God gives you certain gifts and this child was just an extraordinary child touched by this ability. He could sing like nobody else and he was able to connect with people."
First reports of Jackson's death on a showbiz website sparked a massive surge in online traffic around the globe as millions of people logged on to find out more.
So many people wanted to verify early reports of his death that the computers running Google's news section interpreted the "Michael Jackson" requests as an automated attack for about half an hour, reports said.
The BBC News website reported traffic in Britain was by 48 per cent higher than usual in the early hours of Friday.
