Michael Jackson Dies Weeks Before O2 Concerts

The shock death of pop legend Michael Jackson comes just weeks before he was due to start his series of concerts at the O2 in North Greenwich.

The “This Is It” tour was announced back in March, and fans of the singer from around the world had snapped up tickets for the fifty dates.

Doubts had been raised about the singer’s fitness and whether he would be physically able to meet the demands of the live shows. He hadn’t performed live for over a decade and the starting date for the residency had already been put back.

AEG, operators of the dome, and its ticketing partners will now have to deal with the huge administrative task of refunding the many hundreds of thousands of tickets that have been purchased and trying to find new acts to fill the dates that Jackson was due to perform.