Smash hit

Brian Oxman, a Jackson family lawyer and spokesman, told CNN that Jackson had been struggling to cope with the after-effects of various performance injuries, including a damaged vertebra and a broken leg, which had been interrupting scheduled rehearsal for the London dates.

He went on to accuse those around Jackson of letting him slip into dependency on prescription drugs and painkillers.

"I can only tell you that this is not something which has been unexpected," Mr Oxman told CNN from the LA hospital as family members came to terms with the news from doctors.

"This family has been trying for months and months to take care of Michael Jackson. The people who have surrounded him have been enabling him: if you think that the case of Anna Nicole Smith was an abuse, it is nothing to what we have seen taking place in Michael Jackson's life."

Times Archive 1972 The Jackson Five live at Wembley

Michael Jackson's twinkling feet scarcely seemed to touch the stage

Related Links

• The Times obituary: Michael Jackson

• Health made as many headlines as talent

• Michael Jackson offstage

Multimedia

• LIVE: global reaction and developments

• PICTURES: highlights of Michael Jackson's career

• PICTURES: decline and fall

He added: "I can tell you for sure that this is something I warned about. Where there is smoke there is fire."

Jackson's home in the Holmby Hills - once the home of the British actor Sean Connery - was searched by detectives from LAPD's Robbery Homicide division at the behest of city police chief William Bratton - although officers called it an "everyday" event.

Jackson’s reputation as a singer and moonwalking dancer was overshadowed in recent years by his increasingly abnormal appearance, and bizarre lifestyle, which included his friendship with a chimpanzee named Bubbles and a preference for the company of children.

He named his estate in the central California foothills Neverland Valley Ranch, in tribute to the J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan stories, and filled it with amusement park rides and a petting zoo.

Jackson was twice accused of molesting young boys and was charged in 2003 with child sexual abuse. He became even more reclusive following his 2005 acquittal and vowed that he would no longer live at Neverland.

Facing a battered reputation and mountain of debts that the Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, Jackson had spent the last two months rehearsing for the London concerts, the latest on Wednesday night at Staples Center arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.

Despite reports of Jackson’s ill-health, the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March that Jackson had passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors.

Times Recommends

• Times Charity Appeal: SolarAid
• Is it Black Monday all over again for Dubai?
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal