MICHAEL Jackson - the worldwide superstar who sold about 750 million records in his long career - was about to launch a series of concerts in London that may have been the start of a world tour before his shock death today.
As music stores anticipated a surge in sales of the long-time superstar's recordings, Garry Van Egmond, who promoted the New Zealand leg of a Jackson tour in 1998, said the sold-out London shows could easily have been the beginnings of a lucrative world tour.
Fans around the globe mourn Michael Jackson"I am sure it was the beginning of a world tour," Mr Van Egmond, who promoted Jackson's New Zealand tour in 1998, said. "They hadn't announced it but ... they sold over a million tickets for the 50-odd dates in London."
Jackson had been due to start the series of concerts in London on July 13, running through until March 2010 - 50 concerts that sold out within minutes of going on sale in March.
The promoters had reportedly planned a phased three-year touring plan that would have taken Jackson to Europe, Asia and finally the Americas in 2011.
Promoter Randy Phillips from Anschutz Entertainment Group, which was behind the London shows, recently estimated Jackson would have made $US50million ($61.6m) to $US100m from the London dates, and that that could have risen to $US500m if the world tour materialised.
Jackson's lifetime record sales tally is believed to be about 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, made him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
The last time Michael Jackson toured the Australia and New Zealand was 1998, Mr Van Egmond said.
"I think he was an incredible talent," he said. "He was a very mixed up person but the news is very sad."
"Thriller is the largest-selling album in the world."
Despite his musical and sales success, Jackson's life was peppered with law suits, including those brought by the families of alleged child abuse victims and employees, including that of a former spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, who sued him for $US59 million over what she said was breach of contract.
He was acquitted over child abuse charges four years ago.
Bain was Jackson's public voice for much of the child molestation trial, as well as through the financial difficulties that resulted in the sale of his Neverland Valley ranch last year.
Jackson recently cancelled an auction of belongings from Neverland Ranch, the California estate at the centre of his 2005 trial.
In 1985, Jackson, who loved the Beatles and recorded songs including The Girl is Mine and Say, Say, Say with Paul McCartney, outbid Paul McCartney to buy ATV Music - which owned the rights to the lion's share of songs composed by the legendary Beatles.
In 1995, Jackson and Sony Music entered into an $US95m agreement over the ATV Beatles catalogue. Under the deal, Jackson retained a share of the royalties paid on the much-played tunes.
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