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Michael Jackson's later life was more about controversy than concerts, so it's little surprise the public recording of his death would become equally bizarre.
Jackson and his inner circle were well known to orchestrate curious news stories about the King of Pop — including the legendary tale of him sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber to help him stay young.
He apparently loved that legend so much, the photo of him inside the contraption had to be re-shot, so it looked just right.
He would later deny the story — giving it new legs to be repeated again.
But now, as more lines are being weaved by newspapers, TV shows, blogs and websites around the globe, the angles just keep twisting into the oddest and saddest shapes.
Everyone — from the media to the public — still want a piece of the puzzle. And it’s getting difficult, among the clutter, to find what’s real and what’s fake.
Consider the alleged details of his autopsy, heralded by Britain’s The Sun newspaper — remarkably lurid findings that the Los Angeles County coroner says in a statement are not accurate.
But leaving the door open, the coroner reportedly said: Some of it is totally false.”
The tabloid claims the star — who was going to start his comeback tour in London in July — was almost bald, and wearing a wig when he died.
The bridge of his nose was gone and the right side of his nostrils was caved in, the challenged report went on to say, adding, Jackson weighed just 112 pounds, and his stomach contained only partially digested pills, rather than solid food.
In what the paper maintained was an exclusive, even after others branded the “leaked autopsy findings” fake, it was claimed needle marks covered his body.
Almost as sad — in a detail which may well be true — were several ribs, broken from attempts to revive him, according to the British tabloid.
Even the words Jackson used are now being sliced up and dissected and debated.
Author Deepak Chopra, a longtime friend and mentor to the pop star, recalls something Jackson once said about dying.
On his blog, Chopra writes Jackson decided: “I don’t want to go out like Marlon Brando. I want to go out like Elvis.”
Chopra says Jackson knew people called him weird, but reasoned the world around him was far weirder.
It may even go beyond this world.
A posting on the alien-friendly site, allnewsweb.com, points out that a UFO was seen hovering over Jackson’s Neverland Ranch hours after the superstar died.
“We knew some readers might laugh at this story, but if we are in fact being semi-secretly monitored by an alien civilization ... is it so far fetched to suggest that they might take an interest in the things we take an interest in?” asks the article’s author, Michael Cohen.
In the days since Jackson died, we’ve seen his father, Joe Jackson, use the attention to try to hawk a new recording label he’s launched, we learned Michael had a love of fish and chips and likely an appetite for prescription drugs and the mother of his two oldest children has reportedly come forward to say he’s not their real dad.
There’s possibly two wills and wagers on whether his funeral will be bigger than the one held for Princess Diana are now ongoing.
Even his death itself is now up for debate.
Chat sites are alive with speculation that — like Elvis — he may still be alive somewhere.
One commenter at digitalspy.com wonders aloud: “Millions in debt and realizes he can’t deliver on a 50 gig comeback tour, so he fakes his death, assumes a new identity ... and disappears?”
There are those who just want the musical legacy to remain without the cloud of bizarre behaviour.
That talent should be enough of a reason to keep following the story.
But what’s clear is that Michael Jackson knew his remarkable fame required a second flame — one of odd controversy.
Where smoke gets in the way of what’s true an what’s fantasy.
In death, that flame has just been fanned.