The King of Pop’s tragic death shook the world. The circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death are shocking and speak to a cautionary tale of chronic sleep disorders and addiction. Though the media has sensationalized his last words as being “I’d like to have some milk”, those were not his actual last words.
Michael Jackson used his last breath to plead for “some milk”, his nickname for Propofol. According to the doctor responsible for his death, Michael Jackson’s exact last words were testament to his commitment to his work “And I don’t want them to cancel it, but they will have to cancel it.”
After hours of trying to save his life, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center officially pronounced the ‘Thriller’ singer dead at 2:26 p.m. PDT on Thursday 25 June 2009. The story of the Gloved One’s death is heartbreaking. Here’s what you need to know about Michael Jackson’s last words, how he spent his last night, and what happened to the internet when the world was plunged into a state of mourning.
Michael Jackson’s Last Words
According to the statement given to police by his doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, the night of Wednesday 24 June was yet another sleepless night for Michael. The star suffered from a debilitating chronic sleep disorder that rendered him unable to fall asleep naturally, no matter how exhausted he may be.
After an incredibly long and frustrating sleepless night that involved many sleep-inducing drugs, Michael asked for Propofol at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday 26 June. After complaining that the medication he had taken previously was not working and that the day was going to have to be canceled, he engaged in his last ever conversation with Dr. Conrad Murray.
He said “I’d like to have some milk. Please, please give me some milk so that I can sleep, because I know that this is all that really works for me.”
When Michael requests milk, he is not asking for a glass of warm milk like many do as children but instead, he is asking to be dosed with Propofol — nicknamed Milk of Amnesia, due to its opaque milky appearance — a powerful anesthetic that is used to induce and maintain anesthesia during surgeries.
Dr. Murray was concerned about the time, as Michael was expected to be up by a certain time to get to rehearsals, and asked him how much sleep he thought he was going to get.
Michael responded with “Just make me sleep. Doesn’t matter what time I get up.” and, when pressed by Dr. Murray about the schedule for the day, he said “I can’t function if I don’t sleep. They’ll have to cancel it. And I don’t want them to cancel it, but they will have to cancel it.”
Michael Jackson’s Last Night
Michael spent most of Wednesday 24 June rehearsing for his comeback tour ‘This Is It’. He has been described by Karen Faye, his makeup artist, as “paranoid, shivering from chills, and repeating himself during his last days.” Later it would be revealed that he was on his second day of being weaned off Propofol, which likely means his behavior was a result of withdrawal symptoms.
At around midnight, the rehearsal was over and Michael headed home, stopping only at the home’s entrance gate to greet a small group of fans who were waiting for him. His doctor was also waiting for him.
Shortly after arriving home, Michael began expressing discomfort and complained of fatigue. He asked Dr. Murray to help him get to sleep. He hopped in the shower and once he was finished, Dr. Murray applied lotion to his back as he did almost every night.
From there, he inserted a saline I.V. below the star’s knee and gave him a single Valium pill followed by a dosage of Lorazepam. Michael remained wide awake as was subsequently given Midazolam, attempted to meditate, fell asleep for 15 minutes before waking up again, was given more Lorazepam followed by more Midazolam and — finally — at 10:40 a.m. 25 milligrams of Propofol.
After getting his “milk”, Michael Jackson fell asleep and would never wake up again. His death was ruled a homicide and on February 8 2010 Dr. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Michael Jackson’s Death ‘Broke’ The Internet
When Michael Jackson’s death was confirmed by The Los Angeles Times 18 minutes after he was officially pronounced dead, a frenzy ensued. Large online sites such as TMZ, The Los Angeles Times, Wikipedia, AOL Instant Messenger, and Twitter crashed due to user overload.
Because of the millions of searches that happened almost immediately, Google believed its search engine was under DDoS attack and subsequently blocked all search requests related to Michael Jackson for 30 minutes.