24 June 2025
Michael Jackson’s former lawyer has said the star died desperate for sleep as he rehearsed for concerts he never got to perform,
Michael Jackson’s former lawyer has said the star died desperate for sleep as he rehearsed for concerts he never got to perform
The singer was in the middle of preparing for a planned concert residency at London’s O2 Arena – set to run from July 2009 to March 2010 – when he died of a heart attack aged 50 caused by an overdose of sedatives and propofol on 25 June 2009.
In his new book Crazy Lucky: Remarkable Stories from Inside the World of Celebrity Icons, Michael’s friend and former lawyer John Mason reveals Michael was in dire financial straits and under immense pressure when he complained he was knackered.
The singer is said have told the lawyer about his upcoming tour he was working on at the time of his death: “I can’t function if I don’t sleep. They’ll have to cancel it. And I don’t want them to cancel it.”
John added: “In 2009, I was living in Reno when I got a call from someone who told me that Michael was in ‘really bad shape.’
“He was trying to tour again, but he had collapsed onstage during rehearsals. Yet, he was back at it the next day. Michael was Michael.”
According to John, Michael was on the verge of losing his Neverland Ranch when AEG Live’s tour promoter brought in Dr Conrad Murray, at Jackson’s request, to manage his severe insomnia with nightly propofol infusions.
As rehearsals wore on, Michael reportedly became fixated on the residency.
By mid-June 2009, those close to the singer noticed alarming changes in his mental state, reporting “deteriorating” health, including signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive behaviour.
On the morning of his death, Dr. Murray administered a cocktail of sedatives – 10 mg valium, 2 mg lorazepam, 2 mg midazolam, another 2 mg lorazepam and a further 2 mg midazolam between 1.30 am and 7.30 am – followed at 10.40 am by a fatal 25 mg dose of propofol, resulting in cardiac arrest.
Dr. Murray was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison in 2011.
Choreographer Toni Basil, 79, also reflected on Jackson’s physical collapse during a 2021 podcast, saying: “He had stopped for six years, and all of a sudden, they talked him into doing a tour.
“And he’s trying to sing and dance and rehearse in a small amount of time. It was killing him, and it did kill him.
“You go home at night, and you can’t even walk because you’re so stiff and sore and hoarse, and you can’t sleep… what does he do to sleep?… he started to figure out a way to sleep.”.
