Glastonbury mourns Jackson

It is not often that the outside world penetrates the steel fences of the Glastonbury Festival.

It takes an event of earth shaking significance – the fall of a government would barely register among the muddied hordes.

But the death of Michael Jackson was the sole topic of conversation among festival goers.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis also weighed in with a tribute. He said: "You realise what a fantastic legend we've lost, the like of which we can't really replace.

"As an exponent of song and dance, no one came close."

At first most people simply did not believe the news as it was thought to be one of the many spoof rumours that circulate the site each year.

Toby, working in the lock ups said: "We had already been spreading silly stories. One was that Cliff Richard was to be a surprise guest, another that Susan Boyle was to perform with the Shamen in the Glade, so when the rumours started to come in, nobody believed it."

But through the constant flood of text messages, it soon became apparent that this story was not a fake.

Many on the site used the internet messaging serviced Twitter to find out more, while as the rain poured down and the thunder rolled around the hills the talk around camp fires and at cafes was all about the death of the King of pop.

Alice, from Burnham-on-Sea said: "You just heard his name everywhere. Walking around every second voice seemed to be saying 'Michael Jackson is dead'."

Cafes stopped their usual diet of pumping dance music and dug out long forgotten CDs featuring Jackson's music. Plans were laid for Michael Jackson tribute dance sessions.

When dawn broke those who had been on site all night were asking the new arrivals for news. Backstage the usual passage of celebrities was stilled as the pop stars stayed in their trailers glued to TV news channels, and the second band on the Other Stage, The Whip, received an enormous cheer as they announced that their second song was for Michael Jackson.

As the damp day wore on up on the camping fields a stream of poor-taste jokes were circulating, and as the news sank in, a certain fatalism had taken over as the effort of dealing with a day in Wellington boots became more important that mourning the death of an icon.

But for most the surprise seemed to have turned to sympathy by lunchtime.

Up on Pennards Hill Sophie, frrom Newbury said: "When I first heard I was shocked. But he always looked frail to me. I just feel sorry for him, I know he was successful and rich, but to me he never seemed to have a happy life."

The star is not the first to have died during the festival weekend. In September 1970, the first ever festival was held on the day American guitarist Jimi Hendrix died.

The cause of Michael Jackson's death may not be known for weeks, investigators said.

Los Angeles County Coroner Jerry McKibben said although an autopsy was being held yesterday results were not likely to be final until toxicology tests could be completed, a process that could take several days and maybe weeks.

However, if a cause can be determined by the autopsy, the results will be announced, Mr McKibben said.

Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in high-profile cases.

"It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. But the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known," his brother Jermaine said.