Jackson was awarded

Jackson was awarded the Diamond Award on November 15, 2006, for selling over 100 million albums, at the World Music Awards.[79] Following the death of James Brown, Jackson returned to the U.S. to pay tribute during Brown's public funeral on December 30, 2006.[131] In late 2006, he agreed to share joint custody of his first two children with ex-wife Debbie Rowe.[132] Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom in 2007. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.[1

In March 2009, Jackson announced at London's O2 arena that he would perform in major comeback concerts titled This Is It, at the said arena. The shows were to be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997, and had been cited as one of the year's most important musical events with over one million people attending in total. Jackson suggested possible retirement after the shows; in his own words it would be his "final curtain call". Although initially a 10 date concert, it was increased to 50 dates after record breaking ticket sales. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer/director Kenny Ortega.[149] The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009 and finished on March 6, 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson died of a cardiac arrest.[150]

Steve Huey of Allmusic said that, throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to experiment with various themes and genres.[177] As a musician, he ranged from Motown's dance fare and ballads to techno and house-edged new jack swing to work that incorporates both funk rhythms and hard rock guitar.[14]