Shrines emerge as Jacko tops chart
Michael Jackson has topped the album chart six years after his last number one as British fans constructed make-shift shrines to remember their idol.
His greatest hits album, Number Ones, took the top spot after a surge in sales saw record shop shelves stripped of his work.
Music retailer HMV admitted that despite bringing in extra stock to cope with demand, many branches had been emptied of Jackson albums since his death following a cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home on Thursday night.
Distraught fans who had been eagerly anticipating his planned farewell series of 50 shows at London's O2 Arena travelled from all over the country to gather at various locations in London linked to the star. Fans pasted posters and lit candles on the windows of HMV in London's Piccadilly Circus.
Sean O'Kane came up with the idea for the memorial and said he chose the store because Jackson was often spotted shopping there when in London.
He said: "It is mainly a place for fans who are in mourning where we can be there for each other at this really difficult time. It has helped me to find some closure. I was dumbstruck when I heard the news, I was walking about in a daze, everything was going in slow motion."
Brothers Moey and Naj Modek travelled to London from Scunthorpe to remember the singer. Moey said: "We were due to be at the concert in a couple of weeks time so we thought we'd come down and pay our respects."
Naj added: "It still doesn't feel real because last week we were gearing up to come and even at work we've all been talking about it."
The pair visited the O2 Arena, the Lyric Theatre, where Jackson-inspired live show Thriller Live is showing, and Trafalgar Square, where fans gathered after the singer's death. Flowers, candles and message in tribute to the singer have been left at each location.
Fans at the HMV tribute site cheered when they heard news that Jackson had reached number one in the album charts. The Number Ones album, that features all of his biggest hits, raced up the charts from 121 to reach number one. The same album earned Jackson his last number one hit when it was released in 2003.
