Hawai'i residents joined millions of fans worldwide in mourning the sudden passing of Michael Jackson, the larger-than-life pop superstar whose tragic career arc saw him evolve from child prodigy to self-proclaimed King of Pop to eccentric recluse mired in controversy.

Jackson, 50, died of an apparent cardiac arrest yesterday in Los Angeles.

"When I first heard about it, I was devastated," said Lori Matsuoka, 46, of Kapolei. "It was so sad, like a part of yourself is gone. I grew up listening to his music, so it was like my whole life flashed before me."

Matsuoka's first memory of Jackson was of a Jackson 5 performance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1969. From that moment, Matsuoka said, Jackson's music seemed almost a soundtrack to her life, from listening to the Jackson 5 as a child to rollerskating to music from "Off the Wall" at the old Skateland to buying Michael Jackson DVDs with her 14-year-old daughter Aubrey.

Yesterday, Matsuoka joined dozens of other Jackson fans at a memorial for the fallen star at Magic Island.

"It was a good way to send our aloha collectively," said former I-94 disc jockey Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd, who organized the memorial. "That's how Hawai'i is. We live our separate lives, but when something happens we come together in aloha."

During his time with the radio station, Boyd said, he got to know Jackson's mother Katherine and other members of the storied Jackson clan. And while he never got to meet Jackson himself, Boyd did assist in providing a "smokescreen" for the pop icon by arranging for an impersonator to serve as a decoy for fans during Jackson's 1997 visit to Hawai'i.

"I grew up loving music because of him," Boyd said. "I think the positive effect he had way outweighs all that weird stuff at the end. I think the billions of people he helped pull together through his music is what we should remember."

HERE IN 1980, 1997

Jackson first performed in Hawai'i as part of the Jackson 5 in 1980, a year after the release of his first solo album, "Off the Wall." The group played three sold-out shows at the Blaisdell Arena.

"He had Elvis Presley-type vibes," said Ron Gibson, former owner of Bass Ticket Company. "He was always popular, but this was before he hooked up with Quincy Jones and made 'Thriller.' This was when he was just a good kid on the way up."

In 1997, Jackson performed two sold-out concerts at Aloha Stadium in what would be his last concert appearances in the United States.

Veteran concert promoter Tom Moffatt originally had scheduled just a single show, but tickets were moving so quickly on the first day of sale that he contacted Jackson's manager to secure a second date.

"The first show was a Friday, but they couldn't tell us if the second show would be Saturday or Sunday, but that he would do one," Moffatt said. "So with no time and no date on the tickets, it sold out that afternoon. Both shows, same day. Never seen anything like it."

Jim Fulton, a spokesman for the city prosecutor's office, was working with Moffatt at the time. He recalled the sense of excitement that built in anticipation of Jackson taking the stage.

"One thing I remember is the pre-event buzz," he said. "You always get some, but there was so much of it. Everybody — everybody — was excited. I walked around the stadium parking lot pre-show and people were having a good time, but there was no rowdiness. People were just excited."

Some 60,000 people attended the performances. Even those who didn't consider themselves Michael Jackson fans found themselves drawn to the spectacle surrounding the enigmatic icon.

"He did a great job," said state Sen. Donna Mercado-Kim. "He was a great dancer and I always liked that about him. I liked him better as a kid with the Jackson 5, but he was a talented entertainer. ... (His death) is too bad. He was so young."

'WHAT A TALENT'

While Jackson remained a figure of intense public interest to the end, media scrutiny stemming from multiple allegations of sexual abuse of minors and speculation over his changing physical appearance and eccentric public behavior (including an incident in which he dangled his infant son over a balcony) eroded Jackson's popularity in the United States and pushed the aging star into a self-imposed seclusion broken only by a handful of international appearances.

Richard Natto, leader of the Society of Seven Las Vegas, recalled meeting Jackson at Kahala Mall in the late 1980s, when Jackson was in town for a private Pepsi convention.

He "stood about my height, simple clothing — jeans, white T-shirt, black long-sleeve shirt," Natto said. "The skin color on his face was just turning white. The change was real noticeable. (I) had a short conversation with him. Real shy, quiet demeanor.

"Despite all his later troubles, what a talent."

Jackson was poised to play Aloha Stadium again in a millennium-ending performance on Dec. 31, 1999, but the concert never materialized.

While Jackson's appearances in the Islands were few, his influence was profound for many local musicians.

"Michael Jackson was a huge inspiration for me when I was a child," said 'ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. "I actually played a lot of his songs on 'ukulele.

"His music truly heals the world and makes it a better place. He'll be remembered forever."

Shimabukuro recorded a version of Jackson's "Thriller" on his recently released CD "Jake Shimabukuro Live," joining a distinguished and diverse list of artists — from jazz great Miles Davis to rocker Chris Cornell — who have covered Jackson's work.

As news of Jackson's death spread quickly via TV and the Internet, tweets and text messages, several local radio stations — including KSSK 92.3 FM, KKOL 107.9 FM, and KTUH 90.3 FM — abandoned their playlists to pay musical homage to the singer.

Scores of callers phoned in to the stations to share their thoughts on Jackson's passing, echoing conversations taking place at street corners and in check-out lines across the state.

"He's a superstar," said Antoinette Paith, 53, of 'Ewa Beach. "I hope he's at peace."