The King of Pop was sure he would follow the King to an early grave, blogs Lisa Marie Presley. During his brief marriage to Elvis's daughter, Michael Jackson "stated with an almost calm certainty, 'I am afraid that I am going to end up like him.'" Jackson wasn't the only one to foresee an early end: Journalist Ian Halperin had also predicted the singer's demise.
From his position in Jackson's inner circle, Halperin knew enough to predict last December that the frail performer had only 6 months to live—his death came 6 months and 1 day later. Between a reported lung disease that left him unable to sing, possible anorexia, and debilitating anxiety about the upcoming London tour he had been pushed into doing, Jackson's health was deteriorating fast, writes Halperin in the Daily Mail. "It’s not working out," Jackson reportedly said on June 21. "I’m better off dead. I don’t have anywhere left to turn. I’m done." (More Michael Jackson stories.)