*According to the U.K.'s Sky News and Gary Taylor, president and owner of the fansite MJJCommunity, at least 12 Michael Jackson fans have committed or attempted suicide in the wake of his passing.
The news has prompted Rev. Jesse Jackson to come forward with pleas to keep hope alive.
"This is a time when hearts are heavy. There is great pain but great cause to celebrate Michael's life," he says, according to E! Online. "It made Michael happy saying 'We Are the World.' Don't self destruct. We fall down sometimes, we get back up. That's the right thing to do. In Michael's name let's live together as brothers and sisters and not die apart as fools."
Pavel Talalayev, a Russian Jackson impersonator who spent years and thousands of dollars on cosmetic surgery to look like his idol, was among the first to attempt to take his own life.
"I started receiving calls from other fans, I tried to calm them down…And then I let myself go," he told Russian news site Life.ru, as translated by MosNews, after his rescue by doctors. "I don't know why the doctors saved me. I want to be with Michael."
The Barcelona Reporter is reporting an additional fan death in Tunisia.