Sydney  - A musicologist lauded Michael Jackson for a talent he said was the equal of Elvis Presley, fellow performers spoke of how inspirational he was while Australian fans simply sobbed at his untimely passing.

"He was a musician, not a tabloid freak show," insisted eminent rock historian Glenn A Baker. "Just as Elvis had forged white country and black rhythm music, Jackson had white guitar rock and blended it with black funk and black soul and created a musical form that had the most incredible appeal," Baker said.

Nikki Webster, the tot who charmed the world at the opening ceremony of Sydney's 2000 Olympics, said her fellow child star had changed the face of popular music. "You are a true inspiration and genius," she said.

Fan Wes Carr said it was "pretty unsettling to wake up to that news" in Sydney, where in November 1996 a 38-year-old Jackson shocked the globe by marrying his pregnant 37-year-old nurse, Debbie Rowe.

They married in the Sheraton Hotel, taking advantage of laws that allow anyone to marry anywhere, at any time.

It was the second celebrity wedding in Sydney that surprised because of the presumed sexuality of the groom.

In February 1984, at a lavish exchange of vows overlooking the harbour, piano man Elton John married German studio engineer Renate Blauel.

John, when told in 1996 that Jackson had married in the harbour city, is reported to have made a joke at his own expense. "All the loonies get married in Sydney," he quipped. (dpa)