Berlin - A Michael Jackson lookalike in Germany said Monday he plans to keep making paid appearances as a double, despite his grief at the US singer's death.

"I cried like a baby," said the former plumber, 38. "It was like losing a member of my own family, though I never actually got to know him properly." He never actually met the real Jackson.

The German, whose pale skin and hairstyle recalls the late-phase Jackson, declines to give his real name, but works as a celebrity double under the stage name "Michael Jackson circa," the last word meaning "approximately."

Interviewed Monday in his Berlin garden allotment, he was too sad to do his imitation of Jackson's dancing, but managed to sing, "You Are Not Alone," as impressed neighbours gazed over the hedge.

The German said Jackson performances, mainly at office parties and weddings, were his sole source of income.

"I definitely won't give it up, 100 per cent," he said. "This is bound to increase demand." (dpa)