Yesterday we lost a giant in America's (and the world's) recent music history. Michael Jackson, known to many as the King of Pop, passed away suddenly at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, after he stopped breathing in his home. He was 50 years old. When the announcement broke that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, the Twitter world went absolutely nuts. Without knowing the full details, whether he had regained consciousness or whether official news sources had confirmed if he had died or not, people started tweeting "RIP MJ", relying on a non-official news source, TMZ.com as their source of information. What a shame. We have digressed so much that we allow non-credible blog sites, such as TMZ, to be our primary source of news. A complete shame!
Michael Jackson transcended the R&B and pop music industries, mixing the two genres better than anyone could ever do. He did it with much ease. From his childhood days starring with the Jackson 5 and Motown, up until now, he had been a fixture in American music and American culture for some 40 years. Recently, people had associated MJ with all the looney details of his later years in life, the two allegations of child molestation, the assorted facial surgeries that distorted his face, the prescription drug addiction, the skin disease that robbed his skin of melanin, the famous picture of him hanging his then infant son over a railing, his wanting to be Peter Pan, the massive amount of debt he owed to many debtors. Sure, a lot of bad happened in his life, but the man was a pure musical genius. He possessed a gift for music and dance that not many people have, but work so hard to achieve.
He was a genius when it came to music and dance. He transformed, recreated in a way, how music videos were made, starting in 1982 with "Thriller". In fact, his Thriller album STILL remains the highest selling album of all time, with over 100 million copies sold. Yes, that number will no doubtedly increase, along with his other albums, when the newest Soundscan numbers come out next week. Since his death yesterday, his albums are the top selling albums on iTunes. He's the man who brought us the Moonwalk, his dance moves are envied by others. His influence on music and dance stretches into the current century, with artists like Usher, Omarion, Chris Brown emulating his dance moves. Chris Brown often states that his main influence was Michael Jackson.
He will forever be remembered for his music. He will forever be a musical legend in my eyes. I will continue to play "Billie Jean", "PYT-Pretty Young Thing", "You Are Not Alone", "Thriller" and all his hits. Ladies and gentlemen, his music will definitely live on. Yes, his life, especially the later years of his life, will read like a Greek tragedy, but his music, transcendent as it was and still is, will reign supreme forever.
To close us out, one of my favorite Michael Jackson cuts: Smooth Criminal
God Bless You, Michael Joseph Jackson, and may your soul finally be at peace.
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