Everyone will remember, for the rest of our lives, where we were when we heard Michael Jackson died -- just like JFK, Elvis, John Lennon and Kurt Cobain. But Micheal was bigger, more famous than all of them.
Like millions of others, the soundtrack of my childhood is peppered with his music. I can remember long, lazy summer afternoons with my friends, bobbing our heads to "I Want You Back", "Dance Machine" and "ABC". We had lively debates on who would win in a pick-up basketball game: the Jackson 5 or the Osmonds (remember them?). BTW, it was unanimously upon that it would be the Jacksons. And I could never forget slow-dancing with Janna Gail to "I'll Be There" at the 7th grade school dance, thereby making it officially "our song".
Later, as a composer/musician myself, I was amazed at his writing/arranging chops in "Off The Wall"... then "Thriller" and the list goes on. Of course, I'm sure Quincy Jones had something to do with that, too.
He was a genius in anyone's book... not only as a dancer and musically but as a businessman and self-promoter as well. He was the commodity that millions collectively paid millions for.
And, yeah, there were the accusations of freakiness. Maybe they were true.. maybe not. Anyone with a big bank account, especially those who live out of the norm, has a target on his back. I have a feeling, though, that they'll be just a footnote in the history of Michael Jackson's story. The story of pop music. The story of our lives.
RIP, MJ. And thanks.
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