The King of Pop

I will say it: I am a Michael Jackson fan. I LOVE me some MJ music. The man could sing, he could dance and he was one of the biggest pop music icons of all time. His album, Thriller, is the best selling album of all time with around 110 million copies sold worldwide. He may not have been the most sane individual, but that doesn't matter all that much in the entertainment industry. Nuts are a dime a dozen in Hollywood but not all of them have the immense talent that Michael Jackson did to cancel out some of the insanity. I think he was a big kid at heart, the living, breathing version of Peter Pan. I mean, come on, he named his home the Neverland Ranch. I think people took advantage of the child-like manner in which he lived and capitalized on it. I think if anyone was in the spotlight from the time they were 5, they would turn out a bit off. He may not have been the best musician of all time, or the best singer of all time but he is, in my opinion, the best performer of all time. He had it all. And he will be missed.

Not everyone is a Michael Jackson fan, and that's alright. I didn't know him personally so I'm not a fan of the man so much as of his music. As long as you can admit that the man was a performing genius, then ok, you don't have to be a fan. Right along with my dreams of traveling to Egypt was attending a Michael Jackson concert. I was so hopeful with the launch of his London tour, thinking that if it went well, maybe he'd consider doing a tour in the US. Sadly, this is one thing I will have to take off my list.

The very first CD I owned, and subsequently played the heck out of, was Dangerous. Great album. I remember sitting in the middle of my backyard with my walkman and headphones listening to that album and singing along, over and over again, the stuff of sunny summer days. When I twirled baton, we used many an MJ hit to dance and twirl to. Those were good times. Now as an adult, every wedding I've gone to (ours definitely included) and every bar or party I've been to includes a wide variety of MJ songs, and each and every time, the dance floor is full and people are having a great time. We all know the words and it's such fun. He hasn't put out any music lately that really grabbed me like his '80's and early '90's hits. Those are the songs, when my generation reaches old age, that we will fondly recall as our "classics." I will always enjoy listening to those songs. They are a part of my childhood, they make me smile, and I can't help but dance along to the music whenever I hear one of his songs.

Rest in Peace, Michael. May you find the peace you didn't or couldn't find in life. You will be missed, never forgotten, and you, too, are Gone Too Soon.