Devastated. That's really the only word I can use to describe how I felt yesterday around 6:30 when my sister called me to tell me that Michael Jackson is dead at the age 50.
Whether you saw him as a pioneer, a brilliant musician, a lunatic, a punchline, misunderstood... it doesn't matter - he's been a part of our lives for more than 30 years. We grew up with him. We saw him become larger than life and collapse under the pressure he created. When somebody mentions the 1980s, we all think of him before we think of any actor, any sports star, or any politician.
For anybody who grew up in the 80s and early 90s, Michael was not just a musician. He was a superhero. He was a myth. We didn't think of him in terms of regular human ability. How can any living, breathing human be that original and have a presence like that? How does a human being have the electric moves, the passion, and the style to make a video like "Smooth Criminal" or "Thriller"? He sang and danced better than any of us will ever do anything.
Thriller is the rarest kind of record: one that hasn't aged a day in 30 years. I pulled it out a few weeks ago at a party for mid-20's military officers from all parts of the country. Everybody danced, everybody sang along, everybody had a story about the first time they heard "Beat It" or "Billie Jean" or how they danced along to the videos when they were 5 years old. How many records have this effect on us?
And while I'm on music videos: to say he was the greatest thing that ever happened to music videos is STILL an understatement. He was the entire art of the music video. It started and ended with him. Once he stopped making them, the entire genre was obsolete. There was no longer any point.
Even in 2009, I didn't feel like his story was over. He had 50 shows lined up in London, he had a new record ready to go - as empty as the pop genre is in 2009, what would have stopped a 50-year old Michael from owning it again? Even Dangerous, his 1991 overblown disaster of a pop record, is more memorable today than most of what came out that year! If Josh Groban can sell millions of records, what would stop Michael from lighting up the charts with another "Heal The World"? I guess we'll never know.
I have a lot of new records to review on this site, but not for a few days. I'm going to spend the weekend reflecting with Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and even Dangerous (although I'll skip "Will You Be There" because I don't think I can emotionally handle it right now). This is Michael's weekend.
A true original. A true legend.
Rest in Peace.
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