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Living Beyond Your Time
Sunday, 28th June 2009
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On Thursday, June 25th 2009, Michael Jackson passed away from a sudden heart attack. The world had lost one of its greatest musical artists, but also one of it’s strangest human beings - and that got me thinking, after all of the ups and downs in his life what was the end result?
Everyone knows the story of Michael Jackson. Started off in the Jackson 5 with his brothers. Had an amazing voice and so much talent. Had a very tough father who caused him much emotional distress throughout childhood. Grew up in an entertainment family with lots of pressure to perform, but to the public eye he seemed to love life and everything in it. Through the money that he earned he gave a lot to charity and also manage to secure his dream home - Neverland Ranch.
Then there was the not-so-great stories of his life. For starters, what was with his skin colour??? He was born black but during the late 80’s he became fairer and fairer until all of a sudden he was white. Jackson had been diagnosed with Vitiligo, which is a disease that causes skin pigmentation problems - so you develop “patches” of white on your body. The story goes that he was tired of fighting it and chose to make all of his skin white through bleaching. The other school of thought on the whole matter was that Jackson really wanted to be white after all of those childhood torments from his father. Either way, does it really matter? He was born black and became white. End of discussion.
Michael’s story get’s worse. In the early 90’s he was brought up on child molestation charges but luckily for him the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. For the next decade, Michael made headlines in the media for health reasons, getting married, fathering children. Which doesn’t sounds like a pretty normal life except that in Jackson’s case it was big news. For example, one of the people he married was Lisa Marie Presley the daughter of Elvin Presley. So media headlines all over the world were ablaze with “The King’s daughter marries the King of Pop”. Crazy stuff!
In previous years Michael was best known for putting on amazing live performances and amazing music videos for his songs. He always appeared to be one step ahead of the rest but sadly in recent times the performances weren’t that good, and his music videos were slightly under what was the general standard. He relied mostly on his reputation to attract the crowds and the name Michael Jackson was synonymous with music, dancing and performance.
Early last year the record companies released Thriller 25 - a 25th Aniversary edition of Michael’s award winning album Thriller which was originally released in 1982. Thriller 25 featured remixes of all the songs by popular contemporary music artists such as Will I Am, Akon, Fergie, Kanye West and gave those artists foundations built by old school record producers to add their own creative flair.
Just on that concept, when you look at nearly all of the world’s pop stars today, each one of them say that Michael Jackson and his music had an amazing influence on them. And that’s something you cannot argue with. These days RnB stars glide across the stage effortlessly just as he did when he pioneered the style so many years ago with his Moonwalk. He is without a doubt the greatest artist of all time. This is what some of the stars said about his death:
“Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic. I will miss him!” - Diddy
“I can’t find the words right now to express how deeply saddened I am by Michael’s passing. We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music but of all music. He has been an inspiration to multiple generations and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones.” - Justin Timberlake
“May God cover you Michael. We all lift your name up in prayer. I pray for the entire Jackson family particularly Michael’s mother, children and all his fans that loved him so much. I would not be the artist, performer, and philanthropist I am today without the influence of Michael. I have great admiration and respect for him and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to meet and perform with such a great entertainer, who in so many ways, transcended the culture. He broke barriers, he changed radio formats! With music, he made it possible for people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama to impact the mainstream world. His legacy is unparalleled. Michael Jackson will never be forgotten.” - Usher
“I think we’ll mourn his loss as well as the loss of ourselves as children listening to Thriller on the record player. Dazed in the studio. A major strand of our cultural DNA has left us. RIP MJ. I truly hope he is memorialized as the ‘83 moonwalking, MTV owning, mesmerizing, unstoppable, invincible Michael Jackson."-John Mayer
“If it were not for Micheal Jackson I would not be where or who I am today. His Music and Legacy will live on Forever.Prayers to the famR.I.P."-Ludacris
“Michael you left such a legacy on this earth, have touched SO MANY!!! We thank you for such a driving inspiration in music & our lives!! This has got to be one of the saddest days in music history!! Michael Rest In Peace! WE miss you!"-Kelly Rowland
So when you look at his life, the ups and the downs, the goods with the bads, you find a man who has contributed so much to the world and no matter who you are, where you come from, whenever you were or are born, or whether you like him or not, chances are you will be talking about Michael Jackson at some point in your life. To have one person have so much impact on so many different generations of people...now that is amazing. Michael sums it up as “Music has been my outlet, my gift to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I know I will live forever.” So true.
Rest in Peace Michael Jackson, a man who truly changed the world. (29th August 1958 - 25th June 2009)
Dream, Build, Inspire, Lead!
AJ~
Author: AJ Kulatunga
Category:
build, inspire, Michael Jackson, Celebrity qutoes, changing the world,
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