Michael Jackson entertained us and performed for us for 45 of his 50 years on this earth. His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time. His music videos helped define the medium.
"From his earliest days with his brothers in the Jackson Five in the 1970s, through the remarkable peak of his solo career in the 1980s, Mr. Jackson’s music is characterized by risk, invention and musicality....In the coming days, we will be overwhelmed by stories that will summarize, and maybe even gloat about, his misadventures. The most casual pop fan has heard the stories of the abuse he claimed to have suffered as a child, his many plastic surgeries, sexual indiscretions, short-lived marriages, health woes, financial troubles. In the public forum, Jackson had been a caricature for a good long while. Make no mistake, there are those who were eager to see him fail in London.
But now is the moment to put all those grotesque tales aside and concentrate on his work. Think of Jackson onstage, moonwalking, silver glove glittering, spotlight reflecting off his sunglasses, stardust twinkling amid the curls of his hair. Think of his incomparable intensity as he sang and danced. Listen, even if only in your mind, to the music he made with his brothers or as an enormously successful solo artist. Don’t let anything conflict with your memory of his great gifts—and the joy he brought to us for most of his life and ours as well."
Jim Fusilli, Wall Street Journal For full text, click here
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