Michael Jackson

It has taken some time for me to write anything about Michael Jackson, given his recent death. Truthfully, he's not the kind of artist I normally give much thought about, and his actions over recent years make him somewhat harder to stomach.

Nevertheless, the truth is that he's a global icon, and likely to remain so in death in much the same way that Elvis continues to hold our imagination. I would be remiss to ignore something of such obvious importance to so many people.

I first heard of Michael Jackson around 1983 or '84, when I received the Thriller album from my cousins for Christmas. I liked it. Of course, I didn't have much of a discerning taste for music, which is not to take an unnecessary stab at Michael Jackson. Rather, at that point in my life, I was acquiring new music approximately once every 6 months, so I was pretty happy for anything. This was it. Besides, the guy's music videos were everywhere, and he was in the news so much that I figured it was a good bandwagon to hop aboard.

Honestly, though, I got over my interest in the Thriller album fairly quickly once I started becoming more of a fan of hard rock groups like Van Halen and Whitesnake in the following year. And when you said you were a fan of metal, you could never acknowledge an interest in pop. It just wasn't done. So, goodbye, Thriller album.

Michael went on to make a few more albums that were pretty successful, although I couldn't tell you what most of them are called because I never acquired another one. No, Michael became more and more infamous for his crazy obsession to mess with his biology through ongoing hormone treatments and plastic surgery, eventually becoming physically unrecognizable. (I wonder how many people came up with the same joke, as I did, that Michael Jackson's body had appeared to begin decomposing long before his death).

I thought about going into some of the crazier aspects of his life, but they are far too numerous for me to even attempt.

Memorials have been held all over the world for Michael Jackson. His funeral takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7th. Thousands of people want to attend. It's a circus.

There isn't much more to be said, is there?