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Two of these in one day is always difficult. But the passing of pop icon Michael Jackson is huge. Earth-shattering. I don’t know what to say, how to say it, or how to deflect the inevitable sniping at Jackson’s tabloid-filling escapades that will blur the fact that this is, truly, a tragic event.
TMZ.com first reported the news of Jackson’s being rushed to the hospital earlier this afternoon due to cardiac arrest. The staff is now reporting that the singer has, in fact, passed away. NBC News, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times all confirm. He was 50 years old.
What do you say to this? This is my childhood. This is one of the biggest, most legendary entertainers to grace a stage, a screen, anything. This hits hard.
Like any number of people, I haven’t given Jackson a second thought in a number of years. His celebrity morphed into farce and yet I was still excited to hear about his recently planned London concert series. He was working on a film project in Culver City earlier this month, a “Thriller” tribute or remake, from what little I’ve heard. But mostly, it’s the memories. It’s the Jackson Five. It’s “Thriller.” It’s “Bad.” It’s “Black or White.” It’s the hits, man. And they were considerable.
I used to come home every day and stick the 45 (yes, the 45) of “Bad” on the record player and rock out to it. When “Dangerous” hit in 1991, it owned my cassette player. It took the on-coming angst of adolescence and Nirvana to knock the album off the charts and off my “most played” pedestal at the time.
The classics are the classics. “I’ll Be There.” “ABC.” “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.” “Rock with You.” “Thriller.” “Billie Jean.” “Beat It.” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” “Bad.” “Dirty Diana.” “Leave Me Alone.” “Smooth Criminal.” “Black or White.” “Remember the Time.” “In the Closet.” “Jam.” “Unbreakable.” It goes on and on.
TMZ has a feed on the upcoming live press conference here. There are some interviews with those surrounding the area now. Tons of emotion. “We were waiting on the comeback,” one woman forced out through tears.
Staggering.
37 responses so far
1 6-25-2009 at 3:39 pm
Jonathan Spuij said...
CNN still won’t confirm it. (00.39 Berlin Time)
2 6-25-2009 at 3:40 pm
Jonathan Spuij said...
I am shocked but I never connected with the man. I just didn’t care for him that much, too wacky.
3 6-25-2009 at 3:48 pm
Brando said...
It’s a big lost to the music to see such a inspiring
and gifted artist to go away. He was to the Pop music what Elvis was to the Rock. And that none
deny. Goodbye King!
4 6-25-2009 at 3:49 pm
entertainmenttoday.. said...
His “Thriller” Video is the GREATEST music video ever made. Its landmark. No doubt his strange personal life and other accusations will mare his legacy greatly but I agree this is a HUGE story. Reminds me of the day Elvis died although I was really young then but do remember it.
chuck
5 6-25-2009 at 3:50 pm
andrew said...
I can’t believe it. Fawcett was one thing, but outta nowhere Jackson. Wow. I’m in shock, and at 50?
6 6-25-2009 at 3:51 pm
Hans said...
What a terrible week for the ’70s and the ’80s.
RIP Michael
RIP Farrah
RIP Ed
7 6-25-2009 at 3:53 pm
JC said...
Though I am somewhat older than Kris, and I lived through many of Jackson’s hit, I can’t say I was ever a particular fan of him as an artist. The style of music just didn’t cater to me sensibility. That said, he had a resonably strong voice, was a skilled dancer, and obviously his music (particularly in the ’80s) connected with a lot of people.
But it’s clear that he was doing something very deviant with a number of small children in past years, and while most of their parents are certainly partly to blame, there’s enough evidence (despite the fact that police investigators shot themselves in the foot in court proceedings by adding less credible witnesses to the legit ones, undermining their case through overkill) to support the implications that he was doing some very, very wrong things.
Which is to say, his best work, as an artist, was, by all accounts, far behind him, and if his early passing prevents any further exploitation or abuse of small children in the future, it’s probably for the best.
Hopefully his two kids are taken care of by a more suitable adult in the future, so they don’t need to spend forty years in therapy.
8 6-25-2009 at 3:54 pm
JC said...
That’s cater to “my” sensibility, and Jackson’s “hits”, of course.
9 6-25-2009 at 3:58 pm
adelutza said...
I wasn’t the biggest of fans but this is somebody I listened to when I bought my first cassette player. It’s unbelievable to me. With him I die a little too.
10 6-25-2009 at 4:06 pm
Michael W. said...
Extremely shocked. Like Kris I haven’t really thought that much about him in the later years but ever since I started to care about music he was always there with some of the greatest experiences.
The only thing that crosses my mind right now is really this: I Want You Back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVSYJXpD2_E
11 6-25-2009 at 4:09 pm
Joel said...
I love his music, just love it. I mean, the man was so influential that Weird Al parodied two of his songs (I say that with the utmost sincerity, as it shows his talents). The guy pretty much changed music. Thriller’s an amazing song and an amazing short film. Sad day for the music business.
12 6-25-2009 at 4:12 pm
Jim T said...
I don’t want to sound silly but perhaps this legend was supposed to die young. He had a difficult life. At some point, he might have thought he was God. Then, people started making fun of him. I don’t believe he deserved it. He was immensly talented and these people are likely to be eccentric. I sense that for a long time he wasn’t happy and I at least hope he will look from above and see what he has left behind. I am sure it is only admiration and love.
RIP Michael
13 6-25-2009 at 5:02 pm
aaron said...
i’m 28 and there’s absolutely no denying the huge effect he and his music had on me. i was literally born months before the birth of MTV and MJ (along with prince and madonna) was just a massive, massive part of my youth. sure, i went through the teen phase of thinking he was a total clown/creep, but my love of his music came back something fierce in my early 20s and i’ve been an ardent fan since (well, of his first three albums and the jackson/jackson 5 stuff). hell, i learned to play bass listening to the thriller album. i even liked that cover alien ant farm did of “smooth criminal,” but that song is so good even creed couldn’t fuck it up (who am i kidding? yes, they could).
yes, he was accused of some very cretinous things, but–and i say this as someone who *was* the victim of childhood abuse–that doesn’t take away from his work. plenty of musicians/writers/filmmakers/etc. behaved like total scumbags. what polanski did in his private life doesn’t detract from the magnificence of chinatown. and i never met the guy, but he always seemed like he would’ve done *anything* for his fans, which was rare for someone of his stature. a deeply, DEEPLY complicated person, but also a brilliant one.
dark day . . .
14 6-25-2009 at 5:12 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
Additionally I wish those (not here, but definitely elsewhere) could square themselves with the fact that there was never an indictment. Some have taken this occasion to be a total and absolute piece of shit. That’s their right but it’s tragic in a whole other way.
15 6-25-2009 at 5:18 pm
John H. Foote said...
Never been a fan but one cannot deny his extraordinary gifts or impact on music — his music video “Thriller” changed the face of that art form and saw to it that music videos would impact cinema — he was wonderful in ‘The Wiz” and I always thought he would have a film career — too bad, his life was not so fine, despite all that talent — never a fan, diehard Springsteen here, but respect his talent. Rest in peace…at last.
16 6-25-2009 at 5:37 pm
Chad Hartigan said...
Musical genius. Great human being. Sad day.
17 6-25-2009 at 5:42 pm
katie said...
Smooth Criminal was my favorite. On of many, there really isn’t a single other artist that has had the same ginormous impact on music, in my generation at least. I just wasn’t expecting it, he was only 50 for god’s sake.
So sad, Rest In Peace Michael Jackson. I feel so sorry for his kids.
18 6-25-2009 at 6:00 pm
Jim T said...
Ebert has written a beautiful article.
19 6-25-2009 at 6:03 pm
Simone said...
I was at the book store this morning just browsing through the gossip & music magazines. The music playing in the background was a symphony reindition of Beat It, and I thought at that moment, what a compliment for any pop rock artist to have an orchestra do a remake of their song. I respected Michael, and I hope he is finally at peace.
20 6-25-2009 at 6:07 pm
Xavier said...
People have used this tragic event as an opportunity to harp on Jackson’s scandals and legal troubles. Such individuals have shown utter disrespect for one of the most prolific and influential musical artists of all time.
Whether a fan or not, Jackson’s musical talent is undeniable and unparalleled. His music has inspired millions and he has left an indelible mark on the world of music. Many of today’s musical artists would be not be the artists that they are had it not been for the King of Pop.
Michael Jackson’s prowess as a singer, dancer, and performer has defined generations of music, and will continue to do so for generations to come. His death is a truly tragic event, and he will never be forgotten.
21 6-25-2009 at 6:08 pm
aaron said...
kris,
have you been to the onion av club’s post on this? if not, i would 100% advise you to avoid it. the comments there literally made me want to hit my computer. i just love it when ironic, snarky people suddenly get all super moralistic about things. gawker is even worse.
22 6-25-2009 at 6:41 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
John: Just curious why you’d bring up Springsteen? He’s my favorite performing artist ever but that doesn’t mean I don’t love every bit of Jackson’s work.
23 6-25-2009 at 7:11 pm
Lev Lewis said...
No matter how screwed up his life turned out to be, ‘Off The Wall’ is one of the greatest pop records ever made and ain’t nothing gonna change that.
24 6-25-2009 at 9:10 pm
PJ said...
I’m too young to have lived through most of his music, but I’ll always remember dancing along to “Black or White” when I was little, mumbling everything except that chorus. It’s tragic that this had to happen just weeks out from what really looked like a comeback, his music will always live on. I think I’ll go listen to “Dangerous” again.
25 6-25-2009 at 9:13 pm
Zac said...
I’m 30, which means that at the time that I started listening to music (at 12), the music landscape was changing forever, from 80’s metal, hair metal and synthesized pop to 90’s grunge, alternative and rock. I gravitated towards Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Metallica and the like.
I’ve listened to Michael Jackson before and never really cared for it. I knew he was talented, vocally and physically, but for whatever reason, his music never connected to me.
I would like to think that had I been born 10 years earlier, my music tastes would be very different and would probably included M.J., since he exploded in the public consciousness in the early 1980’s, just about the time that a person born in the late 1960’s/ early 1970’s would really start paying attention to music.
R.I.P. Michael and I hope wherever you are, you’re singing and dancing pain free.
26 6-26-2009 at 2:44 am
Guy Lodge said...
I’m not qualifying my sorrow over this with any “I never liked him, but…” lines. The man was a genius, plain and simple. “Billie Jean” is probably the most perfect pop record anybody ever cut. And his videos are a gift to two artforms. (Martin Scorsese, anyone?)
I was hoping to see one of his London shows, but had this weird feeling they were never going to pan out. Obviously I never suspected this would be the reason. Tragic … I don’t mind admitting I shed a tear when I heard the news.
27 6-26-2009 at 3:53 am
Glenn said...
Tainted legacy notwithstanding, he was a marvel and one of the greatest entertainers we will ever see. His music is still better than everything in the chart right now.
28 6-26-2009 at 4:19 am
John H. Foote said...
I always felt Jackson spoke to a different generation than Springsteen, as Bruce’s songs were anthems for the working class, Michael’s were something different, something I did not enjoy, or perhaps even understand — I danced to his music, but cannot say I loved his songs, other than ‘Billie Jean” — they had some success as right around the same time, and there seemed to be a Bruce crowd, and a Michael crowd — guess the comment was for those guys, to let them know a Springsteen die hard was feeling blue about the loss of Michael — huge talent.
29 6-26-2009 at 9:27 am
the world said...
I don’t about RIP, I mean he was a freaking pedophile!
30 6-26-2009 at 9:40 am
Davidraider88 said...
allegedly, never proven
31 6-26-2009 at 10:40 am
/3rtfu11 said...
Captain EO
32 6-26-2009 at 1:57 pm
JC said...
Generally speaking, a person doesn’t offer a $20 million settlement to another party if they’re innocent of “alleged” crimes. That’s commonly referred to as “hush money”, David.
Anyways, I’m not going to spit on his grave, but would never go so far as to praise him as a person (as a musical artist, I’ll leave that up to others).
33 6-26-2009 at 5:36 pm
Chad Hartigan said...
Generally speaking JC? Multi-millionaires are accused of pedophilia all the time and generally when they settle for $20 mil they are guilty? That’s the normal end result when the most famous people on the planet find themselves in this situation?
Generally speaking, when a boy under the influence of a sedative given by his own money-hungry father accuses somebody of something but no evidence supports this and dozens of character witnesses of all ages testify against the accusation, it shouldn’t be written into public consciousness as fact that the guy actually did it.
34 6-27-2009 at 12:36 pm
JC said...
I’ll put it this way, Chad: If Jackson didn’t have something to hide, he would have filed a counter lawsuit against the family for defamation (and won), and spent considerably less than $20 million in doing so.
Again, I noted earlier that the parents of the kids who allowed them to be with Jackson are in no way innocent themselves, and I have no doubt that the father of the aforementioned child was, as you said, “money hungry”.
But settling on something like this suggests pretty clearly that Jackson, and his lawyers in particular, didn’t want the situation with him, that child, and various others over the years, examined any more closely. So they paid that family off, and shut them up.
It’s really too bad, in the end, that MJ was so surrounded by Yes Men, who never saw fit to step up and be direct with him about the situations he was getting himself into. As in, wake-up calls. Then again, it seems that the few that tried were fired, and he continued to live in that bubble of his own creation. Wilfully indifferent or oblivious, who the hell knows.
So, yeah, while it could certainly be argued that he was a “musical genius”, I personally feel that “great human being” is pushing it in a big way.
But if you want to canonize the MAN, have at it.
35 6-27-2009 at 12:44 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
JC: Or maybe he was just a profoundly private person who would have felt violated by dragging something like that out in the courts.
Once again, it’s sickening that so many people think they KNOW what happened. Foolish, shameful, embarrassing, indicative of an accusatory society, take your pick.
36 6-27-2009 at 1:42 pm
JC said...
Kris, believe me, I can see where you’re coming from, and accusing an innocent person of sexual acts against children (through the legal system, in the hopes of them being imprisoned, or to receive remuneration) is indeed very wrong.
I don’t know…perhaps if these sorts of charges didn’t pop up again, and again, and again, over the years, I’d be more willing to believe the guy. As it stands, I’d only go as far as to say it is my belief that the “money hungry” accusers ended up undermining truly legitimate cases against him.
Sorry if I offended you, but little of Jackson’s behaviour and disposition in the past few decades has done anything to convince me that he didn’t, in all likelihood, cross the line on at least a few occasions.
Anyways, I’ve discussed this issue enough. We agree to disagree on the guy. Moving on…
37 6-30-2009 at 2:07 pm
FOR ALL TRUE MICHAEL JACKSON FANS said...
PLEASE ENJOY THE VIDEO & THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJJeAhTYMyg