Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was part of the soundtrack to many of our lives we haven’t seen anything like him in his prime since and I seriously doubt we will. Michael first came to prominence as the pint-size nucleus of his family band, the Jackson 5. He quickly became the focal point of the group because of his pinup cuteness and, of course, that voice. What was so remarkable about the young Michael was his ability to communicate youthful innocence, or precocious wisdom, or sometimes both at the same time. But his watershed moments came after he came out of his awkward teenage years.

At 20, Jackson starred in the film version of The Wiz, at which point he met Quincy Jones, who agreed to produce his fifth solo album, Off the Wall. As stunning an artistic statement as Off the Wall was, it did little to prepare anyone for the cultural phenomenon that was his subsequent album, Thriller. The sea change Michael created with Thriller had less to do with the music than with the medium. At the height of MTV, Michael became the first Black artist who gained and sustained inter-generational, multi-ethnic and global appeal. He and the music video grew in tandem. Every music video he released was a major event, which is why MTV's lifetime-achievement statue at its annual awards show still bears his name. He was a major figure in U.S.A. For Africa, the project which gave us We Are The World. As a singer, as a songwriter, as a performer, as a dancer, Michael gave his all. His grasp of performance and presentation remains without parallel. There’s no denying he was the King Of Pop.

There will be a generation of music lovers who will never know what it was to see an artist at the top of his game battling for spots in the Top 40 with other incredible talents, also at their peak. I think of how he, Rick James and Prince tore up the 80s, hitting the radio with instant classics one after another. Michael Jackson leaves an artistic void that no other artist could possibly fill. Michael's legacy will place him as the most gifted, imaginative, larger-than-life musician of any race that has ever come along. He didn't have a perfect life but, he was perfectly talented and among the greatest artistic gifts Black Americans have given to the world. Most of his biggest fans are beyond American shores. How ironic that he passes in June — Black Music Month. His ability to care for the sick, dying, the hungry, he also fought for Little Richard to be paid fairly for his songwriting royalties he was a gentle, caring man. Whatever changed about him over the years that certainly didn't.

The same fame that he thrived on, the fame that the music industry creates, I think Michael felt chained to; I think it was painful. I think Michael Jackson died of a broken heart and a broken soul. Michael Jackson is an icon, a legend that walked among us for a short time, under appreciated when he needed us most, and smothered by our love when he needed privacy. He lived and died in the spotlight, and in some ways, the circus has just begun. We must not let the media decided for us what Michaels’s legacy will be, we cannot be distracted by the negative aspects that surrounded him. I for one will be doing my own personal retrospective about this genuinely phenomenal and gifted artist-entertainer.