Michael Jackson – RIP
I listened to his music for a 3 hour drive last night, and spent quite a while on the net today watching some of his videos and live performances.
At his peak there was nobody like Michael Jackson in my lifetime. (Maybe Madonna) He was one of the only two superstars I ever paid much attention to. Madonna is the other. They’re the only two to this day I cared anything about meeting. If I had a list of people I’d like to meet it would have just gotten shorter by one yesterday.
He had drama in the last 10 years and God knows he did some outrageous things to himself with plastic surgery. It’s too bad. He was immensely talented and the world is a more interesting and vibrant place because of his having been here. His music changed things.
I quit a job to see one of his videos. It was a second job and a part-time one and I’d asked for the time off in advance and they didn’t give it to me. So, I quit to see the premiere of the video after an episode of The Simpsons. I was old enough to know better. But it was Michael Jackson and there was a group of friends gathering to watch the premiere. I didn’t want to miss it.
I’d hoped this come back tour would be the one for him. I’d have happily bought his next CD, probably on Amazon.com for a DRM free MP3 version of it, but I’d have paid for it, like I have the rest of his music.
Take care Michael, and thanks for the music.

The Michael Jackson – RIP by Rich Griffith, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

June 27th, 2009 at 1:46 AM
MJ wasn’t as important in my life as he was in yours (I’m more a metalhead than anything else
but…I absolutely agree that the world owes him a debt of gratitude for his music and influence, even with all the negative stuff, we still owe him.
So…thanks, MJ.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:52 AM
oooooh – you listened to Ratt didn’t you? I had a gf who listened to Ratt.
January 10th, 2010 at 8:56 AM
Michael Jackson is one of the greatest singer in our time.
He is really the King of Pop and we would really miss this great person,