Michael Jackson is dead!

One of the greatest and most influential pop musicians ever passed away.

Terribly sad news to me since I used to love MJ when i was younger.

Any thoughts on MJ?

One of the greatest and most influential pop musicians ever passed away.

Terribly sad news to me since I used to love MJ when i was younger.

Any thoughts on MJ?

I was also sad, I loved his music. :<

The saddest though was sort of knowing that he was trying to go back to making music! I mean, if he had been sitting idly by doing nothing, fine, but he was actually somehow trying to get on his feet after all the drama bombs.

Quite the tragic figure, honestly.

Tragic. I had compassion on him.

Pity. I met him once... in my dreams. But never will I be able to meet him alive.

Welcome to 2 days ago.

That being said, what a loss.

Not sure I understand all this compassion here for this man.

When a person dies, all "Good" or possible "Good" comes out.... "oooo he was such a great man" "yeah he was a Saint" ........ things like that, but worst of it, is that those phrases are not spoken honestly.

Great music, terrible man. Most public figures are like that.

When a person dies, all "Good" or possible "Good" comes out.... "oooo he was such a great man" "yeah he was a Saint" ........ things like that, but worst of it, is that those phrases are not spoken honestly.

God forbid people try to put a positive slant on a mans life after he just died.

Well, you might argue that the other way round would make much more sense. Personally, I'd much prefer people putting a positive slant on my life while I'm still alive, than when I'm dead. Once I'm dead people can call me all kinds of nasty things and it can't hurt me.

As for Michael Jackson: Sad news. I really liked some of his stuff and it would have been great to see some new stuff by him.

I find it sad that he is dead. Obviously, there is no personal loss felt on my side, but I do feel that entertainment has lost a valuable monolith.

I get the vibe that he was a very tormented person. He obviously had many issues (I would speculate partially due to his father and being thrust into the limelight at an early age,) and I think it's really sad that he passed before he could aptly resolve them.

It is possible that his coming tour could have helped him work through these issues, while simultaneously providing many people with an experience that is probably somewhat unparalleled.

I find it sad that he is dead. Obviously, there is no personal loss felt on my side, but I do feel that entertainment has lost a valuable monolith.

I get the vibe that he was a very tormented person. He obviously had many issues (I would speculate partially due to his father and being thrust into the limelight at an early age,) and I think it's really sad that he passed before he could aptly resolve them.

It is possible that his coming tour could have helped him work through these issues, while simultaneously providing many people with an experience that is probably somewhat unparalleled.

I agree Jamie.

His value as an entertainer, and creator of art will be sorely missed. He was an innovator and undoubtedly, a legend. I hope many people of upcoming generations come to enjoy his music and see him in a new light, one not influenced by negative media portrayals.

He has influenced me as a musician and performer, and helped me discover who I am. It is such a pity that he couldn't find peace with his issues, family, and more physical problems.

RIP.

Whether anyone here liked his personal life or not is irrelavent at this point. Any and every musician has to admit that they could only imagine to have a career half as successful as he did. I hope that his legacy as a musician will live on, and that his controversial personal life will die out and soon be forgotten.

Whether anyone here liked his personal life or not is irrelavent at this point. Any and every musician has to admit that they could only imagine to have a career half as successful as he did. I hope that his legacy as a musician will live on, and that his controversial personal life will die out and soon be forgotten.

Yes, I hope people do view him in the way that he deserves. Let's remember how much charity he has done for children and their families.

"Not sure I understand all this compassion here for this man."

Spock, is that you? ;)

I'm 53 and I was already getting over pop music by the time he hit as a solo act in the '80s. But man, he did it better than anyone else at that time--not just the writing and the performing (I heard a track of him singing Billie Jean minus all musical accompaniment--truly stunning power, excellent vibe and intonation and a gut-level funkiness that you rarely hear) but also his vision of what creative music video might look like, which caused a rare paradigm shift in pop music.

And even before that, in the '70s when he was a kid fronting the Jackson Five--take a good listen to that material today and ask yourself how many young people could have pulled that off on the level he did?

True, a freakishly shy, well, freak in many ways. Possibly a child molester though the more distance I got on the controversy the less I believed it--just way too much easy money in it for anyone who accused him, without once having the burden of proof in a court of law. Still, he lived the final third of his life with the court of public opinion basically convicting him.

I wish he'd lived to rethink his musical gifts and reinvent himself as something less flashy and more musical, like his older material.

his music had, has, and will prob. always have an influence on me. In marching band, we always played his music. I study the production of Thriller weekly. The flow of that album is flawless. Though the production was Quincy, MJ had to execute (and MJ did write a good portion of the tunes!)

Chopin, you were be surprised at the number of people that believe in his innocence. He is "just not the type of person to do that", and the acquittal of his charges supports that. I personally don't know what to believe because I never followed the case or his career. I don't even have an opinion of him as an artist, though he had some awesome stuff that I've heard and I respect him. I just think he went completely nuts. Whether it was family influence, media, or whatnot. Cut the guy a break, I mean, unless you've practically stalked him I don't think you're necessarily in a position to put him off primarily as a threat to children. There is some good in there too and he supposedly had a lot to deal with.

Chopin seems to forget that all he know is that Jackson was publicly accused a few times, and each time the accuser walked away with tremendous settlements. You can say 'when there is smoke, there's fire' all you want but any thinking person has to realize that this isn't always true. The fact that no DA ever--and I mean ever--pushed to bring this to court, that Jackson never had a trial except in news reports, that the accusers never had to do anything except say "He did it, I swear!" and then pocket a cool $15 million from a guy who spent money like water and obviously valued his privacy to the point of being a freak about it...

But hey, the world is filled with people who see something on the news and go to their deathbed believing it. it doesn't exactly make them better people or make the world a better place, but I guess they too will one day 'get what they deserve.'

Kind of a classless post there, Chopin.

Let's not, however, disregard the possibility that Michael Jackson isn't completely innocent. (Don't take that to mean that I condone Chopin's response. I would never say that MJ got what he deserved and I frown down upon what Chopin said. I do wish that he had lived longer and I find the whole situation with his death and his impending revival tour very sad.)

He was accused of four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor, one count of abduction, and one count of conspiring to hold Arvizo and his family hostage. Moreover, we should not forget the time he held a baby out a window. This, coupled with the fact that he has some weird relationship with Macaulay Culkin (last I heard they found a photo of Culkin in one of MJ's bathrooms and, in a locked closet, a doll of Culkin and some bottles of alcohol), tells me that there was something wrong with Michael Jackson. (Culkin actually had to make a formal statement that MJ never molested him.)

I daresay OJ Simpson wasn't convicted, but it is believed by most of the population that he did murder his wife. Thus it is possible that MJ was never convicted, but still did it. (I am in no way equivalating the severity of the two cases, I am merely saying that the affluent tend to be able to afford better attorneys which can [occasionally] allow them to win in court.)

Michael Jackson was tremendously talented and I in no way intend to poo on that, but I do think that all the facts must be represented when mourning over MJ.

hehehe... It's kind of funny... seeing a bunch of "educated" musicians arguing what kind of person MJ was... I wonder what will happen when something happens to Britney lets say...

If he was innocent, why would this man continue having sleepovers knowing he was susceptible to fraud like this? The first time he was accused was in 1993, and yet, he continued having sleepovers. Either he is really stupid, or really guilty.

If he was innocent, why would this man continue having sleepovers knowing he was susceptible to fraud like this? The first time he was accused was in 1993, and yet, he continued having sleepovers. Either he is really stupid, or really guilty.

I would probably guess that he's more naive. Social Autism perhaps? It's possible that he just doesn't 'get' why it's a problem. The stupid people are the parents who would knowingly let their child attend these sleepovers post-1993.

To me it seems he never got that concept of 'normal' and never really understood what it was to feel that way and act that way. Because of that, it casts any accusations against him into suspicious light. I'm not saying he's innocent or guilty, because there's no way for me to know. But, if there ever was a person who could behave that way (inviting children over, etc.) and be innocent about it, I do think Michael Jackson has the background and the mentality to be that person.

I'm have not enough information to affirm anything but ... Guilty or Innocent, I have to concider both possibilities. (I would prefer Inoccent of course, but ... only he really knew what he did) ...

Anyway... I don't feel sorry for him, he had his success, fame and money, ... things many people desires. ... others live happy with much less ...

for those who are sad, ... He won't be forgotten easily, that's for sure, I don't have a single song of him in my PC, but many people does.

And I think the important point here is what Mike said: "If the American judicial system is to be respected then Jackson was not a paedophile, under the law at least."

We know of course that the judicial system isn't perfect - none can ever be. But if it should have any meaning whatsoever, we have to accept its basic tenet of "innocent until proven guilty". By that principle, we simply have to accept Michael Jackson as innocent for the lack of further proof - while we can certainly stay very sceptical on a personal basis. But saying he "must be guilty", when he clearly hasn't been proven to be is a first step towards arbitrary vigilante justice. And saying that it was a deserved death penalty is the second step towards it. And if we go further along this line we get to lynching people based on suspicions.

All in all it's not so much a question of what we consider most likely, but whether we accept the foundations of our (in that case American) legal system as valid.

yes is valid...

Things will be said.... but the fact is that he's dead, time to leave him in peace. I'll do.

I agree entirely with Gardener.