Gone Too Soon

As I was watching the memorial service for Michael Jackson in CNN, I cannot help myself but to feel sorry for MJ and his family. Yes, it is true that there are a lot of negative allegations about his sexuality and child molestation lawsuits but we cannot deny the fact that MJ brought the music industry to the twentieth century.
I can still remember where I was when the premier of MJ 's Thriller was shown on MTV. I was in my room having my afternoon siesta when my cousin knocked on my door and told me that the music video of Thriller is about to start. Everybody in the house was so excited that the only thing we talked that afternoon was the music video. Thriller was the most expensive music video of its time and it was number one for 37 weeks and the album itself sold more than 104 million copies worldwide. In fact, the album Thriller was named "the best-selling solo album ever" by the Guinness Book of World Records.

I don't care what other people would say about MJ but for me he is a musical genius. On 1987, his album Bad was released and as expected it goes multiplatinum and is still the only album to produce five number one songs. According to Time critic Richard Corliss " no celebrity supernova burned brighter that Michael Jackson at the peak of his career".

The only sad reality is that we only see that good side of a person after his death. Like MJ, he died still longing for attention and love from his family and colleagues. He may be deformed by surgery or warped by fame, but for me and to all critics alike, no doubt MJ is an American Icon.