The world has just lost one of best entertainers we have ever seen. 
Love him or loathe him; genius or eccentic, we're unlikely to see anyone of his like again.
Condolences go out to Michael Jackson's family. Whatever one thought of him (I'm not a fan) people should respect his families wishes of privacy.
Shame on the vultures who are hovering right now and thinking of monetising MJ's death.
Love him or loathe him; genius or eccentic, we're unlikely to see anyone of his like again.
Condolences go out to Michael Jackson's family. Whatever one thought of him (I'm not a fan) people should respect his families wishes of privacy.
Shame on the vultures who are hovering right now and thinking of monetising MJ's death.
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D
Dawg
Well there was that small unpleasantness about the little boys. Don't speak ill of the dead is fair enough, but lets not too carried away.
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Really?! At certain points in his life he had some very talented people working behind the scenes, it was interesting to see what happened when they departed.
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I had been saying to my friends that I felt the whole O2 incumbency thing was a blatant insurance fraud and that not a single show would take place. The idea that a fellow like that would be doing 50 anythings seemed completely preposterous. They had already postponed the first few gigs for completely spurious reasons. Because of this, it took a few hours before I was entirely convinced that he had passed.
I idolised Michael Jackson when I was little. However by the time I was a teenager, I was disgusted by him. With the second court case and the revelations about children having access to his adult magazine collection, and his seeing fit to dangle a baby out of a window, it seemed to be very obvious what kind of person he had become.
Thus when I heard he had died, it did not have a big impact upon me. That is despite his style having an influence on my own singing style, and being one of the earliest musicians I developed and fascination with.
But what really bothers me this morning is that the BBC News channel has had "rolling news" covering nothing but the Michael Jackson from midnight to 6am, breaking to join with BBC One Breakfast (which had more broad news coverage) until 9am. It is not until just now, at 9:45am, that they mentioned any other news at all. It took a declaration about the Iran elections to break the monopoly for about 30 seconds. There are plenty of other things going on in the World, yet they have not even ran any national or international headlines. The BBC News channel is just proving the pathetic lack of integrity they have. There was once a time when the BBC provided the most even handed and unbiased news reports you could find.
But really, this is not about a man passing away. It is about the final harvest of the Michael Jackson media machine. Newspaper men get to fill columns, magazines get glossy covers, TV gets news bulletins and round the clock coverage, and lots of people make lots of money.
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B
Beachcomber
And herein lies the problem.
None of us know the truth, we only know what we were fed by a twisted and dirty media.
Sure, the bloke was odd, and may well have been all the things he was accused of being - but when people assume they 'know' a person because they have seen a few reports in the tabloids and read a bit in 'heat' magaine it really does nark me.
You know what you've been allowed to know, and any facts that don't agree with the papers line or take on the story are brushed aside.
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Quincy helped to shape the sound of the recordings and was arguably a genius, but he did not write Jackson's songs.
Someone who is "just a singer" does not write Billie Jean, Beat It, Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough, Leave Me Alone, etc.
He was a genius and I seriously doubt we'll see anyone reach his level again in pop.
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I always had mixed feelings about him. Never quite knew what to think of the guy, but now I find myself feeling a bit uneasy, and kind of guilty for not giving him more of my attention!
It would seem that anyone close to him only had good things to say about him, and this has made me realise that a lot of us were probably misled by many fabricated stories in the media.
Yes, he did some wacko things, especially with the baby over the balcony incident- BUT I think he was a young at heart guy.- Child like and quite shy. Lets remember, he lived nearly ALL his life in the limelight and never had the space and freedom to truly discover himself!
I'm impartial and have taken the time to make these comments.- So for that reason I'm stating with confidence that Michael Jackson IS certainly a legend!! His music and memory should be allowed to live on...
It would seem that anyone close to him only had good things to say about him, and this has made me realise that a lot of us were probably misled by many fabricated stories in the media.
Yes, he did some wacko things, especially with the baby over the balcony incident- BUT I think he was a young at heart guy.- Child like and quite shy. Lets remember, he lived nearly ALL his life in the limelight and never had the space and freedom to truly discover himself!
I'm impartial and have taken the time to make these comments.- So for that reason I'm stating with confidence that Michael Jackson IS certainly a legend!! His music and memory should be allowed to live on...
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You scurrilously misquote me. The full sentence was: "With the second court case and the revelations about children having access to his adult magazine collection, and his seeing fit to dangle a baby out of a window, it seemed to be very obvious what kind of person he had become."
Neither of these things were sourced from the trash press. The first point was a fact declared in court and the second was plain for everyone to see when he dangled that baby out of the window. I do not read the trash press. People that do these things are quite clearly deranged.
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"Horrendous" is a ridiculous word to use. No man that has what he had is living a "horrendous" life. There are a number of independent and very balanced documentaries around that very carefully evaluate Jackson's life. It seems that there are no end of people that had been in his inner circle that have been prepared to testify a remarkably consistent alternate take on the man. I personally think that most of this 'tortured pop genius' persona was artifice and part of his PR. Between 1983 and 1993 Jackson used this more and more to try and establish a god like PR status.
I don't know if anybody remembers, but when made that special with Opera Winfrey in the 90's, people were genuinely shocked that he was actually giving an interview. It was a massive media event. How do you get to the point that people are amazed that pop star is giving an interview? Nobody would have batted an eyelid if it was Madonna, and she was arguably the next person down the peg. It was bigger than if the Queen had given an interview. That is incredible PR. And all he had to do was make a few decent records, wear one white glove and make himself inaccessible. In the 80's he was really worshiped like a god by a lot of people.
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well I am quoting from a personal perspective.
If I opened my front door to be greeted by a bunch of photographers,never new the pleasure of browsing Tesco's shelves uninterrupted.
Felt it necessary to turn myself from a black man into a white man to gain acceptance.
Sure the guy was on the road to self destruction from day 1 aided by his friends and family no doubt.
If you ever think fame and fortune equates to happiness ,you will be greatly mistaken.
Earl
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None of us know what the guy was like so I'll not comment on that.
Musically he was as big as they come and although he didn't do much recently he was still the biggest "star" in recent times..........only the Beatles and Elvis could argue that they were as big or bigger.
As for him being too old to perform.......nonsense.
Musically he was as big as they come and although he didn't do much recently he was still the biggest "star" in recent times..........only the Beatles and Elvis could argue that they were as big or bigger.
As for him being too old to perform.......nonsense.
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well I am quoting from a personal perspective.
If I opened my front door to be greeted by a bunch of photographers,never new the pleasure of browsing Tesco's shelves uninterrupted.
Felt it necessary to turn myself from a black man into a white man to gain acceptance.
Sure the guy was on the road to self destruction from day 1 aided by his friends and family no doubt.
If you ever think fame and fortune equates to happiness ,you will be greatly mistaken.
Earl
Jackson was completely secluded from the press, and a lot of the stories about him that surface were generated by his PR team. I have personal made it as far as the z-list in the past, and it is a mixed bag, but for goodness sake, the man was supremely wealthy. He had a family, and he had everything he wanted and more. There is no way you can call his life "horrendous".
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There you go again equating wealth with happiness.
Happiness comes from within ,not how much one has in the bank.
I maintain that his life was no bowel of cherries ,and that it was driven by external factors from a very young age.
Earl
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He had a couple of decent albums about 20 odd years ago, little worth since.
He bought his way off a child molestation charge, and his behaviour is hardly a role model for youngsters.
Sorry he's dead, but no tears over someone like him tbh.
An interesting comment I heard from Uri Geller on BBC news during the night. He was telling the newsreader how special a person MJ was and said he had hypnotised him a while back (apparently to put him off a food item he wanted to come off) and while he had him 'under' he acted 'unethically' and asked him if he had done anything untoward with children, to which MJ apparently denied anything at all. Geller reckoned this was proof enough to him that the guy was innocent.
Now, casting my mind back to the news coverage and waiting on the result of the Court Case, I seem to remember the Yankeee journalists were completely gobsmacked when he was found not guilty. And weighing up the very public evidence, I have to disagree with Geller - who I now reckon is a liar as well as a bit of a fraudster.
What is all this hype over a person who, if he did not have the dosh he had, would have been in jail for the allegations he stood trial for? Why do people see past this? Why do they refer to him as a genius and his passing as big a thing as Lennon or Elvis?
Personally I see him as a freak who has finally buggered off, and who bought his way off a charge we should all be shocked about. Why is the evidence that was unearthed at the time being ignored? He was talented as he hit at the correct time - but seriously the guy has not done a thing of worth in 20 years.
He bought his way off a child molestation charge, and his behaviour is hardly a role model for youngsters.
Sorry he's dead, but no tears over someone like him tbh.
An interesting comment I heard from Uri Geller on BBC news during the night. He was telling the newsreader how special a person MJ was and said he had hypnotised him a while back (apparently to put him off a food item he wanted to come off) and while he had him 'under' he acted 'unethically' and asked him if he had done anything untoward with children, to which MJ apparently denied anything at all. Geller reckoned this was proof enough to him that the guy was innocent.
Now, casting my mind back to the news coverage and waiting on the result of the Court Case, I seem to remember the Yankeee journalists were completely gobsmacked when he was found not guilty. And weighing up the very public evidence, I have to disagree with Geller - who I now reckon is a liar as well as a bit of a fraudster.
What is all this hype over a person who, if he did not have the dosh he had, would have been in jail for the allegations he stood trial for? Why do people see past this? Why do they refer to him as a genius and his passing as big a thing as Lennon or Elvis?
Personally I see him as a freak who has finally buggered off, and who bought his way off a charge we should all be shocked about. Why is the evidence that was unearthed at the time being ignored? He was talented as he hit at the correct time - but seriously the guy has not done a thing of worth in 20 years.
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What I've heard today from medical types is that he refused to grow up. The guy punished his body in practice and performance as if he was still 20 years old - like an aging footballer who trains too much and then drops dead. Peter Pan syndrome, if you will. It's a reminder to us all that we're human, we do age, and we should act accordingly. Plus, his skin disease is often linked to a poor immune system, so few who suffer from it live to old age.
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As Earl said, wealth isn't equated with happiness.
Sure he had family, money, everything he wanted etc. However, he also had a childhood full of abuse, constant invasion of privacy by the media, a stressful musical lifestyle, years of drug abuse and multiple allegations of being a paedophile which he had to go to trial for.
I agree with Steve in regards to the 'Peter Pan syndrome'. From a psychological perspective it seems like his lack of a proper childhood made him have a child-like mindset as an adult. I've seen interviews where he defends himself and talks about children, and when it can be misconstrued as creepy and paedophile-like, it can also be genuine joy and goodwill towards children.
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Ooh!
Now the police are looking for Jackson's personal, live-in doctor, apparently the only person on the scene when MJ died. The police impounded the doctor's car last night, and rumour has it that the doctor may have given MJ a lethal dose of something.
Conspiracy theories used to take weeks, months, or years to emerge. This one took just hours.
Now the police are looking for Jackson's personal, live-in doctor, apparently the only person on the scene when MJ died. The police impounded the doctor's car last night, and rumour has it that the doctor may have given MJ a lethal dose of something.
Conspiracy theories used to take weeks, months, or years to emerge. This one took just hours.
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I cannot believe the hype this has generated already.... the world has finally gone mad I think.
If this guy had been a role model of some sort, had spent some of his greed on charitable causes, or at least been a recent performer, then I might understand it all, but in my eyes he had a dodgy character, a has-been who wasted a fortune pampering his weird lifestyle, and who was no good for anything other than his few decent albums he made when I was a child.
He left behind 3 children, who have to be pitied, but I cannot help thinking they now have a chance of a more normal life.
If this guy had been a role model of some sort, had spent some of his greed on charitable causes, or at least been a recent performer, then I might understand it all, but in my eyes he had a dodgy character, a has-been who wasted a fortune pampering his weird lifestyle, and who was no good for anything other than his few decent albums he made when I was a child.
He left behind 3 children, who have to be pitied, but I cannot help thinking they now have a chance of a more normal life.
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I suspect the world has always been mad.
One has to remember that it is the population that gave Michael the money and fame to do the things he has done.:|
So its all your fault.
Earl
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I am not a great fan of the man, but please get your facts straight before posting.
Really, based on what facts?
Quincy Jones himself has admitted that Jackson was one of the hardest workers he had come across, and that he had "just lost his little brother". How many of the "equally talented entertainers" out there today can claim to have acheived the above (and will they still be remembered in 100 years time?)
Really...
http://www.tourdates.co.uk/news/3795-Michael-Jackson-Rewarded-For-Charity-Work-In-Africa
Really, based on what facts?
- Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards in total. In 1984 he won eight Grammys the joint highest amount ever won by one person in a single year
- Thriller is the worlds best-selling record of all time with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. It spent 37 weeks at number one in the US Billboard chart.
- Jacksons 13 number one hits on the US Billboard charts put him behind only Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey
- He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. His total lifetime earnings from music are estimated at $500 million
- The largest television audience in US history watched him perform at half time during the 1993 Super Bowl
- He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for himself and one as part of the Jackson Five)
Quincy Jones himself has admitted that Jackson was one of the hardest workers he had come across, and that he had "just lost his little brother". How many of the "equally talented entertainers" out there today can claim to have acheived the above (and will they still be remembered in 100 years time?)
Really...
http://www.tourdates.co.uk/news/3795-Michael-Jackson-Rewarded-For-Charity-Work-In-Africa
- On May 14, 1984, Jackson received an award presented by U.S. President Reagan at the White House, given for Jackson's support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse.
- Jackson donated his $5 million share from the 1984 Victory Tour, to charity.
- Jackson co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie, to aid the poor in Africa and the US. He was one of 39 music celebrities who performed on the record. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief.
- From 1985 to 1990, Jackson donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.
- Jackson founded the "Heal the World Foundation" charity organization in 1992, which brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch, to go on theme park rides; the foundation also sent millions of dollars around the world to help children who were victims of war and disease.
- All profits from the 67 concerts in The Dangerous World Tour (June 27, 1992 to November 11, 1993) went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions of dollars in relief.
- Following the death of Ryan White in 1990, (who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the US after being expelled from school because of his infection), Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.
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I
iArtist
My kids hadn't heard of him
please make payment to me via paypal at
[email protected]
Meanwhile there are many thousands in under developed countries who don't have much food let alone a blo*dy radio, so they won't have heard of him either.
Are you really that naive?
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