Why We Mourn the Death of Michael Jackson

With the death of Michael Jackson on June 25^th, 2009, we will all reflect on the career and legacy of the Pop Legend and musical icon who has inspired and entertained millions, spanning generations and ever-evolving styles.  Here are some of the most memorable points of Jackson’s life and career for why we’ll miss him.

Creative Music – From the Jackson 5 through his solo performances, Michael Jackson is the true “King of Pop”. Spanning a successful career over three decades with 10 studio albums, 1 live album and 64 compilations, he has held onto relevance through an ever-changing musical climate. In many cases, Jackson defined the scene for all other pop artists who were successful in the 80’s and 90’s

His total album sales have topped over 750 million and his studio albums, catchy beats and lyrics have been heard in every country of the world:

1979 - Off the Wall – 20 million albums
1982 - Thriller – 109 million albums
1987 – Bad – 30 million albums
1991 – Dangerous – 32 million albums
1995 – HIStory – 20 million albums
2001 – Invincible – 10 million albums

2) Creative Dancing – Who doesn’t remember seeing videos of Michael Jackson’s own brand of “popping”, glides, and passionate movements? His performances were not just in his videos, but on stage as well. Michael Jackson’s dance moves are often imitated, but his distinct style incorporated lots of interesting sexual movements like hip thrusts, crotch-grabs, and other suggestive movements. His raw dance style has been replicated by Pop artists and musicians all over the world, even today.

3) A Distinct, Unique Voice – It’s impossible to hear a Michael Jackson song and not immediately hear the distinct, unique quality of his singing voice. As a boy soprano as a child, the pitch of his voice evolved into a high tenor that is easily recognizable. As his albums progressed through the late 80’s and 90’s, he carried a slightly teeth-clenched style to his vocals, gasps, cries, and whispers that gave his music a quality that no other performer could possible pull off with such grace.

4) Most Memorable Music Videos – One word: Thriller. In a 1980’s world where most music videos were simply a few people pounding on keywords and drums with a trippy, low-budget background, Michael Jackson set the stage with one of the most innovative music video productions ever devised. Other notable music videos are “Bad” – directed by Martin Scorsese, “Billie Jean”, “Smooth Criminal”, “Black and White” featuring child star Macaulay Culkin.

5) An Amazingly Profitable Career – Anything Michael Jackson touched during his lifetime was worth millions. With over 750 million albums sold, multi-million dollar contracts in music and advertising, tours loaded with millions of fans, and over a dozen number-one hits, Michael Jackson has the Midas touch for the Entertainment business. MJ produced the most expensive music video ever made and finance the development of his own personal “paradise” – a 3000 acre residency known as the “Neverland Ranch” in Santa Barbara, California, valued at over $120 million dollars. The Neverland Ranch embodies Michael Jackson’s eccentric tastes and contained a theme park, a zoo, a Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, and is named after Neverland from the story of Peter Pan.

6) We Feel Sorry for Him – Well, to some degree. Michael Jackson was under the constant attention of shameless paparazzi, failing marriages, a failing reputation surrounding allegations of pedophilia, and obvious issues with plastic surgery – Michael Jackson has lived a life that seems to be a reflection of insecurity, regretful childhood wishes, and even self-hatred. While some of this was brought onto himself, equally as much of it was unnecessarily hyped do to his eccentric lifestyle and high-profile status in the Entertainment business. In fact, Michael sung about this in several of his music videos and songs including ‘Leave Me Alone” and “Scream” – so it’s obvious that this attention was bothersome.

7) He Broke the Racial Barriers of the Music Industry – In a time when African Americans couldn’t be found on MTV, Michael Jackson carried such overwhelming talent it made him impossible to ignore. He transformed and reshaped the music industry, opening the floodgates and inspiring such artists as User, Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, and Mariah Carey.

8) He Was Charitable – Michael Jackson’s humanitarian work sent millions of dollars to efforts in fighting war, poverty, and disease in 3^rd world countries through the “Heal the World” foundation. He held 67 concerts to raise millions of dollars to support the organization’s efforts. In addition, Jackson is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for support of 39 charities, more than any other entertainer.

9) Record-breaking success – Jackson was the first artist to:

a. Have seven Top 10 singles from one album
b. To have two Top 10 Hits at once on the Billboard charts (in the 1980’s)
c. To have five number-one hits from one LP (Bad)
d. To have a song debut at number one on the Billboard 100
e. To have an album remain in the top 5 of the Billboard 200 for 38 weeks

In addition, Michael Jackson has won 197 Major Music awards for his achievements.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this compilation. Please leave your thoughts and comments below for the late “King of Pop”