Tribute to a Star- Michael Jackson, The King Of Pop

June 25th, 2009, was a sad day mourned by millions around the world. The death of Michael Jackson (MJ) came as a shock to many. He was undoubtedly an extraordinary performer with signature dance moves.

The media coverage of his death picked-up heat on Friday. Every channel I surfed, from CNN to VH1 to MTV and even BBC, were splashed with special dedications and videos on the life and music of the star. In all honesty, I was surprised by the coverage. But, as I thought about it I realized that MJ did not cast his magic spell on just one generation, his influence spanned across generations. His talent, passion for music and performance is admired by our parents, my generation (Gen Y) and even the latest millennials.

He had a 30 year solo career. Ironically his best was from his earliest years and it still packs a punch years later. MJ started his career at the age of six in The Jackson Five with his older brothers. Since then his music and moves have taken a special place in the music world. Many a MJ impersonators have earned a decent living trying to imitate him. Of course no one come close to the real MJ, and his legendary moon walk. In that sense he has contributed significantly to the society, by indirectly influencing many a lives. Of course his ‘USA for Africa’ cause was a grand success and industry's leading artists such as Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and Randy Jackson looked up to him for guidance and direction as they collectively contributed to a noble cause.

Throughout his career MJ sold the highest number of albums of any artist. His earnings add up to about $750m. MJ’s 1983 title track of the “Thriller” album, for which he spent an unprecedented $500,000, is a 14-minute creation that by all means is an epic. Despite this and many other successes, his hunger for perfection consumed him, eventually putting him in debt as he borrowed large sums to produce his music. It is rumored that at times MJ dropped as much as $30m on an album just fine tuning it, to make it a perfect masterpiece. This obsession combined with an extravagant lifestyle, including his NeverLand ranch, eventually put him in deep debt estimated at ~ 400m.

While many labeled him as “Wacko Jacko”, a title that is likely to stay with him for a long time, and considered him reckless, he was undoubtedly one of the best musicians the world has ever seen. Regardless of his imperfections, I believe that history will judge him as the greatest performers of all time, giving him the much deserved place amongst the world’s best artists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8