Michael Jackson Dies...
- Thread starter charmingslayer
- Start date
InsaneMystic
Ex-Scooby
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2008
- Messages
- 2,505
- Age
- 52
So it's confirmed now? Ah well... I supposed it comes as kind of a relief, after all he's been quite a mess both physically and emotionally the last few years. 🙁 Still, he'll be remembered as a legend from his better days.
RIP Jacko.
RIP Jacko.
Associated Press feed:
`Pop star Michael Jackson, 50, has died after suffering cardiac arrest. Danny Moloshok/AP
American pop music legend Michael Jackson died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital today, just weeks before he hoped to resurrect his four-decade long career with a series of sold-out shows in London.
Jackson was taken to the University of California at Los Angeles medical centre, and paramedics administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance. He arrived at the hospital in a coma and was reported dead about three hours later.
The world-famous entertainer had planned a series of 50 concerts in the O2 area beginning 12 July. Although in the last two decades his reputation was sullied by accusations of child molestation and his bizarre public behaviour, the shows sold 1m tickets within hours, proving the King of Pop has enduring appeal, even among fans who were not yet born when he released the "Thriller" album in 1982.
Jackson's impact on American pop music cannot be overstated. His signature vocal style, dance moves, including the moon walk, and his military-inspired fashion sense influenced pop culture world wide. He earned worldwide acclaim for his 1982 Thriller album, produced by Quincy Jones. His subsequent efforts, including his Bad album in 1987 and a collaboration with sister Janet Jackson were also well received. His Thriller video, with its occult imagery and choreographed ensemble dance helped launch the music video genre.
He ultimately sold more than 750m albums worldwide and won 13 Grammy awards. But he has withdrawn from the public eye, taking his last tour in 1997 and releasing his last album of new material in 2001. Raised in the Motown tradition, Jackson's worldwide popularity broke racial barriers. His impact on pop music and dance cannot be overstated.
For a time Jackson was the best-selling and most famous pop star in the world. But his increasingly odd public behaviour and two accusations of child molestation led the public to sour on him. The cost of his lavish lifestyle took a tremendous toll on his earnings. In 2008 he was forced to give up the deed to his Neverland Ranch in order to pay down what he owed. In April he stopped a public auction of his belongings including jewel encrusted concert tickets, stage-wear and music memorabilia. He was at the time thought to as much as $24m in debt.
Jackson was a native of Gary, Indiana, a gritty industrial city near Chicago. He became renowned in the 1970s as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, astonishing audiences with his charming looks, his crisp, delightfully playful voice and his smooth dance moves. He broke through as a solo artist in 1979 with Off the Wall, produced by Quincy Jones. The two had a long and fruitful collaboration, producing Thriller and Bad.
In 1993 Jackson was first accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy and his father. Authorities searched his ranch and Jackson agreed to a strip search. The case was eventually settled out of court and Jackson was never charged.
In 2003, he was the subject of a documentary by British filmmaker Martin Bashir, in which he admitted to sleeping in the same room as children at his Neverland Ranch. Prosecutors had been investigating him for years, and soon after, he faced new charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor. In 2005 a jury acquitted him of the charge.
Jackson married twice, the first time to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, in an unusual union of pop music dynasties. He later married an Australian nurse and fathered two children with her. The mother of his third child is not known.
In recent years he has frequently been seen in public wearing a mask, as have his children. In 2002 he was seen dangling his infant from the balcony of a hotel room, as legions of photographers watched in horror below.
Jackson suffered from vitiligo, a condition that causes the skin to turn white. In May the Sun reported he had been diagnosed with skin cancer, a rumour his camp denied.
Jackson had been engineering a come-back tour, an effort to rehabilitate his public image and bolster his tottering finances. The warp-speed sales of the tickets to his O2 shows indicated he is still beloved among his fans. A staggering 1m tickets sold out within a matter of hours after going on sale in March.
`Pop star Michael Jackson, 50, has died after suffering cardiac arrest. Danny Moloshok/AP
American pop music legend Michael Jackson died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital today, just weeks before he hoped to resurrect his four-decade long career with a series of sold-out shows in London.
Jackson was taken to the University of California at Los Angeles medical centre, and paramedics administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance. He arrived at the hospital in a coma and was reported dead about three hours later.
The world-famous entertainer had planned a series of 50 concerts in the O2 area beginning 12 July. Although in the last two decades his reputation was sullied by accusations of child molestation and his bizarre public behaviour, the shows sold 1m tickets within hours, proving the King of Pop has enduring appeal, even among fans who were not yet born when he released the "Thriller" album in 1982.
Jackson's impact on American pop music cannot be overstated. His signature vocal style, dance moves, including the moon walk, and his military-inspired fashion sense influenced pop culture world wide. He earned worldwide acclaim for his 1982 Thriller album, produced by Quincy Jones. His subsequent efforts, including his Bad album in 1987 and a collaboration with sister Janet Jackson were also well received. His Thriller video, with its occult imagery and choreographed ensemble dance helped launch the music video genre.
He ultimately sold more than 750m albums worldwide and won 13 Grammy awards. But he has withdrawn from the public eye, taking his last tour in 1997 and releasing his last album of new material in 2001. Raised in the Motown tradition, Jackson's worldwide popularity broke racial barriers. His impact on pop music and dance cannot be overstated.
For a time Jackson was the best-selling and most famous pop star in the world. But his increasingly odd public behaviour and two accusations of child molestation led the public to sour on him. The cost of his lavish lifestyle took a tremendous toll on his earnings. In 2008 he was forced to give up the deed to his Neverland Ranch in order to pay down what he owed. In April he stopped a public auction of his belongings including jewel encrusted concert tickets, stage-wear and music memorabilia. He was at the time thought to as much as $24m in debt.
Jackson was a native of Gary, Indiana, a gritty industrial city near Chicago. He became renowned in the 1970s as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, astonishing audiences with his charming looks, his crisp, delightfully playful voice and his smooth dance moves. He broke through as a solo artist in 1979 with Off the Wall, produced by Quincy Jones. The two had a long and fruitful collaboration, producing Thriller and Bad.
In 1993 Jackson was first accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy and his father. Authorities searched his ranch and Jackson agreed to a strip search. The case was eventually settled out of court and Jackson was never charged.
In 2003, he was the subject of a documentary by British filmmaker Martin Bashir, in which he admitted to sleeping in the same room as children at his Neverland Ranch. Prosecutors had been investigating him for years, and soon after, he faced new charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor. In 2005 a jury acquitted him of the charge.
Jackson married twice, the first time to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, in an unusual union of pop music dynasties. He later married an Australian nurse and fathered two children with her. The mother of his third child is not known.
In recent years he has frequently been seen in public wearing a mask, as have his children. In 2002 he was seen dangling his infant from the balcony of a hotel room, as legions of photographers watched in horror below.
Jackson suffered from vitiligo, a condition that causes the skin to turn white. In May the Sun reported he had been diagnosed with skin cancer, a rumour his camp denied.
Jackson had been engineering a come-back tour, an effort to rehabilitate his public image and bolster his tottering finances. The warp-speed sales of the tickets to his O2 shows indicated he is still beloved among his fans. A staggering 1m tickets sold out within a matter of hours after going on sale in March.
Blondie Bear
Zydrate Addict
Kind of surreal. I'm annoyed with the comments on the news stories I've read that say stuff like "that child-molesting f@%&er deserves to burn in Hell." Really, guys? Do you have to desecrate the corpse? Move on already.
Revolver
Sir Douche
I think a few comedians out there just lost half their act.
Really strange to hear Michael Jackson has died. I'm not a big fan or anything, but the guy has been in the news for one reason or another my entire life. Kind of seemed like he always would be.
Really strange to hear Michael Jackson has died. I'm not a big fan or anything, but the guy has been in the news for one reason or another my entire life. Kind of seemed like he always would be.
Sweetescape
[No message]
Willow-Tree
Your Childhood Trauma
Lemon
Potential
I'm already hearing jokes. It's terrible. People are really insensitive. It doesn't matter WHO it is, it's sad either way.
C
charmingslayer
[No message]
Blackloliita
Knowledge is power
It's really disgusting, he's dead for god sake. He was a father and a great singer, and no not perfect but no one is. But again, he died, it's worse that people react like that than. Rather say nothing than.
A
atticus
Guest
R.I.P Michael. This is very sad news. I can't say I was a huge fan, but some names just earn respect. And personal life aside, as a musician the man is a legend. It is hard not to like his early work.
His life was a sad one, and a definite warning of the excesses of fortune and fame. Maye he'll find some peace now.
As for the fans. He has many loyal fans, but I have to say obsessive ones. I work with a Micheal Jackson obsessed fan, and I have to say I'm quite worried how she will react. This woman bought 12 tickets to the 02 concerts, has MJ news paper clippings from the last 20 years. And a literal shrine in her house - I've seen pics. Scary. There is a paper cup he drank from. Yikes.
I honestly think she will have a break-down. This is why I try not to make emotional connections to celebrities. I really think she might hurt herself. It's that bad. Gulp.
His life was a sad one, and a definite warning of the excesses of fortune and fame. Maye he'll find some peace now.
As for the fans. He has many loyal fans, but I have to say obsessive ones. I work with a Micheal Jackson obsessed fan, and I have to say I'm quite worried how she will react. This woman bought 12 tickets to the 02 concerts, has MJ news paper clippings from the last 20 years. And a literal shrine in her house - I've seen pics. Scary. There is a paper cup he drank from. Yikes.
I honestly think she will have a break-down. This is why I try not to make emotional connections to celebrities. I really think she might hurt herself. It's that bad. Gulp.
Frketson
The Late Goodbye
I know i will get blasted for it but i'm not sad about his death. I know he was never charged for the sexual abuse scandal but i feel he was guilty. I feel sorry for his kids though, brought up horribly, having to wear masks everywhere, being dangled from balcony's, etc....
C
charmingslayer
[No message]
Y
yellowcrayon
[No message]
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Carpe Spuffy!
How sad. I just found out about this a few minutes ago. I got a few texts about it from friends. I love his music. He will always be remembered as the King Of Pop music, and for good reason. Nothing really beats his early stuff.
RIP Michael.
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:18 PM ----------
I know how you feel. I imagine a lot of people have mixed feelings about this. Personally, I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to bother myself with his personal business, or let his personal life effect the way I view his music. He's never been charged with anything, but yes, he has made some bad decisions regarding his kids, but you're innocent until proven guilty.
The man is a legend. There's no way around it. He was really talented.
RIP Michael.
---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:18 PM ----------
I know how you feel. I imagine a lot of people have mixed feelings about this. Personally, I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to bother myself with his personal business, or let his personal life effect the way I view his music. He's never been charged with anything, but yes, he has made some bad decisions regarding his kids, but you're innocent until proven guilty.
The man is a legend. There's no way around it. He was really talented.
C
charmingslayer
[No message]
Old Master 3.0
Well done.
B
BillyidolwannaB
[No message]
L
Lindsey McDonald
[No message]
I saw the news on fb. My sisters are going to be devo! We used to do the Thriller dance in our lounge room when we were young. We tried to mimic all his moves to his songs - but could never get them right. The last time being at my little sisters 21st birthday a few months ago! He was an amazing musician and dancer, its a sad loss.
While I never paid all that much attention to his personal life, My thoughts are with his children.
And my mum still has Farah hair, no doubt she will use her death as an excuse to keep it now! Even after all our teasing 😛 Another sad loss to the entertainment industry.
While I never paid all that much attention to his personal life, My thoughts are with his children.
And my mum still has Farah hair, no doubt she will use her death as an excuse to keep it now! Even after all our teasing 😛 Another sad loss to the entertainment industry.
Revolver
Sir Douche
The Boy Who Never Grew Up by Roger Ebert
Michael Jackson was so gifted, so lonely, so confused, so sad. He lost happiness somewhere in his childhood, and spent his life trying to go back there and find it. When he played the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" (1978), I think that is how he felt, and Oz was where he wanted to live. It was his most truly autobiographical role. He could understand a character who felt stuffed with straw, but could wonderfully sing and dance, and could cheer up the little girl Dorothy.
We have all spent years in the morbid psychoanalysis of this strange man-child. Now that he has died we will hear it all repeated again: The great fame from an early age, the gold records, the world tours, the needy friendships, the painful childhood, Neverland, the eccentric behavior, plastic surgery, charges of child molestation, the fortunes won and lost, the generosity, the secrecy, the inexplicable marriage to Elvis's daughter, the disguises, the puzzling sexuality, the jokes, and on and on.
I never met him. My wife Chaz did, a long time ago when she was part of a dance troupe that opened some shows for the Jackson Five. What she remembers is that he was -- a kid. Talented, hard-working, but not like other kids. That's what he was, and that's what he remained. His father Joseph was known even then as a hard-driving taskmaster, and was later described by family members as physically and mentally abusive, beating the child, once holding him by a leg and banging his head on the floor. Michael confided to Oprah that sometimes he would vomit at the sight of the man.
Families are important to everyone, and to African-Americans they are the center of the universe. A census is maintained that radiates out to great-nieces and nephews, distant cousins, former spouses, honorary relatives, all the generations. Communication is maintained, birthdays remembered, occasions celebrated. Important above all are parents and grandparents. Family was a support system from a time when slave-owning America refused to recognize black families. Family was the rock.
No home to phone home to.
Michael Jackson doesn't seem to have had that rock. His father seems to have driven him to create an alternate universe for himself, in which somewhere, over the rainbow, he could have another childhood. He named his ranch Neverland, after the magical land where Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, enacted his fantasies with the Lost Boys. I wonder if we ever really understood how central that vision was to Jackson, or how literally he tried to create it.
I have no idea whether Michael abused the children he "adopted." It is possible those relationships were without sex; he seemed frozen at a time before puberty. Whether he touched them criminally or not, it is easy to see what he sought: To create, with and for these Lost Boys, a Neverland where they could imagine together the childhood he never had.
Mixed with that was perhaps a lifelong feeling of inadequacy, burned in by the cruelty of his father. That might help explain the compulsive plastic surgery, the relentless rehearsal, the exhausting tours, the purchase of expensive toys, the giving of gifts.
The scene everyone remembers from "The Wiz" is Dorothy and the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion dancing and singing down the Yellow Brick Road. They were off to see the Wizard, and a wonderful Wizard he was, because of the wonderful things he does.
In the story, the Wizard is a lonely little man hiding behind a curtain, using his power to create a wonderland. Now Michael Jackson will never be able to tell us what he was hiding behind his curtain. But because of his music, we danced and sang.
Michael Jackson was so gifted, so lonely, so confused, so sad. He lost happiness somewhere in his childhood, and spent his life trying to go back there and find it. When he played the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" (1978), I think that is how he felt, and Oz was where he wanted to live. It was his most truly autobiographical role. He could understand a character who felt stuffed with straw, but could wonderfully sing and dance, and could cheer up the little girl Dorothy.
We have all spent years in the morbid psychoanalysis of this strange man-child. Now that he has died we will hear it all repeated again: The great fame from an early age, the gold records, the world tours, the needy friendships, the painful childhood, Neverland, the eccentric behavior, plastic surgery, charges of child molestation, the fortunes won and lost, the generosity, the secrecy, the inexplicable marriage to Elvis's daughter, the disguises, the puzzling sexuality, the jokes, and on and on.
I never met him. My wife Chaz did, a long time ago when she was part of a dance troupe that opened some shows for the Jackson Five. What she remembers is that he was -- a kid. Talented, hard-working, but not like other kids. That's what he was, and that's what he remained. His father Joseph was known even then as a hard-driving taskmaster, and was later described by family members as physically and mentally abusive, beating the child, once holding him by a leg and banging his head on the floor. Michael confided to Oprah that sometimes he would vomit at the sight of the man.
Families are important to everyone, and to African-Americans they are the center of the universe. A census is maintained that radiates out to great-nieces and nephews, distant cousins, former spouses, honorary relatives, all the generations. Communication is maintained, birthdays remembered, occasions celebrated. Important above all are parents and grandparents. Family was a support system from a time when slave-owning America refused to recognize black families. Family was the rock.
No home to phone home to.
Michael Jackson doesn't seem to have had that rock. His father seems to have driven him to create an alternate universe for himself, in which somewhere, over the rainbow, he could have another childhood. He named his ranch Neverland, after the magical land where Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, enacted his fantasies with the Lost Boys. I wonder if we ever really understood how central that vision was to Jackson, or how literally he tried to create it.
I have no idea whether Michael abused the children he "adopted." It is possible those relationships were without sex; he seemed frozen at a time before puberty. Whether he touched them criminally or not, it is easy to see what he sought: To create, with and for these Lost Boys, a Neverland where they could imagine together the childhood he never had.
Mixed with that was perhaps a lifelong feeling of inadequacy, burned in by the cruelty of his father. That might help explain the compulsive plastic surgery, the relentless rehearsal, the exhausting tours, the purchase of expensive toys, the giving of gifts.
The scene everyone remembers from "The Wiz" is Dorothy and the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion dancing and singing down the Yellow Brick Road. They were off to see the Wizard, and a wonderful Wizard he was, because of the wonderful things he does.
In the story, the Wizard is a lonely little man hiding behind a curtain, using his power to create a wonderland. Now Michael Jackson will never be able to tell us what he was hiding behind his curtain. But because of his music, we danced and sang.
hannahfngrl26
Captain Forehead
Michael Jackson is dead at the age of 50
I dont know if I am posting this in the right place or if anyone gives a shit but I have to post it. I have loved Michael for a very long time and I know that he will most assuredly be missed. He released the Thriller album the year that I was born and the music industry is still impacted by it today. I just wanted to take a moment and say how much I appreciated his talent and state just how much he will surely be missed.
My prayers and thoughts go out to his family and I wish them nothing but the best in these very trying times.
I dont know if I am posting this in the right place or if anyone gives a shit but I have to post it. I have loved Michael for a very long time and I know that he will most assuredly be missed. He released the Thriller album the year that I was born and the music industry is still impacted by it today. I just wanted to take a moment and say how much I appreciated his talent and state just how much he will surely be missed.
My prayers and thoughts go out to his family and I wish them nothing but the best in these very trying times.
