June 25, 2009...

Today's headline: "Michael Jackson, Dead at Age 50". WOW. As I sit down to write this, he has officially been dead for 2 hours and it is still crazy to me. I found out the official word just before I left work for the day.

I was caught in traffic today as I made my way home so this made my normal one hour drive even longer. As I drove, radio stations were playing back to back songs by Michael. Never once in an hour and a half did I hear a repeated song... and they only scratched the surface of his vast library of music. At first it was very sad and almost eerie. Even the DJs were somber. Then my ALL TIME favorite song by him came on- "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". I was about 8 years old when this song came out and 26 years later, it is still my favorite. At that time, I began celebrating! I sang and danced (as much as I could behind the wheel) and had a great time. Cheyenne and Tucker probably didn't truly appreciate the celebrations... oh well. I dare you to click that link above for that song and NOT find yourself dancing around the room. :o)

On the radio, a caller made a comment that this day marked "D Day for Pop Culture". Although that may be extreme, in some way, it is true. Think about it...MJ was the "King of Pop" and was considered the biggest artist in the world. It didn't matter how strange he was, how much he manipulated his body or what strange mask he made his children wear... he was still adored all over the world. He was still able to sell out arena at record-breaking speeds. He shaped my generation and the music we listened to. The "Thriller" video changed the way we saw music videos and everyone learned every step of that dance!

And who could forget "We Are The World" which Michael co-wrote. I still remember when my parents gave me the album (yes... vinyl!). I had a t-shirt too. It was the first time I remember my music of choice contributing to a charity. As a 10 year old, it made ME aware of famine in Africa. I wore that t-shirt proudly, knew every word of the song and wore out that record.

Every boy in my 5th grade class owned a red and black jacket with zippers all over it. Some of them even wore a sequined white glove to school!! (Don't knock it... there were many days that I sported the lace Madonna gloves!!)

In many ways, Michael could be considered my generation's Elvis. They both died tragically young (Elvis was 42) and with the initial reports regarding what may have caused Michael's death- they may have even died the same way. They both had a remarkable following and built huge enterprises. They were both extremely eccentric people, often controversial and pioneers in their genre of music. They pushed the boundaries of what was considered popular and acceptable. Countless numbers of artists credit them as their inspiration. Followers of Elvis can, to this day, tell you where they were when they heard the news he had died. I am sure I will always remember where I was when the news first broke about MJ. He will forever be a part of my childhood and our pop culture history.

A few months ago, I went to a Justin Timberlake Sing-Along at the Alamo Drafthouse with a group of my girlfriends. You better believe that when they have a Michael Jackson Sing-Along, I will be front and center... with a white glove, moon walking through the aisles.

Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009