Tributes to Michael Jackson
Posted by Poster on 2009/06/26
“For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him,” said Quincy Jones, producer of the “Thriller.”
The Facts
Michael Jackson (MJ), the sensational child-star who rose rapidly to stardom and became one of the world’s most popular celebrities, passed away at the age of 50 yesterday (Thursday 25 June 2009) at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The circumstances of MJ’s death were not immediately clear. He was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles rented home at about 12:30 p.m. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to the hospital. A spokesman for the UCLA Medical Centre said MJ died of a suspected heart attack. An investigation is underway.
(Update: Los Angeles Police Dept is searching for MJ’s doctor who has been suspected of giving MJ a potentially fatal dose of the painkiller Demerol before his death – see link here. A 3-hour autopsy was performed and a coroners’ spokeman, Craig Harvey, was very quick to rule out any foul play basing on the post-mortem report of that hasty autopsy – without any proper public inquiry into the cause of death – but yet in the same breath also stated that toxicology and other tests would take weeks to finalise – see link here. Relatives of MJ are therefore not satisfied that the official cause of death might not be known for weeks and that many questions had gone unanswered. They are demanding that another autopsy be performed. They also want MJ’s personal doctor, Conrod Murray, who was with MJ when he died, to give some answers – see link here.
Speaking on behalf of the Jackson’s family, his brother, Jermaine, said doctors had tried to resuscitate MJ for more than an hour without success. He added, “The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time. And Allah be with you Michael always. I love you.”
Los Angeles coroner Fred Worral said MJ was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital having suffered a heart attack on Thursday afternoon at his home.
MJ, who had a history of health problems, had been due to begin a series of 50 shows in the UK from 13 July 2009. The shows have been seen as the beginning of a public come-back by MJ, who had in recent years been struggling against a series of damaging allegations about his private life.
The Background
MJ’s death has brought a tragic end to a long and winding career of a man who was known as “a uniter of black and white music, who shattered the race barrier on MTV, and who dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage” in the 1980s.
He was the most exciting and original performer of his time, known for his unusual dance moves and his high-pitched voice. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearances.
The public first knew MJ in the late 1960s, when as a boy he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the music group he formed with his four older brothers. Among their No. 1 hits was “I’ll Be There.”
His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the famous song “Beat It” - is the best-selling album of all time, with more than 65 million copies sold worldwide, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
He scored seven UK number ones as a solo artist and won a total of 13 Grammy awards.
He can be ranked together with Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest sensational pop artists of all time. He united two of the music world’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and his death immediately evokes that of Presley himself, who died as suddenly at age 42 in 1977.
Reactions in Los Angeles
Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital as word of his death spread. The emergency entrance at the UCLA Medical Center, which is near Jackson’s rented home, was roped off with police tape.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson has just died,” a woman boarding a Manhattan bus shouted, shortly after the news was announced. Many of the riders in that bus immediately reached for their mobile phones.
So many people wanted to verify the early reports of Jackson’s death that the computers running Google’s news section interpreted the fusillade of “Michael Jackson” requests as an automated attack for about half an hour on Thursday evening.
Reactions in the US
In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.
“No joke. King of Pop is no more!” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, shouted after reading a text message a friend sent to his mobile phone. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”
In Hollywood, thousands of people filed past his star on the Walk of Fame.
A White House spokesman said US President Barrack Obama considered Jackson a spectacular performer, but said he felt parts of his life were “sad and tragic”.
Reactions Across the World
Across the world, people have been voicing shock and disbelief at the news of his death. Tributes are pouring in by the millions. Leading the tributes to MJ is his first legally-married wife, Lisa Marie Presley.
Lisa Marie Presley, married to MJ’s first ex-wife, has started to discuss her relationship with MJ in her blog here. To parry off many people’s questions, she said that their relationship/marriage was not a sham or publicity stunt like what the media has been reporting over the years. She also said that what she is seeing with Jackson’s death is like witnessing her own father’s (Elvis Presley) death.
Singer Dionne Warwick said: “Michael was a friend and undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest entertainers that I fortunately had the pleasure of working with. … We have lost an icon in our industry.”
A former Beatles, Paul McCartney described Jackson as a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul (see link here).
Read MJ’s official website here and what others are saying here, here, here and here.
Other links:
I hope the above short video clip of Micheal Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” can make all of us more aware of our own words, deeds and conscience, and reflect upon our inner thoughts, moral values and pragmatic-practicalities, especially within the tiny island of non-accountability, non-transparency and non-acceptance of full responsibility.
My Tribute to Michael Jackson
Personally, to me, Michael Jackson represented one of the revolutionaries in our time. He had assailed the music world to a different dimension and to a new height where no one else dared to think of before. Such talents, if planted within the environment of our conservative, stifling and kiasu tiny Red Dot, would not have even the slightest chance to mature, let alone to flourish into world-class revolutionary innovations never dreamt before! The world needs more people like him who dared to venture and change it into a more interesting, entertaining and meaningful one, be it in the musical, social, scientific, technological or political field. Many of us who appreciate his kind of contributions will really miss him for a long long time, especially so in Singapore.
Two minutes’ Silence is observed to pay our last respect for a man who has contributed immensely to the music and entertainment world.
Jambo said
What a pity he has to go so young still.