The day the music died

I went to bed last night minutes after learning of Farrah Fawcett's passing. I woke up this morning to a text message saying Michael Jackson had died. My instant reaction was of incredulity; we can't have lost 2 pop culture icons within a span of a couple of hours. It's probably just another text hoax, I dismissed. But something compelled me to switch on my clock radio, and the very first word I heard the DJ say was "coroner", followed by the words "Michael Jackson: dead at 50".

My sleep-deprived brain attempted to process this jarring news. The crotch-grabbing, moonwalking King of Pop was gone.

Perhaps it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Michael died at such a relatively young age. Given his questionable lifestyle and the turbulent twists and turns his life took, an early death was perhaps expected of the superstar. This was a man who skyrocketed to fame as a 6-year-old, and achieved more in a 4-decade career than any other recording artist in history. This was also a man who was obviously psychologically unstable and pathologically disturbed, and committed many bizarre acts-- and allegedly some very sick, criminal ones-- belying his superstar status.

Yet his death is no less shocking, nor less significant. Michael Jackson is dead. And while he may have been a laughingstock, he was also, inarguably, a legend. Say what you will about the man or monster he became, but no one can deny the sheer awesomeness of his talent and the staggering power of his music. His was a life smeared by scandal and touched by tragedy, but ultimately, the legacy Michael leaves lies in the songs that stirred generations, and the moves that made the world go wow.

Long live the King.

"Like a comet
Blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night...

...Born to amuse
To inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon."

-Michael Jackson, 1958-2009