When I heard about Michael Jackson passing away 2 weeks ago, I was in total shock. Seriously, this guy was the embodiment of the music of my childhood. “Thriller” (the album) was released the day after I was born. The video for Thriller scared the crap out of me. The first time I saw it I was probably 5, maybe 6. For some reason my teacher at the after care place I went after kindergarten showed it to us. I’m telling you, those first few minutes of that video are still pretty freaky! The first music I remember being played in my house was that of Carly Simon, James Taylor, the Carpenters, and Michael Jackson. He was huge!

I first saw his movie Moonwalker when I was in kindergarten. One of my friends owned it and we watched it all the time! That’s where the full-length video for Smooth Criminal came from. We used to practice for HOURS trying to learn how he did that lean!

He was an incredibly talented musician. He broke all sorts of barriers between race and musical styles. Possibly more impressive are his charitable contributions. He holds the records for the most charities supported by a pop star.

There was a lot of controversy that surrounded him in the last 15 years of his life. I never thought he was guilty. I thought he suffered from not having a childhood and that he never quite grew up. Did he do some things that were questionable? Yes. Do I think he ever hurt anyone? No. I felt sad for him. I felt like he was probably incredibly lonely.

Anyway, here’s to Michael Jackson, the King of Pop music. Your talent is unmatched!