Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, Is Gone

I'll be entirely honest up front - did I like his music? No, not at all. I'm a country and hard rock kind of guy.

Still, even someone such as myself can't deny the mark that this crotch grabbing spinning squeaking dancer left on the world, and I mean that in the way that you all know that's how the guy danced.

Back in the day, when the world was full of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley recordings, and it was supposedly the music of the devil, no one would have thought that a small group of african american entertainers from nowhere would surprise the world with a talent like no other. I still think, in a way, no one believes that really happened. It's what adds to the mystery and majesty that makes Michael one of the worlds most notable music acts of all time.

In two weeks the guy was supposed to be embarking on his world tour that would be both the comeback of the King, and the grand finale to his fans. Who knew that not even starting the tour would propel him to 7 of the top 10 spots on the iTunes store today? Given it was for the wrong reasons, his popularity has soared again, and if it's a little to late for him to see how big he really is 20 years after his peak of greatness, the status he maintains without even trying is remarkable.

Yesterday afternoon, he was found collapsed in his rented home - perhaps the most unlikely cap to his mountain of debt is that he didn't even get to keep his famed Neverland ranch. He was rushed by paramedics to the hospital in a deep coma, for almost up to two hours. Attempts to revive him were obviously unsuccessful, and that's the story. Nothing dramatic or huge, and probably the most ironic is just how subtle it all was. No frantic rush from hundreds of thousands of guards or police - just a report that he was hospitalized when he met the ambulance.

After reports from many that he was so strained and frail from the demands of the upcoming tour, I suppose that the lifestyle he led as of late leaves no surprise that things would come to a close, but no one expected it to end like this. The media circus that blew things out of proportion, and strange antics such as baby dangling, monkey befriending, and child masking were all just pages in a series of many books that told the story of a performer that we will probably never get the end of, in more ways than one.

As a side note, yes, It was admittedly difficult to get through that without saying the word "touch" or referring to "Beat It", but this is one post that deserved a lack of sarcasm. Peace, M.J.