RIP MJ.

This is a sad day. Regardless of any scandals, he gave us some of the best pop music the world has ever seen.

Makes me very sad. I know it's just coincidence, but I was listening to Beat It earlier today. His music was just sublime.

The king is dead.

It's certainly no coincidence i was Beating It just this very afternoon.

Do you remember the time you first heard Michael Jackson? He was bad! He could jam, scream; he'd rock with you all night. Regardless of whether you were black or white, his music was never off the wall. He knew music like no other, like he learned it as easy as learning his ABC's. He was both a smooth criminal, and a thriller to his fans. He will be missed.

RIP

"Surprising"? No.
"Shocking"? Yes.

The man's music was a downright phenomenon of talent.

I hope and I pray now for his young children and who will raise them.

Coincidentally, my mother wrote her master's thesis in child psychology on Michael and she is--or at least was--convinced he is innocent of the crimes he was accused of. She attributes his odd behavior to a short and unfortunate childhood which led to a seriously unique and bizarre adulthood, and thus to an inability to recognize what "adult" behavior--as opposed to "childish" behavior--should be. I don't know what I think and I don't care what I think anymore. God knows, and Michael is now in the arms of His mercy and justice.

The man was a phenomenal talent to be sure, I came into listening to his music a lot around the Dangerous album, and still think that Smooth Criminal is one of the greatest music videos ever.

But, we will definitely see a lot of what's sung about in this song.

Would have been good to see him work out his real issues before death, and maybe make one more amazing album... a shame.

Thank you for all you gave us.
You will never be forgotten Michael.
Rest in peace.

I wanna make a joke, but I don't wanna spoil the moment. He has a legacy of both positive and negative things, now that he's dead, I hope the positive will be focused on.

For me the music was overshadowed by the extraordinarily bizarre lifestyle. And dangling his kid over a balcony crossed the line from disturbed fantasist into something far more worrying.

And this was very probably responsible for his musical decline - by all accounts his recent stuff was terrible and over-produced.

^ Yeah, I've often thought what a shame it was that he turned into a nutcase. He is and was a cultural icon, and I would've loved to see his music evolve through the last decade without it being overshadowed by whatever it was that was making him do the cosmetic surgery and all the other insane things.

BTW don't assume his musical career is over. If he's anything like Tupac was there'll be a ton of material that can be released over the next few years.

I wonder if you're right. With that new tour he was working on there might be some new music to go with it. I hope so.

I'm convinced this will make a whole wave of conspiracy theories about him not being dead, but rather faking his own death.

My opinion is that if he hadn't gone completely loony, disturbingly weird, and rightly suspect, he might have prevented Madonna from turning the pop world into Britney-Spears-land... It might have been about "MUSIC" rather than about young (sometimes too young) "SEX APPEAL"...

Look at Jackson's "Black or White". Tell me that Britney or any of her mimics had a message like that. Tell me for that that they landed a prime spot on cable TV after the most prominent TV show there was available for just a new MUSIC VIDEO! FFS, he made a Simpsons episode even MORE watched just so people could see his video...!!!

The announcement was similar too:
TONIGHT, following the simpsons WILL BE MICHAEL JACKSON'S NEW MUSIC VIDEO..."

Incredible. And I have no doubt that it had some significant effect. I SAW it happening as I expect anyone who was there at the time did so... in middle America at least... and that is where it was targeted.

Racism is far beyond old news and far beyond acceptable and Michale helped make that possible and I respect that.

His later years sort of destroyed any message he had, but his message was already ingrained in his early listeners and I hope that they won't abandon those good ideals due to his possible mistakes.

Pretty much sums up my feelings on this turn of events.

Seriously, MJ was the first singer I really liked; I listened to my tape of Bad so many times I practically wore it out. I'm pretty sure Dangerous was one of my first CDs. Terrible, terrible news.

I owned his movie "Moonwalker" as a kid. It was pretty much stuck in the VCR. I watched it over and over.

to this day, I can't forgive Joe Pesci...

That clock just won't stop ticking.

Michael Jackson had perhaps the single biggest impact on the sound of the 80's, and I'm sure just about all who lived through that decade will have atleast some emotional memories associated with his music. I know I'll miss him, and will make sure his musical legacy is left to posterity.

Posting every song of his that I like would take up way too much room; and since there's no internal list of best-to-worst songs in my head, here's one song of Micheal Jackson's which holds a personal emotional significance (also, one of a select few songs in history which doesn't need more cowbell):

Michael had his own cutting-edge music studio in his home. His own personal studio. It was featured in a rare interview with him that I haven't been able to find again. You can bet he has hundreds and more songs recorded and archived that we've never heard. That's what he did, That was his life, his hobby, his pastime. On top of that, riffs and beats, and unfinished stuff that can be mixed into many more productions and music. We'll be hearing from him for years!

Michael in my opinion, is like many of the geniuses I have met in my life - And I have had the pleasure to meet several. People with genius talents are socially inept and awkward when it comes to everyday stuff you and I take for granted. They have huge overdeveloped areas of one interest and that has become their one way of functioning and all else flows through that.

Through his music, he has been Amazing, Creative, Fantastic, Mind Blowing, Conceptual, Empathetic, Worldly, Sympathetic to world issues and causes and had a special place in his heart for kids.

He didn't get a childhood, he was forced into music as if it was all that was all that existed. His only fault is that he was good at it and used it as a shield from his fathers anger and did what he was told. As a young mind, his music developed unfathomable amounts but his social skills never evolved. It has been proven that with personal and emotional trauma, the mind is forced to stop developing past that point until that trauma is dealt with. Michael's challenging childhood forced him further into his music and his talents (which was great for us), but at a cost we may never understand (for him).

I for one, have always judged him by his artistic achievements in style, dance and music and chose to ignore the high-profile gossip and drudgery.

His death leaves a huge hole in the heart of the industry! RIP

"I don't care if Michael Jackson freaked off with little boys or not. It doesn't bother me. Fuck those kids. And fuck their greedy parents too. What's important to me is that Michael is the greatest entertainer who ever lived. Bar none. Watch him dance; pay attention to the showmanship. No one ever came close.

Elvis was a bogus white guy with sex appeal and good looks who ripped off a lot of great black music, watered it down, and made it safe for a lot of lame whites who couldn't handle the experience of raw, emotional black music. Never grew as an artist; remained an entertainer. Fuck Elvis.

Sammy Davis Jr.? Nice try. Ordinary dancer, ordinary singer, second-rate impressionist. I also didn't like the insincere sincerity. But he was a nice man, personally; I give him credit for that.

Frank Sinatra? Great singer of songs, among the best. Superb musician. Grew as an artist. No showmanship though. Arrogant too. And mean to ordinary people. Fuck him.

Michael Jackson buries them all. I say give him a bunch of kids and let him dance."

-George Carlin

It's a pity MJ's world is now no longer being inhabited by Michael. Mainly is his earlier career he has inspired millions of people by being an artist with high standards regarding pop music and performing.

BTW I recommend seeing Harmony Korine's film Mister Lonely. Here's a clip:
http://www.videosift.com/video/End-of-Beat-it-Harmony-Korine-s-poetic-Mister-Lonely

NEWS FLASH UPDATE:

Michael Jackson apparently died of food poisoning! It seems he ate a 6 year old weiner!

Apparently it was a well known secret that he had a decade-long opium addiction and that was probably the main contributing factor to the decline of his health and finally his death.

I know it's a childish notion, but he always seemed to represent immortality. The thought of Michael Jackson being dead never crossed my mind. If anyone, I thought he'd be the first to live on forever as a head in a jar.

^ I remember the day he turned 30. I thought that was so damned old. I guess I had the same reaction: that he just wouldn't get any older cause, ya know... he's Michael Jackson.

Boy did he ever get old quick though. And I turn 30 next year

HI BILLY MAYS HERE REQUESTING THAT YOU UPDATE THE TITLE OF YOUR SIFT TALK POST