Michael Jackson, R.I.P.

The King of Pop died of a heart attack in L.A. today.

R.I.P., MJ

RIP

Thriller is a perfect album.

I was no fan of MJ, his stuff was unappealing to me. Especially the "Jackson 5" era stuff makes me want to puncture my eardrums. However, I feel sorry for him, all the hell he went through. Hopefully he has finally found the peace denied him during his earthly stay. RIP.

As I understand, his father Joe Jackson was/is an absolutely brutal asshole and the likely root of all of Michael's problems.

It feels like a part of my childhood is gone. Very sad, indeed.

RIP, MJ.

I will admit to being a closet MJ fan. Thriller was a damn good album; his videos were always ace.

I played a cover of "Rock With You" with an R&B group and got to thinking "Maybe this Jackson character is onto something." Beyond that, I am more familiar with Weird Al's covers of Michael's tunes than I am of the original classics themselves. That said, I realize a great blow has been dealt to the hall of the living pop famous, and your children may be a bit safer for it.

It's a shame parents of grown-up children today haven't taught them the measure of respect for the dead encapsulated in the quote, Never speak ill of the dead.

As reprehensible as any reasonable person will find the prospect of a grown man entertaining children in his bed, like some warped slumber party, it should be noted that Michael Jackson was NEVER convicted of any crime related to abuse of ANY child.

So the next time you want to sully a RIP thread with your unfounded and dumbass comments - the impossibility of slandering the dead notwithstanding - think again and keep it to yourself. It's not big and it's not clever.

Thanks Byron, I was trying to figure out how to say the same thing. To quote another poster at a different site at length:

No worries, GTiM. I am just glad I waited a day or two before responding because when I first read the post above mine, I was spitting bullets.

Okay, so he bleached himself stupid and had excessive cosmetic surgery. So, he had mental problems which compelled him to do these things to himself. None of these things made me proud of him in any way, least of all his obsession with young persons.

But the extremely disingenuous comment about "this Jackson character" - as if to suggest only recent familiarity with the King o' Pop phenomenon - just left me infuriated.

Pretending that one is cool because one doesn't know about Michael Jackson doesn't even make sense. Look, no single album in history has sold more than 50 million copies, save one-- Thriller sold over 100 million copies. The best-selling album of all time sold more than twice as many copies as the second-best-selling album of all time.

After I said "your children may be a bit safer" I figured somebody like you might get upset, and perhaps it was in poor taste. However, I was born in 1989. The only publicity I've seen Michael Jackson get has been entirely negative. I have never owned one of his records. I have never watched the video for Thriller, nor have I even heard the song in its entirety. Maybe I am ignorant to you, but it's just one more artist on my long list of music to dig that I was born after. I do not see this as a reason for you to get upset (besides simply that it was I who said it), but I apologize if I truly offended you.

GTM - I was never trying to seem cool. Playing that song was really one of the first times I listened to a Jackson tune all the way through and that is pretty much exactly what I thought. "Hmm, this is pretty good. Now I think I get what they were saying all along."

"You figured somebody like me", eh? I won't let you goad me into firing back some pointless response on that one, and no mistake. It's noted, however, that someone like you has made such a comment, and it's no surprise. Oh damn, I've made a pointless response anyhow!

I must, of course, accept your apology, for it was you who posted something offensive. There's no "besides simply that it was [you] who posted it." Nobody else posted your post.

But the people whom I think you offended most were MJ's children, parents and siblings by perpetuating further negative publicity in a place designed for paying respects to a legendary and popular public figure, whether you like him or not, whether you have heard him or not.

And even though you have heard only negative things about him, at least you DO know about him and his long history in popular music. Whom did you think Weird Al was parodying? And who are these elusive "they" who have apparently been saying positive things about him "all along?" Stretching credulity here.

My advice for next time: just say RIP and keep the malarky to yourself.

Yeah yeah you are right.

I just like to share a bit of my malarky every now and then. It keeps me entertained and perhaps it can entertain the public. Michael Jackson was a great entertainer. May he rest in peace.

Although, I have to say, unless everybody just rests in peace by default, perhaps he cannot rest in peace? Do you think he was in peace before he died? They say he was about to go on a big tour and his moves were possibly better than ever. It's hard to know. Maybe Michael's ghost will stick around for awhile and get Justin Timberlake through a few more records.

I've said my piece. I'm done now.

how can any judge allow temporary custudy to MJ's children to live under the same roof as that "brutal asshole" Joe Jackson...

his son isn't even buried yet and he's scheming on how he can profit by starting a his own record label...