This is a computer generated image of what Michael Jackson would look like today without any cosmetic surgery... then again, he’s said explicitly he hasn’t had any cosmetic surgery so these wacky computers must be wrong.
Michael Jackson turns 50. The story goes that his father had him playing tambourine for the Jackson 5 until he started singing back up and clearly blew his brother out of the water (Poor Jermaine.) Michael was a lead singer at 9, had an abusive father long before that, and remained in the public eye long after that. Jackson is ridiculously talented and his eccentric side has always been present along with his talent.
I have a general rule; just because something goes out of style doesn’t mean it goes out of my favor. Michael Jackson was my favorite artist as a kid. I was raised in a time when Bad was an edgy record, when you watched the making of thriller every time it was on TV, when Jackson truly was the “king of pop”. His music is infectious, when I was a senior in high school and his music was “out of style”, I would pull into the student parking lot blasting any number of his hits. People would turn down their Tupac to listen to his hits.
I stood by him when accusations started to come out in the early 90’s. I just figured people were out to extort an eccentric guy. Then almost a decade later he does an interview with Martin Bashir, a shady British journalist. Bashir certainly twisted Jackson’s words to make him look really horrible. With that said, he did say some things that weren’t normal. I remember watching the interview with a bunch of guys at the time. My friend Dana and I, super-fans, defended him the whole way through. Then when everybody left the room we turned to each other and said this didn’t look good.
The guy clearly has issues, and definitely hasn’t used good judgment. Sharing a bed with children that aren’t yours, after being accused of shadiness, not smart. Calling it “Magical” while trying to justify it to a tabloid reporter, not smart at all. I don’t know if Michael did anything more than what he admits. What I do know is the guy is a damaged man with an unprecedented talent. It’s disappointing too, imagine if he was balanced and still making great records. Imagine if he wasn’t spending every dime he had on lame crap in overpriced boutiques in Vegas, but managing his Beatles Rights and investing in other artists…sad, I know.
You know what, I am not going to mourn the mistakes of Michael or focus on what could have been. Instead I am going to listen to his music throughout the weekend, pull up to different places blasting his hits. I am going to watch the making of thriller on you tube. Let’s celebrate a great musician that changed pop music and transformed a remote planet with a gift that you can’t see…but hear. Oh, glorious Captain Eo, I’m also going to watch that in celebration of this happy day.
We can’t change the past, but “we are here to change the world!”
Happy Birthday Michael.
I've shown this before but couldn't resist to show it again. A past birthday, click here and scroll to the bottom. Michael accepted his cake as an award.
Michael Jackson accepted the “Artist of the Millennium” award, when in reality all he was being presented with is a birthday cake. Enjoy this awkward moment. (note: watch the start and not the No Doubt acceptance speech. The only reason that is in the clip is because Michael is still on the stage.)
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