posted by: Sherwin Coelho Jul 1 2009 @ 10:49 am

Sometimes you realize the true worth of a person only after they’re gone.

Another Star Fades Away:

Michael Jackson’s death was followed by mass hysteria as people all over the world moaned the loss of a world icon. It was the only time I have ever witnessed social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter buzzing with only one topic and only the second time, in my memory, after Lady Diana’s death, have I witnessed so much media attention being given to the death of a global personality.

The main reason why news of Jackson’s death was met with such sorrow and grief is because he revolutionized ‘our’ generation of music. We have witnessed what he is capable of doing as an artist as many of us grew up listening to his music. Many of the top artists we listen to today have been influenced by Jackson’s music and performances as he has set the bar for artistic excellence. The death of John Lennon (1980) and Elvis Presley (1977) was met with a similar reaction then, but it probably didn’t matter as much to us as it did to the generation that came before us.

This Is…It Wasn’t To Be:
It was extremely unfortunate that an artist like MJ died just when he was about to make his grand comeback. The fact that 50 of his ‘This Is It’ concerts at London’s O2 arena were sold-out in a matter of hours is justification enough that, despite Michael’s tarnished public image in recent years, his reputation as an entertainer is unparalleled.

Although plans for tribute concerts to recover the costs of the 50 shows are in the pipeline, nothing will ever replace the charm and charisma of watching one of the greatest stage performers that has ever walked the face of the earth. For your information, Justin Timberlake, Coldplay and Take That are said to have been approached to perform at the tribute concerts, although I’m guessing more acts will follow once things are finalized.

Making History, Even Now:
If that’s not enough, then take a look at music charts worldwide and you’ll see that all his albums are soon making a re-entry into the top league. His albums have taken the top 15 slots on amazon.com’s top 50 album downloads and they have also taken the top seven, out of ten, slots on i-tunes, as reported by CNN here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/26/michael.jackson.album.sales/
His work is as popular on the illegal front as well - he is the current highest downloaded artist on torrents.

It’s ironic that people are now suddenly realizing that they have been robbed of listening to one of the greatest artists that ever lived. Anyway, it’s better now than never. I, personally, wish he could have signed off on a good note, probably after making a successful comeback accompanied by a smashing album, just so that people would remember him more for the music than for the enigmatic individual that he was.

Here’s re-visiting the life and times of a legend.

The Early Years:
Ever since the young MJ, all of seven years, stepped on stage with his brothers, then performers going under the name ‘Jackson 5’, Michael was the one that stood out from the crowd. His high soprano vocals and happy feet had him earmarked as a musical sensation from the early Motown days. His debut solo album Off The Wall (1979) displayed his musical brilliance as an artist who could hold his own, without four brothers playing the perfect supporting roles and a cane-yielding father in the background.

The Best Selling Album of all time:
But if there was one record which saw sales go through the roof, and beyond, it was his sophomore album, Thriller (1982). It is the best selling album of all time and the only one to have the distinction of crossing one hundred million record sales worldwide.

Just to give you an idea of how well it fared, the next all-time best-selling albums are AC/DC’s Back in Black and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon which have sold 45 million copies each – that’s less than half of the sales garnered by Thriller.

Thrilling!

Thriller pushed the envelopes of music – lyrically, vocally and experimentally. Jackson became an artist who experimented with everything on the album, as a result of which he revolutionized the whole concept of how music was perceived. The R&B/pop sound was larger than life (Wanna Be Starting Something); the videos were like short films (Thriller); the choreography was jaw-dropping (Billie Jean) and he evolved into a global icon with just that one album.

Needless to say, MJ was the star of the Grammy’s the following year winning eight awards - a record which only Santana has equaled to date. It was also the phase where he wore clothing fit for a king (the one-handed glove) and first displayed one of the most talked-about and charismatic dance moves of all time – the moon walk.

In the years to follow MJ was the man with the Midas touch. He co-wrote ‘We Are The World’ – another chart-topping single with Lionel Ritchie and was invited to the White House to meet the then American President, Ronald Reagan.

Wacko Jacko:
However, the subsequent years saw his global image tarnished as he bought and befriended a chimpanzee ‘Bubbles’ and rumours floated that he had purchased the bones of The Elephant Man. Although the latter proved to be false, he had already earned the tabloid name of ‘Wacko Jacko’.

It was around this time (mid-1980s) that Jackson was diagnosed with a skin condition known as vitiligo which caused his skin to grow paler in appearance, which made him sensitive to sunlight. His treatment for the same further impacted the tone and texture of his skin. Along with his skin tone, his face too appeared to have undergone severe transformation during this period. Part of this was due to severe weight-loss that the singer underwent at this point of time in order to get his body in shape for dancing and touring to come.

Something was needed to put the MJ image back on track and Jackson had just the remedy.

Good boy goes ‘Bad’:

The release of his third album Bad in 1987 confirmed Jackson was still a musical genius making melodies and videos in a universe of his own. The album saw a darker shade of MJ which was reflected in songs such as ‘Man in the Mirror’ and ‘Dirty Diana’. The success of the album propelled brand MJ to greater heights and it was during this time that Elizabeth Taylor gave him the sobriquet ‘The King of Pop’, which he has since been referred to.

From Genius to Guinness:
The Bad World Tour created more records: He entered the Guinness Book of World Records when 504,000 people attended several sold-out shows at Wembley Arena and again broke a Guinness World Record when his total of 123 concerts, which reached about 4.4 millions people, grossed him 125 million dollars. However during this time he exhibited what was always a Jackson trademark – giving to charity.

He invited underprivileged children to watch the concerts free of cost and donated a lot of the proceeds to charitable foundations. Note: In 2000, Jackson held the Guinness record for his support to 39 charities, the most by any individual.

In March 1988, Jackson purchased 2,700 acres of land near Santa Ynez in California for 17 million dollars. This ranch was named ‘Neverland’ and it boasted of a zoo, a theatre and a Ferris wheel, among other attractions. President George Bush Sr. presented Jackson with the White House’s special ‘Artist of the Decade’ honour for his musical influence on the eighties.

Growing at a ‘Dangerous’ pace:

Just when the hysteria around Bad was beginning to drop, Jackson released Dangerous in 1991. While Macaulay Culkin and ‘Black or White’ carried the album to dizzying heights in the US, it was the soulful, community message of, ‘Heal the World’ that made the album better-loved in the UK. All proceeds from the Dangerous World Tour went to the Heal The World Foundation which helped raise millions of dollars for charity. He publicly pleaded with the Bill Clinton administration to donate more money to the research of HIV/AIDS.

Among other grand events, he visited Africa where he received another rousing welcome, akin to that of a long gone prodigal son returning home after doing his motherland proud.

When he returned back to the States he performed at the Super Bowl XXVII where 135 million viewers watched the show as the live audience grew significantly during half-time, the only time this has ever happened in the history of Super Bowl. The Dangerous album subsequently rose 90 places back up the charts as a result of that performance alone. At the 1993 Grammy Awards, he was felicitated with the rare ‘Living Legend Award.’

In the final part, of this two-part special, we will throw light on how Jackson’s life spiraled out of control and how his public image got tarnished. Unfortunately, this time redemption wasn’t written on the cards.