Yes, the last ten or fifteen years of his life were controversial to say the least. His appearance changed dramatically and he slept with chimps and young boys, maybe in an oxygen chamber. He was chosen to be worshiped and from his earliest years, he was subjected to mass hysteria. We accuse him of being abnormal, but how on earth could he be expected to be normal when he had no grounding in our perceived normal reality. His life is the greatest example of our destructive celebrity culture, our obsession with fame and our deep dark desire to watch the brightest stars implode. He became a parody of himself and a punchline, but in so doing built one of the greatest myths and legends of popular culture ever. Whatever he did or didn’t do in his private life (if he actually had what anyone could consider a “private” life) will be the subject of eternal speculation, but what is absolutely not up for debate is his musical prowess. The man could write, sing, dance and perform better than anyone. I was five when Thriller came out and it was one of the most significant events of my childhood, shifting me away from Sesame Street records and into the vast world of pop. The videos changed the game completely. He was a visionary and a work of art in and of himself.
Just hours after he died (in what had to be some of the fastest spreading news ever), and after seeing Femi Kuti in Prospect Park, we walked over to the 12th Street Bar and danced for hours to MJ. Hit after hit, spanning forty years of musical history, from the early sweetness of Jackson 5 through the steamy disco of Off The Wall and the revolutionary Thriller to the R & B of Invincible, Michael Jackson will be remembered in my mind for his unique and eternal gifts to our musical culture.
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