On Twitter and Facebook, people are saying RIP Michael Jackson but I have nothing to say. There doesn't really seem to be a good way to express how shocked and sad I am about the King of Pop dying.
It's hard to explain to people who didn't grow up from day zero with Michael Jackson's music as a soundtrack to their lives, what impact he actually had. Unfortunately, most people only really remember his HIStory album and the crazy antics, operations and law suits to follow. To be honest, I don't remember him fondly after those events.
The important thing is to separate the man from the music. The music is the soundtrack of my life. At least the years as I was growing up.
My Mum used to play ABC by the Jackson 5, when we were learning to walk. My sister and I continued to dance to the Jackson 5 during our jazz ballet lessons, for years. We listened as we learned to moonwalk.
My family is still friends with the family that lived next door to us in 1984 when we first watched Thriller on TV.
BAD gave me the song Man In The Mirror, which is a song that told me how to do my bit to change the world. I still listen to it regularly.
HIStory was the round-up of that era for me. Black or White was the last song of his I loved and I still know every single word to it.
Today is a sad day. The end of an amazingly talented life.