Michael Jackson dead at 50

Hard to believe.

[barrysloate]

To have two iconic figures die in the same day, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, is extraordinary, and very sad.

[Leon]

Very sad news indeed.....what kid growing up in the 70's and 80's didn't have an infatuation with Farrah? There has never been a pop star bigger than Michael, imho.....He really could sing and dance!! I still get goose bumps when I hear him sing Ben....

[Kehfee]

I dunno I'm sure he's in a heaven in a beautiful park playing games with lovely children.

[drc]

Never liked his music and found him pretty creepy in his later years, but there's no denying he was the biggest pop star of his day. Bigger than Madonna.

I remember in the college dorms when everyone was listening to stuff like REM, The Clash, Roxy Music and The Cure, a guy down the hall was excited about having just bought Michael Jackson's Bad. I thought, "There is something seriously wrong with you."

[Leon]

I in no way condone some of his later years escapades. I think he was a sick man.....seriously, most of his adult life I think he was mentally ill (just my opinion based on what I saw). That aside his music and dance were great.

[Bigb13]

Indeed very sad, I remember back in the very early 70's with his brothers they made some great songs. And at such a young age of 50 is sad.

[barrysloate]

No question Michael suffered emotionally and physically throughout his life. Whenever I saw him interviewed he always seemed unhappy. Not sure all that fame and fortune was good for him.

[joeadcock]

M. Jackson was a good singer, I liked his music of the 1970's. I grew in Miami at same time he was becoming famous, and was in college when Thriller came out. He was the biggest pop star then. Maddona would be a little later. I am trying to not think about the scandals when hearing about his death. I can only hope he straightened things out and is in Heaven if it was to be.

I also feel sorry about Farah.

Frank L.

[rdwyer]

It wasn't steroids. And It wasn't cocaine. (He didn't have a nose for that) Makes you wonder if he was doing something else, since he died so young.

[autograf]

I'll always remember that poster with Farrah and the one piece red bathing suit. That brought many fond memories to a early teen boy....nuff said. As for Michael, some good music was outweighed by an odd life and some seriously bad things he was purported to have done. Like an earlier poster, hope he somehow made things right on the way out...

[Rich Klein]

That I always preferred Kate Jackson to Farrah!

RIP both Farrah and MJ and Ed last week and all those not so famous people either

[chiprop]

I wonder if that will make his rookie card worth more?

[perezfan]

Not sure about his rookie card, but Coach's Corner will inevitably be offering up some fine "Concert-used" outfits and sequined gloves before you can say "Smooth Criminals".

[rdwyer]

Now the news is saying he was highly addicted to oxycontin and took demoral before his death. I immediately suspected that when I heard of his death.

Since Michael Jackson is 99% plastic, they are going to melt him down and turn him into lego blocks so that little kids can play with him for a change.

[WarHoundR69]

Boxes of his 1980's Topps set have jumped from $20.00 per box to $80.00 per box (Based on Ebay bidding)

What do you think those boxes will sell for a year from now?

[sbfinley]

The man did Thriller. Nuff' said.

I'll go along with the "he did Thriller" comment. MJ was on top of his game then and looked great. From there I think he went to planet X and never came back to earth...like dangling the kid over the railing and the hideous plastic work he had done. Clearly drugs took over his body and brain.

I'll never forget going into a clothing store "back when" and they had one red jacket loaded with zippers like MJ wore. My son actually got on his kinees in the store and begged me for the jacket. I got it for him and it lit him up like no words can describe.

[packs]

Some of the jokes are weird to me. An American icon and musical genius died and left 3 young children behind.

[gabrinus]

Maybe Norm McDonald can do his eulogy.

[wolfdogg]

Not a big fan at all but still sad. Being a vinyl record collector, I do have a couple "Jackson 5" albums from the early 70s when he was "normal". He could sing, no doubt. The dancing?......dancing doesn't make a musical sound so it means nothing to me........'cept for slam dancing, mosh pits, in which I do not participate in....not anymore anyway.....LOL

[perezfan]

Agree.... the jokes aren't nearly as weird to me as the sleeping chambers, surgical masks, dyed skin, missing nose, child friendships, Jesus Juice, out of court settlements and dangling babies over balconies (to name just a few oddities).

To each his own, but I don't think anyone can really be shocked that there are some "mixed" opinions on his legacy. No question he had mass appeal as a performer and was a "larger than life" figure.

[tothrk]

There's no doubt he was a giant when Thriller came out in the early 80's. The news stated he was over 400 MILLION in debt at the time of his death. That's a lot of coin. It takes me at least three years to earn 400 million. For some reason, his life reminds me of Mike Tyson. A guy who was making huge $$$, had leeches basically stealing it while his personal life was like a turd circling the drain.

[packs]

Mike Tyson wasn't the product of physical and emotional abuse throughout his childhood though. People don't realize how much those years affect a person throughout the rest of their lifetime.

[Jim VB]

"Mike Tyson wasn't the product of physical and emotional abuse throughout his childhood though."

You were kidding, right?

[packs]

Apples and oranges. I don't really think Tyson and Jackson have that much in common. I know Tyson came from a broken home and a low income area. But I don't know about the abuses he suffered as a young child. Did he?

[GoldenAge50s]

How ironic the news that pitchman Billy Mays was found dead this AM---at an identical 50 yrs old!

[Jim VB]

"But I don't know about the abuses he suffered as a young child. Did he? "

Again, I hope you're kidding.

His father had 16 children, by multiple women. At least 3 with Tyson's mother. The father left when Mike was 2 and was never in his life.

His mother was an abused alcoholic, moving from man to man to try to support herself and her kids. They lived in the the worst sections of Brooklyn (Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville). Mike raised himself, on the streets. He was constantly in trouble. I believe the report I read said he was arrested 38 times by the age of 13. He was constantly in fights over his lisp and high pitched voice. (Kids are so understanding.)

At 13, the mother admitted she couldn't raise him and had him sent to a reform school. While he was there, at age 16, his mother died.

[chaddurbin]

the hangover was great!

[mikedenero]

Like millions of others around the world, I am deeply saddened by his passing. Let's also not forget that he was the quintessential "collector," albeit not of sportscards, but of comic books, Disneyana, art, antiques, etc. As such, he shared a common bond with all of us.

I made an attempt to eulogize him on our blog (see link below) by speaking a little about his life as a collector as well as my memories of him: most notably, the three times I saw him in concert (including a Wembley Stadium show also attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana).

[tbob]

And now Fred Travalena (sp?) is dead. One of the best comic impersonators of the 80's and 90's. Bad week to be a celebrity.
As far as Michael Jackson is concerned, he was really the first Black singer to crossover to the mainstream White audience. Oh sure the Temptations, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and others did to a degree, but Michael was the first one who completely crossed over in to pop mainstream. He was THE man until the time he had that horrific experience with his hair catching on fire and subsequent burning, it seemed like his career went downhill after that.
RIP.

[dennis]

i think chuck berry sold records to mostly white people and johnny mathis did too. lots of cross overs to main stream america long b4 michael jackson. he was enormously popular when selling records was at its peak....the 80's. i think the allegations of child molestation damaged his career just a little.

[barrysloate]

Also Gale Storm died, known to baby boomers from "My Little Margie." Must be something in the air.

[jmk59]

And I'm going to be interested to see if they tie Billy Mays' sudden and unexplained death to cracking his head during the rough USAirways landing at Tampa International the day before.

J

[Doug]

I've heard Billy Mays a few time on radio interviews and he always sounded like a legitimately really happy guy. Losing all of these people in a row just really sucks...

[Rob D.]

Even as someone who has grown tired of ESPN's constant self-promotion, I found this commercial with Mays funny:

[rdwyer]

Just in: He had a heart attack. So sad.