It's hard to imagine such a world-wide reaction to the death of a younger star.

The old guard, people like Dylan, McCartney, Jagger, Aretha...of course. They're legends, and they've been so for years. They were huge before Michael Jackson's heyday--they're also from an older generation than Michael Jackson. But after MJ, who? I kind of feel like he's the last of a dying breed--a massive international superstar. Popular music has become much more fragmented, much more specific and regional and demographic-tailored--for the better, in many ways.

However, when Kurt Cobain died, for example, his untimely passing was a huge deal in this country and in the UK, but not so much in non-English speaking countries. 2Pac's death wasn't even such a big story in many parts of THIS country. The era of superstardom, the age of larger-than-life artists recognized around the world, massively popular even in countries where fans can't completely understand the lyrics and (like in 1980's Iran) are forbidden from playing his music or even watching his videos? It may be over.

It has been reported that Iranian's Twitters briefly stopped talking Revolution and started talking about the King of Pop yesterday. Could the death of Brittany Spears or Kanye West do that? The untimely passing of Joe Jonas? Radiohead's Thom Yorke? Perhaps other 80's megastars, Madonna, say, or Prince, but their time in the world spotlight hasn't been quite as long or as compellingly interesting. Bono's a famous globetrotter--but somehow I can't see a similar reaction, not in places as far-flung as Cebu, Philippines, where the infamous YouTube video of jumpsuit-clad prisoners dancing to "Thriller" came from. Not everyone knows Bono for his music; EVERYONE knows "Billie Jean."

I wouldn't be so foolish as to compare MJ's work or his life to that of Elvis or John Lennon--I don't think such dissimilar artists CAN be compared. But when these two other artists died at a young age, the whole world took notice in a huge way. In June of 2009, they're mourning again, all over the globe--and for the generation of artists and their fans under 50 years old, we may never see its like again, or at least, for a long time.

You're right, although technically they were both born before he was. Still, I don't quite see the international reaction being as massive--he was a superstar at age 10, after all.

:shrug:

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What a totally ASININE and misdirected post. :wtf: I've expressed my appreciation for Jackson ... SEVERAL times. I've noted that the 'haters' are often repressed RACISTS.

You don't know what the fuck you're talking about!

The "Peter Pan" metaphor is apt ... the boy who never wanted to grow up. It's complimentary, actually

God do I hate the phrase "Pull your head out of your ass," though.

I'll delete my post if you delete yours. I've deleted my reactionary post--could you delete yours?

On the surface, it looks like people are mourning the passing of Michael Jackson himself, and perhaps some of them are.

So young. So sudden. Such a huge loss to the music world in terms of what he might have done in the future.

But I think what's also involved is a mourning for our pasts.

For me, it's the loss of my youth and innocence. I was a teenager 40 years ago when MJ first got popular. He's a part of my youth and innocence. Now both are gone, and it hurts. A lot.

So I think people who want to slam others for their reactions just don't understand the connection. I'm someone who absolutely LOVES music. I can hear a song and immediately be taken back, in my mind, to the time when it was popular. In that way I can live in two worlds at the same time.

I think a person has to have more than 20 or 30 years behind him/her in order to understand the power of losing something, no matter what it is, from one's youth.

For me, it's almost like losing a long time friend...someone with whom I can share the old "Do you remember ______?" memories. Not having that connection, it's like a part of myself has gone as well.

:(

I grew up with the Jackson 5 and had by bedroom plastered with their pictures. For me it's a combination of a loss of innocence along with Micheal's loss of innocence. He never got a chance to have a normal childhood and was surrounded by people who didn't have his best interests at heart.

Or maybe not. I don't know.

Jackson was actually talented.

But it didn't seem to affect the phenomenon at the time.