Michael Jackson dies! RIP King of Pop (1958-2009)

Michael Jackson, one of my childhood heroes and all time King of Pop died today at 11:40 pm Norwegian time. The Los Angeles Times reportedly wrote that Jackson didn’t breathe when medical staff arrived his house. He evidently received CPR in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and later fell into a coma. This news was first reported by TMZ, then quoted by Reuters via The Washington Post. This article writes that the cause of death is still unknown. He died at the age of 50.

Since five minutes ago I began to receive text-messages bearing the earth shattering news. Because, like Lady C said: "I thought he’d live forever." And me too.

Since the first time I heard Smooth Criminal from the Bad album I was sold, and I spent some of my early teenage years defending his great music when the world turned its back on him due to the lawsuits and allegations, and all of his great work was shunned as ‘uncool’. Although genius prevails in the world of music and art, the man was lost in the battle. Albeit acquitted from all charges in 2005 I still read hateful comments on the different news sites, just underlining the message Michael tried time and time again to get across. Every person deserves to be loved, even though they are a bit different.

What’s funny is that the same cool people slagging him off were the next ones to use his beats in their music. Hip-hop, RnB as well as mainstream pop music all bear significant markings of the King of Pop, a title his legacy justifies. Not to mention that he managed all the stages of musical creation from the beginning to the finished product, the tell-tale sign of a genius, if you ask me.

It is a bit rushed to publish this post as of right now, because all the news agencies seem to quote the same source, creating a vacuum in the press. Fox News just said he was in a coma, but the article didn’t say when it was last updated, while Wikipedia’s article is marked with the "about a person who has recently died" tag. For the time being I’ll assume that these news are true.

Michael Joseph Jackson, I have revered your music and your talent since childhood. I take my hat off to you! You were never alone, and will be sorely missed. Truly the King of Pop above all else. Rest in peace.

Edit 26th of June 2009:
It was confirmed half past midnight Norwegian time that the King of Pop has left us. He got full front pages in Norwegian newspapers today, a lot of airtime across the radio spectre, and millions of tweets around the world. If you live in Oslo, Norway, please consider teaming up with the MJOAI website that announced a commemorative event in Youngstorget at three o’clock (15:00) on Saturday 27th, to honor the musician, genius and human being Michael Jackson. Sadly I’m vacating up north until Monday evening so you won’t find me there.