If you listen to Jackson's music -- Thriller, Billy Jean, Man in the Mirror, Beat It -- you can't help but know this is a great talent. When you listen to his music AND watch him perform, you know you're witnessing one of the greatest performers of all time. But Michael got more and more bizarre, altering his appearance, increasingly eccentric, and eerily "unhuman". As the song goes..."What's behind the facade?"
I feel sorry for Michael. His celebrity lasted almost his entire lifetime, devoid of any normalcy. Like so many before him with great talent and celebrity -- Mozart, Monroe, Cobain, Garland, Presley -- fame and fortune become too much to handle. The dark side of the music business is dark indeed and a public persona as big as Michael's is a difficult thing to sustain when you're simply human.
None of us can imagine living a life like his. Rather than being judgmental, I'm just going to admire the man for his contribution to the arts, to the evolution of popular music, and for persevering despite near impossible odds. While his death is sadly predictable, it is no less tragic.
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