52 Years of Michael Jackson: a Tribute
by This article is a retrospective of pop phenom Michael Jackson on the one year anniversary of his passing. It takes a look at his musical genius, his life and his legacy.
Although it is hard to believe, it has been a year since we lost pop phenom Michael Jackson. Like millions of others around the world, I am deeply saddened and still somewhat in shock regarding his passing. It seems almost unbelievable that such a popular musical genius who was so full of life and so energetic, would meet his untimely demise just shy of his 51st Birthday. I am astonished that he is gone, and yet he is.
Like other ‘baby-boomers’, I grew up loving Michael Jackson and his brothers, better known as the ‘Jackson 5’. Along with Michael, the J5 consisted of brothers Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon. During my teen years, the music of the J5 dominated the air waves. Memories of some of their early tunes such as, ‘I’ll Be There’, ‘ABC’, ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ The Love You Save’, ‘I Wanna Be Where You Are’, ‘Never Can Say Good-bye’, ‘Mama I Think I’ve Found That Girl’, and ‘Looking Through the Windows’, will leave an eternally pleasurable impact on my life.
Later, during my college years, I was further impressed by such J5 tunes as, ‘With a Child’s Heart’, ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, ‘Whose Loving You’, ‘I Am Love’, ‘Let Me Show You the Way to Go’, ‘Corner of the Sky’, and the list goes on.
I was blessed to attend two J5 concerts, one in 1972, following my high school graduation, and the other in 1973. All the girls in the audience, including me and my friends, were screaming! It was a very exciting time, and one I will never forget. I remember my cousin teasing me about my undeniable crush on Jermaine (he was probably a little jealous), while his younger sister was hooked on Marlon. But of course we all really loved Michael, who sang lead on most of their songs, sometimes alternating with Jermaine on lead vocals.
That was just the beginning. In his latter years, Michael had many, many hits from which he earned several million dollars. Such hits as ‘Thriller’, ‘Bad’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Rock with You’, ‘Free Willie’, ‘Ben’, ‘You Are Not Alone’, ‘Human Nature’, ‘The Lady in My Life’, and ‘Remember the Time’, increased Michael’s popularity abroad.
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