Goodbye to a legend — RIP Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

By now, I’m sure all of you have heard about the passing of The King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I was completely SHOCKED when I heard the news this afternoon and I’ve been watching new coverage about it ever since. At first, I didn’t want to believe it because CNN was reporting that he was only in a coma and not dead. But, then the LA Times reported that he’d died and all of the other news services reported the same thing. I’m still stunned by the news and haven’t been able to look away from the news coverage for hours.

As a tribute to MJ, I’ve decided to post a couple of my favorite YouTube clips of his performances. I know that this post isn’t related to business school, consulting, careers, or any of the other things that I usually write about and it’s probably pretty daggone unprofessional too…but, it’s my site, so I’m going to give that man a shout out if I want to 🙂

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This first clip is of the Jackson 5 performing “Maybe Tomorrow”, which is my all-time favorite song by the group. There’s something about the words of the song combined with Little Michael’s voice that has always made this song a winner in my book. Also, this is how I like to best remember MJ because it was before all of the stories, rumors, and other events that affected the way people saw him later in his life. He was just an innocent kid singing along with his brothers and making people happy.





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This next clip is from a show during his HIStory tour, where he performed a medley of songs from his “Off the Wall” album. Anyone who has seen MJ perform on stage knows that he’s one of the GREATEST performers ever. I especially love this clip because “Off the Wall” is one of my top-five favorite albums of all time. Enjoy!





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Whew! Maaaaaaaaan, I’m sitting here right now in shock watching the MTV tribute to Michael Jackson and still can’t believe that he’s gone. I have so many memories from my childhood of enjoying his music that I actually felt like I knew him. I can still remember doing the moonwalk and owning one of those Michael Jackson “Beat It” dolls as a little kid. I’d like to send him a big shout out for creating music that was such a big part of so many people’s lives, including my own. I know that many people will call him a weirdo, a drug addict, a molester, or any other number of terrible things, but, even if they think that, they can’t deny that the man was a musical genius.

My mother has always said that MJ was just a sad person trying to find happiness…I hope he can finally find some peace now that he’s moved on to a better place. See you at the crossroads, Mike…Rest in peace.