In light of the fact that I've just received my first misdemeanor for flaming the King of Pop immediately following his passing, I should probably clear this up:
I wasn't around during the height of his career when he released all the classics we listen to today without knowing of their origin or to which artist we owe the pleasure to.
Therefore, the most distinguishing feature of his life to me became the charges of child molestation placed upon him and the resulting media circus surrounding it.
I was mostly indifferent to his death until I saw an ABC special chronicling his life that night. I developed a greater appreciation for his talents and, at least, for the glory days of his career. I even somewhat empathized with him, odd as he was both physically and mentally, for his description of how badly he had been victimized by the media- an experience not at all uncommon among celebrities today.
For the past few days, almost every channel on the airwaves (or DTV digital stream, however it works) has been airing his music videos, and seeing so many of them, I wish I'd known of and appreciated more of his achivements, while he was live, rather than the occasional shortcoming.
You will be missed. R.I.P King Of Pop.
