Salon.com has page collecting reactions to the death of the King of Pop from around the world. Here are a few that hit me especially hard:
- Madonna: “I can’t stop crying over the sad news. . . I have always admired Michael Jackson…The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever! My heart goes out to his three children and other members of his family. . . God bless.”
- Usher: “May God cover you Michael. We all lift your name up in prayer. I pray for the entire Jackson family particularly Michael’s mother, children and all his fans that loved him so much. I would not be the artist, performer, and philanthropist I am today without the influence of Michael.”
- Justin Timberlake: “We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music but of all music…He has been an inspiration to multiple generations, and I will always cherish the moments I shared with him on stage and all of the things I learned about music from him and the time we spent together. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones.”
- Steven Spielberg: “Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, there will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson. His talent, his wonderment and his mystery make him legend.”
- Lisa Marie Presley: “I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”
- Cher: ”I am having a million reactions…When I think of him, I think of this young boy, this teenager I first met … He was a great teenager, optimistic and adorable.”
- Paul McCartney: “It’s so sad and shocking…I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.”
- Steven Spielberg: “Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, there will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson. His talent, his wonderment and his mystery make him legend.”
- Lisa Marie Presley: “I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children, who I know were everything to him, and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”
- Beyonce: ”He was magic…He was what we all strive to be. He will always be the King of Pop!”
- Whitney Houston: ”I am full of grief.”
- Quincy Jones: ”I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news…I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”
- Jamie Foxx: “I hope he is remembered for the brilliance of his music and not for the circus sideshow his life had become.”
- Brooke Shields: “My heart is overcome with sadness for the devastating loss of my true friend Michael. He was an extraordinary friend, artist and contributor to the world. I join his family and his fans in celebrating his incredible life and mourning his untimely passing.”
- Martin Scorcese: “Michael Jackson was extraordinary. When we worked together on Bad, I was in awe of his absolute mastery of movement on the one hand, and of the music on the other. Every step he took was absolutely precise and fluid at the same time. It was like watching quicksilver in motion.”
- Imelda Marcos: “Michael Jackson enriched our lives, made us happy…The accusations, the persecution caused him so much financial and mental anguish. He was vindicated in court, but the battle took his life. There is probably a lesson here for all of us.”
- Jermaine Jackson: ”May our love be with you always.”
- John Legend: “As a child of the ’80s, I feel as though his music and his videos have been an inseparable part of my life and that of an entire generation,” he said. “And the powerful thing about great music is that it will always live on. He was and always will be an icon.”
19 Responses for "Peers react to Michael Jackson’s passing"
Jamie Foxx said it best:
“I hope he is remembered for the brilliance of his music and not for the circus sideshow his life had become.”
I spent the night watching MTV replay his videos. His life did take a strange turn there somewhere in the mid 80s but gosh darn it if his music wasn’t great.
That Spielberg statement is interesting, since he tried and failed to get a PETER PAN picture produced in the 80s with Jackson. That project later mutated into HOOK.
Everyone I spoke to last night about this all had the same thing to say, which is odd…
we all seemed to think that he was not a person who was going to live to be an old man – but we were still just as shocked that he left so suddenly…there was a huge turn out in Toronto where people sat in vigil, but it appeared to me (I watched it on the news) that people’s celebration of his music and his contributions to pop that overtook the sadness of his untimely passing.
I must admit – i had jackson 5 music on heavy rotation this morning on my way to work….
He was most certainly a tragic figure. He didn’t have a childhood, was lonely for the majority of his life, and went from superstardom to public freak. Michael Jackson’s life was certainly something out of a greek tragedy.
But the one thing I’ll always remember is his music, particularly from the days of “Thriller” and “Billie Jean”. Cause even if he might have been a pederast, that boy sure could moonwalk.
It’s kind of a cliche, but the king is dead. Long live the king.
i wana cry… the day the music died..
so sad.
I believe that MJ’s life was cut short because of child abuse that led to prescription drug abuse. I got to work as a rehearsal backup dancer on Smooth Criminal, so that is my favorite. Being in MJ’s presence, watching his mastery, experiencing his energy and having the chance to move with the one of the greatest dancers and entertainers of all time, was a moment in time that I will never forget. He truly was a magical human being. Hopefully, the world will remember him for all of the good that he did, through his talent, entertainment and love of humanity. It is also my hope that his death will shed some light on how child and prescription drug abuse affects society and that new protections and laws will result.
Poor Quincy Jones, Lisa Marie, and Jermaine. This must be heartbreaking for them.
Watching him on television and impersonating his dance moves while listening and singing his songs. I felt like I was his junior. I remember my dad gave me Thriller for my 7th Birthday. It was my first popular music album. I totally stopped listening to little children’s music after that. I fell in love with Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean and Human Nature.
Having worked at Motwn for 27 years, I came in contact with Michael and his family, and I want to tell everyone how kind and gentle he was.
I remember at the Motown 25th after party, after he had wowed the audience with “Billy Jean”, I asked to take a picture with him, but my date’s camera had run out of pictures, so he turned around innocently asking anyone in sight “does anyone have a camera?” in a pleading tone. But no one did-so I missed out that one. But I will never forget his graciousness.
Nick K.
“Cause even if he might have been a pederast, that boy sure could moonwalk.”
Unbelievable!! You giveth and you taketh away. Whatever your PERSONAL opinions, the world of music has lost a legend. Just leave that shit out when you try to honour someone.
Woah, Eddee, relax! I said “might”, not “was”. I meant no disrespect to Michael Jackson whatsoever. But even though he died (and quite tragically, I might add), I’m not gonna ignore the bad stuff. We all have good and bad stuff in our life. If we focus too much on just one aspect, it’ll be too extreme a view of a human being. And let’s face it, Jackson certainly wasn’t the model of perfection. Then again, who is?
If you want a bone to pick, check for all the douche bags on RottenTomatoes. Those guys are real assholes and deserve a proper scolding.
He integrated MTV, co-wrote We are the World, touched the lives of every single artist named on this site (you could trace the 1 or 2 degrees of separation when it comes to projects like, say, Three Kings, that at least mention him), reinvented pop music, was known and loved in the farthest reaches of the globe, got white kids moonwalking which led them to breakdancing which led to these kids loving pre-NWA hip-hop before their parents knew what the heck happened, was a better singer than 80% of famous musicians, a better songwriter than 90% of them, and a better dancer than 99% of them.
Having said that, reading this OP makes me sad that no celeb said, as people say of serial killers, “He was really normal when you got to know him – we could spend a half-hour just talking about nothing, he was cool.” No, they don’t say things like that about Michael. If only they could have, maybe he’d still be here.
Says a lot when Imelda Marcos gets a plug here…even scum-bag, expoitive infamous celebtities are star-fuckers…the world continues to rot to its core…..praise to the jesus-pedophile…..christianity certainly comes in handy for the detris…yahhhhhh!
As a child I remember going to school and being so excited about watching Michael Jackson on the music awards, it would be the talk of the day.
You couldn’t find a person outside when you knew Michael Jackson was going to perform, everyone so excited…
In most African American homes there wasn’t much family time and quality time spent together. Rarely did we watch television together but when the awards came on and we knew Michael Jackson was going to perform. Everyone in the whole house would gather around the television waiting for Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson has touched so many of our lives in ways he couldn’t have imagined. He brought families together if it was only for a little while. We watched Michael as a family.
I thank him so much for his music, dancing and entertainment. There will NEVER be another Michael Jackson.
I am a 44 year old single mother of a wonderful 13 year old son (Shannon) and I am so blessed that he was able to watch and enjoy the Michael Jackson that we all love….
Michael and his family will stay in our prayers and heart forever. May God bless him with peace, Michael you are an angel…….Good Nite Michael….Love you, Berneta Moore
Michael Jackson was gifted with a wonderful voice, he was capable to make us feel the rythym he had inside of him. I was in shock when I heard the news last week. I couldn´t believe my ears. It was not possible he´s dead. I wonder how many songs he could have written. How many differente ways of dancing he could have invented. It doesn´t matter right now.
One of his first most remarkable songs says “Don´t stop ´till you get enough”, because for Michael never was enough. He wanted to be the only one. That´s why he worked very hard the rehearsals, as perfect as he could. He did everything for us, his fans. We wanted to
see the best Michael on stage, and he knew that.
His effort to show us he had no changed, he had not get old, he was the same Michael we ´ve seen years ago, had an unexpected final.
The final courtain has fall down, but MICHAEL JACKSON, the black man
with a white soul and a child´s heart will never be forgotten. He will always be the KING OF POP. God bless you forever.
MJ the master musician genius left us 20 years ago. That’s the MJ I will remember. Once he transformed into his alter ego, I lost interest and couldn’t watch him. The younger MJ was a master videographer and songwriter. Time and the music industry passed him by.
Yep, Jamie said it best. But you know, once he crossed that line there was no turning back. Whenever I see pics of MJ, I cringe at the older MJ and smile at the younger cuter MJ.
I am personally sick of this Michael Jacksom media shitstorm which has bombarded the world. I wish people paid this much attention to the Southern Sudanese Christians who are being massacred everyday by Northern Sudanese Arabs in their quest to subjugate the Bantu populace (and indigenes of the land) and islamize the entire country.
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