Michael Jackson Case

Unfortunately on June 25, the world suffered the loss of the greatest Pop Icon of all time. We lost Michael Jackson. It is a blow that is hard to withstand.

The artist born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana started out in the Jackson Five (on Motown) with his brothers and from that point grew into something so large and so great that it hard to even do his accomplishments justice by simply listing them off.

He was known for many things during his lifetime. From his childhood stardom to his breaking many racial barriers in the music business, most album sales ever by any artist, court allegations and comebacks; his influence on Pop culture is undeniable.

Upon the news of his death many gathered outside the UCLA hospital, the Apollo theatre and even his old home in Indiana to show their respect. Celebrity sentiments started pouring into news stations. Madonna told sources, "His music will live on forever."

As it will.

Although he is no longer with us, he was and still is the heartbeat of our music today.

There is not an artist out there who will deny some sort of influence or inspiration from him.

He broke down racial barriers when MTV and others were taking heat for not playing any music videos from African American artists. He had an original sound that was a mesh of R&B and rock that listeners worldwide fell in love with. His Motown Anniversary performance was a true testament to his exquisite performing and dance abilities that are commonly imitated by artists like Usher and 'Nsync, but are never duplicated. Nobody has been able to touch the degree of precision that Michael Jackson had.

Just the initial reaction of everyone around us was one of the greatest indications of how many people he truly touched.

"We don't care about Rihanna or Chris Brown or beef between rappers. This is about Michael Jackson," explained a host of the local Florida A&M station.

Michael Jackson's music was positive, uplifting and had love infused in it. So much so that if one went anywhere in the world and mentioned his name, someone would know who he was and know one of his songs and a dance to go with it.

Wasn't it just last year when hundreds of prisoners took YouTube by storm by doing their rendition of the "Thriller" dance? What other artist can a grandmother, mother and daughter all relate to and know distinctly from his different sounds and images over the years?

My Mom had a poster of Michael Jackson in her dorm room when she was my age and I also listened to him growing up. If you are five, forty, eighty or even one hundred, you can listen to any Michael Jackson song without any problem. In a time where artists fill their songs with negativity, hate and depend on hype to survive to another album, it is hard to see