In the same vein as Elvis and James Brown, he ushered in a new thing. It was all his and he wrote and performed it with a style and power that belied his small body and gentle ways. I think he became a freak of nature late in life, and was misinterpreted. I think, in large part, he was a child that was never allowed to grow up. So much the better for his craft and his bold expressions.

I remember sitting in a living room in Tennessee around 1970 listening to "ABC" and "Rockin' Robin" by the Jackson Five. All of us knew it then - that little Michael was going to be something if he could survive it all. Stevie Wonder did it, and we all know how brilliant he was and is. Michael went his own way, too. Did his own thing, and helped to bring Black music into the mainstream. 750,000,000 records worth, at least.

You were weird, Jackson, and sometimes hard to understand. But one thing is unalterably true: you changed the landscape of music and inspired kids of all colors. I'm sorry you passed so ingloriously. Hopefully, it will be the power of your musical legacy that will survive you.

RIP.

And with him, Farrah Fawcett - founding member of a generation's spank-bank. She, too, offered a complicated and not always sympathetic story. If Michael fell over dead, that's a blessing. Farrah wasted away.

Given my 'drothers', I'd rather go the way of Michael. Demerol and all.