The worldwide wave of grief that has greeted the news of the untimely death of pop star Michael Jackson is as extraordinary as was the man himself. News bulletins globally have been dominated by reports first of his death and then of the preliminary results of his autopsy, which will not be completed until toxicology tests are finished in maybe six weeks.
In cities around the world from Los Angeles, to Paris, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney and Johannesburg, stunned fans gathered in vigils and sang his music. TV networks in many countries cleared their schedules to broadcast tribute programs to the dead star. The Internet slowed to a crawl and the Twitter site actually crashed, as fans searched out the latest news, exchanged messages and made millions of commercial downloads of Jackson songs. Even politicians found time out to express their deep regret at Jackson’s passing.
Though the man’s music was not to everyone’s taste, it is clear his impact as a performer on other pop stars and indeed on the intensely productive Indian dream machine of Bollywood films has been profound. And millions of fans around the world feel bereft at his passing.
Some of the comments from those in the music industry are clearly hyperbolic. His music is unlikely to live forever, as fellow star Madonna has claimed. The DVDs of his concerts and the recordings will doubtless remain available for many years to come but the essence of Jackson was in his live performances, the effect of which can never be truly captured on film. Those who saw him live on stage testify to the electric effect of his presence. That this troubled and deeply eccentric performer should have won such worldwide adulation from millions is at one and the same time both heartening and to some people, worrying. The world’s first black superstar — even though he sought cosmetically to change his skin color and features — demonstrated the unifying power of music in a world that is still far too short of unity. Yet it has been said that the way in which so many young people came to revere this single performer and then treat his death as a catastrophic loss suggests a lack of spiritual and emotional focus elsewhere in their lives. In every generation, young people seek to define themselves by reacting against some of the values of their parents’ age group. From that differentiation emerges mature young adults, settling down to work and building a family of their own.
Yet with Jackson’s death has come a closer focus on the words of his songs rather than on all the glitz with which they were delivered. And these words often demonstrate the aspirational and inspiring nature of this unique talent, which so appeals to the young. The lyrics of his “Earth Song” are perhaps the most powerful, because they treat the failure of the older generation to honor its promises to end destruction and bloodshed. Hopefully, those young people who mourn Michael Jackson today will commit themselves to bettering the world tomorrow.
