The MJ Post

You knew it was coming.

Thriller was an amazing album, leading to seven astounding hits, "The Girl Is Mine" (#2), "Billie Jean" (#1), "Beat It" (#1), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (#5), "Human Nature" (#7), "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (#10) and, of course, "Thriller" (#4). It won eight Grammy awards and seven American Music Awards, topping the charts for 9 months and remaining in the Billboard album standings for more than 2 years. Worldwide, Thriller has sold 51 million copies.

The man knew how to put on a show and to energize every single one of his performances, and if you need convincing, simply watch the video from his 1983 performance of Billie Jean (where he debuted the moonwalk) here. He was no doubt the King of Pop, the creator of so many ingenious musical, film and dance innovations and it is truly sad to see him go at such a young age. Michael, you will be remembered and missed.

Thriller [mp3] (iTunes)

Links of Note:

Minneapolis's City Hall Bell Tower adapted five of Michael Jackson's songs for the bells and rang them in tribute.

check out a candid post about MJ's death on Lisa Marie Presley's myspace.

Best Week Ever has a "Reliving 20 of MJ's Greatest Hit Songs" post and a top "50 photos of MJ and Famous Friends" post.

Buzzfeed has a compilation of Newspaper Covers From Around the World that feature Michael's passing.

A concept map of how Michael Jackson influenced other songs/musicians.

Hype Machine is, obviously, being overloaded with blogs sharing mp3s of Michael's songs and various covers.

and if you really want to make yourself depressed, the 911 call has been released.


Also, let us not forget the passing of legendary Farrah Fawcett. If you ever managed to catch the documentary capturing her staggering attitude and strength during her battle with cancer, you probably felt the same sting of sadness that I did upon hearing of her loss.