Michael’s childhood was taken away by his father in an effort to build the Jackson Brand in the 1960’s. Many of us on the outside only wish we had someone that pushed us as hard as a Joe Jackson, Mathew Knowles or Richard Williams. Most of the Jacksons appreciate what was done in those days and I believe to a certain degree Michael did too, but he would spend the larger part of his life trying to make up for it. He resented Joe Jackson. When he first started doing plastic surgery on his face he said that he saw his father’s features beginning to show and he didn’t want them. He didn’t want to resemble the man that made him into a cultural icon. He didn’t want the hair on his face, the afro, the nose, the skin color of the man that he had grown to resent. Even more, he wanted his childhood back. He had missed out on a lot of the activities that most children do and take for granted. He would spend a majority of his adult life trying to get it back.

Most of the rest of us hear these things and think Michael Jackson must have been crazy. He wasn’t crazy. His life was on a larger scale than ours and he was just like each of us that have things we wish we could change or would like to change about ourselves. The difference is, he had the money to try to do something about it and he did. Maybe it didn’t work the way he had dreamed or planned, but he tried, over and over again to correct his mistakes and that’s what gave us the Michael Joe Jackson of the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

There will always be those that will attempt to throw these various things into the equation when discussing Michael Jackson. The bottom line though is there will never be another Michael. He set the bar so high that it’s doubtful if we will ever see his records broken. Other greats like Michael Jordon, Wilt Chamberlain, The Beatles and others who have done outstanding things see their records threatened all the time. But no one will ever sell 27 million albums again, especially with the internet and file sharing. That record was set in the 80’s though and no one had come near it even before file sharing became popular.  We’ve also not seen nor will we in a longtime, an artist that generates so much interest worldwide that their videos become a national event. At one point, when Michael released videos, there would be such a buzz for weeks and everyone would anticipate and watch the new Michael Jackson video the day and time that it debuted.   He generated that type of buzz on, “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Remember the Time,” “Black or White,” and “Smooth Criminal.” The next day at school and work across the nation that would be the hot topic of the day. If we ever see that again it will be a long time from now. Also, for the record, the death of Michael Jackson is like no other. I have heard commentators saying, “This is like Elvis or this is like when John Lennon passed.” No. This is like Michael Jackson. No disrespect to any other artist.  As much as Elvis was loved, he was only a huge star for around 15 years of his life. Michael had top ten hits for 5 decades straight. He owned the 1980’s. So for now, forget comparisons. From here out, Michael will be the comparison.