Not a fan here either, but my goodness -- why couldn't the press just give him a little room to breathe?? He had talent to spare, but was he ever really happy? 50 is way to young, so sad.

The media chokes the life right out of whoever is in the headlines nowadays. It's really unfortunate. They're like vultures.

He was an amazing musician...I just showed my younger kids the Black
or White video....great stuff!!!!!

I liked his Thriller type songs and such way back when, they were good to do housework to. It's too bad his life took such a strange turn later on ... that will be the focus in the coming weeks and months, you can be sure of that. Seems like lots of people younger than me are dying. In our local obits there are many of them in their 40s it seems.

I showed my DD18 Billy Jeans' Best Moon Walk Ever from youtube (the first link, above). He asked, "Is that somebody famous?" He knows who Michael Jackson is, but didn't even realize that was him.

My kids are so young!

~ Faith

I am waiting on that autopsy results.

It is a crying shame that a talented, popular and rich person would make the choices Michael Jackson made, behavior and healthwise.

It appears to me he destroyed his health. And if he had a prolonged QT event, because of his medication use/overuse, then that lesson serves for many people beyond his talent and popularity.

While I like his Thriller album and purchased it back then, I did not like his newer work at all.

I showed my dd10 the black or white video....she asked me"Mom, if it
doesnt matter if you are black or white, why did Michael make his
skin white? good question, he was a handsome young man before he
did all that.

It will be interesting to hear the results of the autopsy they are doing today.

He was diagnosed in 1986 with vitiligo (skin condition) and lupus. Lupus was in remission in his case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo

I think he did. I remember reading somewhere that he had the affliction where large patches of skin lose pigmentation.

There's been lots of talk about his declining health and the fact that he weighed less than 120 pounds. I wasn't aware that he was in bad health but he's always been thin.

Yes, I agree ...he was very attractive when he made the Thriller video. I remember when that came on MTV...a huge premier.

My son was about 3-4 yrs old and I wouldn't let him watch it.
But I did let him sit in the next room and we'd turn up the music, so he could hear it.
And I bought the tape for my car (no CDs then) so he could listen.
You know...he never let me forget that I censored the video back then! I thought it was pretty scarey for a 3-4 yr old.

In regards to the vitiligo aspects...I'll let others come to their own viewpoint. Suffice it to say, in my area there is a newscaster who has this. He is also African American, and he has made a couple of public videos on how he handles the problem (his face is half and half). He uses make up to even out the skin tones of his natural skin tone. He does NOT go lighter. I think the reasons Michael Jackson did what he did, are deep and the general public is not privy to them. I think he was a very troubled man in terrible pain. (physical and emotional)