A Tribute to MJ

Lately my Pandora station has consisted mostly of older songs from Jackson 5 and yes, MJ himself (from later in his career).  With that being said I know its been quite a while since his death, but it's never to late to pay tribute to Micheal Jackson and his history of pop music , being the "King of Pop", and his incredible dance moves that will forever exist in our hearts. What an inspirational soul to put hi idea of music and reputation on the line for what he is truly passionate about, now that's what I call inspiring. Many of us have our own ideas of what we do and don't believe in, but I am willing to bet that many of us wouldn't be willing to risk our reputations, from childhood on, in front of the world. What's even more fascinating is that people instantly fell in love, How many children do you find willing to just sing and dance anywhere in front of anyone, not to many I would say.  Thanks to MJ our idea of music has been shaped to a different generation, just like Elvis, and that we have the musical experiences that exist today.

While the meaning of this post was to pay tribute, it wouldn't fit the description of "Beyond the Lights" without a little background history on the legend himself. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary Indiana. "He was the eighth of ten children in an African-American working-class family who lived in a two-bedroom house in Gary, an industrial city and a part of the Chicago metropolitan area" (Wikipedia).His mother was Katherine Esther Scruse, a devout Jehovah's Witness. While once aspiring to be a country and western performer who played clarinet and piano, she ended up  working  part-time at Sears to help support the family.  His father was Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, who was a former boxer, a steelworker at U.S. Steel. and also performed on guitar with a local R&B band called The Falcons to supplement the family's household income. Michael also grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy). A sixth brother, Marlon's elder twin Brandon, died shortly after birth.

As most of us know, Micheal stared his career as a part of the Jackson five, a band made up of him and his four other brothers. Micheal and Joe never had a good relationship, in fact Joe would often punish Micheal with harsh punishments such as abuse. No matter what Joe said though the rest of the world quickly fell in love with Micheal, and he soon grew as an inspiration and a legend.

Later in his career Micheal went on as a solo act and continued to achieve many goals, awards, and hearts of people all around the globe. It was the night before his promised big 50 year tour on June 25th, 2009, in his rented mansion in Los Angeles ( due to a medical overdose). Although he is gone he still is remembered and alive in the hearts of his fans, and will forever remain a mark in musical history.