SUPRMAN said:

Prince has gotten some marathons on VH1 already so if that is your unit of measure...

I know for a fact there will be a massive migration of Maggots when George Clinton passes. We have talked about it for years at all the shows.

candy2277 said:

this may be the case with mainstream media but speaking from the black community point of view we dont care about the cameras and reporters, all you had to do was go to the appollo after he died, people was out there all week singing,dancing,crying...most people felt they lost a family member. nobody will ever get this kinda attention for the simple fact nobody has ever touched this mamy generations of people from all over the world.i think for most people its been about his music and the memories,only people care about the other stuff is the media.

SUPRMAN said:

sorry but where im from nobody would make a big deal over madonna

jiorjios said:

Must I even say her name??? Lol BEYONCE of course!

While dying young plays a huge part of the mass grief, I feel that probably Cosby would probably get the greatest public outpouring of grief. He was a dad/grandfather figure to multiple generations and shook up the world in many powerful yet subtle ways.

As far as musicians, it is hard to call. I think Bono would elicit a more subdued public grief, much like John Lennon passing. Elvis' and Michael's fans were/are not of the restrained or understated variety.

With Michael and Elvis there is the perfect storm of grief. Both were on the verge of tours that in many ways could be viewed as comeback tours (Michael from 6 years of exile and tabloid headlines, Elvis from the recently released tell all book by his former friends and bodyguards and both died under suspicious conditions.More importantly both had a very large and outspoken fan base.

I don't know of anyone in entertainment who will have the mass outpouring of grief because I don't think the person has appeared on the scene yet. One of the tributes paid to both Elvis and Michael is that an entertainer of their stature only comes along once in a lifetime...and I honestly don't know who that person is right now.
[Edited 7/13/09 11:01am]

lowkey said:

where's that? Jupiter? it's going to be a big deal there too, trust me.

Timmy84 said:

Dude , Mj was the last one ,was the biggest one and the only one.

Im saying this becuase I live outside the USA and I know his infulence, you see people who doesn't know a heck about english humming his songs , dance like him,and sing like him , its mindblowing., even people in refugees know him name, its just unbelievable, Im saying this from experience.

American will never have an artist like MJ again, Its over , His popularity has crossed every continent possible, he is known everywhere, if they kept producing artists everyday they will never get someone like him.

seeingvoices12 said:

But Michael was one of the ONLY artists to do that. HOW many artists you know BESIDES him that attracts that much attention for...anything? I'm waiting.

Not trying to be "delusional" but how can you say "last" when Michael was probably the only dude who conquered the world the way he did? Come on now!
[Edited 7/13/09 13:34pm]

- No one else will have a reaction as big as Michael's
[Edited 7/13/09 13:41pm]

Timmy84 said:

when I said "last",Notice that I didn't include any other fellow artists ,I didn't compare him to any other artists becuase No one crossed barriers like him, No one knows a heck about elvis or the beatles here ..LOL...do you get the point?

Last means : The last International famous character who's known around the globe...every corner of earth.

Madonna is very famous, but no even close to MJ.

seeingvoices12 said:

And I said "only". Last means you're the last of a brand, so maybe after Disney, Coca-Cola...and Elvis. Is that what you mean?
[Edited 7/13/09 13:42pm]

Timmy84 said:

Most International thing you could imagine : characters, singers, actors....etc.

There was a time when MJ was the only westren singer people know ( I mean outside of the USA),despite My love for the iconic "elvis", his popularity didn't reach to many many continents , Mj was the only one who achieved that...Fact.

I don't want to turn this into MJ vs elvis thread Timmy

seeingvoices12 said:

Both MJ and Elvis are brands, who said I was turning it into a versus thread. But I agreed MJ was bigger, what part of "only artist to do it" did you NOT understand?

Timmy84 said:

GOD , I quoted your post But i didn't hint in anyway that i was disagreeing with you, I just enchanced what you said,wake up timmy

seeingvoices12 said:

The response did sound like you were "disagreeing". But my apologies.

Timmy84 said:

If there was an evil rolleyes emoticon I would have posted it

It ok dude , smell some coffee
[Edited 7/13/09 14:05pm]

seeingvoices12 said:

Uh...

Timmy84 said:

seeingvoices12 said:

Me and you need to stop having these weird conversations.

Timmy84 said:

lol it was fun:lol:

It depends on how they die. If Tupac & Kurt Cobain died of old age I doubt the reactions would have been the same.

Michael Jackson would have gotten a lot of attention anyway, but not nearly the same as with his unexpected and early death.

None will get nearly the coverage MJ has gotten, but some will be "bigger" than others:

Prince
Madonna
Prince
Stevie Wonder
Barbra Streisand
Bill Cosby
Bowie
Dylan
Bono or the Edge
Mick Jagger
Ali
Maybe Michael Jordan
Oprah
Elton John
Whitney
Springsteen
Maybe Jerry Lewis

Of course, a dynamic or particularly tragic story around the death could bring spotlight to a host of other celebs.

Personally, I think the only celeb deaths that would leave me in a big mess are Prince's or Joni Mitchell's.
[Edited 7/14/09 9:36am]

Michael has no one to fill his shoes point blank. If anyone gets media surrounding their death like this... it will be someone that none of us can guess. It will be a total surprise. But that's part of it. Michael's death was a total surprise. I would also guess that the next one will be from a seperate arena from pop music.

I am a huge fan of Elvis and MJ and feel it is time to add a little insight into just how deeply felt and widely acknowledged Elvis' passing really was. I keep reading posts stating that Elvis was only big in the US. This just isn't true. When he died there were vigils on every continent. Elvis sold between 10 and 20 million records the week he died. Billboard and RCA both released figures stating that Elvis' records sales accounted for 1 in 5 of all record sales for the year.There wasn't soundscan, electronic tracking or internet sales to keep an accurate tally of his sales.

And Elvis' passing was grieved around the world making headlines all around the globe including Japan, China, Russia, throughout Africa.

I don't want to labor over this point, as I am still dealing with the loss of Michael myself, and don't want to linger on the Elvis' death as well. I was 11 when Elvis died and I can tell you only two things were in the media that year, Elvis and Star Wars. Keep in mind there were only three networks and no Entertainment tonight type shows.


I can't help but wonder why it is so critical to downplay the impact of Elvis' achievements or death to celebrate Michael's legacy.

kalelvisj said:

I am from Cyprus in Europe (not exactly the center of the world). Here Michael Jackson's passing was big on television in a gossipy kind of way, the bars and clubs were playing only Michael Jackson for a day or two. I am not sure if his albums' sales increased here but I guess they were as I have friends who didn't know Dirty Diana or the Off The Wall album and went and bought MJ albums. And he was always big here, I remember as a kid everyone going out of their way to buy the Bad cassette and then again with Dangerous. However I know from my parents that Elvis Presley and John Lennon's passing were even bigger events. My dad told me that when Lennon died some people were actually crying (I didn't see that with MJ here) and he heard the same about Elvis. So yes their deaths were a big deal outside the US.
I used to own Thriller on LP (still got it) and Bad and Dangerous on tape (I don't). After MJ death I was thinking about re-buying them but those songs are so well known that I just don't want them. When Aaliyah died I bought all her cds (I had only one previously). This time I can't bring myself to do it.
[Edited 7/14/09 1:14am]

I am so distraught over all the musical legends we have lost in the past 10 years....

Roger Troutman
Luther Vandross
Rick James
Barry White
Isaac Hayes
Michael Jackson


That list seems unreal to me! I grew up on their music.

Timmy84 said:

Ok

lowkey said:

Yeah,I think it's a stretch to say that Michael is getting all this coverage strictly because of his scandals and (supposedly bizarre) lifestyle.I was pleasantly surprised at all the positive coverage/attention he received for his musical accomplishments.It's a nice change of pace from all the negative coverage he received during the past 10 years or so.On the magazine racks,virtually every major magazine has a tribute issue devoted to Michael.The video channels devoted non-stop marathons of his music videos.His memorial service was shown on numerous networks,as if he was a former US president,lol.Of course,the tabloid-ish type shows are always gonna dwell on the negative bullshit but it doesn't matter.The rest of the world seems to have finally given Michael the respect and love that he craved so much when he was alive.