I was listening to the WBSS demo on the "This Is It" companion cd, and had these images of MJ dancing, and it suddenly hit me like a flash of light, "He is dead."

With that being said, did any fans of those stars that have been lit out too soon ever adjust? Marvin fans? Elvis fans? Lennon fans? Michael Hutchence fans? Kurt Cobain fans? I realize with someone like Sinatra it might be different because he was older, and to some extent it wasn't a random shock like Elvis, Lennon, Marvin and now MJ.

Does it ever fully "sink" in or will it always continue to have these brief moments of feeling as if they are alive with the harsh slap of "reality" setting in?

I miss MJ but I know there will be younger fans who will be "use" to him being a dead star, but to those of us who lived during these peoples lifetimes, does it ever "sink" in? If so, talk to me about how it was for you with whichever musician/talent it was.

I'm fascinated. I hope this thread starts something! (sorry for the BAD pun) 2 in a row!

elvis died over 30 years ago, and marvin 25 years ago, and kurt about 15 years ago. i don't think you will have many orgers who were fans of elvis and marvin whilst they were alive, not in the sense of being a fan to the degree of being an orger for example. i think most orgers are in 30s-40s whereas you would need to be 50s-60s to have been a fan of elvis or marvin in thier hey day, as opposed to being a kid who liked the music on the radio

i remember when elvis died, likewise lennon, and it was a big thing at the time. the comparison with MJ was that both of them had peaked with fame and critical success a good number of years earlier, and to some degree the same with marvin, but he wasn't quite on the same level of fame as them

with hendrix and morrison it might have been a bit different, but the music industry and stardom in general was very different back then. but they weren't really stars for that many years before they died, certainly not decades

kurt only really had a short period of stardom, so it's different for him as his fans hadn't really followed him for a long period, as fans of the other mentioned artists would have done. the same with jeff buckley and 2pac, although it didn't stop 2pac from releasing more albums after he died than he did when he was alive

so with the big artists they really had already had thier time and few were expecting any new music of value. MJ hadn't released anything new in almost a decade and most people gave up hope of a comeback album that would have been on par with his best work, so whilst his death was shocking, just like with the other big stars, i don't think many people would have thought too much about not getting any new music

Vanilli said:

That quote literally made me sick to my stomach. Seriously, a big fat kick in the face I still can't even grasp that concept. I think that phrase is going to haunt me forever I can't believe the next generation are going to have to see him in the same light as Elvis, it's so fucking unfair (I just came back from This Is It, so I'm obviously very emotional )

As a kid, I loved Elvis. Everytime any of his movies came on TV, I would sit and watch it. I sam all of his movies SEVERAL times.

In response to the original question, you get over it the same as you would with the death of anybody. It hurts but after time you look back with fondness.

At the end of the day he was just an entertainer that none of us really knew... it's much worse to lose somebody close to you, THAT'S real pain & loss.

Just people at the end of the day.

It sinks in, yeah (I'm a fan of Lennon, Cobain, Elvis, Sublime, and even MJ a little bit. I also was planning on going to the Dead the same week Jerry died)

But there is the sadness, especially when it's someone like Cobain who was at the beginning of his career, or Lennon who was just beginning a comeback (like MJ). There's the question of what could have been.

But of course you get over it. I was devastated when Kurt Cobain killed himself, but I rarely think about it anymore.

pacey68 said:

Losing Michael was like losing a family member. And Im still in denial. I don't think of him as gone. I know he passed on, n I cried and felt empty for a long time early on. then I stopped feeling sad because it didn't seem he WAS gone. People tell me I need therapy. It feels to me he's still here with us.

Well i was around for the latter days of all these careers but didnt live in their heydays, obviously the LENNON murder was most felt, mainly because of my older brothers who lived through the BEatles so the music surrounded me all the time.

But in my lifetime, it would have to be Freddie Mercury and also Michael Hutchence, ironically, the last two great frontmen of great bands, you dont get this kind of "leader" anymore, unique, and able to command and audience with no gimmicks and bullshit Hype. It takes awhile especially when you go right into a new cd or movie right after their death. With Queen they had a single next day, Inxs had an album out at the time. With both though America were not really into either at the time of their death, so it wasnt this "wave" of tributes and press. like i said in an earlier post, everyone says that MJ's death was bigger than Lennon and Elvis, BUT, they forget that no media like today existed, if Lennon was shot today, in this media day, there would re-enactments and vigils televised, you would see maps of the shooting, someone would have cell phone camera footage of Chapman getting arrested, someone would have Lennons body photos, blood stains on the street, the broken glasses would be on Ebay etc...