June 25th, 2009- Where were you when you found out the news that Michael Jackson died? I was at work at Harrah's in Atlantic City, when my supervisor rushed over to tell myself and some of my co-workers the news. Now this is Michael Jackson, without a doubt, the biggest superstar on the planet- so this indeed, had to be some type of a hoax. After all, you can't believe everything you hear in the media….so I did what any "self-respecting, knowledge-seeking" person in this day and age would do….I went to Google…and there it was, plastered all over the internet, that there were reports of Michael Jackson's untimely death. For whatever was left of the workday, my co-workers and I spent the majority of the time, going back to Google to see what updates had surpassed- never mind that there were customers on hold at the time- this was much more important news…If this was actually true, then this would mean the end of an era for those in my generation, and especially the generation before us, that actually grew up along with Michael and The Jackson 5. 

TMZ.com was the first to report it, and then all the other major publications were soon to follow. It didn't sink in for me until they started reporting the time and cause of death. I went to the bathroom, and cried my eyes out. This was the first celebrity that I had ever actually cried over. There were others that I felt bad about when they passed, but never like this. You have to understand, Michael was my first musical influence. He was the reason why I wanted to get involved in music in the first place. See I'm an 80's baby, so I grew up as part of the MTV generation. Thriller videos were still in heavy rotation back then, and then I remember when Bad dropped in September of '87. Around that same time, I had gotten my very 1st tape, MJ's "Off The Wall" which my uncle bought me my very own copy of because I wore his out so much. Then I pretty much took over my mom's Thriller tape, and just had to get Bad when it came out. See I've been into music for as far back as I can remember, but I don't remember a time (pun intended) without the music of Michael Jackson.

 As years progressed, we publicly watched a lot of things happen in Michael's life. After all, who else do you know that has been working non-stop since they were 5 years old? This guy had traveled all over the world, and performed in front of kings and queens all before he had gone through puberty. Through good and bad (again, pun intended), us true fans stuck with him no matter what. We watched Michael soar "Off The Wall," and become the show stopping "Thriller" that he was always meant to be. We watched him go from "Bad" to "Dangerous," and make "History" by proving that he was truly "Invincible" in both life and in death…..

Until Next Time……