So Michael Jackson is dead. Fans around the world moonwalked in his memory. Bars and clubs belted out Jackson hits to late night revellers. The media had a frenzy and I even heard one comparison to the death of Princess Diana.
Thousands of fans and admirers flocked to see his five-star funeral extravaganza. At the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, his body was presented to a packed stadium in a gold coffin. Ticket touts and souvenir peddlers earned thousands in one night. Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder sang and 6.5million Brits tuned in to watch. Jermaine Jackson said, “Everything Michael did was over the top”. Quite so.
Part of me thinks it is quite sad that Michael Jackson’s death, like his life, was symbolised by a display of opulence, extravagance and celebrity. There was more to him than that – he was a great musician who created the soundtrack to many peoples’ lives. And he invented the moonwalk.
Another part of me thinks that his statesman-like funeral was a bit much. Some would say he was just a disco pop singer. He wasn’t famous for feeding the hungry or finding cures for the severely ill. He just sang and danced.
When Richard Wright from Pink Floyd died last year, his death earned barely a footnote in the news. OK, he wasn’t as world-renowned as Michael Jackson, but he was a great musician who, like Jackson, had played the soundtrack to many peoples’ lives.
He was buried quietly and discretely and the media were then allowed to continue with stories about the Iraq war and breakthrough treatments in science and medicine – things that could have a massive impact on the world.
Both deaths were sad and both men should be remembered, but one man’s death should not overshadow the other huge problems of the world. It would be nice to think that future profits from the Jackson brand would go towards solving some of these problems!
