Three Years After His Death, Jackson's Legend Continues To Grow

CLEVELAND - It was one of the worst days in music history; a tragedy on a global scale that hit with such impact, that even the stability of the Internet was challenged. The event held such weight and generated such pervasive interest, that every major newspaper around the world featured the story as front page news the following morning.

Michael Jackson was dead.

Today marks the three year anniversary of that shocking Thursday that robbed the planet of, arguably its most accomplished and imaginative entertainer. Jackson was just two months from his 51st birthday when he suddenly died at the hands of his now incarcerated personal physician. More importantly to his legion of fans around the world, he was also less than two weeks away from embarking upon his first tour in a dozen years. That ill-fated, already sold out concert series was going to remind the world of MJ's significant brilliance as a stage performer and musician.

At least, that was the plan.

This year, two of Jackson's greatest accomplishments will be celebrated and re-appraised for the groundbreaking strokes of pure genius that they are; his Thriller and Bad albums reach important milestones in 2012. In the case of Thriller, November 30th marks the 30th anniversary of that iconic LP's release. For all intents and purposes, it was that album and its cutting edge trifecta of music videos that transformed Michael Jackson from star musician to one of the seminal entertainers in history. The worldwide obsession with Jackson reached a fever pitch in the spring of 1983 and persisted intensely until the end of 1984. That era, known as Michaelmania, was anchored by the chart domination of Thriller, which resulted in the then 25-year old megastar's unprecedented popularity and universal critical acclaim. MJ amassed dozens of awards and accolades during this period, and stood firmly at the pinnacle of not only his own career, but the music industry as a whole. When the dust settled on that album's performance, it had gone far beyond the realm of being just a great album; it became and remains a cultural touchstone of unfettered brilliance.

Then, there was Bad.

As the much ballyhooed follow-up to the Thriller freight train, Bad was destined to pale in comparison to its predecessor, if not in quality, then certainly in acclaim and cultural ubiquity. Released just two days after Jackson's 29th birthday on August 31st, the album has already kicked off a marketing push in recent weeks to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Since both records hold prominent status as two of the most revered in the annals of pop music, Jackson's singular talents and astounding achievements are just a fraction of the multitude of reasons that his stature and body of work continue to expand in his absence. Of all the musicians and entertainers in today's world, none of them even approach his resonance, significance and influence--not to mention his artistic craftsmanship.

June 25th will forever stand as a day of horror and grief for myself as well as Michael's millions of fans in every corner of the globe. In spite of that, the timelessness, innovation and breathtaking quality of his work will immortalize the man as a true giant in the world of music, dance and live performance.

He will always be with us.