Michael Jackson – Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!

Anybody for whom the death of Michael Jackson is still news must either be: living under a rock or just waking up from a very deep coma. The news of his death put so much stress on – and sometimes crashed – Google search; Tweeter; numerous SMS platforms and TMZ.com. To say that he was a superstar is to underestimate the scale of his achievements, he was the superstar and it is by him that superstardom will come to be measured and defined. His music transcended race; religion etc and made a mockery of geographic boundaries, he was as accepted in Western Europe as he was in America, Africa and the Far East and he came to be accepted as the first true global icon. I can remember that growing up in a little corner in Nigeria, my elder brother had a full Michael Jackson outfit complete with sequined glove; black loafers and white socks.

He is sure to add – in death - many more record sales to the estimated 750 Million that he was reported to have sold during his lifetime. He went from prodigy to superstar then on to megastar and finally – in the last 2 decades of his life – to Wacko Jacko (the crazy uncle in the attic!). In his five (5) decades on earth he achieved more success and attracted much more controversy to last a couple of lifetimes, a friend of mine described him as a bicentennial man who experienced near universal acclaim and hero worship in the first century of his life and then endured near universal gossiping; ridicule and oftentimes disgust in the final century.

In the sheer significance of his life – whether in fame or infamy – lies the true lessons to be learnt from the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. He lived for only 50 years but he will be remembered for centuries and will join a small group of men who lived relatively short lives but whose memories have endured in the minds of generations to come. His death made me remember a sermon I heard many years ago in Secondary School, the preacher recited the whole of Genesis Chapter 5 (which by the way is a litany of XXX begetting Methuselah, who then begat XXX who in turn begat XXX and so forth). However two things were striking: each of the guys in the passage must have lived for at least 900 years and they were each allocated just one sentence in a Bible that must contain millions of sentences. Then contrast this with another man (Jesus Christ) who lived for only 33 years but had five entire gospels devoted to chronicling his short life and whose death led to the creation of a sect of Judaism whose devotees were named in reference to him: Christians. This “sect” – initially regarded as a body of people on the fringes of society – has become the biggest religion in the world and a source of hope; pride and moral anchor for billions on planet earth.

Alexander the Great also died at 33, yet he had conquered the entire known world before his death and turned a group of bickering city-sates into a nation called: Greece. Joan of Arc died at age 19 but had managed – despite being unschooled in millitary affairs – to lead French armies to victory over an imperious England; and succeeded in uniting her country (in the process earning the epithet: Maid of Heaven). John F. Kennedy died at just 46 but only after he had succeeded: in winning election as President of the United States; in instituting a new policital order (which came to be regarded as the Age of Camelot) and in establishing the concept of the celebrity politician (of which Barack Obama is just the latest incarnation).

There is one inalienable truth: we will all die, but when we die will we just be accorded a sentence and quickly forgotten by men? Or will we leave our indelible footprints on the sands of time? Are we going to have a life of impact or just one preoccupied with subsistence; survival and the accumulation of wealth?. The King is dead but he lives on: in the hearts of his numerous fans; in the pages of the countless tabloids and biographies that will each attempt to put a new spin on his life and death. Above all, he will live on in the minds of generations yet unborn who will download “Billy Jean” and think its the coolest song ever or attempt to borrow a few lines from the lyrics of “Speechless” to convince some teenage girl to go out with him on a first date.