Nothing against him, really, but I never understood what all the fuss was about, and I certainly never understood Jackson being among the top two highest-selling artists of all time.  "Thriller" was a catchy song and all, but 50m copies sold?  Really?  I don't get it.

I have a difficult enough time understanding the fame of the Beatles and Elvis, both of which probably trailed Jackson in terms of raw talent but were at least "important" before him, even if they were both ripoffs and less well known but infinitely more talented artists.

I mean, are the Jackson 5 really worthy of being above and beyond some generic kids' group (like Hanson), based purely on the fact that they got to it three decades earlier by virtue of being born sooner?  And was MJ, on his own, really anything other than an okay singer (didn't have much range) doing rock-disco fusion with creative video writers?

Again, not trying to be an ass, and it's nothing against MJ.  He had a really screwed up life, and if there's an afterlife, I hope he's finally found some peace.  He did a lot of good work outside of the music industry while he was alive.  And it's not that I think his music was bad or something.  I own a couple of his records.

It's just that I can't jump on board with the general public's idol-worship of what were essentially singers who got paid for making pre-teen girls squeal.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin