Regardless of what is printed in the papers about Jacko and what he did or didn't do outside of Music, it is undeniable that he revolutionised the Music industry. He completely changed people's expectations regarding performers in the Pop genre and he absolutely revolutionised the Music Video in the process. MTV owe everything to Michael Jackson imo.
Before he came along, music video's were just generally a bunch of Musicians standing around playing music. His video's were a journey of epic proportions. Kind of like a blockbuster movie condensed down to 5 or so minutes. I still remember the impact that "Thriller" had on the world. It was a great song, but at the time, the music video was mind blowing and completely revolutionary.
Not only that, but the amount of performers who have copied his idea's, dance moves and followed in his footsteps is crazy. I put him in the same bracket as Elvis and the Beatles for the way his ideas changed the Music industry and the world in general.
The world is now a less entertaining place.
BTW, I challenge anyone to hear Billy Jean in a nightclub and resist the temptation to get up and bust a few moves. It's impossible.
