June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
June 14 Black Music Month Artist Michael Jackson
My June 14 selection is Michael Jackson.
Black Music Month Heat Factor "Why's this artist hot?": Michael Jordan won six NBA championships and is a phenomenal athlete, but when someone says MJ, the first person we think of is the King of Pop. Born August 29, 1958 and passed away unexpectedly on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson was the best performer, dancer and pop artist to ever hit the stage. MJ was your favorite artist's artist, and while so many have tried to emulate him, none have succeeded. And when both MJs worked together on "Jam," basketball and pop fans really lost it. But it was his surprise stage performance coming out with the cape for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, that really left us in awe. There were countless iconic moments in his musical history, and even now, he's soul, funk and R&B's favorite legend.
First Memory, Most Personal Memory of the Artist: I was stunned to hear he was no longer with us. But for the entire summer of 2009, I listened to Michael Jackson on the radio and bought a collection of songs I didn't have. I've always liked Michael Jackson and thought he was a great entertainer, but I fell into the group of people who took him for granted and thought he'd make music forever. I never laughed at one joke someone told about his eccentric appearance or legal issues. To me, it wasn't funny. I cheered when he was found "not guilty," even though I got many snide looks from a claims company I used to work for. I felt like he was a really great person who both fans and foes took pleasure in bullying and rolled my eyes when everybody suddenly wanted to act like they forgot they used to dog him.
I was a loyal supporter from the time I was little up until now even though I didn't buy every CD. Although my mother talked my ears off my entire childhood about how she had such a huge crush on him and what it was like to see the Jackson 5 perform, it wasn't until he died that I realized I knew almost every single word of his songs. I thought I knew a few, but I can thank my mother for making me an MJ aficionado like her. I've always been partial to "Butterflies," but "Stranger in Moscow" and "Scream" followed close behind. I never saw him live although I saw many videos of him performing live, but my mother could paint a perfect picture for me. And anybody who walked by us watching the Jackson 5 "Soul Train" episodes in the DuSable Museum during the Freedom's Sisters event would swear we were the same age, trying to Moonwalk and (badly) mimicking all of the dances Michael was doing.
Accomplishments from the Artist: Michael Jackson was loved worldwide. In July 2009, he held 8 of the top 10 songs on the Billboard 100. He sold 1.1 million albums in one week in July 2009. If his success on the Billboard charts was real estate, it would make even his own Neverland Ranch look like your local motel in comparison to how his music dominated consumers. 1979's "Off the Wall" stayed on the charts for 169 weeks. 1982's "Thriller" was on the Billboard charts for 122 weeks. 1987's "Bad" hung out on the charts for 87 weeks. 1991's "Dangerous" stayed on the charts for 117 weeks. Even as a child with his brothers, the Jackson 5 albums would stay on the charts from 26 to 50 weeks with albums like 1970's "ABC" leading the pack.
Other Black Music Month Selections:
Published by Shamontiel
Shamontiel is the author of Round Trip and Change for a Twenty, and in mid-October became the Chicago Tribune s Digital News Editor. She works on National Travel, Health and occasionally Breaking News, and w... View profile
June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-Amer...Black Music Month starts June 1. Each day of June, I'll be highlighting 30 of my favorite African-American artists, telling you why they're winners and informing you of their ac...
June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-Amer...Black Music Month starts June 1. Each day of June, I'll be highlighting 30 of my favorite African-American artists, telling you why they're winners and informing you of their ac...
June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-Amer...Black Music Month starts June 1. Each day of June, I'll be highlighting 30 of my favorite African-American artists, telling you why they're winners and informing you of their ac...
June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-Amer...Black Music Month starts June 1. Each day of June, I'll be highlighting 30 of my favorite African-American artists, telling you why they're winners and informing you of their ac...
June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-Amer...Black Music Month starts June 1. Each day of June, I'll be highlighting 30 of my favorite African-American artists, telling you why they're winners and informing you of their ac...
- Michael Jackson "King of Pop" Gone at 50
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
- June is Black Music Month, Countdown of Shamontiel's Top 30 African-American Artists
4 Comments
Post a Comment...she went from 52 to 12 SUPER quick. In that moment, I kinda wish I could've been my mother's childhood friend just to know her even longer even though she's my best friend now.
Alyce, I'm probably the only person I know who is not a Stevie Wonder fan. I don't know why, but I never connected with him. I saw him perform live at the Taste of Chicago, and people were losing their mind. I like some songs, but the only one I really like is "Superstition" and I blast the "Happy Birthday" song every time it's someone's special day. As far as MJ, crazy about him. I mentioned on the James Brown Black Music Month entry that he's the only one who mastered James Brown's moves. I kinda wonder could Chris Brown do them because he's the next best dancer. Usher Raymond is cool, too, but Chris Brown has this way of making a dance move even better. One of my most fun memories about MJ was standing in the DuSable Museum this year with my mother and doing MJ's dances while we watched "Soul Train" on TV. I'm sure we should've been embarrassed, but we were having a great time. We were doing the bump, trying to Moonwalk and she was gushing about seeing them perform. She looked like
I think about MJ often and wonder why I get tears in my eyes, still in shock or mourning his death. I miss him. My first memory was likely seeing the Jackson 5 perform on the Ed Sullivan show. I remember when the Jackson 5 Cartoon show aired, visiting a sister, watching the show, being thrilled to see it in color (we only had a black and white TV). Michael stood out, even then, a natural born star, I guess. He evolved through the years, equally talented performer, romantic songs, slow tunes (Ben, for instance), social consciousness, breaking the color barrier on MTV. I do wish he had left his nose alone and nothing he could do about the vitiligo. Jackson's contribution to the music industry is invaluable and I would only list him second to Stevie Wonder as all time best music performer.
Missing his creative musical aura very much