Michael Jackson Beats It

Michael Jackson
August 29, 1958 - June 26, 2009

The King of Pop is gone.

Yes, it's been years since he last had a real hit.
Yes, he's never really been the same Michael Jackson who broke into the big-time with the brilliant videos for Thriller and Beat It and so on.
Yes, he was severely damaged by the child molestation charges against him.
Yes, he often seemed more caricature rather than singer.
Yes, he was probably the weirdest superstar of our time, or anyone's time, for that matter.

But he will still be missed. Not because we actually still want to hear more from him in song, but more because "Ben", "Thriller", "The Girl is Mine", "Bad" and many others really don't work if it's someone else singing them. He owned them and, for a while, he owned Pop music.

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However, it's not really totally implausible that he's just hiding out somewhere in the Nevada desert or wherever ala Howard Hughes. Or Elvis.