What a sad moment. Michael Jackson may not accept been perfect, but he was allotment of the soundtrack of our lives the aftermost 40 years. At his best, he was the best.

Not continued ago I showed my kids a YouTube video of Michael Jackson demonstrating the moonwalk, about 1983. Like that aptitude advance said of Fred Astaire: "Can ball a little."

My kids never knew Jackson at his peak, back he was the best accepted amateur on the planet, and millions of copies of "Thriller" flew out of the almanac stores. It wasn't as acceptable an anthology as "Off the Wall," which got abundant circling at the ball parties at my college, but back "Thriller" came out, music videos were the rage, and aggregate came calm to actuate MJ to the accomplished akin of the business -- what you ability alarm the Elvissphere.

What a asperous life, though. He never knew a accustomed childhood. His claimed travails, acknowledged problems involving accusations of adolescent molestation, artificial anaplasty obsessions and added eccentricities angry him into a bite line.

So maybe some bodies forgot over the years aloof how abundant he was. He was amazing at the age of 10, back he was singing "ABC." But he was alike more good in his aboriginal 20s, back he had Quincy Jones bearing him in "Off the Wall" and "Thriller."

He lived to be 50 years old. But maybe he was consistently absolutely 10. He never seemed to apperceive how to alive activity as an adult. For now, we'll put all that aside, and anticipate of him at the acme of his ability -- singing and dancing so able-bodied he seemed to baffle the laws of physics. I'm appealing abiding there's never been anyone abroad like him.