BREAKING NEWS: Michael Jackson dead at 50 of heart attack

Oh, man, what a day this is turning out to be.

Michael Jackson, one of the most phenomenal talents to ever walk this planet, died this afternoon, approximately 6:15 eastern local time, of an apparent heart attack. He was 50.

Complete coverage of this story is breaking all over the net:

FoxNews.com – http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529103,00.html

Entertainment Tonight – http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/06/75724/index.html

Variety – http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005395.html?categoryid=16&cs=1

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Time for some personal memories…

I was 6 when the Jackson Five had their first hit. I grew up with Michael's music, both solo and with his brothers, and we recently adopted Michael's version of Rockin' Robin as the background for our Twitter plug during episodes of S:C.

Say what you will about Michael, he was a genuine talent. A gifted performer all the way around, with three of the biggest selling albums of all time. Thriller remains a landmark album, and still, I believe, remains the biggest selling album of all time.  Seven huge hits from one album was unheard of when it was released, and he followed it up with Bad, which also spawned seven hits.

His recent troubles, from accusations of child molestation to his poor health and his supposedly poor parenting, have been well chronicled. As much as I hate to admit it considering my diatribe on the Oscar changes this morning, the most complete coverage of Jackson over the past two years has been from columnist Roger Friedman – he may not know much about movies or music copyright, IMHO, but he was on top of the Jackson story – check out http://showbiz411.com for current news, and the Fox News site, search Fox411, for earlier stories.

I was a lifelong fan of Jackson's music. I rank a number of Michael's songs – Thriller, Human Nature, Smooth Criminal, Man In The Mirror, The Lady In My Life, One Day In Your Life, and his first solo hit Got To Be There – as some of my favorite songs. 

His music will always live on – his legacy of incredible talent will endure through the ages.  

Michael – for all the problems you've had over the past decade, it is my wish for you that you have finally found peace…the world will miss you very very much…your absence will leave a huge hole in the entertainment industry.  Godspeed….