Michael Jackson ~ The Loss of a Great Artist

I’ve been contemplating writing a “tribute” post to Michael Jackson since I first heard of his passing. I finally decided that I would be doing a disservice to myself if I did not write the post, as I have enjoyed his music greatly over the years, and been influenced by his talent and saddened by his death.

I don’t want to comment on Michael’s personal life ~ we all know he was troubled, to say the least ~ but he was an amazing artist. I spent hours over the weekend after his death watching the tribute shows on MTV and Vh1, and found myself astonished at the number of great songs he performed over the years and just how talented he was on the dance floor.

For years, his songs have been among my favorites to dance to. Smooth Criminal is by far one of the best songs out there to West Coast Swing to, and I honestly can’t recall ever going to a dance party ~ swing or ballroom ~ and not hearing at least one of his songs. When I accompany Nate to a DJ gig, I try to stay professional and keep any behind~the~DJ~system dancing to a minimum {it’s so hard for me to hear great dance music and have to stay still!} but the one song that I just cannot NOT dance to is Billie Jean. I throw all caution to the wind when Nate plays that one and just have to dance. How can anyone not get up and go out to the dance floor when that one is playing?!?

And Thriller? Don’t even get me started on that fabulous song, dance, and video. Just hearing the opening notes of the song gets me excited. I have long imagined teaching the Thriller dance to my bridal party and other interested family members and performing it at my wedding reception {when I finally get married, of course}.


I choose to remember Michael as he was during the creation of the fabulous songs mentioned above. I am saddened for his entire family and especially for his children’s loss of their father. I hope that the unsavory media attention that plagued him throughout his career will begin to fade away, and he will be remembered as the amazing artist he was. His talent will be greatly missed.