He Beat It

Holy surprising shit! We know they go in threes, but this is a shock! Here's the rehash of the AP story:

Michael Jackson, known largely as the "King of Pop", emerged from childhood superstardom to become the entertainment world's most influential singer and dancer before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died of cardiac arrest at 50.

Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m.. Paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center.

His death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage. His 1982 album "Thriller" — which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" — remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 26 million copies.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure. His skin became lighter and his nose narrower. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions. In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble. He was in rehearsals for a series of shows in London, billed as his last.

I'm sure we're going to see some toxicology reports and there'll be some painkiller residue (a la Danny Gans and that guy from Wilco), but let's make that post when the time comes. It's too bad he went apeshit bizarro nuts, but when I was a kid in his heyday, he was amazing. We saw the Jackson family Victory tour in 1984...baller.