As you probably know (if you don’t live under a rock), Michael Jackson died yesterday at the age of 50. He was the King of Pop, the star beloved worldwide for his music despite his occasional eccentricities. As fans pay tribute to Jackson today, many are recalling similar tributes to other lost musicians, especially Tennessee’s own Elvis Presley.
Presley and Jackson have been compared in the past, but never more so than now. Both were the top of the music world in their time, both were the subject of countless rumors and speculations, both died too young (Elvis was 42 when he died in his Graceland mansion in 1977), and both inspired outpourings of grief around the world upon their sudden deaths. As the public waits for the autopsy results for Jackson, many can’t help but wonder whether the toxicology will indicate a drug-related death, which would be still another similarity to Elvis.
Jackson was even briefly married to Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie, in the 1990s. They divorced after less than two years of marriage, but Lisa Marie said in a statement that she is “sad and confused” at Jackson’s death, and that she is “heartbroken for his children.”
It is a tragedy to lose two of the brightest stars of American music far too young, first Elvis, now Michael Jackson. As the tributes continue, one can only hope that the celebration of Jackson’s life and music will help the grieving come to terms with his death.