Good night, Michael Jackson,

   When John Lennon of the Beatles fame was killed by a fan some years ago, Time magazine wrote a cover story titled `when the music died.` The misrepresentation of that headline was that the man died but the music did not die. Or the Time writers were trying to pass the unfortunate and painful message, the muse in John Lennon had been extinguished and no music shall ever come from him. The world was in the same state of shock on Thursday June 26, 2009 with the death of Michael Jackson, the legendary king of pop. According to media report, Jackson collapsed in his Beverly Hills home, Los Angeles and was rushed to hospital. He was later confirmed dead in the hospital from cardiac arrest. Los Angeles, the city of angels could not save the musical icon as the angels were said to be on holiday. The death unfortunately has robbed the world of a musical icon, a genius and a megastar that towered above the Beatles and Elvis Presley. It was a statement of what the Blackman is capable of doing given the necessary fertile environment. Michael Jackson was a great repudiation to white Americans that it was a mistake of great proportion to harbour the notion that the Blackman was inherently inferior to the white.

  Michael Jackson music journey started at the age of five with his elder brothers known as the Jackson Five. It was in the 1960s when racial prejudice in America was very high. It was also the era where the black Americans were valued for their entertainment importance. And that because the black Americans were not so gifted in academic, sports and music was their natural turf. From that formative stage, his musical genius blossomed and he went solo bringing out world shattering records music. The most famous been `Thriller` that sold for over sixty- five million copies. He is also credited to have won thirteen Grammy Awards. His albums sold over a quarter of a billion. Thus his music was loved in every part of the globe.

   But his musical success got a better part of him as his life was dogged with scandals. It is often said that every genius has a sparkle of insanity. The case of Jackson was a deluge of unexplainable behaviour. Unlike the god father of soul, James Brown who was black and proud, Jackson was ashamed of his black ancestry and was once quoted as saying that his only regret was been born black. That made many people in Africa and even in the United States to boycott his music. The so called regret of his black skin made him to go under the surgeon knife for face transplant and making his nose pointed as the Caucasian race. That led to series of health problems and time was when the nose was said to have fallen out. It was the moment he committed race suicide and was more of a living ghost till the call from great beyond came. That was also the reason he was too afraid of the sun. That made him to be very ugly and was looking like a scarecrow and the epithet Jacko Wacko. It was not the best moment of his musical career and behaving like a spoilt child with million of dollars. His grotesque home in Los Angeles was a testimony to his extravagance.

  There was also the scandal of sex abuse of young boys and in 2003 was arrested on charges of molesting a 14 year old boy. All these scandals and his bizarre life style led to the fall of his records sales and the attendant debt. When he died, he was reported to be owing 400 million dollars and that there were plans to sell his posh home in Beverly Hills. The king of pop found himself becoming the king of straw and the London show that was billed for July 2009 was meant to shore up his finances and musical career. Unfortunately, that could no longer happen.

   According to a close confidant, Jackson had a trouble life plagued with loneliness, confused and could be said to have gone through hell on earth. That his fame and wealth could not bring him happiness and a settled family life what many of his fans took for granted. He first got married to the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and another marriage to a lesser known nurse. Both marriages were trouble prone. But majority of his fans across the globe were not perturbed with his life style. Their source of joy and inspiration was the music and this, Jackson did not really disappoint. He was gifted singer and dancer, and a consummate performer that stunned other musicians with his unusual gifts. Growing up as child in Nigeria, this writer used to listen to some of his music and that Michael Jackson was hugely popular in Africa. That is why as the world mourns the departure of the musical legend and icon, it would be pretty difficult to gloss over some of his excesses. Maybe the excuse is that Michael Jackson started as early as a child and the world attention was focused on his every move and progress. Jackson himself tried to deify himself by deluding himself that he was too superior to people around him. On his many visits to third world nations and Africa, he had to wear gloves and masks to cover his face under the outlandish veneer that he was allergic to dust. This was accountable for some of his oafish indifference to things around. Unlike other artistes, he was not given to charity despite his enormous wealth. The only time he performed for free was the musical concert by some American stars for aid to Africa.

  Though Jackson is dead, his music shall live for a long time to come. But I predict that in the nearest future, his music shall only be used as reference point to an era. Jackson is a great star no doubt but he is nowhere near the legend of Mozart. Jackson at the time of his demise was a divorcee and left three children, brothers and sisters and his parents to mourn him. His children are Michael Joseph Jackson Jnr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II. The life of a genius is often short and in a hurry to complete his earthly assignment. Nature gift in Michael Jackson was his music and that nobody could deny him. But the tragic flaw of Jackson was his bizarre life style punctured with extravagance and acquiring things that were not really necessary. He was also trying to play God and blame his creator. His skin transplant was an effort to question the perfection of God as far as creation is concerned. The bard, William Shakespeare wrote with piercing logic that `if music be the food of life, give me the excess of it`. That message was the stripe of music Jackson spread around the globe. He demonstrated that with music, that racial barriers and walls could be broken down. His music is loved in Asia and some Arab nations where the United States of America is seen as the great Satan. Jackson was a cultural ambassador of the United States of America spreading the music of love around the globe and telling the toads of war and merchants of doom that the world really needs peace. In one of his lyrics, `if you want to change the world, change the man you see in the mirror` and that peace and amity would reign. Unfortunately the original image Jackson saw in the mirror was not beautiful in his own estimation and the resultant caricature that he became. But the man must be divorced from music as his music would continue to gladden the hearts of angels and saints in Heaven. Good night, a rare megastar, the king of pop, Michael Jackson as your music shall continue to remind us of the injustice and inequality in the world.