'Breaking news, Michael Jackson is dead.' were the first words my younger brother greeted me with this morning and my reply was, 'I don't believe you.'
But as I got ready for work, It suddenly occured to me that 'R' never pulled gags like that, so I switched on the radio in time to hear the shocking news; M.J had died of cardiac arrest in an L.A hospital, at age 50 and i was just trying to get over the news of Charlie's Angels(the original T.V series) star, Farrah Fawcett's death from anal cancer a few hours before M.J's. I was a fan of the show many years back, though the most I can remember about it is that Farrah(who played Jill Munroe) and the other angels used guns unlike the ones in the movie adaptation.Right now here in Nigeria, radio stations are already paying tribute by playing majority of his greatest hits, a collegue at work changed her ringtone to 'Heal the world' and another found a student sobbing over the news. I wasn't suprised, i felt like howling myself; i just sat at my desk, numbly listening to 'Liberian Girl' stored in my laptop.
It's just not possible he's dead... this was a chap whose career I've followed as a little girl, admired, loved even and never got tired of, then all of a sudden we hear he's gone and so suddenly too. As an artiste, he was very talented and original- I'm yet to see anyone who could moonwalk like him, his songs not only entertained, some of them sent out a message e.g 'HEAL THE WORLD', 'EARTH SONG', 'WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD' and 'WE ARE THE WORLD'(which he co-wrote with Lionel Ritchie), about showing humanity and changing the world for the better. As a person, he was a humanitarian who was often misunderstood and exploited; no one can forget the disgusting accusations levelled against him a few years ago.
He hasn't even been dead long and I miss him very much already. I pray to Allah to have mercy on his soul and give his family the fortitude to bear this loss. We fans just have to console ourselves by remembering him at his best. We'll never forget him. MAY HIS SOUL (AND FARRAH'S) REST IN PERFECT PEACE. AMEN
