I Am Clarke Roberts

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” - Michael Jackson

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of one of the world’s most talented people and I thought it appropriate, being a fan, to dedicate a post to the man and the legend that was and always will be, the King of Pop, Mr Michael Jackson.

It’s still so strange to me and I think it is to the rest of the world to think that Michael Jackson is no longer with us. Everywhere you go you cannot help but hear his music being played or his dance steps being recreated; a sign of this man’s huge influence on the world as a musician, an artist and an idol.

As a child, people mocked me for my liking of him claiming it, he and I were weird and that it wasn’t right to be a fan of Michael Jackson. I never understood why. Every single person on this planet has encountered his music, seen his short films and witnessed his dance moves – what is there not to like? How can you not be caught in his spell? As soon as those black loafers supported by glowing white socks start to move, audiences regardless of their colour, creed, religion or background are left moonstruck and mesmerised. As soon as those famous beats and sounds are heard through speakers you cannot help but tap your feet or sing along. If anything, they were the weird ones for not being able to appreciate the magic of Michael Jackson.

Michael peforming Billie Jean on the Bad World Tour

I was sat on the floor of my bedroom watching the BBC News Channel when it was confirmed that he had died. Many people asked me, “oh did you cry?” – let me answer, yes. Yes I cried. Since the age of 11 this man’s music has provided an escape for me through the hardest times of my life; through his dancing I have become confident and well-known – as clichéd as it is, the man changed my life, without him I would not be the person I am today. So of course I cried. Without him even knowing of my existence or the existence of millions of his other fans he managed to touch their lives and their hearts in a way no other artist could do. That my friends, is magic.

Do I think Michael was killed? I’m not sure. Many people saw him merely as a figure from which to extract money, and the disturbing news that came this week that since his death the Jackson estate has made $1 billion would support the claim that he is worth more dead than he was alive. Many people forget though, that before he was a money-making machine, before he was the King of Pop and the singer whom we all loved and adored, before he was the greatest dancer to have ever lived – before all of this, he was a son, a brother but most importantly a father.

He adored children and his own even more so. He cherished the innocence of a child and wanted to reclaim the childhood he had taken from him from the age of five. June 13th saw the vindication of Michael from all ten counts of child abuse against him, he was never really the same again. He had been punished for loving and protecting the most vulnerable in our society, he had been branded the worst of all criminals for being a kind hearted and loving man.

Michael prepares for his 50-date This Is It residency at the O2 arena.

He was hounded by the tabloids all throughout his life. His appearance started the controversy, then his overt behaviour and then his closeness with children. He was never allowed to be the man he wanted, he always had to bend and change to try fit in with society. Even when he announced the 50-date This Is It series in March ’09 the critics still would not let him be, claiming he was too frail, too old and was pushed into it by financial difficulties. No one ever said that he was doing it because he wanted to, or because he wanted to show his children what he did now that they were old enough to appreciate it. One of the things that gutted me most about his death was the fact he never had chance to prove all those critics wrong. He never got chance to laugh in their faces after the final show in March ’10.

Whatever you thought of Michael Jackson, be it weird eccentric pop star, paedophile, King of Pop, whatever! There’s no denying the impact he’s had on the world of music and the planet as a whole. The 26th June was an eerily quiet day, as if the world had lost part of its soul, I think it had. Wherever he is now, he’s in a better place – away from the hate, the torment the tribulations from which he always tried to escape.  He’s away from the messed up planet he tried his whole life to save.

May your soul forever rest in Peace Michael. You have given me and so many others inspiration in our lives and you will never be forgotten. I love you and miss you.

Goodnight.

"Who wants mortality? Everybody wants immortality. You want what you create to live, be it sculpting, painting, music composition. That is why to escape death I attempt to bind my soul to my work. I give my all to my work because I want it to just live and just give all that I have" - Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson

1958 – Forever