Today was a weird one. Around 12:30pm EST I learned that Farrah Fawcett had passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. I felt bad for the poor gal, but she was clearly in a lot of pain.

Then things spiraled out of control around 5:45pm EST. I was on Twitter and saw that Perez Hilton had tweeted something about Michael Jackson and cardiac arrest. Hoping that it was just rubbish, I went to People.com and Eonline.com to verify. Unfortunately Jackson was rushed to the hospital after he stopped breathing at home. Speculation is that he died of a heart attack.

While the news of Farrah Fawcett’s death saddens me, Michael Jackson’s really shook me. I grew up listening to Thriller, Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal. I adored his silly movie, Moonwalker. And I still go bananas for We Are The World, written by Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones in support of ending hunger in Africa. We Are The World is only second to Band Aid’s Feed The World as one of the greatest songs EVER recorded and put into a music video. EVER. I don’t know, I feel like a part of my youth has died with Jackson. I’ve been listening to his music since I was a young whippet. Call him what you want, but the man had talent. He will live forever as a musical icon, breaking the racial barriers on MTV and ruling the charts from a very young age. The last years of Jackson’s life were a struggle for him, we can only imagine. But with his passing we remember the super music he made and the legacy he left. There will never be anyone else like Michael Jackson, that’s for damn sure.

Peppermints, share with Team Brenda your favorite things about MJ: music, that one glove, the red leather jacket from Thriller.