Michael Jackson, dead at age 50, the concerts we'll never see

AP Photo/Doug Pizac

To say that today around 6 pm ET when I received a call from my mother asking if I heard the news about Michael Jackson, I was shocked, would be a complete understatement.  Today the music world has lost arguably one of the most influential artists ever.

Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, died today at 2:26 pm Pacific time at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA.  Mr. Jackson was preparing for concerts in London in July.  This concert tour was going to be Jackson's last concerts, with the tour being branded as "This Is It."  When the tour was announced tickets for the first concerts were breaking ticket selling history in London.  Jackson had being rehearsing constantly for this set of concerts.  He was working out with TV/fitness star Lou Ferrigno.  Jackson in some ways was training like an athlete. 

Now that the "King of Pop" is no longer with us, the world is going to be left wondering, what were his final concerts going to be like?  With all the training, rehearsing, and other responsibilities of his life, you are left wondering, "What if?"  Was he going to be rolling out all of his hits, like his concerts of the past?  Would Michael want to do "ABC" 50 more times?  How many hours was he working on his moon walk move?  What really great surprises was he preparing for each concert?  Was he going to invite Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder, or since he was in London, was he going to attempt to make up with Sir Paul McCartney?  The biggest question that most of us would probably have, most likely is, well, besides how much he would have made, would he have made it through all of his shows?  Unfortunately, with the news of the day, we know the answer.

Michael Jackson, for everything that it is worth, was a great artist who had his demons.  Like any extremely talented artist, he excels at what he was supposed to, while failing at things he wasn't used to.  With allegations of child molestation, his interesting marriages, and how he conceived multiple children, he left us wondering, just not in a good way.  

However for all of that, Jackson early on in his solo career helped put BET (Black Entertainment Television) on the map.  Founder of BET Bob Johnson put out a press release, that recognizes Jackson's help to the network.  Johnson states that, "....we owe a great deal of our existence to the genius of Michael Jackson..."  Johnson, who later appeared on MSNBC, expounded on his thought, reminding us that BET played videos that the mainstream channels, mainly MTV at the time, wouldn't play -- videos by black artists.  With the help of Jackson though, whenever his videos were playing on MTV, it would be playing on BET at the same time.  This allowed MTV to notice more black artists on BET, which in some ways paved the way for many black artists to appear on the network in various appearances and roles.  

We all know that Jackson was responsible for various collaborations between artists, like his "We are the World" video, with artists like Stevie Wonder, Kenny Loggins, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, and so many more.  After the events of September 11th, 2001, he put together a benefit concert in New York that included Billy Joel, Usher, and Mariah Carey.

Today is a sad day that won't be forgotten anytime soon.  Like many of us know, or at least should know by now, death does come in 3's.  We lost Ed McMahon earlier this week, Farrah Fawcett today, and now Michael Jackson.  All great entertainers, but for countless musicians Michael Jackson was the best of the best.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Jackson family.

For more coverage on the death of Michael Jackson, click here.