by Tracey Parece

Created on: August 26, 2009

Michael Jackson had a long and successful career that produced hundreds of great songs and scores of hit records. Beginning as a young child singing with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and culminating with his solo career, nearly everything Michael touched turned to gold (or platinum, actually).

During the later years of his life, a fickle public, changes in the music scene, and personal legal battles caused the King of Pop's star to shine less brightly, but it was never fully extinguished. Even Michael Jackson's albums which were deemed "failures" by a few harsh critics sold millions of copies (domestically, and even more worldwide) and consistently earned the coveted multi-platinum status-a status that very few singers can achieve these days. The albums were also filled with beautiful, tear-jerking ballads; feet-stomping dance tracks; and magnificent rock and R&B melodies that are rarely duplicated at such top quality.

Michael Jackson was always a sensitive and emotional person, as a child and throughout his adult life. From alleged abuse at the hands of his father, the pressures of fame, legal woes, and pain associated with the Pepsi fire incident of 1984, Michael was a shell of his younger self. He turned to prescription pain medication and the anesthetic Diprovan to cope with life and his persistent insomnia.

At the age of 50, poised to make the biggest comeback of his career, Michael Jackson fell victim to the multitude of prescription pain medications provided by his personal physician Conrad Murray. Michael Jackson's death has officially been ruled a homicide. The public has yet to discover how his story will end. He will be missed dearly by so many of us.

Investigations continue into the death of Michael Jackson and the individuals involved. The date that his body will be laid to rest has been changed multiple times. Currently it is reported that he will be buried on September 3, 2009, several days after what would have been his 51st birthday on August 31.

Michael Jackson's albums are enjoying brisk sales, and he had many recordings in the "vault" which are unreleased. He had amassed recordings in the years since becoming a father to Paris Michael Katherine, Prince Michael, and Prince Michael II ("Blanket"). He considered those songs as a type of insurance policy that would support his children in the event of his death.

The tragedy of Michael Jackson's death at the very moment he was going to begin a 50 concert celebration is very ironic. Michael Jackson, singer, song-writer, dancer, composer, humanitarian, will be both celebrated and mourned. The resurrection of Michael Jackson's career is happening without the presence of its star.

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