Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson RIP

In one day, both iconic stars have died, sending shock waves throughout the world. As one tweet puts it, “MJ and FF is now news at the speed of light”–thanks to Twitter and Facebook.

The King of Pop died of cardiac arrest, reports say. The beautiful and original Angel Ms. Farrah Fawcett succumb to cancer. MJ was 50, Farrah was 62.

If you were already born at those times when both were at the peak of their careers, they drew a lot of attention. Of course, who can forget the lovely Mrs. Majors (yes, of the six million dollar man) and the moonwalk. Since high school, we’ve been attempting to emulate that space walk-inspired move but have failed many times.

And Farrah. Oh my. ‘Nuf said.

I discovered Jackson during his “Thriller” days–same song which inspired hundreds of inmates in a Cebu prison. Every kid back then, including yours truly, admired MJ. He danced, he sang. I tried the former, but failed. I tried the latter and, er, somehow have made some progress. And his music videos were works of art. I’ve never seen so many screaming and crying fans on video when MJ goes on stage. To this day, one of my favorite guitar pieces is “Man in the Mirror.” (Tuck Andress created this beautiful arrangement of that song for the guitar).

When I entered college, my musical taste changed abruptly as I went for heavier sounds that bordered on noise. But while I headbanged to the music of Metallica and jumped around as I copied Van Halen, MJ’s music was always there–(Beat It, for instance, was one song where Van Halen was asked to play a monster riff), hovering.

MJ, has indeed made the world a better place for a lot of people, despite major bumps in his career. His music will live on. Thanks MJ!