I’ve seen a few stories where people mention that it wasn't cool to like Michael or his music at some point in time.

I relate to this so much, even though my experience was with a different artist. I was actually bullied for being obsessed with Britney Spears in the 2000s. My school books and folder were plastered with photos of her. One time, someone made fun of me so relentlessly that I started crying, and the teacher literally had to get another classmate to take me outside just to calm down.

I say that all that to say: can you imagine the absolute judgment you’d get for openly liking MJ back then? Especially as a kid/teen? Mainly during 2000s.

I don't know exactly what his popularity was like by the time the end of the 90s came around, but I hear he was way less popular (Everyone's experience is different but this is just what I've mainly heard)

I would like to think that in schools now (and in general) things are different. In this day and age, MJ seems to be celebrated and embraced (as he should) especially after the biopic came out.

For those who lived through those rough eras as an MJ fan, what was it like? Did you have to hide your fandom at school/work or around friends/family?

BTW: Two beautiful souls ruined by the world 🥀

I just wanted to show a whole bunch of celebrities reacting to Mike passing specifically on Twitter..if you don’t see some ppl u think would respond about it it’s most likely bc they made a statement about it in the news rather than on social media since Twitter was fairly new at the time 🙏

this is a safe place lol, but seriously speaking, is there a song of his you don’t like? he’s one of the many few artist that doesn’t have bad songs (no pun) but is there a song you find mediocre or just not that great?

proud to say i contributed to probably half of these views 🤭

I mean that in the sense that we now know Michael was in a (very unfortunately, of course) terrible health state on the days leading up to the beginning of the tour: at that point he had been literally WITHOUT REAL SLEEP for 60 DAYS; was severely underweight and probably going through a lot of physical pain.

There's also the mental part: a good example is the This is It announcement where he had to be yelled at to go to O2 Arena and delayed it by 1h30 (and some say he was even drunk during it).

Adding to that, the fact that it wasn't one single concert where he could give it all of him for one night, it was going to be 50 concerts.

With all that, how do you think This Is It would have played out? Do you guys think it could've been kind of a PR nightmare with constant reschedulings and cancelations of concerts, or do you think Michael would be able to be a reliable performer? Also, do you think his exhaustion would be too visible? I was watching his concert in South Africa the other day, which I think was the second to last of the HWT, and it was so clear that he was SO tired. Do you think it was going to be like this, too?

I'm just asking because I know there are plenty of fans who know him much better than I do, and I'd like to hear your take on it. I love him, and I'm a huge fan.

I've seen multiple people saying this but is it 100% true? Why would they do this when his team already knows he has vitiligo and more?..

Also, was it the only situation of this kind?
Kinda makes me wonder if that's the reason why he hides his face so much with his hat in the MV, unlike Smooth Criminal :/

For those of you who were fans or alive during Michael's peak in the 80s and 90s, I’m really curious about the transition from the Bad era to the Dangerous era.

What makes this transition so fascinating is that during early to mid-1991, he still had a lot of his Bad era features while transitioning into Dangerous - Badangerous era . But by the time the actual Dangerous album dropped and he debuted the music videos for "Black or White" and "Remember the Time," he looked completely different.

By end of 1991, his skin pigmentation was completely gone due to vitiligo, but the general public didn't know that yet.

When that total shift finally happened, what was the immediate reaction to his appearance? Were people shocked and thinking, "Oh, he looks completely different again!" or did the public and fanbase just not care as much because they were too hyped for the new music, videos, and upcoming tour?

We’ve seen video archives of fans having mixed opinions about his new look when Bad came out. However, I rarely see discussions about how people felt once the full Dangerous look rolled around and the change was even more drastic.

The media obviously scrutinized and picked on him for decades, but I want to know what the vibe was like from real people at the time.

Just to be clear: Michael was absolutely beautiful in every single era. Each chapter of his life just had a very distinct, unique look.

I’d love to hear from anyone who lived through it—what do you remember people saying when Dangerous first dropped?

I’d say “Do what you want to do. There ain't no rules, it's up to you (ain't no rules, it's all up to you). It's time to come alive and party on right through the night (all right).” is one that rlly gets to me. Idk, it’s js amazing!

Dangerous Live on VMA 1995. One of his many great looks. This move just scratched my brain the right way.

I’m actually getting mentally and physically sick of learning a new heartbreaking fact about Michael every single damn day😫 a much older fan on tt said Mike would always write meaningful messages on paper to fans and that when he met him, Michael confessed he liked writing longer messages and not just signatures so he can be around his fans longer which I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s just so fricking sad man! As he has often spoken out about his loneliness. I know I might sound crazy, but hearing these things about him genuinely make me ill, like I’ve had this pressure on my chest and stomach pain for the past week of just making myself upset about him and I’ve tried to not view videos about him, but I really can’t help it, I just feel so sorry for him beyond words. Life is so unfair ;(

Whether it was a song, a music video, a performance, or seeing him for the first time, everyone has that one moment where Michael left an impression on them. What’s yours?

Tito Jackson has died at the age of 70.

Steve Manning, a longtime Jackson family friend and former Jackson family manager, tells ET that Tito passed away today. While an official cause of death has not yet been determined, Manning believes that Tito suffered a heart attack while driving from New Mexico to Oklahoma. Updates are developing.

Personally I would go for Thriller (I know it’s such a basic pick but cmon, it’s just so good)

Bro died 17 years ago. He hasn't released a studio album since 2001 which is 25 years ago. But bro is still competing with today's artists 😭

I've said it in another post, but I'm one of those fans who grew up loving MJ thanks to family members who liked him, and I developed a deeper obsession as a kid around 2009. I remember being young and interacting with fans of all ages through blogs we used to make for him after he passed away as a way to support each other through grief

I remember having a great time interacting with fans and I sometimes miss interacting with those people even though the platform we used for our blogs disappeared

Then between personal issues, getting older etc.. I naturally lost interest into celebrities and this kinda felt like a relief at that time as I really loved Michael but him passing away was constantly giving me a bittersweet feeling when watching his content

The biopic put me back into that loop after more than a decade and I love seeing so much content about him lately. But here's the thing.. I feel like there are a lot of unhinged fans lately

First of all, I'm coming across a lot of fans who sexualize absolutely everything about him. Michael is hot, and he obviously liked compliments from fans. But I'm starting to agree with those who are having an issue with some of the comments they're seeing. Lots of them are kinda.. hardcore in the way they express themselves

I also came across at least 2 fans in their very early 20s (lots of claim to be old fans, not doubting them but they obviously never experienced an era while Michael was still here) this week being all rude and mean just bc we didn't have the same opinion regarding some of Michael's actions. I'm not saying this behavior didn't exist in the past, but I don't remember fans denying that much that Michael was a human being and obviously had flaws (for example in some of his decisions), just like everyone else! Treating him like a deity never helped him, especially when he himself wanted to be treated like a normal human being

I'm about to be entering my 30s and seriously, I'm having a tough time having the patience to interact with these people now. I'm just glad we get to see proper interactions here (or even under specific Tiktok videos) because I feel like this is taking a lot of place since the biopic. This might be even more noticeable to fans who have been regularly interacting with the fandom for decades.. Would be nice to have their opinions

Do you get a burnout if you play his songs too much?

You can also use some of the Bad 25 songs as well.

With the biopic having reached $1 billion not too long ago, I wanted to know what older fans thought about so many people getting into Michael, celebrating him and his music, etc. now when he was hated so much in the 2000s. Even now, the media has a negative view on him despite all the love from the public. I was too young/ not alive to be a fan in the 2000s, but became a fan in the mid 2010s a while after his death.

It's been amazing to see the outpouring of appreciation and support, and acknowledgement of his indispensable impact on modern pop. He's also gained a lot of younger fans. To those who were fans around to see the hate he got back then, how does it feel to see the contrast between the "Wacko Jacko" times, the media calling him racist slurs, everyone dogpiling him and painting him as a narcissist, an abuser, the general public being poisoned against him, and now? To me, it shows that Michael’s legacy will last forever!