Michael Jackson

I was really shocked and saddened to hear that Michael Jackson died today.

Despite all of the allegations that dogged him over the last 15 years or so, you can't deny that Michael Jackson was one of the biggest stars we've ever seen.

We've all been fascinated by Jackson's life, from his first TV appearance with The Jackson 5 at four years old, through his solo career, Thriller, to all of the crazy stories about oxygen tanks, chimps, Peter Pan, Lisa Marie Presley, baby dangling, kids with masks, skin conditions, plastic surgery etc. In the 50 years Michael Jackson lived, we certainly got our money's worth.

If you've followed the Jackson story over the years, it's hard to see how he ever stood a chance. He never lived a normal life so when things didn't go his way, he couldn't cope. He simply did not know how to live in the real world but the real world was fascinated by him.

It's always a shock when somebody so well known dies, especially unexpectedly at a relatively young age.

He had been rehearsing for fifty dates at London's O2 Arena (Millennium Dome) and maybe the stress of everything that involves was too much.

The next few days will see the story continue to unfold but for somebody so well known, Michael Jackson had a way of keeping certain aspects of his life secret so maybe we will never know the whole story.