Recently in Michael Jackson Category

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Sky Blue and Redfoo of LMFAO give it up for their favorite album of all time, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

LMFAO Sorry for Party Rocking Michael Jackson Thriller

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Grammy-award winning sisters Erica and Tina Atkins-Campbell of Mary Mary talk about their favorite albums. Click here to sign up for a free Rhapsody trial subscription and see what we're all about.

ARTIST: Mary Mary RECORD: Off the Wall

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Many favor this album for its warm, genuinely unpretentious feel. The stellar selection of songs precludes any notions of Jackson being the King of Pop, but surely they helped fan that flame. The gentle disco beat of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and the heart-wrenching "She's Out of My Life" are just two of Off the Wall's many highlights. — Linda Ryan Hear It Now!

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Big V of Nappy Roots talk about his favorite album of all time. Rhapsody subscribers can listen to The Pursuit of Nappyness and millions of other albums whenever and however they want. Click here to sign up for a free Rhapsody trial subscription and see what we're all about.

ARTIST: Nappy Roots RECORD: Bad

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On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds.

ARTIST: Jay-Z RECORD: Off The Wall

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

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On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Watch Animal Collective reflect on their favorite record of all time: Michael Jackson's Thriller.

ARTIST: Animal Collective RECORD: Thriller

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

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Tori Amos

Any star is an unknowable quantity, one from whom we expect distance but crave intimacy -- it’s the paradox that drives the star-making industry. With our pop stars, we literally can’t get enough: we flock to flawed films, hungry for a glimpse of the “true” person behind the persona. We’ve watched Bette Midler channel Janis Joplin (sort of) in “The Rose,” Elvis remain himself even when he should be acting (just about any film), U2’s self-aggrandizing at the dawn of its career in “Rattle and Hum,” Madonna playing herself in both fiction (“Desperately Seeking Susan”) and documentary (“Truth or Dare”). The latest in line? Michael Jackson, who’s drawn a flood of viewers to the posthumously released rehearsal doc “This Is It,” which topped the box office last weekend.

On Saturday, August 29, Michael Jackson would've been 51 years old. Obviously this is a very bittersweet occasion. As news that Jackon's death was ruled a homicide, and the obvious loss that we all felt with his passing, it's tempting to get bogged down in a sadness. But, we'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate his life and his music. Below, you'll find a sample of some of his best songs, and you can listen to a full playlist right here. And, of course, you can always sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership to get the full experience: dozens of playlists, radio stations, blog post and, of course, all of his best work in high-quality audio. So, kick back, throw Thriller on repeat and celebrate one of the best who ever did it.

Today, Saturday, August 29, Michael Jackson would've been 51 years old. Obviously this is a very bittersweet occasion. As news unfolded that Jackon's death was ruled a homicide, and with the obvious loss that we all felt with his passing, it's tempting to get bogged down in sadness. But, we'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate his life and his music.

Below, you'll find a sample of some of his best songs, and you can listen to a full playlist right here. And, of course, you can always sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership to get the full experience: dozens of playlists, radio stations, blog posts and, of course, all of his best work in high-quality audio. So kick back, throw Thriller on repeat and celebrate one of the best who ever did it.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

When Michael Jackson passed away last week, I think many of us felt like he'd been taken too soon, his life cut short just as he seemed to be poised on the verge of some kind of comeback (although the stress of that may have been a contributing factor in his untimely demise). A lot of that feeling probably had to do with his age: he was only 50, but even that relatively young age seems shocking since Michael often seemed to exist in a state of (largely self-perpetuated) boyhood for us, a Peter Pan figure we prefer to remember as a chubby-cheeked child star or a charismatic teen/young adult. But an important part of Jackson's legacy is his rather prolific professional life -- a career that extended over at least three decades and was often a touchstone for what was (or would soon be) going on in popular culture and music. In honor of the late, great King of Pop, this week's single-phile takes a look at some of his greatest hits, their relationship to the pop cultural climate at the time and their influence on the pop music that was to come.

When Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009, there was an outpouring of grief from around the world. We asked our editors to take a few minutes and collect their thoughts about the music and legacy of one of pop's greatest entertainers.

The Man
Michael Jackson never quite seemed mortal until now. He spent at least 40 of his 50 years trying to escape from his past and his fears and his race and his self, and at least 30 of those 50 years singing about it, and last Thursday, he finally found the door out. Michael Freedberg, the great disco critic from the Boston Phoenix, said once that Michael lived Robert Johnson's life in the plain view of everyone on earth, always watching out for hellhounds over his shoulder. And it's true; if you don't believe me, go back and listen again to the paranoia and foreboding in "Heartbreak Hotel," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" ("You're a buffet, you're a vegetable/ They eat off of you, you're a vegetable") "Torture," "Smooth Criminal" ("You ran into the bedroom/ You were struck down/ It was your doom"), "Dirty Diana," "Who Is It," "Give In to Me," and pretty much all of 1997's great, intense, inexplicably ignored Blood on the Dance Floor album, which was almost entirely about being chased, followed, often to the sound of funereal gothic rock: "Susie got your number/ And Susie ain't your friend/ Look who took you under/ With seven inches in." As somebody approximately Michael Jackson's age (I'll be 49 this year, he was 50), also from the Midwest, with a messed-up and sometimes barely existent childhood of my own, I can relate. And so can Axl Rose, I'm sure, and so can Eminem. And so, in their own way, can the millions if not billions of other people worldwide who loved Michael, and probably plenty of the ones who didn't.

If he did anything wrong in his life -- and part of me doesn't ever want to know if he did -- he certainly also did more good than any of us can ever conceive of. He was easily the greatest dancer of the past three decades, probably the greatest singer, and quite possibly the greatest songwriter. Which adds up the greatest entertainer, period. "I can guarantee you one thing: we will never agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis," Lester Bangs wrote in Presley's obit 32 years ago, only a couple years before Michael Jackson definitively proved him wrong, emerging full-blown into adulthood as the world's most popular musician by presaging generations of young people who would celebrate their adulthood by refusing to grow up. And he emerged, of course, with some of the most celebratory music anybody from those generations will ever hear. But always, in the middle of that celebration, and not always submerged, there was dread. If anybody deserves to finally rest in peace, it's him. -- Chuck Eddy 

Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at the age of 50. The monumental loss has been felt around the world. Jackson was a prodigiously talented singer and dancer -- an icon that transcended borders, race and age. Beginning in 1969 with the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson loomed over the pop landscape like no one before. Thriller, Off The Wall and Bad rank as three of the greatest pop albums of all time. But more than just the music, Jackson understood the value of spectacle in pop entertainment, and his own life took on a mythical quality. Sure, the fall in the '90s was fast and hard, but Rhapsody would like to take this moment to remember the numerous career highlights from the King of Pop.

	LISTEN: Michael Jackson’s pinnacle, the unforgettable Thriller		PLAY: MJ’s best songs not on Thriller
	REMEMBER: Our Editors reflect on the man, the music and his legacy		FAMILY: The greatest music from the Jackson clan
	DISCOVER: Songs from Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Kanye and Bjork that sampled MJ		READ: The Top 25 Pop Albums of the 1980s

Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at the age of 50. From his childhood days as a member of the Jackson 5 to his coronation as the King of Pop in the 1980s, Jackson was one of the most universally celebrated performers of his generation. He was a limitlessly talented and immeasurably influential singer, dancer and songwriter, and his string of great albums, beginning with 1979's Off the Wall and continuing through 1983's Thriller and 1987's Bad, rank among the best pop records ever. Though his personal life took on a tragicomic tone in the '90s and '00s, he remained an icon to millions. More so than perhaps anyone, he embodied the age of the mega-star - Thriller is still the best-selling album in pop music history - and his appeal crossed cultural, racial and national boundaries. For literally millions around the globe, MJ was our cultural common denominator.

Over the next few days, the Rhapsody editorial staff will be sharing its thoughts on and memories of Michael in the comments section of this post. We encourage our readers to do the same.

Song: Billie Jean
Album: Thriller
Artist: Michael Jackson
Can't make it to any of the sold-out MJ shows in London? Yeah, neither can we, but we can give you a free track from the King of Pop himself. Sponsored by Vassarette.

Song: ABC (Salaam Remi Krunk-a-delic Party Mix)
Album: Motown Remixed Extras
Artist: The Jackson 5
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: November 21, 2008

November 21 holds an infamous place in pop history: this is the day Phil Spector was charged with murder and Michael Jackson was booked on suspicion of molestation (both in 2003); in 1980, Don Henley was arrested after a naked 16-year-old girl was found OD'ing in his house. "ABC" made love sound so simple, but Salaam Remi's creepy-clown remix illustrates the dark turns relations between two people can take.

Play It Now

by Chris Ryan

It was 25 years ago that a little album by the youngest son of the family Jackson came out, and promptly became as popular as sunshine, breathing and Christmas. That's right, today marks Thriller's quarter century in the game. Check out the above teaser video with behind the scenes clips of Michael-mania at its height; get inside-the-producer's-studio wisdom from Quincy Jones; and behold Beyonc�'s wonderment at the "Billie Jean" video's illuminated floor tiles. (One bummer: no one wanted to discuss Eddie Van Halen's "Beat It" solo!)

Further Listening:
Michael Jackson, Thriller 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition