MJ still rocks our world

The King of Pop died a year ago this week.

On June 25, 2009, I was driving home from work when I heard on the radio that Michael Jackson had died.

"Yeah right," I remember thinking. "It must be one of those countless celebrity death hoaxes."

After all, MJ was only 50. He became famous as a kid in the Jackson 5, but was anyone really expecting MJ to die so young?

True, his personal life and drama may have overshadowed his music a few too many times, especially in the past 20 years. But put that aside and evaluate Jackson's role in music and pop culture. He gave us the moonwalk and "Thriller," to say the least.

His influence on pop music as a performer is undeniable. Lots of current pop and R&B stars including Justin Timberlake and Usher have listed Jackson as a major influence with his ultra popular songs and smooth moves.

MJ's hit songs still are awesome, even if most of them are from the '80s and early '90s, because they're ageless. The "Thriller" album, which featured "Thriller," "Billie Jean," and "Beat It," came out in 1982. But even in 2010, those songs are standbys at karaoke nights and parties.

And his songs are responsible for inspiring quite a few remixes and parodies. Remember Alien Ant Farm's version of "Smooth Criminal"? How about those Weird Al parodies such as "Fat" and "Eat It"?

His talent wasn't just in delivering hit songs. As a performer, Jackson turned out hit videos and performances to accompany his songs.

I've seen about a dozen or so of his music videos, and they're all entertaining enough on their own without the music. MJ even got the late Marlon Brando to appear in his 13-minute-long music video for one of my non-'80s MJ favorites, "You Rock My World." Last time I checked, you couldn't just get Brando to be in your video. You had to be at least some degree of awesome.

And while those YouTube videos of people breaking into the "Thriller" dance at weddings are entertaining and numerous, the 1,500+ inmates in a Philippine jail take the cake for best re-enactment. In case you haven't seen the video, search YouTube for "thriller prison." It's hard enough to coordinate 15 people in a dance, much less 1,500.

Earlier this year, the documentary "This Is It" came out. Jackson was supposed to be performing a final "This Is It" group of shows in London last summer. I was a little worried it would be too sappy for me, but it's actually a pretty entertaining collection of videos and backstage footage from the "This is It" tour. The documentary, which runs just short of two hours, features a lot of MJ's best songs and several from my top 10 list.

My top 10 favorite Jackson songs is made up of hits, which have all held up well over the years: "Thriller," "Billie Jean," "Bad," "Beat It," "Black or White," "ABC," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Scream," "Smooth Criminal" and "You Rock My World."