During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and Thriller as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time.  Jackson also won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award.

But record sales and awards are just so inadequate a way of describing the level of his importance and his far reaching influence. We all grew up with Michael Jackson, his music was the soundtrack to our lives. We can all remember which album was big when we were at school and trying to bust some of the fresh dance moves in the playground. Then as we grew older, his songs were always smashing up the dancefloor be it at a birthday party, wedding or in a club.

And his links with hip hop were deep too - remember Jay-Z (who's track Izzo sampled I Want You Back) bringing him out at Summer Jam and the audience going wild - and at the same time there was the Track Masters remix of You Rock My World he laced? Or Wyclef Jean on Blood On The Dancefloor?  Or how about the Naughty By Nature remix of Scream just after they sampled ABC for OPP?  Then there was the fact he always knew who to roll with on his albums - in 1991 Teddy Riley and Heavy D were on point, and of course, both HIStory and his last studio album Invincible featured the late great Notorious BIG dropping memorable guest verses while at the top of his game.  Many of the biggest hip hop artists have sampled the great man from day one: De La Soul on Breakadawn and Eric B & Rakim on I Know You Got Soul, to Ghostface Killah on All That I Got, LL Cool J on Hey Lover, Kanye West on Good Life and Nasty Nas taking the loop from Human Nature for the official jump off single on Illmatic. And also into the world of R'n'B sampled by everyone from SWV to Rihanna.

Notably, he kicked down the door of MTV in the 80's by becoming the first black artist to be played on the channel - almost unfathomable nowadays when you consider their current output.

At the simplest level, Michael's music and actions brought happiness to so many and so it's tragic that his life seemed constantly beset with problems and that he was tormented from so many directions. Even in death this cruel treatment continues amongst some areas of the media who don't seem to understand or care for the meaning of 'Rest in Peace'. Listening carefully to the lyrics of his songs you can hear that he gave so much love and cared so much for humanity.

To say the news of his passing on 25th June 2009 at just 50 years of age, after a phenomenal 45 years of success, is devastating - would be the understatement of the century.  He was the greatest performer, musician, singer and all-round entertainer the world has ever seen. May he rest in eternal peace and his legacy last forever.