Almost all of the people whom I met in the online and offline world started listening to English music by listening to a Michael Jackson song. The first English song that I can remember I heard in my early childhood was Beat It, the evergreen hit song from the album Thriller. It was played aloud in the record player of my neighbor. I did not know the lyrics, but I was stuck with the foot-thumping tune itself. And I sang along with my own lyrics, in a language which is yet to be identified. :-)

Michael Jackson was a household name and I don't know how it happened to be so. Even in a family like mine where there was no newspaper, television, radio or even electricity, we knew that Michael Jackson was a famous musician. And for us, he was the only "English" singer.

As I grew up and was in the 10th standard, I listened to Dangerous, another album by Michael Jackson. The friend who introduced that song to me was also my neighbor and I used to watch cable TV in his house. I saw many music videos among which I found MJ's videos so creative, almost movie like, and his moves were stunning. I became a huge fan and started following his music religiously. I bought one and all of his albums. I started collecting the lyrics of his songs and sang along. I even collected some of his old works with Jackson 5 and a duet collection with Diana Ross. When History was released, I was among the first few in my town to get it from the music stores.

Even though I moved on from MJ to other artistes, MJ's music was so influential. His lyrics were so intense, be it about love, romance, children, world peace or environment. His voice and music reflected the passion that he had for the themes he chosen for his songs. He was a complete entertainer. His music videos are unmatchable in the industry.

Despite of all this, Michael Jackson filled the news column for all the bad reasons. It seemed like the scandals one after another took his artistic creativity away. The last album from MJ, Invincible, was a total disappointment. The songs and arrangement was not anywhere close to the usual MJ standards. Then came the news of MJ's financial liabilities, his health issues, selling off Neverland ranch - there you see a legend falling down.

But even at this stage, Michael Jackson stands tall. In the history of music, he will stand next to Elvis Presley. I think even Presely don't deserve the first place because he has not experimented with music like MJ did. MJ brought out various musical forms and collaborated with musicians of many genres and most of them became popular hit songs. Amidst of all the personal problems that he goes through, his fans hope that he would return. And he gave them that hope on his 50th birthday, promising an upcoming album and world tours in the near future.

Michael Jackson, at 50, is still dear to his fans and music lovers around the world. Is it time for him to retire or would he make a worthy come back any soon? That is what his fans are waiting to see.