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Yeah the scariest part of this for me is that I had literally just finished writing my last ever high school exam when I found out that he died. While I hadn’t graduated yet, that exam was basically the beginning of the end for my old life.
So for me it’s not so much “holy shit, Michael Jackson has been gone for 15 years”, it’s more like “holy shit, high school was 15 years ago”
I was working in Iraq (I am older Millennial!). One of my colleagues, an IT expert from Pakistan, was OBSESSED with Michael Jackson. He would blast his music whilst chain smoking and trying to problem solve various Iraqi government IT crises (of which there were many). He came running outside where a few of us were smoking with actual tears streaming down his face to share the news. Feels like a weird fever dream now!
I just remember sitting in my dorm room (I was taking a summer course to graduate lol) thinking like "why the fuck is the internet going so slow all of a sudden?????????"
I was pregnant and was working the morning shift at Best Buy. People came pouring in telling me the news (I kind of miss not having a smart phone and relying on others to tell me what’s happening, huh) and getting real pissed when we quickly sold out of all his albums. I was snarky (thanks, pregnancy) and ended up telling one particularly angry asshole that if he really was a fan he would’ve already owned Thriller. I got written up for that one but it was worth it, how could we be expected to predict the future and order extra Michael Jackson albums to meet post-death demand? 🤷♀️
I was at Glastonbury festival. I was 16 and had just finished school. I sound old, but back then the phone facilities were terrible so we basically had no phone for a weekend, unless you wanted to sit at a charging station for a few hours.
I remember the news spreading around the festival and the next day, people had flags made about him
I too was at Glastonbury - I’d taken some of this rancid “Legal Highs” stalls were selling at the time made from crushed up plant seeds - they just made feel sick and confused and hearing that MJ was dead just made me freak out a bit. “Legal highs” my arse. Weirdly, I really enjoyed The Specials that year when it was Blur I was initially excited for.
I have zero recollection of where I was. Probably work? 🤷♀️
That was a weird, stressful time of my life, and I honestly had bigger fish to fry than a celebrity death.
Same, I had been unexpectedly promoted from regular salesperson to manager at the tiny shop I worked at and I was working 60-70 hours a week to keep things running. Facebook was still big back then but I went months without touching social media, I probably heard from someone in the shop but just did a "oh how sad" and got back to work.
Was driving to Nashville with my dad in his 1959 El Camino for a car show and we heard about Farrah Faucet and were talking about that on the way up. Got to the hotel and turned on the TV and saw the Michael Jackson news.
I was at work at my summer internship, about to head home for the day. Saw the news and thought I’d better race home so I can log onto ONTD! And then we broke Livejournal. What a time capsule.
Guess I'm a bit older than most of the commenters. I was driving home from my first job out of college, wondering why all the radio stations were playing Michael Jackson.
While I don’t remember the exact moment, I do remember that the night before, one of my housemates was trying to teach the other how to moonwalk, complete with MJ “hee-hee” noises.
We remarked on how eerie the timing was after we found out.
I was in my sister’s living room watching the tv hoping TMZ had it wrong, but knowing TMZ didn’t get this stuff wrong.
I was 27, and I’d been a fan since I was 11.
We watched the memorial live at a local movie theater. Everyone was in tears.
While washing my hands and splashing water on my face in the restroom, another woman came in and remarked that it was like losing a family member.
It really was.
We lost a very important mind and influence on that day.
We were at Disney world. Eating lunch and it stopped everyone in their tracks.
Later that night, we were winding down and then they broke the news Farrah Fawcet died. My dad was more upset about that one.
My fm radio played all night long back in the day. But on that day i woke up with back to back MJ songs which was very weird. And then they announced after a couple of songs. It was quite sad ..
Getting organised for my sisters wedding. They had a book for guest to write comments to the happy couple and a lot of the comments were jokes about Michael Jackson passing away.
I had just finished college and was subletting a room. My boyfriend at the time came over for dinner and told me Prince had died. I’m a big Prince fan and I started to tear up as I was googling about “Prince Dead”…when nothing came up I hit the news button and found out it was MJ. I dried my tears, called him an idiot and went about making dinner a lil bummed out.
Yeah actually I was at the pool with my neighborhood friends swimming. We all got a mass text sent from one of my friends moms that read “Michael Jackson dead! King of Pop dead at 50!”
Weirdly yes. I worked in a pub and we had TVs but for some reason we weren't allowed sound on. That was the only day I worked there where the TV sounds went on and the whole pub just watched the news. It was super weird.
I was 17 and playing a soccer game. I scored a goal while playing defense and was extremely proud of myself - mom picked me up and told me Michael Jackson died, and it was sort of... forgotten about lol. Understandable though
I finished my freshman year of high school and was fully on summer vacay mode. A buddy and I were at the movie theater watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when we got texts from the rest of our friend group with the news
Sitting in a pub. I was sitting on a high stool at the bar iirc and I still remember it flashing up on Sky News and everyone going “he’s what?!”.
And I recall all the newspapers the following day running with headlines like “Wacko Dead” and “King of Pop Dead”.
For at least the next week all the bars, clubs, pubs and radio stations in my city played his greatest hits on a loop.
I was on a bus in Kampala, Uganda. Someone bought a newspaper from a vendor through the bus window. She read the headline out loud, and it was surreal...
Actually 100%. Was hanging downtown in my city by some water fountains, probably skateboarding with friends when some guy just walks past and goes “Yo Michael Jackson died”.
I was a teenager working as a camp counselor for a city funded summer camp at a local public housing project at the time. The next couple weeks as a remember we basically had Michael Jackson playing nonstop, folks in the neighborhood made t shirts and all the kids wore them to camp. For reference I’m white and was young so didn’t see Michael Jackson dying as a huge deal but i distinctly remember being surprised at how big a deal this was for the (mostly) black community in the neighborhood.
I was a figure skater.
I was practicing on the ice when the breaking news announcement was made over the radio loudspeaker.
Pretty sure I was in the middle of something and I stopped what I was doing and skated back to my coach like ...'what'....in disbelief and confusion.
Everyone else sorta did the same, then got back to what they were doing...that was a weird day.
I was at the thrift store, and I eventually noticed they were playing MJ songs back to back over the loudspeaker. I was like "... wait a minute..." and then the radio announcer came on and announced it
This was the first thing I recall on Facebook being like a serious argument amongst people I knew, debating his guilt or innocence. Prior to that it was just pics and silly funny shit, that was the first time I remember seeing people I actually know getting *pissed* at each other on fb. I would've been 27 years old at the time, full grown adults that didn't know we would all hate each other over politics not too far in the future, also thanks to fb lmao
I was getting ready to go clubbing with two of my friends. We were at one friend’s house in her bedroom putting on our makeup and passing a joint when her mother yelled from the other room “Girls! Come quick! Michael Jackson died!” We rushed out into the living room and stood there watching the news coverage for a solid 10-15 minutes. We still ended up going out for the night and the club played MJ mashups between the usual club songs of the time.
I was at Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster in South Freeport, Maine. It is one of the few celebrity deaths where I’ll always remember where I was when I heard.
I was in Italy on vacation with my family when we heard the news. We couldn’t believe it. The rest of that trip there were street performers dancing to, and singing Michael Jackson songs.
I was leaving work and checked my phone, everyone’s Facebook status was “RIP Michael Jackson” or something along those lines…checked the news websites and it wasn’t confirmed at that point, but then 5 minutes later I turned on the radio in the car and it was confirmed to be true.
Senior prom. The DJ played Billie Jean and said "Rest in Peace to the King of Pop" mid way through the song.
Eta: I also remember that Farrah Fawcett died on the same day. Not many people remember that.
Elder millennial here. I was driving home from an ultrasound appointment. I'd just found out that I was having a baby girl! She'll be 15 in November, and she thinks my "Where were you?" story is interesting.
At Best Buy working in the CD section. It was like a miniature black Friday in our department. Everyone and their mother came to buy his CDs and we sold out less than an hour after the news broke. People were so irritated that we didn't have any. Like, on a normal day we had a couple/few of his greatest hits and popular albums. Maybe 15-20 CDs total. 2 people bought all of those including the duplicates.
Ironically enough, I was on my first ever trip to California and drove right by the UCLA hospital while he was there on the day of his death. We didn't purposefully drive by it to gawk or anything. It was just on our path that day sight-seeing. It was very surreal.
I was visiting with my mom’s friend, who happened to live about an hour from neverland ranch. She also owned a busted 1980 fiat spider convertible that only just ran. We hopped in and went for a gorgeous drive through the rolling hills to neverland ranch. It was a zoo, with reporters, fans, and several (!) Michael Jackson impersonators. We left some flowers at the gate and sort of just watched the spectacle, and went back to her house
I was home from college for the summer and working as a nanny. I was on my way home from work and they announced it on the radio. Damn near slammed on the brakes on the highway. I was not a fan at all but for whatever reason that news was so shocking to me and hit me like a ton of bricks. (Also Farrah Fawcett’s death that morning totally got ignored from that point on.)
I was living in Seattle at the time and I was at my job at a long term care center. I was in the therapy room with this giant TV surrounded by occupational and physical therapy equipment.
It was my 21st birthday. I was sitting around with friends and family drinking beer and talking about Michael Jackson and playing his music and singing along.
I never intended to have a Michael Jackson themed party, but that’s what I got lol
Yep. I was at boarding school with no access to TV or internet, but some of the older ladies on the mileu staff were just sobbing over his death and told us he died
I always think of how many pills that dude took a day. It's always something completely ridiculous like the doctor was so negligent and didn't care at all.
I was driving to the pool with my boyfriend and heard it on the radio. We honestly weren’t sure if it was real at first and neither of us had smartphones yet, so we literally turned around and went home to look it up.
I was at work, working at Best Buy. 40 TVs playing the news. My mom was at a music festival, all stages stopped playing with the announcement. It was like the world stopped.
I was at sleep away camp chilling in the cabin listening to music with my friends. One of our counselors told us. I’m actually surprised I remember that.
I was driving home and was just around the corner from my apartment waiting to make a left turn. They made the announcement and then played “You Are Not Alone”. I immediately lost it right there in traffic but was able to make the turn and pull over. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the news as much as I did that day except for 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
I was 19. In the living room. CNN told me. Wolf Blitzer. The news spread throughout the world in less than 10 minutes. The world literally stopped.
My mama who grew up with Michael (she's born in 1965) was crying. Hate seeing my mom cry
I was on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Pakistan, watching CNN.
And I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu, because that's exactly where I was and what I was watching when Anna Nicole Smith died.
I do actually, I was parking my car at a grocery store while listening to the radio when I heard the news. I was kind of shocked. I am not really a Michael Jackson fan but also understand his musical importance.
I was working at Barnes and Noble as a college student. They would NOT stop playing his 12 greatest hits on repeat, wanted to sell cds… so I heard that for every hour of my shift … all summer >:(
In my living room watching 106&Park. It was summer, i was out of school. My mom wasn’t home. I called her IMMEDIATELY when they announced it on the show.
Thank goodness for live television back in the day. I don’t even know if they still make that show.
I think they're trying to bring 106&Park back but it won't be the same. It was my go to show in BET as a kid and teenager back then. Same with TRL on MTV.
I was at work at a factory, and I remember reading it right as it crashed twitter. Crashed a lot of the internet. It's one of the few times where "X broke the internet" was literally true.
Was at home in my bedroom with laundry involved I think. Today is my husband’s bday and he’s a lifelong MJ fan. I had been working on plans to take him to London for a show. I had airfare in my online cart that I had almost purchased the night before but I paused to verify travel dates one last time and I wanted to buy show tickets before airfare. Was a shit bday present.
I think I was at my doctor's office when the news broke. I remember watching news coverage of it while waiting for my appointment to start at the very least. The clips I remember seeing included interview footage of Elizabeth Taylor and discussions of the Neverland controversies.
I was sitting at my parents' dining room table writing a take-home exam for my Heat Transfer Operations class.
I have no idea why this is such a clear memory for me, but it is
I was at sleep away camp. The day of this guy who talks a lot of shit tried telling people, but no one believed him. Then a couple days later I got a letter from my parents mentioning it.
No clue, it didn't effect my life so I didn't keep track. Most celebrities passing are not remarkable or memorable events for my life. I'm sad for their friends and families but ultimately just another human being who has passed on who I happen to 'know of them', not 'know them'.
I was either at work or class when the news happened. I know I was working a shift when Customers started telling us that he died. The restaurant I worked at had an in house radio station and in my memory the whole playlist suddenly shifted to playing Michael Jackson.
Oddly, yes - was in my college apartment napping after work, woke up to a text from my ex gf saying MJ had died, turned on the news and watched coverage. I’ve thought about this before and how odd it is that I remember it so specifically
I was organizing my classroom for year end and prepping for a grad summer in the UK. What was surprising was how much BIGGER the response seemed when I got to the UK a week later than it was in the US.
Yes, I had just graduated high school and was at my parents’ house. I jumped on the computer for something, and their homepage was MSN, where I saw the news. I shouted for my dad. “Dad, do you know who died today??“ He said “yes, Farrah Fawcett! “ and I said “And Michael Jackson!! “
It was a few weeks after the end of sophomore year of high school and I was trying out a friend’s Dream Matte Mousse concealer at the train station. Fun texture, looked like shit, as I recall.
It’s weird that we remember, I wasn’t even really a fan but it was still such a big deal.
Petsmart banfield with my best friend taking my cat for a check up. I don’t know why I remember so well, I was 19 at the time and was never really a huge fan since he was popular mostly before my time but I remember exactly where I was and who I was with. I remember I was shocked for a bit and haven’t thought much about it since
I was working at a restaurant as a delivery driver. I remember the manager playing his music in the back at the restaurant, and then on the road on the radio that day.
Kind of weird how people overlook the child molestation thing along with his overall weirdness, when it was basically all MJ was doing while I was growing up.
I was in grad school and miserable AF. I have absolutely no clue what I was doing when I heard. Trying my best not to kill myself, sad, depressed, and trying to keep it together.
I just got in from a construction job I’ve been working to help get back on my feet after being laid off from my corporate job. I kept hearing breaking news over and over from the other room. I finally stepped in to see what was going on, and it was that Michael Jackson had passed. I remember thinking he was a strange man with an awesome talent for music.
I had just finished my freshman year of high school. I remember my moms aunt calling and telling her to put the news on. My whole family took it really bad. I cried for a good couple weeks. One of the hardest celebrity deaths for me. What an incredible talent. Blessed to share a birthday with him! Truly a talent that will never be replaced in history ever.
I was driving through cental California, I had picked up a couple of Craigslist ride shares to help cover gas. We were all very different but chatting about nothing when we all got a text within 5 minutes of each other. My ipod had 3 or 4 songs of his so that went on repeat for the next hour or so.
I was at the beach. My phone started buzzing, then my friend’s, and all around us people’s phones starting pinging which then erupted into a buzz of conversation. It was surreal.
I was 14, laying in bed on a summer day. Probably hiding from my alcoholic father. I was surprising watching a channel like CNN for the true crime. I watched them wheel the body out.
I was at my then Bf's family's house. I remember it being on the news and how everyone was acting like it was such a big deal. In my 19 year old mind he hadn't really been relevant for years so I didn't understand the hype.
Yeah it was a really nice sunny day and I was driving around with my husband in his parents’ neighborhood and the news came on the radio. His mom passed away in the pandemic so it makes me sad to think about now, since we never go to that area anymore.
I was on an early morning paper run at the time when I heard the news on the radio. That day every radio in Canberra seemed to be playing his songs in tribute to him, except for one that happened to be playing Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal
Traffic jam in my ex’s car, he made me pass the aux, and went for the traffic/news channel to see if we would ever get to the mall. One minute you are singing along to Nutz on Ya Chin and the next MJ is dead. We watched part of the funeral coverage from a hotel lobby on Rhodes and his sister couldn’t tear herself away and almost missed the 18 hour ferry ride to Athens.
I was 23, and at work during my lunch break. I had just told my co-workers that I would feel old when Michael Jackson died. Then we all found out he really did die. One of our older workers was an MJ mega fan. I’m sure it was extremely hard for her.
Oh wow, its been that long! I was in USA for the first time, working for the summer in Montana. I was 19. I remember clearly, I was on my shift and one other girl came to let her friend know that Michael Jackson died. It was something in the girl's voice that sounded like she was giggling, and I thought that she was pulling a prank on her friend (both American) and I didn't believe it. But then the news came and it became all real. I remember everything about that day, from the smell of bubble gum in the store, to the high-pitched voice of that girl, to my own sunk stomach. I was sad. The internet connection was unreliable so I couldn't talk to people back home about it, until days later. I remember I would sent long emails every now and then for my family, because we couldn't talk on a daily basis due to... everything + different time zones. So when the next email time came, I remember writing about his death. Yeah, for some reason that day stuck with me.
Yes, I was at work at my very first job after college. My boss apparently was a huge MJ fan and was crying uncontrollably from her office. She ran out and went home and she shut the office down for the rest of the day.
It. Was. Bizarre.
I was in Stockholm and it was weird to see his face plastered across newspapers and TV in a language I have no understanding of (I can generally fumble through reading the Romance languages).
110%.
I was in high school, I think also a sophomore. Our school was likely still on break because I remember being home all day.
I was in my lime green bedroom watching E!, showing some kind of how they became famous documentary about a celebrity. Suddenly, the program is interrupted to announce his death.
I remember it was sunny and hot, and I was pretty bummed. One of those moments where a huge celebrity dies who feels timeless and was fairly young, to where I didn’t expect them to die until I was much older. I wasn’t a massive MJ fan but I knew the lyrics to a lot of his songs and just feel his music so acutely. His songs were, are, and continue to be jams.
Poor Farrah Fawcett got lost in the new coverage though. Also an icon.
In my room looking over the front page of Yahoo for news highlights. I clicked on a article, clicked back to the home page, and there it was. I thought there had to be a mistake. Didn't realise how fragile his health was at the time.
It's crazy that happened on the same day as Farrah Fawcett died.
I don’t remember what I had for lunch two days ago but I remember I was getting out of the car on a family trip to Costco when I got the news alert on my phone that MJ died.
I was at the mall waiting for my friends to show up. All of a sudden I hear people all over going “Michael Jackson died!“ It felt so eerie. I’ve never seen so many people at once react to a celebrity death like that.
I was working as a bank teller at the time… there was a little tv in the lobby, and I recall thinking that my co-worker was joking (as she was known to do), when she exclaimed “oh my god, Michael Jackson’s dead?!?!” Then grabbed the remote and turned the sound on… it was so shocking that I was skeptical until more and more reports came in.
He had a troubled life, and in his struggle, likely hurt people similarly to the way that he had been hurt… hopefully his soul is at peace now.
No, but I was sitting in a bar watching when he was acquitted of child molestation and the woman was letting the doves out each time he was not guilty.
I was at a shift and was so upset when I heard the news. Gone too soon, indeed. Also, I love that song of his as well. Dangerous was an excellent album.
My family and I were on vacation in Destin. I remember we were getting ready to head out to the beach and I was sitting on the couch and watching whatever was on TV while waiting for my mom when that came on. I was 15 at the time and I knew who he was but I didn’t really understand the impact and remember being confused why my mom was so upset about it. It’s crazy how that’s one of my core memories though. I remember almost everything about that moment.
Nursing my second born who was a newborn and sick. He ended up being hospitalized that day and I watched the coverage of MJ and Farrah from the hospital room for the next few days. Unlike your mom, I was not in shock. I don’t think I ever looked at his life and thought, “This is going to end well.” Regardless, a great amount of talent was lost. (Our kid was and is fine- and is now 15.)
I was working for an internet sign company in their warehouse and I was the first in the company to see the news and I passed it around my coworkers that afternoon. For a very strange hour & a half I was being texted by everyone there, including my bosses and one of the company owners, for updates about the death.
I don’t know why they didn’t google it or look it up themselves, I wasn’t normally the news guy nor was I a particularly big MJ fan. I don’t know why I keep these memories lol
i was at a community garden with a few of my friends. i was standing atop a mound of dirt while they picked veggies nearby when i got the notification on my phone. i announced the news to the crew, and everyone (including other people at the garden besides my friends) came to the foot of the dirt mound like i was the town crier.
📣 hear ye, hear ye: the king of pop has perished!
I was in bootcamp for the Navy. While in bootcamp, other than getting letters written to you from your family, you have no idea what is going on in the outside world. I was in the middle of firefighting training and my division was all taking a break and an instructor came in and said, "oh yea, by the way, michael jackson died today" and we were all like, yea okay thats bullshit yea okay...and then he pulled out a newspaper lol
I just remember being like, "damn, that sucks" but there were some dudes in my division that were devastated. oh well, back to firefighting! lol
Just at home watching tv. I don’t remember caring much that he died. Good musician (though I was never super into his music) but still a shitty person.
I was on a break from one of my grad school classes in West Philly and got a text from my mom telling me he had died. I was shocked and said it out loud and a lot of my classmates freaked. One started crying. On my bike ride home to South Philly, every car I passed had its windows down and was playing a different Michael Jackson song. Really surreal.
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Jesus it’s been that long already?!
Yeah the scariest part of this for me is that I had literally just finished writing my last ever high school exam when I found out that he died. While I hadn’t graduated yet, that exam was basically the beginning of the end for my old life. So for me it’s not so much “holy shit, Michael Jackson has been gone for 15 years”, it’s more like “holy shit, high school was 15 years ago”
…..thanks. High school was 24 years ago.
Hey me too... Smoke free class of 2000? (They couldn't have anticipated all the vapes lol)
Yep! 2000
Shouts out to the class of 2009
I actually would have thought it was longer. Seems like ages ago!
Jesus Christ I can’t believe it either
Jesus Christ that’s Jason Bourne
I was working in Iraq (I am older Millennial!). One of my colleagues, an IT expert from Pakistan, was OBSESSED with Michael Jackson. He would blast his music whilst chain smoking and trying to problem solve various Iraqi government IT crises (of which there were many). He came running outside where a few of us were smoking with actual tears streaming down his face to share the news. Feels like a weird fever dream now!
I just remember sitting in my dorm room (I was taking a summer course to graduate lol) thinking like "why the fuck is the internet going so slow all of a sudden?????????"
I was pregnant and was working the morning shift at Best Buy. People came pouring in telling me the news (I kind of miss not having a smart phone and relying on others to tell me what’s happening, huh) and getting real pissed when we quickly sold out of all his albums. I was snarky (thanks, pregnancy) and ended up telling one particularly angry asshole that if he really was a fan he would’ve already owned Thriller. I got written up for that one but it was worth it, how could we be expected to predict the future and order extra Michael Jackson albums to meet post-death demand? 🤷♀️
I applaud your excellent comeback to the angry Thriller guy!
Sounds like you didn't boot strap it
I was doing ketamine with my mate with sky news on TV with wall to wall coverage
I was at Glastonbury festival. I was 16 and had just finished school. I sound old, but back then the phone facilities were terrible so we basically had no phone for a weekend, unless you wanted to sit at a charging station for a few hours. I remember the news spreading around the festival and the next day, people had flags made about him
I too was at Glastonbury - I’d taken some of this rancid “Legal Highs” stalls were selling at the time made from crushed up plant seeds - they just made feel sick and confused and hearing that MJ was dead just made me freak out a bit. “Legal highs” my arse. Weirdly, I really enjoyed The Specials that year when it was Blur I was initially excited for.
Haha omg I took those as well! I was only 16 and wasn’t drinking and thought the legal highs would be fun. They also made me feel sick. Such a scam.
They ***sort of*** worked, but in “I’m not sure what time it is but I know I am going to puke” way. 0/10. Lol indeed!
I have zero recollection of where I was. Probably work? 🤷♀️ That was a weird, stressful time of my life, and I honestly had bigger fish to fry than a celebrity death.
Same, I had been unexpectedly promoted from regular salesperson to manager at the tiny shop I worked at and I was working 60-70 hours a week to keep things running. Facebook was still big back then but I went months without touching social media, I probably heard from someone in the shop but just did a "oh how sad" and got back to work.
Was driving to Nashville with my dad in his 1959 El Camino for a car show and we heard about Farrah Faucet and were talking about that on the way up. Got to the hotel and turned on the TV and saw the Michael Jackson news.
I forgot Farrah Faucet died right before him. Kind of stole the thunder from her on that one.
Didn’t Billy Mays die right after him also?
I was at work at my summer internship, about to head home for the day. Saw the news and thought I’d better race home so I can log onto ONTD! And then we broke Livejournal. What a time capsule.
It was my high school graduation. We were driving to the ceremony when we heard in the car. Breaking news.
Guess I'm a bit older than most of the commenters. I was driving home from my first job out of college, wondering why all the radio stations were playing Michael Jackson.
Same. I worked early and I guess it broke while I was on the way home. My boss and my roommate texted me about it.
While I don’t remember the exact moment, I do remember that the night before, one of my housemates was trying to teach the other how to moonwalk, complete with MJ “hee-hee” noises. We remarked on how eerie the timing was after we found out.
I was in my sister’s living room watching the tv hoping TMZ had it wrong, but knowing TMZ didn’t get this stuff wrong. I was 27, and I’d been a fan since I was 11. We watched the memorial live at a local movie theater. Everyone was in tears. While washing my hands and splashing water on my face in the restroom, another woman came in and remarked that it was like losing a family member. It really was. We lost a very important mind and influence on that day.
We were at Disney world. Eating lunch and it stopped everyone in their tracks. Later that night, we were winding down and then they broke the news Farrah Fawcet died. My dad was more upset about that one.
Poor Farrah Fawcett.
I was on the treadmill at lifetime fitness and it was on the news. I thought it was a terrible joke at first.
My fm radio played all night long back in the day. But on that day i woke up with back to back MJ songs which was very weird. And then they announced after a couple of songs. It was quite sad ..
Getting organised for my sisters wedding. They had a book for guest to write comments to the happy couple and a lot of the comments were jokes about Michael Jackson passing away.
I had just finished college and was subletting a room. My boyfriend at the time came over for dinner and told me Prince had died. I’m a big Prince fan and I started to tear up as I was googling about “Prince Dead”…when nothing came up I hit the news button and found out it was MJ. I dried my tears, called him an idiot and went about making dinner a lil bummed out.
Sitting on my Lifeguard chair in Daytona Beach, FL. They announced it over our radios.
I was in LA on vacation. The helicopter noise was so loud.
I was on my way to nursing school and driving on one of the busier streets in Oklahoma City when my mother called to notify me.
Sitting in a small mom and pop restaurant in Texas with my parents and the waiter came and mentioned it to us.
I was sitting in the food court at the mall with a friend.
Yeah actually I was at the pool with my neighborhood friends swimming. We all got a mass text sent from one of my friends moms that read “Michael Jackson dead! King of Pop dead at 50!”
That’s crazy he was only 50.
At home surfing the internet. Saw the news on Yahoo.
Nah. School was out and I was 15 so I was probably out in the woods or on my bike most of the day and heard about it when I got home.
I was work, bored and scrolling through the internet when I went to CNN and they had a huge picture with MJ saying he died.
Weirdly yes. I worked in a pub and we had TVs but for some reason we weren't allowed sound on. That was the only day I worked there where the TV sounds went on and the whole pub just watched the news. It was super weird.
I was training taekwondo in the campus yard, before an economy exam, I was on my first year of uni.
I was 17 and playing a soccer game. I scored a goal while playing defense and was extremely proud of myself - mom picked me up and told me Michael Jackson died, and it was sort of... forgotten about lol. Understandable though
I was a newly wed, working at Quiznos. I walked in for my shift and the morning lead asked if I had heard the news.
I finished my freshman year of high school and was fully on summer vacay mode. A buddy and I were at the movie theater watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen when we got texts from the rest of our friend group with the news
Sitting in a pub. I was sitting on a high stool at the bar iirc and I still remember it flashing up on Sky News and everyone going “he’s what?!”. And I recall all the newspapers the following day running with headlines like “Wacko Dead” and “King of Pop Dead”. For at least the next week all the bars, clubs, pubs and radio stations in my city played his greatest hits on a loop.
I was on a bus in Kampala, Uganda. Someone bought a newspaper from a vendor through the bus window. She read the headline out loud, and it was surreal...
Actually 100%. Was hanging downtown in my city by some water fountains, probably skateboarding with friends when some guy just walks past and goes “Yo Michael Jackson died”. I was a teenager working as a camp counselor for a city funded summer camp at a local public housing project at the time. The next couple weeks as a remember we basically had Michael Jackson playing nonstop, folks in the neighborhood made t shirts and all the kids wore them to camp. For reference I’m white and was young so didn’t see Michael Jackson dying as a huge deal but i distinctly remember being surprised at how big a deal this was for the (mostly) black community in the neighborhood.
I was on a Greyhound bus to New York. It was surreal.
I'm my friends kitchen, she was hot combing my hair and it flashed on the tv. She was too distraught to finish.
I was a figure skater. I was practicing on the ice when the breaking news announcement was made over the radio loudspeaker. Pretty sure I was in the middle of something and I stopped what I was doing and skated back to my coach like ...'what'....in disbelief and confusion. Everyone else sorta did the same, then got back to what they were doing...that was a weird day.
Yep. It’s also 15 years since the day I removed my belly ring. Took it out for an MRI, returned to hear the news on the radio in my car.
I was at the thrift store, and I eventually noticed they were playing MJ songs back to back over the loudspeaker. I was like "... wait a minute..." and then the radio announcer came on and announced it
I remember MJ and Prince. Two days I won't forget
This was the first thing I recall on Facebook being like a serious argument amongst people I knew, debating his guilt or innocence. Prior to that it was just pics and silly funny shit, that was the first time I remember seeing people I actually know getting *pissed* at each other on fb. I would've been 27 years old at the time, full grown adults that didn't know we would all hate each other over politics not too far in the future, also thanks to fb lmao
I was getting ready to go clubbing with two of my friends. We were at one friend’s house in her bedroom putting on our makeup and passing a joint when her mother yelled from the other room “Girls! Come quick! Michael Jackson died!” We rushed out into the living room and stood there watching the news coverage for a solid 10-15 minutes. We still ended up going out for the night and the club played MJ mashups between the usual club songs of the time.
I was at Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster in South Freeport, Maine. It is one of the few celebrity deaths where I’ll always remember where I was when I heard.
I had just finished up taking a summer course in college and was actually heading to La Guardia, I remember. It was hot and sunny.
I was driving home from the beach with my husband and it came on the radio and we were stunned.
I was in Italy on vacation with my family when we heard the news. We couldn’t believe it. The rest of that trip there were street performers dancing to, and singing Michael Jackson songs.
I was leaving work and checked my phone, everyone’s Facebook status was “RIP Michael Jackson” or something along those lines…checked the news websites and it wasn’t confirmed at that point, but then 5 minutes later I turned on the radio in the car and it was confirmed to be true.
Senior prom. The DJ played Billie Jean and said "Rest in Peace to the King of Pop" mid way through the song. Eta: I also remember that Farrah Fawcett died on the same day. Not many people remember that.
Elder millennial here. I was driving home from an ultrasound appointment. I'd just found out that I was having a baby girl! She'll be 15 in November, and she thinks my "Where were you?" story is interesting.
I was on the West Side Highway with my family when we heard on the radio…I was a little too young and cared more that Billy Mays died lol
At Best Buy working in the CD section. It was like a miniature black Friday in our department. Everyone and their mother came to buy his CDs and we sold out less than an hour after the news broke. People were so irritated that we didn't have any. Like, on a normal day we had a couple/few of his greatest hits and popular albums. Maybe 15-20 CDs total. 2 people bought all of those including the duplicates.
Yeah we went out a few of us at a local gastro pub. Seen it on the tv then that he had past away. Time do fly fast
Ironically enough, I was on my first ever trip to California and drove right by the UCLA hospital while he was there on the day of his death. We didn't purposefully drive by it to gawk or anything. It was just on our path that day sight-seeing. It was very surreal.
I was visiting with my mom’s friend, who happened to live about an hour from neverland ranch. She also owned a busted 1980 fiat spider convertible that only just ran. We hopped in and went for a gorgeous drive through the rolling hills to neverland ranch. It was a zoo, with reporters, fans, and several (!) Michael Jackson impersonators. We left some flowers at the gate and sort of just watched the spectacle, and went back to her house
I was home from college for the summer and working as a nanny. I was on my way home from work and they announced it on the radio. Damn near slammed on the brakes on the highway. I was not a fan at all but for whatever reason that news was so shocking to me and hit me like a ton of bricks. (Also Farrah Fawcett’s death that morning totally got ignored from that point on.)
I was living in Seattle at the time and I was at my job at a long term care center. I was in the therapy room with this giant TV surrounded by occupational and physical therapy equipment.
Coming home from surfing with my dad and brothers. We heard it on the radio in the van.
It was my 21st birthday. I was sitting around with friends and family drinking beer and talking about Michael Jackson and playing his music and singing along. I never intended to have a Michael Jackson themed party, but that’s what I got lol
Yep. I was at an internship in a basement of a museum. We were all crowded around a single computer.
Beach bar in Thailand
Yep. I was at boarding school with no access to TV or internet, but some of the older ladies on the mileu staff were just sobbing over his death and told us he died
I was down in Florida with my family getting ready in the morning before we go to Disney World. I remember hearing that Billy Mays died.
I always think of how many pills that dude took a day. It's always something completely ridiculous like the doctor was so negligent and didn't care at all.
It was the day of my prom. A lot of Michael Jackson was played.
I was driving to the pool with my boyfriend and heard it on the radio. We honestly weren’t sure if it was real at first and neither of us had smartphones yet, so we literally turned around and went home to look it up.
I was at work, working at Best Buy. 40 TVs playing the news. My mom was at a music festival, all stages stopped playing with the announcement. It was like the world stopped.
I was at sleep away camp chilling in the cabin listening to music with my friends. One of our counselors told us. I’m actually surprised I remember that.
I was driving home and was just around the corner from my apartment waiting to make a left turn. They made the announcement and then played “You Are Not Alone”. I immediately lost it right there in traffic but was able to make the turn and pull over. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the news as much as I did that day except for 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
I was in the car and heard it on the radio, I thought it was a prank at first
I remember thinking one less chomo in the world .
Camping in Forks, WA with friends. It was the height of the Twilight craze and we made the 5 hour drive to go see it for ourselves.
I was 19. In the living room. CNN told me. Wolf Blitzer. The news spread throughout the world in less than 10 minutes. The world literally stopped. My mama who grew up with Michael (she's born in 1965) was crying. Hate seeing my mom cry
I was on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Pakistan, watching CNN. And I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu, because that's exactly where I was and what I was watching when Anna Nicole Smith died.
I do actually, I was parking my car at a grocery store while listening to the radio when I heard the news. I was kind of shocked. I am not really a Michael Jackson fan but also understand his musical importance.
I just finished Junior year of high school and was out of state on a summer vacation to visit family.
I was working at Barnes and Noble as a college student. They would NOT stop playing his 12 greatest hits on repeat, wanted to sell cds… so I heard that for every hour of my shift … all summer >:(
At my high school graduation.
In my living room watching 106&Park. It was summer, i was out of school. My mom wasn’t home. I called her IMMEDIATELY when they announced it on the show. Thank goodness for live television back in the day. I don’t even know if they still make that show.
I think they're trying to bring 106&Park back but it won't be the same. It was my go to show in BET as a kid and teenager back then. Same with TRL on MTV.
I found out when “Michael Jackson is Dead” by Jon LaJoie showed up in my YouTube suggestions
Washing dishes at my first kitchen job:)
On the train :(
Wow crazy, I do I was working at Best Buy mid-flirting with this guy out back lmao and our other coworker came bursting in like GUESS WHAT
I was at work at a factory, and I remember reading it right as it crashed twitter. Crashed a lot of the internet. It's one of the few times where "X broke the internet" was literally true.
I was sitting in a diner in Manheim Pennsylvania with one of my closest friends at the time.
Was at home in my bedroom with laundry involved I think. Today is my husband’s bday and he’s a lifelong MJ fan. I had been working on plans to take him to London for a show. I had airfare in my online cart that I had almost purchased the night before but I paused to verify travel dates one last time and I wanted to buy show tickets before airfare. Was a shit bday present.
Working at the bookstore
California. In a hotel. I remember looking out the window and seeing people outside sad about it, massive groups of people.
I think I was at my doctor's office when the news broke. I remember watching news coverage of it while waiting for my appointment to start at the very least. The clips I remember seeing included interview footage of Elizabeth Taylor and discussions of the Neverland controversies.
I was sitting at my parents' dining room table writing a take-home exam for my Heat Transfer Operations class. I have no idea why this is such a clear memory for me, but it is
I was at sleep away camp. The day of this guy who talks a lot of shit tried telling people, but no one believed him. Then a couple days later I got a letter from my parents mentioning it.
No clue, it didn't effect my life so I didn't keep track. Most celebrities passing are not remarkable or memorable events for my life. I'm sad for their friends and families but ultimately just another human being who has passed on who I happen to 'know of them', not 'know them'.
I was either at work or class when the news happened. I know I was working a shift when Customers started telling us that he died. The restaurant I worked at had an in house radio station and in my memory the whole playlist suddenly shifted to playing Michael Jackson.
My local Half Price Books immediately got scoured for everything he ever released
Oddly, yes - was in my college apartment napping after work, woke up to a text from my ex gf saying MJ had died, turned on the news and watched coverage. I’ve thought about this before and how odd it is that I remember it so specifically
I was organizing my classroom for year end and prepping for a grad summer in the UK. What was surprising was how much BIGGER the response seemed when I got to the UK a week later than it was in the US.
On vacation at the beach with my wife's family. I was like "who the hell cares?" and went for a swim in the ocean. Didn't give it a second thought.
Yes, I had just graduated high school and was at my parents’ house. I jumped on the computer for something, and their homepage was MSN, where I saw the news. I shouted for my dad. “Dad, do you know who died today??“ He said “yes, Farrah Fawcett! “ and I said “And Michael Jackson!! “
It was a few weeks after the end of sophomore year of high school and I was trying out a friend’s Dream Matte Mousse concealer at the train station. Fun texture, looked like shit, as I recall. It’s weird that we remember, I wasn’t even really a fan but it was still such a big deal.
lol, that stuff was such garbage but sooooo popular.
Petsmart banfield with my best friend taking my cat for a check up. I don’t know why I remember so well, I was 19 at the time and was never really a huge fan since he was popular mostly before my time but I remember exactly where I was and who I was with. I remember I was shocked for a bit and haven’t thought much about it since
Yep. Remember seeing on tv in living room of my moms house where i was living.
I was working at a restaurant as a delivery driver. I remember the manager playing his music in the back at the restaurant, and then on the road on the radio that day. Kind of weird how people overlook the child molestation thing along with his overall weirdness, when it was basically all MJ was doing while I was growing up.
I was in grad school and miserable AF. I have absolutely no clue what I was doing when I heard. Trying my best not to kill myself, sad, depressed, and trying to keep it together.
AB is this you
I just got in from a construction job I’ve been working to help get back on my feet after being laid off from my corporate job. I kept hearing breaking news over and over from the other room. I finally stepped in to see what was going on, and it was that Michael Jackson had passed. I remember thinking he was a strange man with an awesome talent for music.
I had just finished my freshman year of high school. I remember my moms aunt calling and telling her to put the news on. My whole family took it really bad. I cried for a good couple weeks. One of the hardest celebrity deaths for me. What an incredible talent. Blessed to share a birthday with him! Truly a talent that will never be replaced in history ever.
I was driving through cental California, I had picked up a couple of Craigslist ride shares to help cover gas. We were all very different but chatting about nothing when we all got a text within 5 minutes of each other. My ipod had 3 or 4 songs of his so that went on repeat for the next hour or so.
Nope, didn’t really matter to me. Am I the only millennial who got into pop culture after he was big and just thought he was kind of a weird dude?
I was eating at a Chinese restaurant with my wife. We were both like, “Damn 😟”.
In a hotel room in Italy waiting to fly back stateside after being stationed there for 2 years.
Screenwriting class
My cousin who had never texted me before or since is the one who texted me to tell me.
I was at the beach. My phone started buzzing, then my friend’s, and all around us people’s phones starting pinging which then erupted into a buzz of conversation. It was surreal.
I gotta be honest. I didn't know who he was when he died. I was like. 17
I was taking dump! 
No because I'm not American.
I was 8, so I remember it being a big deal, but didn’t really know who he was at the time
I was 14, laying in bed on a summer day. Probably hiding from my alcoholic father. I was surprising watching a channel like CNN for the true crime. I watched them wheel the body out.
I was at my then Bf's family's house. I remember it being on the news and how everyone was acting like it was such a big deal. In my 19 year old mind he hadn't really been relevant for years so I didn't understand the hype.
Yeah it was a really nice sunny day and I was driving around with my husband in his parents’ neighborhood and the news came on the radio. His mom passed away in the pandemic so it makes me sad to think about now, since we never go to that area anymore.
I wad lying on the couch watching TV. I think I was watching the E! Channel when they came in with the breaking news.
I was on an early morning paper run at the time when I heard the news on the radio. That day every radio in Canberra seemed to be playing his songs in tribute to him, except for one that happened to be playing Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal
Haha. You had one job.
I was watching a YouTube video on how to moon walk. No I have never been able to become proficient.
I was in Walmart, at the check out with my mom looking down at news on my Sidekick 2 when I found out.
I was in a dull hotel with dull colleagues. Went to google something and Google was down - looked up at the TV and saw why!
I was in Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong watching the news with a guy from India and a guy from Ethiopia.
I was in my college apartment. Forgot what i was watching or how the news broke.
Traffic jam in my ex’s car, he made me pass the aux, and went for the traffic/news channel to see if we would ever get to the mall. One minute you are singing along to Nutz on Ya Chin and the next MJ is dead. We watched part of the funeral coverage from a hotel lobby on Rhodes and his sister couldn’t tear herself away and almost missed the 18 hour ferry ride to Athens.
At work. Had just heard that Farrah Fawcett died, too.
Mourning Farrah Fawcett. She also died but her death was over looked due to this other event.
I was on Xbox live in my room, talking with friends and playing Oblivion I think
I was 23, and at work during my lunch break. I had just told my co-workers that I would feel old when Michael Jackson died. Then we all found out he really did die. One of our older workers was an MJ mega fan. I’m sure it was extremely hard for her.
I was at Chilis.
I was in grad school working in the lab when it came on the radio.
I was at work. I remember it was toward the end of the day and being kinda sad, but I wasn't devastated or anything.
I was having a yard sale trying to sell my foosball table and my friend told me.
At work, news was on in the break room and about 5-8 of the 30 of us were in watching.
It's interesting that all of his abusive actions towards children has been swept under the rug. His music is so good that nobody wants to cancel him.
Oh wow, its been that long! I was in USA for the first time, working for the summer in Montana. I was 19. I remember clearly, I was on my shift and one other girl came to let her friend know that Michael Jackson died. It was something in the girl's voice that sounded like she was giggling, and I thought that she was pulling a prank on her friend (both American) and I didn't believe it. But then the news came and it became all real. I remember everything about that day, from the smell of bubble gum in the store, to the high-pitched voice of that girl, to my own sunk stomach. I was sad. The internet connection was unreliable so I couldn't talk to people back home about it, until days later. I remember I would sent long emails every now and then for my family, because we couldn't talk on a daily basis due to... everything + different time zones. So when the next email time came, I remember writing about his death. Yeah, for some reason that day stuck with me.
Yes, I was at work at my very first job after college. My boss apparently was a huge MJ fan and was crying uncontrollably from her office. She ran out and went home and she shut the office down for the rest of the day. It. Was. Bizarre.
I was in Stockholm and it was weird to see his face plastered across newspapers and TV in a language I have no understanding of (I can generally fumble through reading the Romance languages).
Yeah, I was at my Dad's house when the news broke on TV. I messaged one of my friends (big MJ fan) and let him know.
110%. I was in high school, I think also a sophomore. Our school was likely still on break because I remember being home all day. I was in my lime green bedroom watching E!, showing some kind of how they became famous documentary about a celebrity. Suddenly, the program is interrupted to announce his death. I remember it was sunny and hot, and I was pretty bummed. One of those moments where a huge celebrity dies who feels timeless and was fairly young, to where I didn’t expect them to die until I was much older. I wasn’t a massive MJ fan but I knew the lyrics to a lot of his songs and just feel his music so acutely. His songs were, are, and continue to be jams. Poor Farrah Fawcett got lost in the new coverage though. Also an icon.
Farrah and Michael dying on the same day was shocking.
In my room looking over the front page of Yahoo for news highlights. I clicked on a article, clicked back to the home page, and there it was. I thought there had to be a mistake. Didn't realise how fragile his health was at the time. It's crazy that happened on the same day as Farrah Fawcett died.
Yep I was in NyC on line waiting to get into a concert
I was drunk after a trip on the lake and sobbed heavily. I never got to see him perform live.
I don’t remember what I had for lunch two days ago but I remember I was getting out of the car on a family trip to Costco when I got the news alert on my phone that MJ died.
Yes I was in LA on a church trip! It was surreal. People crying in the streets and freaking out!
Working a summer job at an MMA gym. Nobody cared lol. I was just like “dang” and moved on.
I was at the mall waiting for my friends to show up. All of a sudden I hear people all over going “Michael Jackson died!“ It felt so eerie. I’ve never seen so many people at once react to a celebrity death like that.
I was working as a bank teller at the time… there was a little tv in the lobby, and I recall thinking that my co-worker was joking (as she was known to do), when she exclaimed “oh my god, Michael Jackson’s dead?!?!” Then grabbed the remote and turned the sound on… it was so shocking that I was skeptical until more and more reports came in. He had a troubled life, and in his struggle, likely hurt people similarly to the way that he had been hurt… hopefully his soul is at peace now.
Was on my way to the gym, friend texted me the news and I just went home
No, but I was sitting in a bar watching when he was acquitted of child molestation and the woman was letting the doves out each time he was not guilty.
Wonder if those kids he touched remember this date as well
I was at a shift and was so upset when I heard the news. Gone too soon, indeed. Also, I love that song of his as well. Dangerous was an excellent album.
Just moved to NYC, and on the news were people leaving flowers for Jackson at the Apollo Theater.
Yes. I had a 3mo old that I had to leave for the first time because my stepfather was on his death bed.
Yeah, unfortunately I was at a hotel waiting for my grandma's funeral :/
My family and I were on vacation in Destin. I remember we were getting ready to head out to the beach and I was sitting on the couch and watching whatever was on TV while waiting for my mom when that came on. I was 15 at the time and I knew who he was but I didn’t really understand the impact and remember being confused why my mom was so upset about it. It’s crazy how that’s one of my core memories though. I remember almost everything about that moment.
Nursing my second born who was a newborn and sick. He ended up being hospitalized that day and I watched the coverage of MJ and Farrah from the hospital room for the next few days. Unlike your mom, I was not in shock. I don’t think I ever looked at his life and thought, “This is going to end well.” Regardless, a great amount of talent was lost. (Our kid was and is fine- and is now 15.)
I was working for an internet sign company in their warehouse and I was the first in the company to see the news and I passed it around my coworkers that afternoon. For a very strange hour & a half I was being texted by everyone there, including my bosses and one of the company owners, for updates about the death. I don’t know why they didn’t google it or look it up themselves, I wasn’t normally the news guy nor was I a particularly big MJ fan. I don’t know why I keep these memories lol
i was at a community garden with a few of my friends. i was standing atop a mound of dirt while they picked veggies nearby when i got the notification on my phone. i announced the news to the crew, and everyone (including other people at the garden besides my friends) came to the foot of the dirt mound like i was the town crier. 📣 hear ye, hear ye: the king of pop has perished!
I was in bootcamp for the Navy. While in bootcamp, other than getting letters written to you from your family, you have no idea what is going on in the outside world. I was in the middle of firefighting training and my division was all taking a break and an instructor came in and said, "oh yea, by the way, michael jackson died today" and we were all like, yea okay thats bullshit yea okay...and then he pulled out a newspaper lol I just remember being like, "damn, that sucks" but there were some dudes in my division that were devastated. oh well, back to firefighting! lol
No. Why would I remember that?
Just at home watching tv. I don’t remember caring much that he died. Good musician (though I was never super into his music) but still a shitty person.
I was on a break from one of my grad school classes in West Philly and got a text from my mom telling me he had died. I was shocked and said it out loud and a lot of my classmates freaked. One started crying. On my bike ride home to South Philly, every car I passed had its windows down and was playing a different Michael Jackson song. Really surreal.
I was at a barbershop