My earliest memory is seeing Michael Jackson in Melbourne with my sister when I was about ten. I still have this souvenir stick with a glove that would light up and make a peace sign in a bunch of different colors. I’m so happy my mom didn’t throw that out.
When I was 4 years old, I thought that I wanted to be a dancer like Michael Jackson.
I didn’t think I’d ever be a Michael Jackson fan. But… watching him move, watching him dance, is so encouraging for me. Because, in my mind, I can do all that stuff.
When I was a teenager, I used to watch the ‘Making Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller” video and try to follow the steps and do the ‘Thriller’ moves in my bedroom. That was the most incredible dance sequence.
At a party in L.A., I met this middle-aged gentleman who I was talking to for ages when I asked, ‘So, what do you do?’ Turns out I was speaking to legendary music producer Quincy Jones, who worked on Michael Jackson’s hits. And there was little old me rattling on – I was so embarrassed.
There were three great child singing stars: Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Jackie Washington.
My first professional acting role was a small part in a television series called ‘The Wizard.’ I later had the opportunity to work on Michael Jackson’s Moon-walker music video.
I do a lot of touring, yes, and I have my whole life ever since I was 19 years old, when I used to tour with Al Jarreau, Rickie Lee Jones, and Jackson Browne as a side musician.
In 1984, I managed Walter Mondale’s campaign for president. Mondale won the nomination after a bruising battle with Colorado Senator Gary Hart and Reverend Jesse Jackson.
I’ve got so many dance heroes, and it’s such a cliche, but how can I not say Michael Jackson? Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul – they are the people I remember when I was a little girl, watching their videos and trying to learn all the choreography.
Truth is, I love all the horror guys and girls: Gord Rollo, Shirley Jackson, Harlan Ellison, Ramsey Campbell, Dan Simmons, Thomas Ligotti. Each one of them brings something wonderfully different and, because I love the genre, I love those who love the genre, too. And I hope the genre ends up loving me back.
I grew up in St. Louis in a tiny house full of large music – Mahalia Jackson and Marian Anderson singing majestically on the stereo, my German-American mother fingering ‘The Lost Chord’ on the piano as golden light sank through trees, my Palestinian father trilling in Arabic in the shower each dawn.
My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince – for the vocals, anyway.
Your voice is like a very serious instrument that you have to tame if you want to be an amazing singer – Marvin Gaye or Michael Jackson.
I love a good lyricist – always have. The thing that inspired me most was the different performers, like Tina Turner, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Madonna, even Janet Jackson.
I woke up and I just saw all these things, like ‘RIP Skai Jackson,’ and I’m like, ‘Why do people think I’m dead? Like, what happened? Where did this come from?’ And then one of my fans told me it was some girl who started it. And for me, that’s just like not funny at all.
Greg Jackson gave me hope after four losses. After my last loss in the Strikeforce grand prix against Kharitonov, I gave him a call and asked him if he thought I should retire. Some of my trainers, some people told me I had lost it. He said, ‘Absolutely not. Just come to Albuquerque,’ and gave me that hope.
None of the jazz greats made music for the purpose of you going to check out music before them. Michael Jackson didn’t make music so you could go check out Sam Cooke.
Every group has its time. Nobody reigns forever, except Michael Jackson. So, you’ve gotta be ready for that – and be wise about what you’re doing.
Al Michaels is a good announcer. I think Keith Jackson is a terrific announcer. I always loved him on Monday Night Football. I never understood why they got rid of him.
I have a very eclectic iPod. So I’ve got my cardio people – so it’s anything from Beyonce to some Jay-Z to Janelle Monae, her song ‘Tightrope,’ that’s a good cardio song. And then I’ve got Sting. I’ve got Mary J. Blige. I’ve got The Beatles. I’ve got Michael Jackson. I try to pick the songs that I personally love.
As a dancer, obviously, we are all inspired by Michael Jackson, and I always looked up to Gene Kelly. He was a bigger version of Fred Astaire, and he was amazing as well.
You can’t equate me with Joe Jackson. I’ve never hit my kid, I’m educated, I understand the business world.
Iconic artists are never straight ahead. Michael Jackson loved Elvis and Burt Bacharach, and uniquely blended both of them into what he did.
I really like Alan Jackson, in Country Music. I think he’s really very, very talented along with George Jones, and Merle Haggard, the same old favorites.
Let me appeal to the consciences of many silent, responsible citizens of the white community who know that a victory for democracy in Jackson will be a victory for democracy everywhere.
My song from ‘Footloose,’ ‘Almost Paradise,’ went number 1 dislodging Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ from that spot.
What’s wrong with being a two-sport athlete? You’ve got Deion Sanders. You’ve got Bo Jackson. You’ve got Michael Jordan; he wasn’t a very good baseball player. There’s nothing wrong with crossing over.
Quentin Tarantino and Sam Jackson are the reasons I’m an actor.
I’ve been a Yankees fan for a long time. When I was a kid in the mid-’70s, the Yankees were really great. They had Reggie Jackson in ’77. I was 8 years old at the time. He hit three home runs to win the World Series in game six against the Dodgers, and I was just hooked.
I remember on ‘JAG,’ Joe Jackson punched Stephen Culp and shattered his nose.
Whenever I hear people crying about Kobe yelling at people in practice or wondering whether or not LeBron is best friends with his teammates, I just roll my eyes. You know how many off-court conversations I had with the Zen-Master Phil Jackson in my entire time with the Lakers? One.
It’s a great compliment to be compared to Michael Jackson, but people are starting to realize now that I’m just me, and that’s all I want to to be.
The president was not the most important political player in the 19th century. Besides Jefferson at the beginning, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, the center of politics was Congress.
I never hand in a book until it’s completed. Richard Jackson then reads it and asks me to clarify murky points. We work very well together. He knows how hard to push, and I know how hard to push back. He’s the only person who can criticize my work without me throwing a hissy fit.
There are so many fantastic stories and I want to bring Thor and Odin and the other gods into the modern world, just like I did with the Greeks and ‘Percy Jackson.’ I’ll give the books an urban setting and have young people interacting with the Norse gods.
Music has always been in my family down to my dad through my uncle. I’m just the next generation, since it’s always been around me when I was younger when I looked up to my mom and dad, to Michael Jackson, and B2K was my favorite band growing up.
Rampage Jackson came to the UFC with a brain. He came to the UFC with a huge following from being in Asia with Pride. He was a personality before he came to the UFC. You don’t see them putting marketing money behind him to blow him up.
It is evident that the grip of ‘The Return of the King’ on Mr. Jackson is not unlike the grasp the One Ring exerts over Frodo: it’s tough for him to let go, which is why the picture feels as if it has an excess of endings. But he can be forgiven. Why not allow him one last extra bow?
If we all had a little bit of Michael Jackson in us, I think it would make the world a better place.
Michael Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It caused quite a controversy, because his nose isn’t eligible for another fifteen years.
Shirley Jackson enjoyed notoriety and commercial success within her lifetime, and yet it still hardly seems like enough for a writer so singular. When I meet readers and other writers of my generation, I find that mentioning her is like uttering a holy name.
Everybody wanted to be Michael Jackson. That’s how Will and I got to know each other.
I had done a lot of running in ‘Texas Chainsaw’ and sword-fighting in ‘Percy Jackson,’ which taught me to fall properly.
Michael Jackson carried urban America and eventually American society on his vocal cords for a good 25 to 30 years before even hip-hop became the vox populi of America, and then as an adult he shattered racial barriers.
Despite the sometimes sordid turns his life took, Michael Jackson always held my fascination, like he did for most of us.
One day in 1984, at the height of his fame, Michael Jackson made a visit to the White House. President and Nancy Reagan may not have dug his music, but they understood the power Mr. Jackson commanded as a common pop-cultural touchstone for just about everyone else.
Music is my only guide. I don’t care if people pigeonhole me. Miles Davis is my hero. He covered Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson, and he didn’t give a hoot about what the purists said.
I was more in opposition within my own party, and for a long while, I was part of the opposition. I had – Scoop Jackson was my candidate in ’76. I made no bones about that.
