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Where were you when Michael Jackson Died?
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by Amy Judd | June 26, 2009 at 09:12 am
929 views | 10 Recommendations | 20 comments
Where were you when Michael Jackson died?
By now the whole world knows that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died in California at the age of 50 from suspected cardiac arrest.
Regardless of peoples' personal feelings about Michael, his music, and perhaps his personal activities, the death of such a pop culture icon often stops people in their tracks and they remember where they were when they heard the news that he had indeed passed away.
When other world figures died, people often record what they were doing.
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John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Princess Diana, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kurt Cobain have all had this affect on the world.
John F. Kennedy was assasinated on November 22, 1963, and people still recall where they were when they heard the news:
At the age of ten I was in Class V at the District Council Primary School in the remote town of Kambia in the northwest district of Sierra Leone.
The sad news was stunning. I was too young to vote but old enough to remember that fateful day.
I was an 11-year-old child, the daughter of an Air Force defense contractor, who went to an American school in West Ruislip.
Mostly I remember watching the "telly" at about 7:30pm with the "live" news, which was very profound for me at that time.
Still is, to think about it.
I was in Norfolk, Va, awaiting separation from the US Navy. I was out sightseeing and shopping and when I got back to qarters, the others were telling me the President was shot. Of course, I didn't believe them until I walked into the television lounge. He was my first Presidential hero.
When Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, his fans recall where they were standing and what they were doing.
I was 12 years old, on holiday in Gorleston-on-Sea with my parents and two younger brothers, who at that time were the two most annoying people in the world but these days, are ok. I remember the adults at the guest house where we were staying were all sitting around in the lounge, upset, reading The Daily Mirror and wondering where it all went wrong. I didn't realise at the time what had truly happened.
I was in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.
I had just turned 18 in May, just got my 2nd Dan black belt & a teaching permit, and was still struggling to get my self defense and health science school started.
The world mourned when John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman. People came together in their grief and the death of the famous Beatle still seems to affect their fans.
I was just getting ready for bed, as it was a school day the next day.
My mom, who was watching MNF with my dad, heard the news, and thought I'd want to know. I cried into my pillow for a little while, then turned on the rock station, where they were already playing wall to wall Lennon and Beatles.
I'd always been more a Ringo fan, actually, but there was something so tragic about the fact that he'd just come back from such a long break, and how happy he sounded about life and all, that just ached.
I can't remember who was on; they broke in with a special report that Lennon was killed, and I went into shock. I called my best friend (and fellow Beatlemaniac)and woke him out of bed; we talked on the phone for a few hours, while we both listened to WMMS and M105 in Cleveland as they played Lennon tracks, took phone calls, and read the latest news on Lennon's death. I'll never forget that night.
Even Madonna remembers:
"I'D just moved to New York and was out walking a few blocks away when I heard the sirens and saw a crowd. I remember walking up and asking 'What's going on? What's going on?' And they said John Lennon was shot. It was so weird."
People around the world grieved the loss of the People's Princess, Diana, Princess of Wales, when she died in a Paris car crash August 31, 1997.
I couldn't sleep so I switched on the telly and the news was on. The broadcaster was saying that there had been an accident in Paris and that Dodi was dead and that Diana was being treated for injuries in hospital. Then they showed the mangled Mercedes and I remember thinking, "She is lucky to have got out of that mess alive!". Then the news came that she had died and I was devastated. RIP Diana she was my favourite Royal.
I was playing cards with my son and his wife at home. We were playing Hearts when it came on and I kept saying...OH MY GOD...OH MY GOD......
My husband who is really a very sensitive and gentle man shocked me with saying.....Why are you so upset...you didn't know her?
I just looked at him and said...I liked her...she has young children..this is horrible.!
April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and the people who had followed his cause stopped to remember the man who tried so hard to make a difference.
His son remembers:
"My siblings and I were watching the evening news and we saw it flashed across the screen that our father had been shot ... we just knew that something terrible had happened."
He recalls that his mother, the late Coretta Scott King, rushed to be by his side. Before reaching her critically wounded husband, he would die from his wounds.
Kurt Cobain died from a drug overdose April 5, 1994 and music fans recall his death and the moment they found out.
I can remember exactly where I was when I heard Kurt Cobain had died: in my car, driving home from high school. As soon as I got to my house, I watched MTV for hours. It didn't seem real.
I heard that Kurt Cobain had died while being in a club; it must have been a Friday or Saturday night. I was told by a girl who was a huge Nirvana fan. At first I didn't believe it as some months before, there had already been rumours that he's dead when in fact he had only been hospitalized (in Italy, I think). But she assured me that she had seen the news on MTV repeatedly and that it was really true.
I was home from school. I was in ninth grade. I was in the basement on the phone with a girl. My friend clicked in and said “Cobain blew his brains out.” Then i clicked over again and was like, “Kelly… I gotta go!”
I would have been in fifth grade, maybe sixth. I remember being very clued in to the gravity of the situation despite being pretty young. I watched tons of MTV and saw all the grieving and the reading of his last letter by Courtney and all that.
I was at work when I heard that Michael Jackson died. Where were you?
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (20)
at 09:15 on June 26th, 2009
I was working as well, trying to decipher an Austrian report about pirate hunting.
at 10:00 on June 26th, 2009
I was working on our twitter app (y, the secret one) - when I saw the first tweet about it - how strangely appropriate. I still remember where I was when Diana died: getting into a cab with a couple of friends in Toronto. As we entered, the cabbie said "Diana, she is gone..." strange - but unforgettable.
at 10:07 on June 26th, 2009
I woke up, got ready to go somewhere, flipped to Facebook and saw it posted on my wall--I was at home
at 10:18 on June 26th, 2009
Michael who?
at 10:25 on June 26th, 2009
I was in the car when I heard the news.
at 22:15 on June 26th, 2009
I was at work. I am a dog groomer and I swear I was stunned, absolutely in shock. I didn't know how to react. I tried to google it on my phone and there were so many hits, it wouldn't let me on to any news site. So I started texting every one I knew to see if it was true, and no one knew, until my cousin texted back revealing that he was in fact dead. I was in total dissaray and I got really teary-eyed.... I tried to shake the image of him being dead ou of my head and I couln't...
at 02:28 on June 27th, 2009
Michael Jackson is an AMAZING Person , he has a caring heart and will ALWAYS be the best Entertainer. Such a genius and will never be replaced. My Daughter and I attended his 45th B'Day Party and he was so sweet to talk to, he spoke to me about Glasgow, Scvotland, Edinburgh and he really liked it there on his visits.
People that think he is weird or wacko, I think that is sad. Don''t Judge a book by its cover. There are many werd people out in the world. He was loved for being the Greatest Performer and for being such a caring person.
He was done wrong in his short life.
His Childhood was taken away from him and My heart goes out to Michael Jackson.
R.I.P Michael
at 06:25 on June 27th, 2009
In a grad school poetry class - one of my classmates got the news via a text message from her sister. We all abandoned what we had been doing and crowded round my laptop to find out what had happened. The web had slowed to a crawl because so many people were logging on at once.
at 09:50 on June 27th, 2009
Have you cried over the death of Michael Jackson. Say <b><a href-"http://francislholland.blogspot.com/">"yes" or "no" in this poll.</a></b>
at 11:41 on June 30th, 2009
What about these "Michael Jackson is Dead" jokes, courtesy of the baaaad people over http://michael-jackson-dead-jokes.blogspot.com. Cold, don't you think?
"Madonna sent the jackson family her condolences as soon as she heard the news. She then asked them how much they wanted for the kids!"
Here’s another:
"In an astonishing medical mystery, Michael Jackson’s corpse remained limp and soft until just minutes ago, when an orderly was bringing it down to the morgue, and passed through the children’s ward. Michael Jackson instantly went into rigor mortis."
at 16:13 on July 1st, 2009
Very funny but perhaps a week too soon?
at 06:23 on July 4th, 2009
at home, online
at 07:26 on July 7th, 2009
I was upstairs in my room listening to a Weird Al's parity of Michael Jackson's smash hit BAD, (FAT) when something flashed at the bottom of the screen on that VH1 classic music television that Michael had actually die. Really kind of weird, listening to something that closely relates to the late King of Pop at the time of his death.
at 14:20 on July 7th, 2009
"Ladies and Gentlemen and Michael Jacksons." I will never be able to use that line again with my classes. Honestly, that was my first reaction, followed by 'so much for the comeback tour.' Does this make me a sick sick person? (please don't answer that.)
PS. I was in a hotel lobby in Mazatlan when a group of students raced over to tell me the news. Hardly a John Lennon or Rene Levesque moment for me, but I sensed the world had changed in a bizarre way. To be blunt, I kind of thought he was going to kill himself during the child molestation investigations, and was mildly surprised by his continued bizarre presence in the mass media. In some sad way, I suppose he already had or was, at the very least, working at it surgically and medicinally ...
at 14:20 on July 7th, 2009
Good recounts of what people were doing when they heard the news; thank you all for sharing.
at 16:19 on July 7th, 2009
I was in Copenhagen for the first time, visiting a friend. I loved the city, but will forever relate it to the terrible news of MJ´s death.
The next day, a small sailboat was going around the port there with Michael´s image hoisted at half-mast and his music playing onboard. The people were singing out loud and toasting his memory. I didn´t think that it would affect me so much but, at that moment, I started to cry.
RIP... thank you, Michael. For everything you gave us.
at 17:34 on July 9th, 2009
I was driving back to Idaho from Montana when I got a flood of text messages and voicemail once my phone got signal. We pulled up to grab a meal but the only thing on the news was Fawcett's death and so for that moment we thought it was just one of those morbid jokes people send on myspace, text messages and such.
at 06:04 on August 5th, 2009
It is August 05 and i still mourning the lost of mj . I was on the greyhound bus headed from Atlanta Georgia to mississippi when I heard the news. I shouted on the bus that MICHAEL JACKSON DEAD!!!!!! put on the song remember the time and from then on all the music i listen to is Michael Jackson
at 07:38 on September 7th, 2009
I was in Paris, at around 12 am got a text from a friend that he had had a cardiac arrest. Sat and avidly watched the news for half an hour until it was confirmed. Cried myself to sleep.
at 12:26 on September 16th, 2009
where was i when i heard michael jackson died? i was praising the lord that the animal was gone. they made a media circus out of his death. there are more deserving people who should get that honor and michael jackson isn't one of them. patrick swayze passed away from caner on 9/14/09. where was his media coverage. he fought bravely for 20 months to only lose his battle.