People walk past a tribute to Michael Jackson in Toronto on June 26. While most mourners celebrated his life, the response of some fans to his death has taken a much darker turn. Up to 12 people from various parts of the world have either attempted or committed suicide in response to Jackson's death.
People walk past a tribute to Michael Jackson in Toronto on June 26. While most mourners celebrated his life, the response of some fans to his death has taken a much darker turn. Up to 12 people from various parts of the world have either attempted or committed suicide in response to Jackson's death.
Photograph by: Mark Blinch, Reuters
For better or worse, the death of Michael Jackson has created an unprecedented global outpouring of mourning, tribute and celebration.
On Wednesday evening thousands of Michael Jackson fans gathered in Toronto's Dundas Square to spend a few hours dancing together in celebratory remembrance of the king of pop. It was a diverse crowd, and strangers joined together in circles to show off their slickest moves and sing along to the lyrics nearly everyone had memorized. For many it was a cathartic event; a happy reflection on all the positive things that Jackson contributed to the world and the legacy of musical joy that he left behind.
But while most celebrated his life, the response of some fans to Jackson's death has taken a much darker turn. Gary Taylor, president of the fan site MJJcommunity.com told news outlets yesterday that he believes up to 12 people from various parts of the world have either attempted or committed suicide in response to Jackson's death.
"I know there has been an increase, I now believe the figure is 12. I believe there may have been one Briton who has taken their life," Taylor told the British website Sky News. ""It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live."
In response to Taylor's statement Reverend Jesse Jackson made a YouTube video, addressing any distraught fans that might be contemplating suicide. "It made Michael happy saying 'We Are The World'. Don't self destruct," said Jackson. "We fall down sometimes, we get back up. That's the right thing to do. In Michael's name let's livetogether as brothers and sisters and not die apart as fools."
While the number of suicides, if any, that have occurred as a result of Jackson's death has not been confirmed, there has been at least one confirmed attempt. Russian Jackson impersonator Pavel Talalayev has spent the past 15 years emulating his pop idol and has had several plastic surgeries to achieve Jackson's look. Talalayev learned of his hero's death while surfing the Internet. "I started receiving calls from other fans, I tried to calm them down . . . And then I let myself go,"Talalayev told the Russian news outlet Mosnews.com. Talalayev cut his wrist open, and though help arrived in time, he was not comforted. "I don't know why the doctors saved me," he added. "I want to be with Michael, and I will kill myself anyway."
Most of Jackson's fans, though, have chosen to remember him as he was in life by seeking out what he left behind. The sudden collective yearning to hear and see Jackson at his best resulted in huge spikes in album sales in recent days. Jackson-related albums are expected take the top nine spots of Billboard's Top Pop catalogue chart for last week, and sales of solo Jackson albums have reached roughly 422,000, a huge leap from the 10,000 he sold the previous week.
YouTube has also seen massive leaps in Jackson-related traffic. Millions visited The Official Michael Jackson YouTube Channel, and there was major traffic for classic videos like Thriller (up to 46 million from 37 million), Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (up to 20 million from 15 million) and Bad (up to 16 from 13 million).
Fan-made tribute videos have also flooded the site. Perhaps most popular are the videos of a group of Filipino prison inmates who honoured Jackson by re-enacting a previous dance performance to Thriller (the original has now been viewed over 25 million times) and then performing a new choreography to a medley of Jackson favourites.
The newer tribute performance was created in only 10 hours following Jackson's death, and features 1500 inmates moving in unison to songs like Ben and I'll Be There.
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