Michael Jackson. [Cheers] I have a little bit more to say than that. OK, here we go again. Michael Jackson was born in August 1958. So was I. Michael Jackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. Michael Jackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jackson was six, he became a superstar, and was perhaps the world’s most beloved child. When I was six, my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the stick. I never had a mother, but he never had a childhood. And when you never get to have something, you become obsessed by it.

I spent my childhood searching for my mother figures. Sometimes I was successful, but how do you recreate your childhood when you are under the magnifying glass of the world?

There is no question that Michael Jackson is one of the greatest talents the world has ever known. That when he sang a song at the ripe old age of eight he could make you feel like an experienced adult was squeezing your heart with his words. That when he moved he had the elegance of Fred Astaire and packed the punch of Muhammad Ali. That his music had an extra layer of inexplicable magic that didn’t just make you want to dance but actually made you believe you could fly, dare to dream, be anything that you wanted to be. Because that is what heroes do and Michael Jackson was a hero.

He performed in soccer stadiums around the world, and sold hundreds of millions of records and dined with prime ministers and presidents. Girls fell in love with him, boys fell in love with him, everyone wanted to dance like him. He seemed otherworldly — but he was a human being.

Like most performers he was shy and plagued with insecurities. I can’t say we were great friends, but in 1991 I decided I wanted to try to get to know him better. I asked him out to dinner, I said “My treat, I’ll drive — just you and me.”

He agreed and showed up to my house without any bodyguards. We drove to the restaurant in my car. It was dark out, but he was still wearing sunglasses.

I said, “Michael, I feel like I’m talking to a limousine. Do you think you can take off your glasses so I can see your eyes?”

Then he tossed the glasses out the window, looked at me with a wink and a smile and said, “Can you see me now? Is that better?”

in that moment, I could see both his vulnerability and his charm. The rest of the dinner, I was hellbent on getting him to eat French fries, drink wine, have dessert and say bad words. Things he never seemed to allow himself to do. Later we went back to my house to watch a movie and sat on the couch like two kids, and somewhere in the middle of the movie, his hand snuck over and held mine.

It felt like he was looking for more of a friend than a romance, and I was happy to oblige. In that moment, he didn’t feel like a superstar. He felt like a human being.

We went out a few more times together, and then for one reason or another we fell out of touch. Then the witch hunt began, and it seemed like one negative story after another was coming out about Michael. I felt his pain, I know what it’s like to walk down the street and feel like the whole world is turned against you. I know what it’s like to feel helpless and unable to defend yourself because the roar of the lynch mob is so loud you feel like your voice can never be heard.

But I had a childhood, and I was allowed to make mistakes and find my own way in the world without the glare of the spotlight.

When I first heard that Michael had died, I was in London, days away from the start of my tour. Michael was going to perform in the same venue as me a week later. All I could think about in this moment was, “I had abandoned him.” That we had abandoned him. That we had allowed this magnificent creature who had once set the world on fire to somehow slip through the cracks. While he was trying to build a family and rebuild his career, we were all passing judgement. Most of us had turned our backs on him. In a desperate attempt to hold onto his memory, I went on the internet to watch old clips of him dancing and singing on TV and on stage and I thought, “my God, he was so unique, so original, so rare, and there will never be anyone like him again. He was a king.”

But he was also a human being, and alas we are all human beings and sometimes we have to lose things before we can appreciate them. I want to end this on a positive note and say that my sons, age nine and four, are obsessed with Michael Jackson. There’s a whole lot of crotch grabbing and moon walking going on in my house. And, it seems like a whole new generation of kids have discovered his genius and are bringing him to life again. I hope that wherever Michael is right now he is smiling about this.

Yes, Michael Jackson was a human being but he was a king. Long live the king.

：“迈克尔-杰克逊和我一样都生于1958年8月，迈克尔-杰克逊和我都是在美国中西部郊区长大。迈克尔-杰克逊有8个兄弟姐妹，我也是。当他6岁的时候，他就成为了家喻户晓的明星，也许是世界上最受疼爱的孩子。当我6岁的时候，我的妈妈去世了。我认为他受到了比较不公平的待遇。”

　　“我从来没有妈妈，而他从未有过童年。当你没有过什么的时候，你就会痴迷于它。我童年的时候一直在找寻我妈妈的形象，有时候我成功了，但是当你的整个生活都被放大的时候，你如何能重新创建你的童年？毫无疑问，迈克尔-杰克逊是世界上最大的人之一……当年仅8岁的他唱歌的时候，他可以让你感觉像在听一个经验丰富的成年人唱歌，你的心被他的语言挤压……他拥有Fred Astaire的优雅和阿里的力量……他的音乐有一种莫名的魔力，不只是让你想要跳舞，实际上让你相信你能飞，可以去做梦，做你想做的事情。因为这是英雄的所作所为，所以迈克尔-杰克逊是个英雄。”

　　“他在世界各地的足球场上表演，他的销售量突破纪录。他和总理、总统共进晚餐。女孩和男孩们都爱他，每个人都想和他跳舞。他看起来超凡脱俗，但是他也是一个实实在在的人。和大多数表演者一样，他是害羞的，并被不安全感困扰。”

　　“我不能说我们是很要好的朋友，但在1991年，我决定更好地了解他，我请他出去吃饭，我说：‘我请客，我开车，只有你和我。’他同意了，并没带任何保镖单独来到我家，我们驱车前往餐厅，餐厅里很暗，但他仍然戴着墨镜，我说：‘迈克尔，我感觉像在和一辆型豪华轿车在说话，所以你可以摘下你的墨镜吗，我只想看见你的眼睛？’他停顿了一会儿，然后摘下了墨镜扔向了窗外，冲我使了个眼色，笑着说:‘你现在可以看到我了，是否更好一些？’”

　　“在那一刻，我看到了他的弱点和魅力，吃饭的时候，我执意让他吃薯条，喝酒，吃甜点，说坏话，做那些他似乎从没有做过的事情。后来，我们回到我的家看电影，我们坐在沙发上像两个孩子一样，他拉着我的手，看起来更像是找一个朋友而不是浪漫，我很高兴能强迫他。在那一刻，他看起来不像个超级明星，而是一个普通人。后来我们经常一起出去，再后来以为一些原因我们失去了联络。接着，负面报道一个接一个来了，我感到了他的痛苦，我知道当你走在街上感到全世界都与你为敌的感觉。我知道无助和无法保护自己的感觉，因为舆论反应震耳欲聋，你很确定你的心声永远不会被听到。”

　　“但是我有童年，我被允许犯错误，在没有刺眼的聚光灯下找到自己的方式。当我第一次听到迈克尔已经去世时，我正在伦敦，准备开始我的演唱会。迈克尔原本也要在这里举办他的复出演唱会，在那一刻我所能想到的是我当时抛弃了他，我们抛弃了他。当他试图建立一个家庭、重建他的事业的时候，我们所有人都在忙着做判决。我们中的大多数已经背叛了他。”

　　“为了守住有关他的回忆，我在网上看他在舞台上表演的老的视频。我想：‘哦，我的上帝，他是如此独特、新颖，罕见。再也不会有人像他。’他是一个国王，但他也是一个普通人，我们都是人，有时当我们失去别人的时候才能真正了解他们。我想以一个积极的讯息来结束，我的两个儿子都很痴迷迈克尔-杰克逊，在我的家里有迈克尔的大量存档，就如同整个新一代的孩子们，他们会发现他的天才，让他再生一样。我希望现在无论迈克尔在哪里，他会笑着看到这些。”

　　“是的，迈克尔-杰克逊是一个人，但是，他也是一个天王，天王万岁。”