By APRILL BRANDON •
Originally published June 26, 2009 at 8:04 a.m., updated June 26, 2009 at 8:04 a.m.
The King of Pop is dead.
The news that Michael Jackson, 50, died Thursday from cardiac arrest has sent shock waves around the world, even in Victoria. Love him or hate him, his unexpected death garnered reactions from all ages.
John Mays, 60, of Victoria, grew up with Jackson's music, he said. While Mays thought the moonwalking singer was talented, he doesn't believe the man was an icon.
"He was a performer, but he wasn't John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart, people that I think are icons," he said. "Icons are people that we can look up to and I didn't look up to him. I enjoyed his music and he had a lot of talent, but his life turned out tragic."
Laura Dolezal agreed.
"His music was great, but he was strange," she said, adding that her favorite song of his was "Billie Jean."
In recent years, Jackson has been plagued with both legal and health problems, including his widely publicized 2005 trial on child molestation charges, of which he was acquitted.
Despite his past scandals and controversy, Valerie Gruen of Victoria still considers him worthy of his place in history.
"I didn't listen to his music, but he was truly a music icon," the 19-year-old said. "Everyone knew who Michael Jackson was and what he did. He sold a lot of records."
Mike Delgado, 48, was one of the millions of people who bought Jackson's breakthrough "Thriller" album.
"I love 'Thriller.' I listened to it all the time," he said. "I'm sad to hear he died. He was definitely unique."
Tim Wells, of Victoria, was less forgiving of Jackson's later years, when he became less known for his music and more known for odd private life.
"He was nuts. Talented, but nuts," Wells said. "It's too bad, too. He could have done more if he hadn't gone off the deep end."
