There’s no question that Michael Jackson musical legacy has left the world with a timeless anthology and today’s artist’s with the true embodiment of entertainment, artistry and performance.His friends and admirers speak out about his influence.

“This is such a tragic loss and a terrible day. The incomparable Michael Jackson has made a bigger impact on music than any other artist in the history of music. He was magic. He was what we all strived to be. He will always be the King of Pop! Life is not about how many breaths you take, but how many moments in life that take your breath away. For anyone who has ever seen, felt or heard his art we are all honored to have been alive in this generation to experience the magic of Michael Jackson. I love you Michael.”–Beyonce

“This loss has deeply saddened me! It is with a heavy heart I composed this statement. May God cover you Michael. We all lift your name up in prayer. I pray for the entire JACKSON family particularly Michael’s mother, children and all his fans that loved him so much. I would not be the artist, performer, and philanthropist I am today without the influence of Michael. I have great admiration and respect for Him and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to meet and perform with such a great entertainer, who in so many ways, transcended the culture. He broke barriers, he changed radio formats! With music, he made it possible for people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama to impact the mainstream world. His legacy is unparalleled. Michael Jackson will never be forgotten.”–Usher

“Michael Jackson is the reason why I do music and why I am an entertainer. I am devastated by this great loss, and I will continue to be humbled and inspired by his legacy. My prayers are with his family. Michael will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. He’s the greatest… the best ever. No one will ever be better.”–Chris Brown

“I met Michael Jackson at the age of eight — when his father and my new friend, Joe Jackson, first began to bring the Jackson 5 to Chicago, from their home in Gary, Indiana, for concert appearances.

As the word of the Jackson 5’s devastating abilities as concert artists had already begun to spread like an out-of-control forest fire–to the, laser-like, attention of all Chicago area, R&B Music Stars!

The prevailing thought process, among local, R&B stars, with respect to this very young group of entertainers known as the Jackson 5, had become: “If Michael Jackson & his brothers were booked on an, upcoming, Chicagoland show — leave it alone!Don’t book it — Don’t go on that show and get, completely blown away by young Michael and the Jackson 5!

Michael Jackson’s, personal, crescendo of amazing power, as an entertainer — was clear and unmistakable; and has never slowed to this very day!His passing will be grieved far beyond that of any other singer,composer, producer, dancer and choreographer, in the history of the world.

Indeed, in my very firmest, personal, belief there will never, ever be another Michael Jackson.–Don Cornelius, Founder of Soul Train

“Michael Jackson will always be remembered as one of the greatest performers in the history of popular music. As a child of the 80’s, I feel as though his music and his videos have been an inseparable part of my life and that of an entire generation. And the powerful thing about great music is that it will always live on. He was and always will be an icon. My heart goes out to his family, friends and countless fans for their tragic loss.”–John Legend

“The energy of Michael Jackson will live forever thru the thing that he put all of his life energy into, his music. I will do my part to keep the melody alive, to keep the energy forever changing form, but never ever dying! Long live Michael Jackson.”–NeYo”Michael Jackson was my Music God. He made me believe that all things are possible, and through real and positive music, you can live forever! I love Michael Jackson. God Bless him.”--Wyclef Jean

“Michael Jackson was an icon. One of my musical icons. As 1/3 of Destiny’s Child we had the privilege of performing at MSG concert September 10, 2001. It was magical, I have vivid memories of seeing him clapping his hands and singing along. Not a day will pass that I won’t think of him and his legacy. RIP Michael Jackson!”–Michelle Williams

“As the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), we owe a great deal of our existence to the genius of Michael Jackson who will forever be remembered as the greatest entertainer and the most dynamic force in the recording industry that the world has ever seen. This is a tragic loss that will be felt around the globe. I extend my most heartfelt sympathy to the Jackson family and his fans worldwide. He will greatly be missed”–Bob Johnson

“A friend of Michael’s for the last 35 years, I call on people around the world to pray for him and his family in the hour. I have known Michael since we were both teens, worked with him, marched for him, hosted him at our House of Justice headquarters in New York, and we joined together to eulogize our mutual idol, James Brown. I have known him at his high moments and his low moments and I know he would want us to pray for his family.”–Reverend Al Sharpton

“The entire Apollo family is saddened to learn of Michael Jackson’s untimely passing. Michael first performed at the Apollo in 1969 with his brothers when he was only nine years old, winning Amateur Night, and catapulting their career as the Jackson 5. We will always remember Michael in our hearts as a true Apollo legend, known for his professionalism and grace. Our sympathy goes out to his entire family. He will be deeply missed.”– Jonelle Procope, President & CEO of the famed Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc.

To say Michael Jackson was one of the greatest entertainers to ever live is an understatement. From his start as a child star who moved everyone to the true cultural icon he later became his talent immeasurable. I had the chance to interview him on a couple of occasions and while it was clear that their was a childlike nature about this man his genius was just as clear.--Ed Gordon, award-winning journalist

While his life was at times difficult and complicated he was none the less a musical master. In Michael Jackson the world was given a incredible entertainer whose gift will be missed.

“I grew up with Michael Jackson as my idol. It was a Family Affair. We would all sit around the television whenever a new Michael Jackson video would premiere. I know the feeling I had when I saw him do the moonwalk. I can only imagine the feeling they are getting in heaven seeing him walk thru those gates.”–Mr. Bentley

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Holly Madison, Laura Croft, Sara Underwood and Jones

Evan Seinfeld and Tara Patrick

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David Furnish and Sir Elton John

Elizabeth Hurley and Geri Halliwell

Kate Beckinsale and David Walliams

Lily Allen

Boris Becker and wife Barbara Feltus

Chace Crawford and Justin Timberlake

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Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett on the same day. Wow.

From TMZ

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

Jackson had 13 number one hits during his solo career.

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Watching the Hogan family is like having a Jerry Springer episode every week. I don’t need one everyday, but once a week is fantastic. As always, I predicate every Hogan story with the hope they all end up bankrupt because they had to pay John Graziano every penny they have.

In this week’s edition, Linda fought back against the claims made by her hairstylist last week that Linda uses most of her alimony for drugs. The interesting thing is the fighting back didn’t say anything about Linda and her alleged drug use. Nope. It all was about the fact that Hulk possibly paid off the hairstylist for her testimony. How did she get paid? You are going to love this. Hulk paid the hairstylist $3500 with a check made out to the hair stylist’s sister. The check was alleged to be a payoff AND hair extensions for Hulk’s girlfriend AND Hulk. He needs to get his money back because it looks awful.

Hulk’s people denied it was a payoff and said it was only for the hair extensions. Hulk gets hair extensions? Have you ever seen worse extensions in your life?

Brooke weighed in as well. On Tuesday she was on Bubba The Love Sponge and actually didn’t talk about pole dancing for daddy or her new moves they worked on, but rather how horrible her mother is.

“We were only close (before) because I didn’t know any different … I think this person she is was always there. It’s a psychological thing, it comes down to she didn’t have a settled home life growing up … deep down inside she’s still not happy,” Brooke said before breaking down in tears. “She has bitten the hand that fed her. It hurts so bad because she doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know how fun I am, my favorite color, my best friends or what my house looks like. She doesn’t know any of that.”

Umm. Brooke. Did you get a new favorite color and best friend in the last six months? Were you not fun your whole life until six months ago? This whole family is beyond any kind of rationality. The only thing that sucks about all this is that I fear the couple is going to burn through every penny they have on legal fees related to their divorce and John Graziano isn’t going to have anything left for him. That is the real shame in all of this.

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Finally something in life has gone right for Lou Diamond Phillips. I don’t even want to imagine what his life has been like for the past several years, but winning a show that no one watched has to be a highlight to his career. I had a long discussion with a friend of mine about why Lou would want to be on this show. He still has some name recognition and I would think that Dancing With The Stars would have been a much better way for him to go. I can’ see the producers of that show turning him down and being on the show isn’t even a bad thing.

When you watch Dancing With The Stars, you don’t ask yourself why someone is doing it and if their career has spiraled out of control. I wouldn’t be shocked if an A list celebrity wanted to be on DWTS. I would be shocked if they had the time, but I don’t think it hurts your career to be on it. I’m A Celebrity though is lower than The Surreal Life and that was on cable.

I guess being on network television every night instead of twice a week for a few minutes was more exposure for Lou, than DWTS, but still, I like the guy and feel sorry for him. I think after La Bamba he was just kind of screwed about the parts he could get. You don’t often get typecast based on one movie, but I think it might have happened in his case.

I am happy for the guy and his charity which was Art Has Heart Foundation and I’m guessing we won’t be seeing this show on any network for awhile.

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For some reason I thought Florida prosecutors would indict Amanda Brumfield on manslaughter and some child abuse charges, but I didn’t think they would ever get an indictment for first degree murder. I guess I was wrong on that one. Today, Billy Bob’s daughter was indicted on several charges – including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter.

She was also denied bond. If you will recall, Amanda was babysitting a girl back in October when the girl fell and hit her head. Amanda called for help about two hours after the incident. I’m guessing that is why the charge of first degree murder. I also think the prosecutors included the manslaughter charge because they want to give a jury an alternative to the murder charge.

My guess is that she won’t be convicted of murder. I think this is a all going to depend on who the jury believes. Will they believe her story of what happened. She is going to have to get on the stand and testify and if she is believable than the jury might not even convict of her aggravated manslaughter. My guess is that this will end up in some involuntary manslaughter plea and she will serve about two years in jail.

So far all we are hearing is the prosecutor version of events and how they are inconsistent with Amanda’s story. The thing is I haven’t heard her story yet other than it was similar to Natasha Richardson and the skiing accident and that she didn’t know anything was wrong until it was too late. If that is true, then I don’t know how you could convict her of murder. It is still all incredibly sad. I wonder how many times a year this happens, but we only hear about it because it is the daughter of a famous actor who is involved.

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If you believe the claims in a new book being released by author C. David Heymann, than you can believe that Jackie Kennedy in 1964 had a sexual relationship with Bobby Kennedy and also had a fling with Marlon Brando. No Kennedy biographer believes the claim that Jackie and Bobby had sex, so you can take the Marlon Brando speculation as just that as well, but it’s an interesting item to discuss. Heymann says he obtained the original transcripts from a book Marlon Brando had written and in them, he had talked about his fling with Jackie, but that because she was friends with an editor of Random House that the passages were cut. Uh huh.

The first time, “according to Brando, [their] three-hour meal included a good deal of drinking . . . Jackie and the actor danced and drank. During their dance, Jackie, deeply attracted to Brando, ‘pressed her thighs’ suggestively into his. They danced again, then sat down and began to ‘make out,’ ” according to Heymann.

He relates: “In Brando’s words, ‘From all I’d read and heard about her, Jacqueline Kennedy seemed coquettish and sensual but not particularly sexual. If anything, I pictured her as more voyeur than player. But that wasn’t the case. She kept waiting for me to try to get her into bed. When I failed to make a move, she took matters into her own hands and popped the magic question. ‘Would you like to spend the night?’ And I said, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

A week later they managed to find some time again but that was also the last time they were together. I am still having trouble imagining Jackie Kennedy and Marlon Brando making out. I’m even more shocked this rumor never came out before. If Marlon really wrote that you would think that someone, somewhere would have read it and talked about it before now. They just don’t seem like a good match. I also think my judgment is clouded because I can only ever think of Marlon Brando has the Godfather Marlon and not as the 1950’s and 60’s version of Marlon. I’m not buying it.

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