I am glad for Michael Jackson because it gave Weird Al something to parody. "Eat It" was the 4th single I ever bought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyfcOriVKBM
Still, I do remember excitedly watching the Thriller video aged 12. That was, and is, still a cool video. It was all downhill after that.
I didn't mind some of his music but overall he was a train wreck. A sad story. And now the media has gone apeshit when it should be doing something useful.