June 25, 2009 began as an ordinary day for me. Just graduated from middle school, and the summer was starting out rainy and dark. My mom, sister and I picked up my father from work, and that was when he broke the news to us. Michael Jackson died.

My mom immediately put the radio on, flipping through the stations, each playing an MJ song. She listened intently as I just sat there, thinking about the news I had just heard. I really didn’t even know who Michael Jackson was. I knew he was a singer, I knew there had been many rumors about him, and I had heard “Thriller” numerous times, but never did I grasp the large influence he had.

When we returned home, my mom immediately put on the tv and watched various news channels, all featuring the breaking news of Michael Jackson’s death. With a David Archuleta concert to attend the next day, I still wasn’t completely focused on what had happened. I decided to put the radio on, wanting to hear the music, slowly becoming a fan of it.

The next day as the David Archuleta/Demi Lovato concert ended, an instrumental of “Billie Jean” played throughout the arena in tribute of Michael. For the rest of the summer, I watched numerous music videos, gaining musical knowledge that I had been deprived of until now. “Man in the Mirror”, “Black or White” and “The Way You Make Me Feel”, to name a few, are amazing songs that I honestly didn’t even know existed. Not to mention my impression of Michael shifting as I listened to the new-found songs and watched the music videos that were old to the world, but so new to me.

As I reminisce on every vivid memory from that day - driving home to MJ music; watching all of the newscasts while eating vanilla ice cream as my sister and dad played ball outside; putting the radio on and hearing “Human Nature” being played, that song sticking out the most from that day; picking my grandmother up from her job and going shopping with her as the news remained blankly in mind - I’m sad to say, the only reason I became a fan of Michael Jackson was because of his death. If not for that publicity, I never would have heard many of my now favorite Michael Jackson songs and I never would have realized what an influence the King of Pop had on music and on the world, and now had on me.