Flashy, I kind of agree with xcuse. You are far overestimating the reach of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana's music. If you take a sampling of people from around the globe from different age groups young and old, I would say a very high percentage of them would know who Michael Jackson is. I would also bet that far less than half would have any clue who Nirvana or Kurt Cobain is. I can't name one person I know who doesn't know who Michael Jackson is, and I can probably think of at least a dozen people who have no idea who Kurt Cobain is. It is not even close, particularly on a worldwide scale and when you are including people who grew up well before, or after, grunge hit the scene. Not diminishing Cobain here, just saying that Michael Jackson is in another stratosphere when talking about any type of impact.
well, with all due respect, skull, you many be far overestimating MJ...most everyone knows who he is, but the majority of people are not impacted by his death at all (that is the case for most everyone when a celebrity dies except for big fans)
as for Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain and your statistics about how many would know them, that in itself, is rather unknowable...but if that was the case, it would only be because Cobain lived in the spotlight for less than 30 months before he died. Jackson lived in the spotlight for 40 years, not to mention, entertainment value aside, was a rather outlandish outsized personality.
as for the impact we are talking about, i would say that frankly, more people today know who Beyonce is or Jay Z is than Kurt Cobain, but if they dropped dead tomorrow, there impact would not nearly be the same, because they have not created a significant enough artistic impact.
in terms of outsized personality, Jackson is definitely more "global" than Cobain, but the impact of Cobain's death was far greater, because he was at his peak...there was no much more...Jackson, has been irrelevant as an artist for over 15 years now even though he is not irrelevant as a celebrity.
nobody was expecting some great new album from Jackson, wheras Cobain had helped to usher in a new era and people were riding the crest of a wave, then he was gone. there was more of a longing and a sense of unfulfilled potential with Cobain...with Jackson, you just wondered what bizarre thing would happen next, or if his nose would fall off, and that is a sad ending for any icon.
the death of an icon when they are still relevant artistically is always of more impact, because of what is taken when they go.
as much as i enjoy certain Michael Jackson tunes, in terms of artistic musical impact alone, he does not compare at all to Lennon, Elvis or Cobain...
in terms of *entertainer* impact, as i said earlier, he trails only Elvis IMO.
and as i said before, the trauma of the Cobain and Lennon deaths and the impact they left was massive. there were kids committing suicide for god sake when Cobain died...now i am not saying that is something to be proud of or anything, but i do not know how many people will be ending it all over the 2009 version of Jacko. Maybe if he'd passed away right after Thriller i could see it...but now?
anyway, we can debate whether Cobain's death was on the level of impact with Jackson's death and probably not agree.
but there is absolutely no doubt that his untimely death does not compare to Lennon's and Elvis' death in terms of impact on both an artistic and cultural impact level.
that is just my opinion. probably because he was someone that was not really relatable because of his bizarre nature.
also, like it or not, Pop music, even when enjoyable, has never meant as much artistically as rock.
In terms of influence,
Without Elvis, The Beatles, The Who, LEd Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones et. al would never have existed...
without Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West and Britney Speares wouldn't have existed.
no contest.
as for Cobain...1000 people a day might pick up a guitar and want to learn it because of him
as for Jackson...1000 people a day might...i don't know...try to do the moonwalk and dance around...but none will pick up a guitar, or a bass or the drums and actually create.
that is just my opinion.
