Michael Jackson — the child star who rose to become the ‘King of Pop’ — has passed away, leaving thousands of fans in disbelief.

As the world comes to terms with the death of a pop culture icon, many of us cannot help but look back at his life and say he may have died before his time was over.

But to be able to understand just what kind of an impact Michael Jackson had on the world, we would have to go all back to the 1980s.

Michael Jackson was the first African-American star of the MTV generation, with record sales for ‘Thriller’ and number one hits like ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Beat It’.  He was on of the world’s most beloved figure at the height of his fame, and the mere mention of his name could make people do the ‘moonwalk’.

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