Locals Say Goodbye to the King of Pop
He’s been in the Garden City before. In 2006, Michael Jackson came to Augusta, to attend the funeral of James Brown. The King of Pop, paying respect to the Godfather of Soul. Now Brown’s children say, they intend to do the same…for the man they say their father loved. News Channel Six’s Joy Howe has the story:
Published: June 26, 2009
Updated: June 26, 2009
There’s never been a morning like this one, at 96.3 KISS FM.
Minnesota Fatzz, DJ: “Probably the biggest, out of 15 years that Cher and I have been together. The impact that we have made on people’s lives, throughout this show this morning…this day will go down in history with everybody. They can look back 20 years from now and say, you know what, when I got that call, I was…sitting in my office, and someone called me up and said, Michael just passed. I couldn’t believe it.‘”
Lorenzo Dawson, Augusta, GA: “I was heading towards the bus stop. I overheard a conversation that Michael Jackson was dead…“
Hank Johnson, Indianapolis, IN: “I was right here in Augusta, we heard it on the news.“
Deanna Brown Thomas, James Brown’s Daughter: “Immediately, my heart went out to his family. I was truly saddened.“
In 2006, the King of Pop came to Augusta to pay tribute to the Godfather of Soul.
Brown: “I have a lot of respect for him, for coming to the funeral like he did. And he made the family happy, by showing support and love, and he didn’t come for the fanfare. He came to be real.“
Fatzz: “It was a strong, strong bond. He always looked up to Mr. Brown, and the impact he made on his life. If you look at all the moves, there’s some James Brown in there…you know (uh, uh, uh)
There’s some chemistry there.“
Brown: “And Dad loved Michael just that way. I remember listening to a phone conversation and he was telling Michael how proud he was of keeping the music clean, because this music today can be very vulgar, and Dad was not pleased with the way this music industry was going, and he was very proud of him.“
He’s sold 750 million albums…and there’s no doubt in Flash Gordon’s mind that number will continue to climb.
Flash Gordon, Pyramid Music and Video: “Yesterday afternoon before closing time, we had I think, between 7 and 8 CD’s on and they were all gone before we closed last night. Folks want a piece of Michael, and they didn’t realize that he would be gone so soon. They didn’t realize what he really meant now….they can feel him.”
Memorials have already been set up. Plans to attend the funeral are underway.
Brown: “I’m going because of respect for Michael and the respect for Michael that he had for our father.“
But the day Michael Jackson died, many say, will not be the day his music did.
Johnson: “I don’t think…really, he will never die.“
Brown: “God knows his music is going to be missed all over the world, but he made good music, so it will last forever.“
Fatzz: “We lost a true icon, and his music will live with us forever.”
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