Michael Jackson’s Global Impact
Travel Blog • Alicia Imbody • 06.26.09 | 4:02 PM ET
REUTERS/Patrick De NoirmontLove him or leave him, Michael Jackson’s international impact—from pioneering popular music and breaking down the race barrier in the entertainment world, to influencing foreign policy and perplexing people across the globe—cannot be denied.
As the world reacts to his death, we take a look at a sampling of global responses and remember some of his lasting impressions.
- The world reacts to Jackson’s death: Reports from Berlin, Mumbai, Sydney, Tokyo and Johannesburg.
- When Michael Jackson was the world to Bahrain: The Middle East mourns and remembers the days when Jackson called Bahrain home.
- We Are the World: In what was perhaps his greatest contribution as a humanitarian, Jackson co-wrote this charity song with Lionel Richie and the single topped charts around the world, raising awareness and more than $50 million for famine relief in Africa.
- Jackson continued a focus on poverty awareness, urging former President Clinton to increase aid and even performing Heal the World for the Clintons in 1992.
- Africa Cries for Michael Jackson: News of his death has been greeted with a mixture of disbelief and sadness across the continent, where the “King of Pop” was once crowned King of Africa.
- The World Environment Day Festival in Queensland, Australia, will host a tribute to the late star with a performance of “Make a Change,” which was already chosen as an anthem to unite against climate change. Jackson had expressed support for past Environment Day festivities with Earth Song.