Beyoncé Writes Letter to Michael Jackson on Anniversary of His Death
"Michael Jackson changed me, and helped me to become the artist I am."
Beyoncé has paid personal tribute to the late, great Michael Jackson on the third anniversary of his death. The diva to end all divas posted a letter to the deceased king of pop on her website, informing the world of the extent of MJ's influence on her (and many, many others in music):
When I was just starting out, my first producer used to make me listen to Michael Jackson’s live performance of 'Who’s Loving You.' He would have me watch that for hours back to back to back. What he wanted me to learn was his soul. You could hear his soul. And he was this little kid who hadn’t experienced love but he was a vessel. For whatever reason he could evoke more emotion than an adult. It was so raw and so pure. It was these little things that he did that were just swag. It’s something that’s god given. Michael taught me that sometimes you have to forget technique, forget what you have on. If you feel silly, you have to go from the gut just let it go. Michael Jackson changed me, and helped me to become the artist I am — thank you Michael. Love always, B.
Last year, Beyoncé covered MJ's 'I Wanna Be Where You Are' at the Michael Jackson Forever tribute concert in Cardiff, and told the audience that the first song she performed with Destiny's Child was a Jackson Five song — way back when they auditioned to get their record deal.
In 2009, she also performed 'Halo' as a tribute to Michael at the Trident Unwrapped concert at the O2 Arena, where he was set to play before his death.
You can also see MJ's influence come through in Beyoncé's fashion sense:
Jerico Mandybur
