Will anyone ever eclipse Michael Jackson?

[Roadgeekteen]

Are you really defending the conservatorship??

Yes. I've never been consumed with Britney Spears news, but there for awhile it was omnipresent. You couldn't escape it. I can't remember exactly what dumb decisions she made, but she made a bunch of them at one time.

We'll see what her personal and financial situation is in a year or so. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will be worse.

HB aspires to be the father that Britney's father was...

Sometimes I wish I'd had the father that she had. Maybe he could have kept me from doing some really dumb and costly stuff over the years.

OK let's do it put HB under a conservatorship for the next 15 years and then we interview him afterward to see how he liked it.

[kkt]

Are you really defending the conservatorship??

Yes. I've never been consumed with Britney Spears news, but there for awhile it was omnipresent. You couldn't escape it. I can't remember exactly what dumb decisions she made, but she made a bunch of them at one time.

We'll see what her personal and financial situation is in a year or so. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will be worse.

HB aspires to be the father that Britney's father was...

Sometimes I wish I'd had the father that she had. Maybe he could have kept me from doing some really dumb and costly stuff over the years.

You want a forced vasectomy?  That's essentially what happened with Britney.

Except for the whole "reversible" part.

And Britney already has children.  If she wants to be involved in a child's life, maybe that would be a good place to start.

[Scott5114]

Shouldn't matter whether it's reversible or not, or whether they have kids or not. Once someone is over the age of 18, it's immoral for their dad  to have that degree of control over them and their body.

[kkt]

Shouldn't matter whether it's reversible or not, or whether they have kids or not. Once someone is over the age of 18, it's immoral for their dad  to have that degree of control over them and their body.

It's nobody's first choice.  But she was unstable and lurching from one bad decision to another, hurting everyone around her as well as herself.

The choice wasn't dad as conservator vs. no conservator.  It was dad as conservator vs. someone else as conservator, taking care of her money, reigning in her most destructive impulses, helping her keep her career together.  If dad couldn't or wouldn't do it, maybe they would have gotten a different relative, or a lawyer or something. 

[JayhawkCO]

Shouldn't matter whether it's reversible or not, or whether they have kids or not. Once someone is over the age of 18, it's immoral for their dad  to have that degree of control over them and their body.

It's nobody's first choice.  But she was unstable and lurching from one bad decision to another, hurting everyone around her as well as herself.

The choice wasn't dad as conservator vs. no conservator.  It was dad as conservator vs. someone else as conservator, taking care of her money, reigning in her most destructive impulses, helping her keep her career together.  If dad couldn't or wouldn't do it, maybe they would have gotten a different relative, or a lawyer or something.

Eh, it's called your 20's.

[Scott5114]

Shouldn't matter whether it's reversible or not, or whether they have kids or not. Once someone is over the age of 18, it's immoral for their dad  to have that degree of control over them and their body.

It's nobody's first choice.  But she was unstable and lurching from one bad decision to another, hurting everyone around her as well as herself.

If those are the criteria, we're going to need conservators for half of Congress.

[Rothman]

Are you really defending the conservatorship??

Yes. I've never been consumed with Britney Spears news, but there for awhile it was omnipresent. You couldn't escape it. I can't remember exactly what dumb decisions she made, but she made a bunch of them at one time.

We'll see what her personal and financial situation is in a year or so. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will be worse.

HB aspires to be the father that Britney's father was...

Sometimes I wish I'd had the father that she had. Maybe he could have kept me from doing some really dumb and costly stuff over the years.

That's a little messed up.  Her father was extreme.  Lots better fathers out there.

[GCrites]

Shouldn't matter whether it's reversible or not, or whether they have kids or not. Once someone is over the age of 18, it's immoral for their dad  to have that degree of control over them and their body.

It's nobody's first choice.  But she was unstable and lurching from one bad decision to another, hurting everyone around her as well as herself.

The choice wasn't dad as conservator vs. no conservator.  It was dad as conservator vs. someone else as conservator, taking care of her money, reigning in her most destructive impulses, helping her keep her career together.  If dad couldn't or wouldn't do it, maybe they would have gotten a different relative, or a lawyer or something.

Eh, it's called your 20's.

My 20s weren't even that crazy as compared to a lot of people yet I still look back at them like "Oh, god"

[hotdogPi]

Bumping this thread...

It's been only slightly over 2 years and we have a clear contender to answer the question after everyone was saying it was impossible in the previous discussion:

Taylor Swift.

[kenarmy]

Taylor's projects are putting out great numbers, but that's about it. I've never even heard "Is It Over Now?" or "All Too Well" in the wild. And "cardigan" and "willow" hit number 1 but quickly slid down the charts; in fact, "willow" held a record for biggest drop from number one. Artistry wise, Taylor is a solid song-writer, but she just not touching MJ. Hell he wrote Billie Jean himself and co-produced it for a start. I think what really tells the story is influence. Mj has obviously influenced Pop Culture way more than anyone else in this conversation. He has inspired artists such as Beyoncé, both Justins, Usher, and Lady Gaga just to name a few, and even Drake frequently jacks his style.

Anddddd Thriller is the best selling album ever WW, not The Eagles album.

Taylor hasn't even eclipsed Beyoncé. I hate to see their fans arguing all the time, but let's face it: Bey has been relevant since '97 with DC and is still keeping up. She's had a song chart every year for now 25 years. Time will tell if Taylor has the same longevity.

[kenarmy]

I know this conversation is about MJ, but I don't think Taylor has eclipsed Whitney either  . MJ himself has cited her as an inspiration and SEVERAL singers have gotten record deals by singing her songs (off the top of my head I know Britney Spears did). Sales wise, Whitney has the best selling female album ever. She is also the only black artist with 3 diamond albums. Even during the digital era, she became one of the few artists with over a billion streams in the UK this year and she became the FIRST 20th century artist to have a billion views on Youtube with "I Will Always Love You." And let's not forget Whitney had SEVEN consecutive singles to hit number one. I don't think anyone is doing that, even though it is much easier to accomplish in the streaming era. Now this doesn't even account her actually being a great vocalist, which she definitely has Taylor and everyone beat in. 

Now I will say that unfortunately, many of Whitney's hits aren't as remembered today by the GP compared to MJ. However, Whitney's (and Mariah's) older hits have seen a resurgence lately, but only time will tell.

P.S. I do enjoy some of Taylor's music and look forward to her re-recording of Reputation! I Knew You Were Trouble was like my favorite song at one point.

[Rothman]

People still buy albums?

[NWI_Irish96]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

[formulanone]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

If the artist is obscure enough, it's the only way to hear their music. And if you want that artist to continue to make music, you should buy their album(s).

[Rothman]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

If the artist is obscure enough, it's the only way to hear their music. And if you want that artist to continue to make music, you should buy their album(s).

If obscure, then the volume of sales will be low, anyway.

[formulanone]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

If the artist is obscure enough, it's the only way to hear their music. And if you want that artist to continue to make music, you should buy their album(s).

If obscure, then the volume of sales will be low, anyway.

Sure, but so is their ego and overhead. If they sell all 25,000 pressed copies (or whereabouts) then they might make back their initial investment.

[Rothman]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

If the artist is obscure enough, it's the only way to hear their music. And if you want that artist to continue to make music, you should buy their album(s).

If obscure, then the volume of sales will be low, anyway.

Sure, but so is their ego and overhead. If they sell all 25,000 pressed copies (or whereabouts) then they might make back their initial investment.

So...people really aren't buying albums in the grand scheme of things.

[formulanone]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

If the artist is obscure enough, it's the only way to hear their music. And if you want that artist to continue to make music, you should buy their album(s).

If obscure, then the volume of sales will be low, anyway.

Sure, but so is their ego and overhead. If they sell all 25,000 pressed copies (or whereabouts) then they might make back their initial investment.

So...people really aren't buying albums in the grand scheme of things.

Probably not in the tremendous numbers in the days before streaming was commonplace, but maybe more than in [previous COVID-affected year]. It's been a few decades since I averaged 2-3 albums a month, and probably buy merely 2-3 albums a year for the last 15 years or so. 

[golden eagle]

Drake doesn't even hold a candle to Bruno Mars, much less Michael Jackson or Prince. I do like some of Drake's music, but nothing he has will be considered classics except on throwback R&B stations 20 years from now.

[thspfc]

Drake doesn't even hold a candle to Bruno Mars, much less Michael Jackson or Prince. I do like some of Drake's music, but nothing he has will be considered classics except on throwback R&B stations 20 years from now.

Drake is objectively a bigger artist than Bruno Mars ever has been.

"Classic" is highly subjective. What are Bruno's "classics"?

[Henry]

I know this conversation is about MJ, but I don't think Taylor has eclipsed Whitney either  . MJ himself has cited her as an inspiration and SEVERAL singers have gotten record deals by singing her songs (off the top of my head I know Britney Spears did). Sales wise, Whitney has the best selling female album ever. She is also the only black artist with 3 diamond albums. Even during the digital era, she became one of the few artists with over a billion streams in the UK this year and she became the FIRST 20th century artist to have a billion views on Youtube with "I Will Always Love You." And let's not forget Whitney had SEVEN consecutive singles to hit number one. I don't think anyone is doing that, even though it is much easier to accomplish in the streaming era. Now this doesn't even account her actually being a great vocalist, which she definitely has Taylor and everyone beat in. 

Now I will say that unfortunately, many of Whitney's hits aren't as remembered today by the GP compared to MJ. However, Whitney's (and Mariah's) older hits have seen a resurgence lately, but only time will tell.

P.S. I do enjoy some of Taylor's music and look forward to her re-recording of Reputation! I Knew You Were Trouble was like my favorite song at one point.

While Taylor and Beyonce are the two biggest superstar singers in this part of the 21st century, neither one will catch Whitney, as previously stated above.

The next generation (as well as the ones after them) will have daunting tasks that can only increase with each passing year, and they will fall just short. In other words, they'll continue to chase the ghosts of MJ and WH (pun intended) up to the end of time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the same thing said of Elvis (i.e., "would he be surpassed?") in the days before Thriller? And going back even further, I think Frank Sinatra would've been the one that everybody tried to top.

[Rothman]

Drake doesn't even hold a candle to Bruno Mars, much less Michael Jackson or Prince. I do like some of Drake's music, but nothing he has will be considered classics except on throwback R&B stations 20 years from now.

Drake is objectively a bigger artist than Bruno Mars ever has been.

"Classic" is highly subjective. What are Bruno's "classics"?

Uptown Funk...

Drake's got mumble crap.

[Scott5114]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

It's because people are tired of online services jerking them around and deleting music they already paid for. With a physical album, the only way the person who sold it to you can get it back is by breaking into your house.

[formulanone]

I know this conversation is about MJ, but I don't think Taylor has eclipsed Whitney either  . MJ himself has cited her as an inspiration and SEVERAL singers have gotten record deals by singing her songs (off the top of my head I know Britney Spears did). Sales wise, Whitney has the best selling female album ever. She is also the only black artist with 3 diamond albums. Even during the digital era, she became one of the few artists with over a billion streams in the UK this year and she became the FIRST 20th century artist to have a billion views on Youtube with "I Will Always Love You." And let's not forget Whitney had SEVEN consecutive singles to hit number one. I don't think anyone is doing that, even though it is much easier to accomplish in the streaming era. Now this doesn't even account her actually being a great vocalist, which she definitely has Taylor and everyone beat in. 

Now I will say that unfortunately, many of Whitney's hits aren't as remembered today by the GP compared to MJ. However, Whitney's (and Mariah's) older hits have seen a resurgence lately, but only time will tell.

P.S. I do enjoy some of Taylor's music and look forward to her re-recording of Reputation! I Knew You Were Trouble was like my favorite song at one point.

While Taylor and Beyonce are the two biggest superstar singers in this part of the 21st century, neither one will catch Whitney, as previously stated above.

The next generation (as well as the ones after them) will have daunting tasks that can only increase with each passing year, and they will fall just short. In other words, they'll continue to chase the ghosts of MJ and WH (pun intended) up to the end of time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the same thing said of Elvis (i.e., "would he be surpassed?") in the days before Thriller? And going back even further, I think Frank Sinatra would've been the one that everybody tried to top.

Of course, not everyone wants to be the next "superstar". And for each artist or band that gets a world tour, there's thousands of other musicians who don't want that stress. The annals of modern music history is loaded with stories about how long tours were not necessarily the best for the health of that band. (Maybe it seems to be a better choice for those with a headline name and revolving door of talent behind the limelight?)

[NWI_Irish96]

People still buy albums?

It's actually become in fashion again. I don't understand why, but it has.

It's because people are tired of online services jerking them around and deleting music they already paid for. With a physical album, the only way the person who sold it to you can get it back is by breaking into your house.

Sure, but there are still CDs and .mp3s. The hipsters seem to specifically be into vinyl though.