Michael Jackson the King of pop as fondly called was a man of his own class, revered and loved by all. He via his talent, won the hearts of many especially through his gifted voice and skillful display of dance during stage performance. But behind all these outstanding skills by the late King of pop, was a man highly devoted and given to rehearsal. Michael was sold out to spontaneous, assiduous and breathtaking rehearsals. In 1984, during rehearsal on an ad to be performed to Pepsi, right on stage, there was an explosion and his hair caught fire, he didn’t know he was burning on the hair while he kept on with the pace of dancing until some persons came to his rescue. Sadly, he suffered, second and slight Third degree scalp burns. That accident changed the entire life of Michael as he had to put on wig for the rest of his life before demise, also, the incident made him addicted to using pain killers, which later killed him in 2009. But that’s not all, few weeks later, Jackson was back on his feet rehearsing for same Pepsi add on, even though he was in pain. The scars never deterred his ambition nor stopped him from winning several awards.
His crews and backup guys said, Michael was hard to please as he monitored every performance during rehearsal. Whilst others got tired and left, Michael always remained rehearsing. He hardly leaves until he got what he wanted. He was exceptionally conscientious and hardworking. No wonder, he had excellence in all his stage performance and won awards afterwards.
While we cannot definitely be like Michael, we can learn from his rare character. He was disciplined and loved by many. Aside from the fact he’s lost to rehearsals, his humility was amazing. Michael never even saw himself extremely good. Most times, he was flabbergasted why he had to be loved by many. During the 1984 fire accident, on rushing him to the hospital via ambulance, little did he know a lot of fans were at the hospital waiting for his arrival, he was in pain, yet people still struggled to see him as he’s being wheeled to the emergency unit. Michael and his crews had issues with crowd control and security. In his state from the ambulance, he still managed to wave the boisterous crowd yearning for his attention.
Just so you know, it was on record that for every performance conducted by Michael, he had over 10 ambulances on standby and over 3000 persons would have to be resuscitated due to fainting of all kinds experienced on a live concert. When Michael died in 2009, it was also on record that 300 persons committed suicide on hearing the news of his demise at 50. They couldn’t fathom such shocking news and had to take their own life. No, Michael was not demonic neither was he a spirit. He was just a rare virtue, loved for his simplicity, humility and entertainment.
But in all of these, he was well known for discipline, in his mansion at United State, Michael had a room where he rehearsed, composed and sing a song for an approximate 12 to 16 hours daily till his demise. This further explains that talent can never be enough, while being talented and skillful are all good, discipline, diligence and respect are what give credence to our inbuilt talents. When you’re good and nice to people, you’ll be automatically loved. When people sense arrogance in your attitude, no matter how skillful and talented you are, it stains your personality and expels people from you. Michael had series of challenges during his days ranging from inability to cope with his fame, outing and false accusations but in all of these trials, he was undoubtedly and ubiquitously loved. You cannot just help than to love him. Why? Because of his character.
While we go on displaying our talents and skills, daily, we should remember that we need continuous work on our skills to get them refined. The Star Boy, Christian Ronaldo of Juventus said while he received award in December, at Dubai for being the Century Player of the Year, that talent is never enough. You need consistency, hard work and wise work to continuously be on spotlight. More so, you need people, team work and humility to keep yourself going. The day you think you can do it alone is the day you begin to be desolated and isolated. Michael had loyal team that helped add beauty to his skills. They supported his work and refined his effort. No wonder, he was always winning and sharing the returns with his team.
As we journey through this year, let’s remember that talents can never be enough. Behind every outstanding and mouthwatering performance, is a team work laced with fervent and highly devoted rehearsals. There’s no two way to success, it’s always diligence and hard work. You work your way through success while you also covet for God’s help.
Listen, when you attain success and fame, you’ll always need God to keep you safe. This is why most famous people in the world die untimely. They covet for fame but cannot keep up with the price that follows being famous. When you’re well known, it becomes a problem. Everyone will need your attention, both the good and the ugly. Fame draws envy, envy causes jealousy and when people begin to jealous you destructively, they will always want to exterminate you. This was the story of Michael. Michael’s envy was out of place. Michael last moment was emotional as he said in his words; “…tell my fans that I love them, I never had the kind of life I wanted but, I still love all my fans…” These were his last words on records before he gave up the ghost.
It is also vital to note that there’s a kind of pride that comes with being skillful. When you’re good and well known, you need the help of God to stay perpetually humble. Pride makes people vulnerable to being victim of the devil’s devices. Do not fall for it. Bishop David Oyedepo, speaking at the celebration of Golden Jubilee of Evangelist Tope Alabi, said emphatically that the day your talents and gifts begin to enter into your head, that’s the day you lose God’s help. He further said, for everyone blessed via your skills and talents, be quick in ascribing such rare privilege to God. He owns the thanks, not you. Do not allow it get into your head. The day you think you cannot be replaced is the day you become displaced. Do not be deceived, God is not a respecter of persons. While we serve Him, we should stay humble and remain humble. We should avoid the temptation of self-appraisal and overly puffed up. We are only privileged servants. Our skills and talents are primarily to win souls and draw many unto righteousness, not to destroy them and draw many to perdition.
As we journey through 2021, we should covet for grace to remain humble in God’s vineyard and the ability to serve with both humility and simplicity.
As written by Dr Victor #AlwaysBavic
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Dr. Victor Babatunde is a practicing medical doctor and a passionate writer. He also has an interest in Music. He is a columnist with www.favouriteemusic.com.
