Michael Jackson is dead, and now - just maybe - we'll understand why

“A lot will be said about Michael Jackson as we learn more about this story,” Brian Williams said on the “NBC Nightly News.”

“He was incredibly talented, a child star who was an adult with deep troubles and physical and mental health issues.”

Those were the words that needed to be said a long time ago. Michael Jackson was mentally ill. And now he's dead.

But his personal demons brought him down more than the paparazzi ever did. His obsessions impacted him more than being spoiled, and his quirky behavior brought more shame than fame.

The spoiling, the media - those were merely the triggers. The public? They merely watched this spectacle of a life deteriorate from impossible levels of stardom to disgrace.

The spectacle will play out some more in the days ahead. But maybe we'll learn something from this, too. We'll learn that the seemingly inhuman is very human. We'll learn that the spoiled rich could also be troubled souls.

We'll learn that mental illness isn't a lifestyle choice. It's an illness, and everyone is suceptible.

I've never seen anyone in my lifetime achieve the kind of fame he had. It was like living in Beatlemania, even if it was an abbreviated version.

I was never a big fan of his music, but I do own "Thriller." Listening to it today, it seems outdated. But the genius of the pop craftsmanship will live forever. Pop songs just maybe the hardest songs to write.

Sometimes, it takes someone with an obsessive level of drive to make it happen. Look beyond the plastic surgery disasters, and give Michael Jackson his due.