Can you believe it’s been a year? Since we heard the unbelievable news that Michael Jackson suddenly died. His name has been in the news more in the last year, than in the last of his living years. Lawsuits, family drama, movies and music have kept the Jackson name in the forefront. And let’s face it. It gives us a reason to talk about LaToya and Jermaine.

Today there will be crowds decending upon Forest Glen cemetary in California, where Jackson is interred,  as well as Jackson’s hometown of Gary, Indiana. Which is great for Gary because no one every voluntarily travels there. It the place you floor it down I94 on your way to Michigan. Family will be at both locations to commemorate this anniversary. His 3 children will spend the day in Hawaii.

In the past year there has been news surrounding the Manslaughter charges of his personal physician, Conrad Murray, the person that injected Jackson with the lethal dose of Propofol.

His autopsy revealed that he did suffer from the skin pigmentation disorder, vitiligo, as well as the scarring from his multiple cosmetic procedures, and the fact he wore a wig. That shocked me. For whatever reason, him wearing a wig was the most shocking thing to me.

We also got to see his kids Prince Michael, Paris, and Blanket for the first time after years of being hidden away, and another surprise, they’re pretty normal for being Michael Jackson’s kids.

Joe Jackson, Michael’s father, continues to show the world why Michael turned out the way he did by acting a fool all over the place. Suing this and that person, AEG the concert promoter for his ill fated “This Is It” tour, and begging for money from his son’s estate, after Michael specifically cut Joe out of the will.

And we also see how nuts his siblings are with the exception of Janet when they go all over the entertainment outlets spewing conspiracy theories and trying to find their piece of the pie. Within weeks of his death, LaToya releases a single, says he was murdered for his music catalogue, and other sane things. The brothers were on a reality show, and once again, it explained a lot about Michael. Imagine him being the normal one in that insane asylum.

His estate has made enormous sums of money over the past year. With no one buying a million dollars of ugly furniture every three weeks, the estate has had a chance to grow, pay off debts, to the tune of over $750 million with the 50% Sony Catalogue, sales from This Is It, and his music booming.

It’s unfortunate that it took a legend’s untimely death to bring awareness to his talent, genius and soul. Michael Jackson invited so much controversy into his life over the last 15 years that what made him famous in the first place somehow got lost in the shuffle.

Michael was such a huge part of pop culture over the last 30 years, that we can expect to hear about him in the news for a long time to come.

From Marc Anthony to Paris Hilton, no matter what genre, entertainers today respect Michael Jackson. A year after his death, Jackson continues to inspire and influence.

Some big names sat down with “The Early Show” to share how the King of Pop continues to endure.

“I think one of the coolest things he told me was never limit yourself; the fact that if people can whistle your songs — then they can understand it all over the world,” said LL Cool J. “No matter what you want to say about him, his career always mattered. You don’t tell out a hundred shows in England and all over Europe because you are not relevant.”

Christina Aguilera said, “”I remember going to my high school talent show singing ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and being a huge fan of his album ‘Bad.’ I know all my dancers wouldn’t be behind me dancing if it weren’t for that.”

“For a generation of people, they grew up with his ascension to stardom, people were affected by him when he was a child and they were affected by him as an adult and so we all kind of grew up with him,” said director John Singleton.

“Everybody wanted to be like Michael Jackson. He’s just that perfect,” said Jennifer Lopez.

Aubrey O’Day observed, “He brought something nobody else did.”

“There will never be another Michael Jackson,” said Paris Hilton.

“What we didn’t lose is his legacy and that incredible catalogue and body of work. We didn’t lose any of that. At the press of button, we can still experience the magic,” said LL Cool J. “We may have lost the man, but we didn’t lose the legacy. The legacy is actually bigger than that one human being. That legacy touched millions.”