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MJ, the most versatile artist and entertainer ever!

respect77 said:
Well, the fact is there are significantly more people who can play multiple instruments than people who have achieved such success and global impact as MJ in so many areas.
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How popular an act is and versatility are 2 different things though. Music wise, there's other acts who can do what Prince does like Todd Rundgren, but he's not as well known. Also I was only talking about the music when I mentioned Sheena, I didn't say she was a great dancer or anything.
 
DuranDuran said:
How popular an act is and versatility are 2 different things though. Music wise, there's other acts who can do what Prince does like Todd Rundgren, but he's not as well known. Also I was only talking about the music when I mentioned Sheena, I didn't say she was a great dancer or anything.
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Yes, but this topic is about the overall versatility of an artist (which does include stuff like dancing) not just about how many genres one covers. That was only one of the points in the opining post.
 
When it comes to other artists you have a lot of them that can do SOME of the things MJ could do, but very few if any can do ALL of the things he could do.

Michael was naturally great at (and easily learned) things that would take any other artist their whole lives to master. :)
And Michael didn't just master ONE thing he mastered many different things. :)
Additionally, even after MJ mastered something he didn't stop there, he also took time to perfect it. :)
 
I'm not knowledgeable at all about Sheena Easton, but when I think of musical versatility, I think Linda Rondstadt. She could do and did rock, pop, country, jazz, blues, and opera effortlessly. And her emotional interpretations of the different genres is what every vocalist strives for.
Michael certainly knew how to vocally interpret a song. I think that was his greatest talent-

Her American Songbook trilogy is right up there with Off the Wall as my favorite albums of all time. Oh, and she could act too. I really discovered her with "Pirates of Penzance".

Speaking of Sammy, I always loved him from tv as a kid, but I got the chance to see him live in my early 20's. I went in as a big fan, and left the arena a screaming, raving, hysterical FAN.
I'd never seen anything like that before. He could do anything. Gorgeous voice, tell jokes, be poignant and heartbreaking, impersonations, dance-just amazing.
Michael chose truly great performers to admire and to study.
 
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HIStoric said:
Ehh not really, at least I don't know if I'd word it like that. He sung one song in Spanish, which was translated by someone else who then fed him how to pronounce it. So technically he did sing a song in Spanish, but I wouldn't really say he can sing in Spanish because that implies he's fluent in Spanish, which he isn't.
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I find it really interesting that Michael did so well with "I Can't Stop Loving You" in Spanish, when he just learned it phonetically. The last time I listened to it, you can even hear him roll his "Rs". It seems to be effortless to him. The French version sounds quite beautiful too.
 
respect77 said:
It is NOT simply about how many genres an artist covers. It's much more than that and the number of genres that MJ did was only one of the points in the opening post. But Prince is close in overall versatility, I agree. Paul McCartney not so much IMO.
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True-lots of people can be all over the map trying out different genres of music. But it's totally different to so embody those different genres that it sounds like that you were born to do it-that's why I brought up Linda Rondstadt. I think it's rare indeed. Michael certainly had that gift.
 
I'm sure everyone here has listened to songs by other artists and thought "Michael could have made an amazing version of this song". I've always believed that Michael could have covered almost any song in the World and made it sound incredible (Assuming the song is not complete trash quality, I wouldn't want him wasting time with those :p).
 
Graf said:
I'm sure everyone here has listened to songs by other artists and thought "Michael could have made an amazing version of this song". I've always believed that Michael could have covered almost any song in the World and made it sound incredible (Assuming the song is not complete trash quality, I wouldn't want him wasting time with those :p).
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IKR, his "Come Together" cover slays. :bugeyed
 
Princess nishea;4138254 said:
No offense, but no....just no.

However, Michael always said that he believed in a higher power, and when he wrote music he said he got out of the way and let God take over. :)
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I agree with you, Princess Nishea. Michael always gave the proper credit to THE ONE to whom he rightly should have given it, for it was God who had blessed him with the talents and abilities he had. In various interviews, Michael would say that he didn’t even want to take any credit for writing songs. And, he was very humble, admitting that he wasn’t this “perfect” person many of his deepest fans have made him out to be. He was no different, nor was he “better” than anyone else. He was just a man who happened to have grown up blessed with certain talents and abilities, that he used throughout his life.
 
DuranDuran;4138289 said:
How about Sammy Davis Jr?
[video=youtube;L6aNzFYHyz8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6aNzFYHyz8[/video]
[video=youtube;USxvJFfKXrE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USxvJFfKXrE[/video]
[video=youtube;OR_xdZbMQiw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR_xdZbMQiw[/video]
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Thank you, DuranDuran, for posting these Videos of Sammy Davis, Jr. Now, he was one of THE most talented people on the face of the Earth - who ever lived - in the history of show business. Sammy Davis, Jr. could do it all, during a time when entertainers had to do as many things, in as many different areas of entertainment, as possible.

Add the fact that, because of the way society in the United States was prior to the Civil Rights Movement, Black performers were expected to do more and be their very best at whatever it was they did, work twice or three times as hard to be twice as good as anyone else. Yet, they were treated badly, early in those days. Things got somewhat better, as society, itself, had changed.

Michael made it his business to acknowledge, and give proper credit due, to those great performers from previous eras, who paved the way for his own career and what it became. The song, “You Were There,” was a great, wonderful tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr., in celebration of his 60 years in show business. Michael did a fine job, in honoring him in that way.
 
GGVVGGCC22331122 said:
Michael always gave the proper credit to THE ONE to whom he rightly should have given it, for it was God who had blessed him with the talents and abilities he had.
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I know Michael's just being humble but what he said never really sat right with me. Sure, Michael was born with a special talent but I'd instead shift the credit for his abilities to Michael. Let's be real. He wouldn't have reached anywhere near the level of mastery he did if he hadn't spend thousands upon thousands of hours studying, honing and perfecting his craft. I mean God knows how many literal thousands of hours he spent practising his dance moves alone.

This part is addressed to people in general, not anyone here specifically. I respect people's right to believe in God, but I have seen people in the past try to attribute everything he could do amazingly well to God. I'm really not big on people giving God all the credit for Michael's work, the insane amount of work Michael did is something I really can't understate enough.

And like I said, I know Michael's just being humble (maybe overly humble come to think of it) and he of all people has the right to say what he said but... I can't say I really agree with it.
 
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GGVVGGCC22331122;4138576 said:
He was no different, nor was he “better” than anyone else. He was just a man who happened to have grown up blessed with certain talents and abilities, that he used throughout his life.
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Talent wise - pretty sure he was very different & a lot better than most.
 
HIStoric said:
I know Michael's just being humble but what he said never really sat right with me. Sure, Michael was born with a special talent but I'd instead shift the credit for his abilities to Michael. Let's be real. He wouldn't have reached anywhere near the level of mastery he did if he hadn't spend thousands upon thousands of hours studying, honing and perfecting his craft. I mean God knows how many literal thousands of hours he spent practising his dance moves alone.

This part is addressed to people in general, not anyone here specifically. I respect people's right to believe in God, but I have seen people in the past try to attribute everything he could do amazingly well to God. I'm really not big on people giving God all the credit for Michael's work, the insane amount of work Michael did is something I really can't understate enough.

And like I said, I know Michael's just being humble (maybe overly humble come to think of it) and he of all people has the right to say what he said but... I can't say I really agree with it.
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Actually, HIStoric, when I mentioned Michael having credited God for blessing him with his talent, I was referring to what he said, himself, in various interviews, Award Show recipient speeches and so forth. Not only was Michael blessed with tremendous natural talent, but with the desire, and the motivation, to put forth as strong of a work-ethic as he could, to do his best. He had the motivation to do what he loved doing, and he knew what his audiences (people of almost every language, socio-economic background, race, cultural background, etc.) expected of him.
 
GGVVGGCC22331122 said:
Actually, HIStoric, when I mentioned Michael having credited God for blessing him with his talent, I was referring to what he said, himself, in various interviews, Award Show recipient speeches and so forth.
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I know...? My post was not just in response to what I've seen religious people say over the years, but to what Michael himself said as well.
 
Michael certainly didn't squander any of his gifts he was blessed with and I'm glad that he was also born or inherited his drive, motivation and work ethic.
I'm sure he pondered why he was here on earth and why he had so many blessings: I've heard him say many times it was to make people happy-not only with his talents but that he could share the financial rewards of those talents with the sick, poor and underprivileged.
 
barbee0715 said:
Michael certainly didn't squander any of his gifts he was blessed with and I'm glad that he was also born or inherited his drive, motivation and work ethic.
I'm sure he pondered why he was here on earth and why he had so many blessings: I've heard him say many times it was to make people happy-not only with his talents but that he could share the financial rewards of those talents with the sick, poor and underprivileged.
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That's one of the few reasons MJ is the greatest artist and entertainer of all time (not to mention my fav artist).
Not only was he successful, but he always shared his success with those who really needed it.
He is one of if the single most charitable artist in the history of music and entertainment.
 
Princess nishea said:
Hmmm, I'm thinking about adding innovator to the main post.
I mean he did invent and patent those lean shoes.
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He certainly was an innovator but if I'm not mistaken Tompkins & Bush invented the lean shoes. If I remember correctly, Michael just told them he was determined to do that move live and he knew they could somehow make it happen (no pressure there, lol)
He was right tho, I'm glad Michael also had the good sense to work with people who were as talented in their fields as he was in his :) also very important imo!
 
Linda Rondstadt

barbee0715 said:
I'm not knowledgeable at all about Sheena Easton, but when I think of musical versatility, I think Linda Rondstadt. She could do and did rock, pop, country, jazz, blues, and opera effortlessly. And her emotional interpretations of the different genres is what every vocalist strives for.
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She's also released traditional Mexican music.
 
Re: Jeffrey

DuranDuran said:
I wonder how Jeffrey Daniel did it though. This clip is from Paul McCartney's 1984 movie Give My Regards To Broad Street. It's at 3:36 of the video
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Since it is in a movie, it may be a movie trick, just like in the Smooth Criminal video where there weren't lean shoes yet.
 
barbee0715 said:
Michael certainly didn't squander any of his gifts he was blessed with and I'm glad that he was also born or inherited his drive, motivation and work ethic.
I'm sure he pondered why he was here on earth and why he had so many blessings: I've heard him say many times it was to make people happy-not only with his talents but that he could share the financial rewards of those talents with the sick, poor and underprivileged.
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Yes, indeed, Barbee. Michael had said this before, many times, that he was put on Earth for a reason - to make people happy. As mostly everyone knows by now, he gave hundreds of millions of dollars to many different charitable causes - with a great deal of such giving not being noticed by the media.
 
Michaels Lover;4138267 said:
yeah, I agree, it would be a shame to derail this otherwise great thread you started. so lets just leave it at that
he sang in french, too
I've always admired his many talents. he was multi talented in his own way. he had rare talent, like no one else. one thing I've always thought could be interesting, is to hear him sing opera
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If you ever saw the “out-takes” from the documentary, “This Is It,” you would notice that, during a meeting with a small group of people - including the film’s director - Michael, at first, with his arms outstretched, starts re-enacting the “Descending Angels” scene from his Early-1990’s short film, “Ghosts.” During his “This Is It” re-enactment, he sings in the most beautiful Soprano voice, for only a few seconds, describing the voice he wants to hear as, “high....ethereal, very ‘Operatic.’ ”

If you had seen that particular segment of “Ghosts” for the first time, and had paid close attention to the background vocals you heard in that scene (without even knowing the actual identity of the background singer, of course), you would probably think you heard a “Classically”-trained person, but not even know who “she” is, or was - for many, many years - up until the “out-takes” revealed exactly who the singer was.

Also, when you listen to the introduction to “Who Is It?” (the only song from any of his albums, where Michael - as an adult, mind you - is credited under “Soprano Voice,” along with a woman, Linda Harmon) and similar-sounding background vocals on the bridge to the last segment of “Someone Put Your Hand Out,” they sound “Operatic” as well.

Though Michael never actually gave a true “Opera” performance or sung even one single aria, in his whole, entire life - and, as most of us know, he first started singing with his brothers at the age of five, from that point onwards - he probably would have been quite capable of singing in that genre if he were as rigorously trained to do so (as “Opera” singers generally are), for as long a period of time in as many years as it would have taken him. That he sounded as good as he did in his attempts at singing “Opera,” despite his never having studied it or ever having been “Classically”-trained, himself, is just absolutely remarkable.
 
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