Michael Jackson: Entertainment Weekly Tribute Covers

Here’s just one of the four separate tribute covers available this week from Entertainment Weekly. The covers feature Michael Jackson singing at home in 1972; on the set of the Thrillerâ€' video in 1983 (pictured here); a portrait taken in 1983; and performing in New York City on Sept. 10, 2001.

EW columnist Stephen King writes, “It's worth noting that he was never convicted of anything in criminal court, and when I asked Mickâ€'who hung out with Michael occasionallyâ€' he was emphatic in his belief that Michael Jackson was indeed innocent of the abuse allegations. In the court of public opinion, however, he was found guilty of Weirdness in the First Degree, and ended up secluded in one haunted castle after another. Finally, he died in one. Strange man. Lost man. And not unique in his passing. Like James Dean, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, and a dozen others we could name, he just left the building far too soon. Because, man oh man, that guy could dance.â€'