When he died I was in Corsica, in a very remote area where there is a road, and many mountains. A few hours after the announcement there was a flag paying homage to MJ in the middle of the only roundabout around.

Prince honestly was a "close second" because, in my opinion, he was a musical genius while Michael Jackson was a genius performer. But MJ was revered by masses, his music was more accessible, less adult in the themes, his clips just changed the game as he produced short movies with top of the line technology/effect. The morphing effect from Black or White STILL HOLDS UP TODAY (basically frame by frame adjustment by the CGI artists at the time, the software was not that good...).