Alina

When someone sent me an email about Michael Jackson's passing this afternoon, I thought it was a stupid joke. "MJ couldn't die," - I thought. And so stron...

When someone sent me an email about Michael Jackson's passing this afternoon, I thought it was a stupid joke. "MJ couldn't die," - I thought. And so strong was my conviction that the illustrious Michael Jackson was beyond something as commonplace as death that I didn't believe it even when I saw it plastered on the front page of Yahoo!

Now that it is finally starting to sink in, I feel strange and empty, like I have suffered a great personal loss. Sure, the Sony/BMG people can talk about his "contribution to the culture" and "artistry and magnetism", but somehow those words bear no correlation to what Mr. Jackson meant to me. And he meant a great deal.

A lot of artists list MJ as one of their main influences - and there is no denying that his work has had a huge impact on what we know as the today's popular music. But to me he was always more then just a musical idol. It seems as though he has had a hand in two of my most important life decisions so far. One was choosing to become a musician, despite my mother's attempts to get me into business school. The other was - getting married.

As a teenager I ran a website about my music which had had a whole page dedicated to my raves about Michael Jackson. My husband Brad saw the site and was seized with a sudden desire to give the gem of his celebrity signature collection - a sheet music book of MJ's songs, signed by him - as a gift to me. We met up... and a year later I was moving to the US and getting married to Brad.

It feels so strange to think that he's gone now... and it hurts quite a lot knowing that he will never be able to hear me sing... I had always cherished a hope for that.

Anyway, here is a video of me singing a shortened version of MJ's "You're Not Alone". I hope you enjoy it; if you do, please take a few moments to forward it to those of your friends who care about Michael.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO