I’m not a fan of the man’s music, but there’s no denying he had talent. He released the highest-selling record in history. I doubt there is a person alive who doesn’t know who he was.
Nor will I speak for his mistakes and possible misdeeds. For a time, he deliberately fostered a surreal public image, and though he stopped doing so in the 1990’s, his eccentric persona would continue to haunt him through the rest of his life. There’s no doubting he made some poor choices.
But that’s not the point. We all watched this terrified, lonely, shell-shocked man disintegrate over the last two decades, and we were entertained. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.