Very well said Wilma.
I'm not a famous artist but MJ had a significant influence in my life. I was bit of a rebel when I was a kid and I had to save some of my allowance just so I could have my pants altered similar to MJ's which was not a good idea since I go to a strict Catholic boys' school wherein the teachers check the length of your pants. (Well, MJ stared this fashion trend and every rebel in school was doing it so they started random checks.) I had my ways of getting out of that jam (one of them similar to the way kids wear their pants nowadays.). My mom thought the dryer shrunk my pants.
I have a somewhat similar red jacket he used in Thriller which I begged my dad to buy (it was expensive but my good grades compensated for it) and similar penny loafers from Billie Jean. I think I still have the silver gloves somewhere which I made myself. I learned and practiced how to dance/sing and even got myself a small role in an inter-school musical. My friends and I even performed Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Off the Wall etc... during school programmes and family friends. Maybe if there was a contest "The Best American Dance Crew" that time we would have auditioned for it.
Remember the 80's was the New Wave era (The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears, Duran Duran etc...) and yet he was able to break into this era with his Thriller Album. The videos were really amazing which made me become interested in film making in which my friends and I got an award for in an a short animated film for students contest among the schools in Ontario. Like most of the people here have said, despite his weirdness you can't deny he was a musical genius that influenced a lot of people.
IMHO, I still have yet to see an artist in this generation who I can compare to MJ, sadly, I still haven't seen anybody who can take his place. Even my parents were in schock when they heard the news and they are from a different generation.
Rest in Peace, MJ.