There are rare talents, and then there is Michael Jackson. Yes, the musical prodigy's albums sold like kitchen appliances in the '80s, but more importantly, the lifelong showman sang as if every breath were his last. He out-discoed disco. He used elements of R&B, soul, funk, blues, rock and gospel to turn sonic emotion into genre set pieces, like how “Thriller” morphed fear into horr-opera. MJ even invented his own onomatopoeic language—“Hee hee”; “Chi-ooh!”; “Ow!”—all of which instantly conjure a snapped fedora. Even among the Greatest of All Time, the King of Pop stands apart.