I certainly wouldn't describe him as fit and youthful. He had who knows how many surgeries, which play havoc on your body. He had recently been diagnosed with skin cancer. He was often seen looking frail over the last few years, and often in a wheelchair.
And I am certainly not speculating on what caused his death but we *all* die of cardiac arrest. It is a very generic term and the actual cause could range significantly.
That said, I am very saddened by this. He always seemed to have his issues and I truly had hoped at some point he could sort things out and find some sort of peace.
Well okay then let me put it this way: He wasn't 300lbs, a smoker, drinker and junkie. Granted you are right, it has now come out that he was addicted to pain killers -- not a healthy thing, no. But this was still a man who could bust a move -- witness the footage of the rehearsals. This was still a man who looked like, in those rehearsals, he had more damn energy than I do for most purposes.
While many 50 year old men you or I pass on the street have beer bellies, fat asses, man boobs and bleary eyes from bad eating of fast foods, MJ didn't and at least visibly had thebody of a younger man, although sure, internally god knows what is really happening.
I concede that yeah, the rest of his medical and physical lifestyle is different enough from mine that, sure, it's probably a false worry to think "Wow he was only three years older than me."
But its still a natural reaction to have -- for me anyway -- when someone who is not clearly a complete physical wreck (Presley for example, or even Kurt Cobain with his heroin habit) dies at close to my own age.
