Marking Jackson’s Birthday With Dirty Diana
Sixteen years after his passing, Michael Jackson’s songs remain some of the most difficult to mime.
His seamless blend of pop and rock, coupled with near-perfection in performance, sets him apart as arguably the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Off stage, he was a gentle soul singer, but once he stepped into hard rock, he became a force of nature, a monster in his art.
Back in 2014, while driving every Sunday from Lagos to Ipapo, a quiet agrarian town beyond Iseyin, I needed music to keep me company on the long stretch. Something nudged me to buy Jackson’s CDs, five in all. Oddly, I had never been a fan. But as I listened to Bad, Heal the World, Billie Jean, We Are the World, Black or White, and Thriller, I found myself drawn in. What began as background music for my mission in Ipapo , mining solid mineral, Tantalite, gradually turned me into a mimer. I soon realized Jackson’s songs were not just music; they were the hardest lessons in rhythm and passion. I became an unintentional fan.
Today, Jackson would have been 67. He left us suddenly but not without a legacy of timeless lyrics and electrifying performances. Among them, Dirty Diana stands tall not just for its sound, but also for the enduring controversy around it.
Some argue the song was about Diana Ross, Jackson’s closest confidante from his youth, while others link it to the late Princess Diana. Another school of thought insists it referenced the backstage world of musicians and the women who hovered there.
For me, having watched the original video of Dirty Diana, it feels like a story of betrayal, Jackson’s love and longing clashing with Ross’s relationships. The video paints him as a loverboy devastated, betrayed, and raging with desire. Before Bad was released with Dirty Diana included, Ross once called Jackson “sexy.” He replied that he had grown up seeing her as “so sexy.” Their mutual admiration was public, but any deeper bond remained discreet. Still, her eventual marriage reportedly hit him hard.
On stage, Jackson poured all that pain and passion into Dirty Diana. The guitar screamed, his voice carried a raw ache, and his body language spoke louder than the lyrics. His hair whipped around his face as he tore his shirt open mid-performance, a man consumed by emotion, love, and anger.
However, as a mark of respect, Jackson initially refused to perform the song at Wembley in 1988 when Lady Diana and Prince Charles were in attendance. But when Diana personally requested it, he obliged, proving the song wasn’t about her but about Ross. Still, even that performance couldn’t quite match the raw intensity of the original video.
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop was born August 29, 1958, and died in 2009. He would have been 67 today. This legend lives on, in every beat, every lyric, every memory.
Posthumously, I celebrate this giant. Happy Birthday, Michael Jackson.
