Barack Obama Sends Condolences to Michael Jackson's Family

While President Barack Obama has yet to make a public statement about the death of Michael Jackson, Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod told NBC's Meet the Press this weekend that Obama wrote to the Jackson family to privately send his condolences, Politico reports. "The president has written the family and has shared his feelings with the family, and he felt that that was the appropriate way to go," Axelrod said on air.

"The president obviously believes that he was an important and magnificent performer," Axelrod added. "Obviously, he led a sad life in many ways as well but his impact is undeniable." Axelrod noted that Obama was prepared to speak about Jackson during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last Friday, however no reporters asked the President about Michael Jackson.

Axelrod's comments echo what press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters last week following Jackson's sudden death. "I talked to [Obama] about it this morning. He said to me that obviously Michael Jackson was a spectacular performer, a music icon, and I think everybody remembers hearing his songs, watching him moonwalk on television during Motown’s 25th anniversary," Gibbs said, "But the President also said he had aspects of his life that were sad and tragic. His condolences went out to the Jackson family and to fans who mourned his loss." No word whether Obama's written letter to the Jackson family would be made public or if the President himself would issue a statement regarding Jackson.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

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