It's an irony of globalisation that Generation Y will have no musician that truly touches or defines us all. It's an irony that we're all meant to be experiencing everything at the same time, with the same eyes, but the truth is that we're more fragmented then ever; more dislocated, and less likely to want the same thing or be entertained in the same way. The death of Michael Jackson reinforces this, not since John Lennon has such an important entertainment figure died. So much fanfare and grief has poured out, that Peter Hartcher the last great journalist from the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote a 900 word piece on how Michael Jackson reflected a new growth in US soft power.
In 50 years we'll be putting this down as an anachronism. The last page in the history of truly global and truly uniting musical forces. From here on in there will be international musical celebrities, but not musicians that can claim a generation as their own.
For instance, could anyone imagine a band like the Beatles coming out, starting a movement like Beatlemania, and turning their records from consumer durables to household staples? Could anyone imagine a record like Thriller selling untold millions and becoming a soundtrack for multiple generations?
Where's our spokesperson? Where's our musical genius?