The deaths of Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and others all bear testimony to the fact that celebrity all too often covers up inner traumas, separating people from their inner struggles.
Surrounded as they are so often by 'yes' people who tell them only what they want to hear, celebrities are often inured against facing personal weaknesses. On one level, they may never grow beyond a certain phase in their lives.
Instead of making the big changes as they confront their inner weakness - as most of us have to do - they may instead simply decide to change their inner circle when things get rough. Both Michael and Elvis did this. Or they may take refuge in lavish lifestyle choices, as if a person's life really does consist of the things he or she owns.
Elvis found adulation hard to deal with later in his life. This is perhaps not surprising given the enormous attention he attracted. Nothing could have prepared him for the rigours of celebrity on the scale to which he experienced it.
On one level the same might be said of Michael Jackson. How can any human being possibly live with the huge and unpredictable ups and downs of global celebrity? Susan Boyle couldn't deal with it after her instant recognition factor went through the roof - and she knew only a fraction of the attention Michael received.
Meanwhile, younger stars like Britney Spears continue to struggle to find lasting peace of mind and establish a strong self-esteem in the midst of the media maelstrom.
You could argue that all of the modern claimants to pop-royalty at least had the opportunity to learn from Elvis' experience.
At one point Elvis said, 'I am so tired of being Elvis Presley.' After his death, at the age of just 42, LIFE magazine featured a major piece on his life. Toward the end, the writer spoke about Elvis' struggle to live up to the image of his youth. 'Perhaps not even Elvis could be Elvis any more,' he wrote.
Sadly, it may be true that toward the end not even Michael Jackson, with his fragile health, could live up to the image he'd established two decades earlier.
We do well to remember the young Michael, full of energy and unbridled creative force. But we would also do well to learn from the struggles of the older Michael and perhaps reflect on how we treat those who seek, yet are so often harmed by, the limelight of global fame.
Like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson died a relatively young man who still had so much more he could have given the world.
About Mal Fletcher:
Mal Fletcher is an author, business and media consultant, media commentator, global conference speaker and broadcaster based in London.
He has pioneered several major leadership networks and is the chairman of 2020 Plus, a London-based leadership and communications consultancy which is helping business, media and community groups to proactively engage future change, especially in difficult times.
Mal hosts the annual Strategic Leadership Consultation, which he founded in 1998, and was the founding National Director of Youth Alive Australia, a large, nationwide organisation teaching positive values to young people and running drug and alcohol-free events.
Follow Mal on Twitter www.twitter.com/malfletcher or go to www.2020Plus.org for more information. Copyright Mal Fletcher 2009
