He was a hero to us youngsters, we grew up with his cds in our disk players. He was a pioneer in many ways, a powerful performer and song writer.
Unfortunately, these last years were pretty hard for him, loosing a lot of money, cases turned against him, etc..
I guess he was away from his music and from what he expressed in his songs about the world and about people, he was under too much stress, living in the ugliness of our society and dying in it. That's what our society can do to gods.
I was chatting with Eric not long ago, when he told me: "maybe he'll rise from the grave like in thriller?" :0
Anyway, we know he'll live through his music and his fans and forever will be in our hearts.
One of my favorite songs: Heal the World - indeed.