Editor's note: Danyel Smith is the chief content officer of Vibe Media Group and the editor-in-chief of Vibe.



Danyel Smith says Michael Jackson sacrificed himself in the name of his art.



(CNN) -- It falls to me to prepare a statement on behalf of Vibe magazine when someone is promoted, when there is trouble, or when something major happens in the world of pop.



It occasionally falls to me to write an obituary or a tribute when an entertainer dies. It's a part of my job. One has to do it quickly, and I've never been prepared. Yet I've been prepping for this one my whole life. Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50.



The sorrow at his passing is palpable, and wet, and illogical -- in my 20 years of being a critic and an editor, I've never met him. But this is a death in the family. I've known Jackson's work since I was 5 years old and was given The Jackson 5's "ABC" as a gift.



He was on the surface the most uncomplicated of all boys -- beautiful, emotional, untouchable, ours.



Michael has bruised my heart many times -- his antics and the accusations, his seeming desire not to be, at least physically, who he'd been. Which is who I am. But as his funeral is prepared, I, like the Jackson brothers sang with optimistic melancholy in 1976, think about the good times.



There is no moonwalk down memory lane about Michael. The legends mix in with the rumors mix in with the ice-cold facts of 1960s black working-class Gary, Indiana.



That mixes in with girls fainting at the sight of him when he was barely a teenager; which mixes with the many sold-out tours, and with Michael collaborating with Quincy Jones on 1979's "Off the Wall" and 1982's "Thriller."



There is the alleged abuse inflicted on Jackson and his brothers by his father, Joe, along with the strong love and late rivalry with his superstar sister, Janet.



There is the magic and melodrama of Motown. The accusation of child abuse (no charge; he agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit against him in 1994), and the 2005 trial in which Jackson was acquitted of child molestation and other heinous charges.



There is the drastic change of his skin color, the radical narrowing of his nose, the short marriage to Elvis Presley's daughter, the friendship with Emmanuel Lewis, the 13 Grammys, the 13 No. 1 singles, the two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the haunting, otherworldly performance at Motown's 25th Anniversary special.



The way he integrated MTV in 1983 with "Billie Jean," the "We Are the World" extravaganzas, the face masks, the oxygen tanks, the Neverland Ranch -- all that mixes in with everything from "Stop the Love You Save" to "Dancing Machine," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "P.Y.T.," "Man in The Mirror," adding up to the more than 750 million albums sold worldwide... I mean. And this is not the half, the tenth, the thousandth of what he was.



It comes down to the fact that Michael Jackson gave. Whether he chose to or did it because it was all he knew, he sacrificed himself in the name of his art.



Jackson gave almost his entire life on this planet to singing, to dancing, to recording, to performing. He practiced, he watched James Brown and Jackie Wilson and Diana Ross and he watched his brothers. He bent, when he had to, to the will of those who could have done better by him.



He was knowing enough about who he was to pretty much demand we all call him The King of Pop, but it was the public shyness, the nerdiness of Michael Jackson that endeared.



The whispery voice juxtaposed with the explosive grace he demonstrated on stage and on record. The tenderness, especially of his childhood work, and
Who did Danyel Smith say made millions believe? What did Smith believe? According to Smith, who was the best entertainer who ever lived? How much of his life did Danyel Smith believe Michael Jackson gave to entertaining others?
Michael Jackson Michael Jackson sacrificed himself in the name of his art. Michael Jackson entire
question: Who did Danyel Smith say made millions believe?, answer: Michael Jackson | question: What did Smith believe?, answer: Michael Jackson sacrificed himself in the name of his art. | question: According to Smith, who was the best entertainer who ever lived?, answer: Michael Jackson | question: How much of his life did Danyel Smith believe Michael Jackson gave to entertaining others?, answer: entire