Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie): "I was driving in la down La Brea crossing Beverly when I got a text from Nick that read, 'RIP michael jackson.' I was so shocked I momentarily forgot I was driving a car and nearly caused an accident."

Jason Finn (Presidents of the United States of America): "Super boring....I was driving around. But! Interesting side note: I don't keep up with current events as much as I should, so I actually found out about MJ and John Lennon at the same time."

Sean Nelson (writer, singer of Harvey Danger amongst other things): "I heard via text, while driving home from therapy with a copy of The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook on the passenger seat, and Scott Walker's "On Your Own Again" on the stereo—so I guess I was ready. I thought about it a lot, because as with anyone who has been between the ages of 8 and 18 at any point in the past 30 years, Michael Jackson was not just a pop figure but an archetype for pop figures (to understand, embrace, or reject) in my life. Still, news of his death didn't feel sad, or even surreal. Nor was it remotely funny either. His life was such a walking, dancing tragedy and the suffering that enshrouded everything about him was so completely off of any recognizable chart that his recognizable human life—outside the bubble of notoriety or wealth or acclaim or even genius (if genius exists or excuses anything)—seemed to have been over a long time ago. The records, which had become harder to listen to as the shadow of his unimaginably creepy and possibly monstrous real world grew ever longer, are still there. Out of duty and curiosity (and, within about two seconds of the opening bass line of "Wanna Be Startin' Something," reflexive joy), I went home and listened to Thriller, Off the Wall and a Jackson 5 Best Of. I never had Bad or any of his later stuff, but if I had, I'd have listened to them, too. Guess what: His music is still incredible. The perverse interest in his life as a drug-beset, child-obsessed, plastic surgery worst-case scenario will surely be served by the scrolls of revelations that will unfurl in the weeks to come. But that was just his life. Now that it's over, maybe the greatness of his innovative, still-astonishing music won't have to suffer from the insoluble contradiction of its baffling proximity to it."

Spencer Moody (Murder City Devils, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death) reached at his junk shop the Anne Bonny: "I was sitting at work, at the store. I was looking at the New York Times online, and then it came up that he had lost consciousness and been taken to the hospital. And then I refreshed a few minutes later and he was gone." When asked if he has any Michael Jackson stuff (paintings, etc) in the store: "No. I probably have some stuff he would have liked though."

Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) in a statement on his website: "Driving from Poland to Berlin following a show. At 1am I got the news and was immediately saddened. I remembered being six years old and seeing the Jackson 5 on our black and white TV. His brothers were cool but he had a halo around him. Superstar at 12. What promise. He had magic! It was by chance that I recorded and rearranged his song 'Billie Jean' and have been amazed at the response it gets when I perform it every night. He was amazingly talented and largely misunderstood."

Kerry Zettel (See Me River, Aviation Records): "Safeco Field, section 333, isle 16, seat 15. Mariners vs. Padres. Somewhere around the 3rd or 4th inning. My friend had just came back from the concessions stand with the news he had received from his wife: 'Michael Jackson's dead.' It was kind of eerie. I had mixed feelings about the demise of this generations most influential pop musician/creepiest tabloid headliner. Even eerier still was how quickly the news spread like a murmuring wave through the stadium as people turned their attention from the game to their mobile internet browser to confirm the passing of the pop icon."

Gary Smith (Partman Parthorse): "I was at work at Easy Street. I was chilling. We had just finished listening to Michael Jackson. I love a LOT of Michael's music. But I dont give a flying fucking shit that he died. My cat Clyde died recently... that, i cared about."

Sean Horton (Nordic Soul, Decibel Festival): "I was in a conference room with a dozen other coworkers listening to new music when our lead audio tech busted into the room exclaiming "Michael Jackson is dead!". We spent a good remainder of the meeting checking CNN online trying to verify the information, which we eventually did."

Terry Radjaw (Mad Rad): "I was playing put put golf at Funtasia in Edmonds getting my ass whooped by my lady."

Larry Mizell (Cancer Rising, They Live!, and Stranger columnist): "Literally arriving in NYC for the first time. My dad and my uncle who worked with MJ as a kid are both from here. It made me call my pops."

Devin Welch (Past Lives, Flexions): "My coworker Ryan and I were taking out the trash at the thrift store, another coworker Ian came walking up and was tripping out about how MJ was found in cardiac arrest, in a coma, I couldn't believe it. Oddly enough earlier in the day someone donated a suitcase with customs tags from Dubai on it and we had talked about how Michael had sought refuge there after his child molestation scandal. We have played Off The Wall, Thriller and Dangerous in their entirety and displayed the centerfold of Thriller draped with a single white glove at the cash register at the store. As a child I my parents didn't let me watch MTV but I distinctly remember a babysitter putting it on and dancing around my living room to Thriller, I was scandalized. Later on, me and my preteen friends used to rock out to Dangerous with those heavy new jack swing beats and MJ's weird breathy percussive vocalizations. I think 'Wanna Be Starting Something' is my favorite MJ jam though, that beat is so insane! What can you say about this guy, he is one of the greatest mutations that pop culture has ever produced. Sorry to ramble..."

Kim Warnick (Fastbacks): "Napping! My phone kept buzzing....when I finally checked it there were a bunch of texts but the first one I clicked on was from Kevin Willis saying, 'Michael Jackson is dead.' That is how I found out. So very thankful that I actually got to see the (young) Jackson 5 live at the Coliseum (Key Arena) in 1973. They did two shows that day and I went to the 'matinee' one. Who does that? A matinee?They even brought out little Randy Jackson who sang "Superstition." It was a show I will never forget, probably what it would've been like to see The Beatles. Sometimes it's awesome to be this old."

Shannon Perry (Katherine Hepburne's Voice): "I was at work. Carlos got champagne and Moon Pies, and printed out pictures on the copier. He made posters and put them on the wall of his office. We wrote letters to MJ, and watched our favorite videos."

J-Justice (SunTzu Sound, City Soul Radio): "Sitting at my desk. Wishing I was working on music instead of dealing with my dayjob. Decided to check twitter and it all went down from there!"

Adam Swan (Truckasauras, Foscil): ”Drinking a 40, smoking a blunt... I heard it first as a rumor on Twitter. Funny how the Internet was way ahead of the 'real news.' Thriller was my favorite album as a kid. Terrible news."

Lars Finberg (the Intelligence): “Celebrating getting engaged today in Amsterdam.”

Chris Martin (Kinski): “I was woken up by my host in Tokyo, Tabata from Acid Mothers Temple and Zeni Geva, and told that Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Sky Saxon all died on the same day. Now I'm going record shopping.”

Joy Von Spain: “Watching the video of ‘Rock With You’ with those splendid sparkly boots. And pants. And shirt. And jheri curl.”

Jeff Albertson (the Lights, Lamborghiniz): "Like most people I was sitting at my desk checking Facebook updates. It's sad that such a talented and gifted performer was reduced to frail shell of his once vibrant self. I prefer to remember him as the charismatic child performer that blew people away with his tremendous voice at an early age and then shocked the world by moonwalking across the stage on the 1983 television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever."

Kerri Harrop (publicist, the Crocodile): "Fittingly, I was online, updating my Facebook page. By the time the Jackson 5 video uploaded, reports that MJ had kicked the bucket were rolling in. My first thought: Wow, way to steal Farrah's limelight. Second: TMZ is an actual credible news source? Weird. And, lastly: Dude sure had some cuts. The speed in which this pop culture news has traveled is mind boggling. What incredible media times we live in."