Northland reacts to Michael Jackson's death

By Nicolette Helling & photojournalist John Thain, FOX 21 News

DULUTH - The death of a pop music icon has shocked the country and the world.

And as soon as news of Michael Jackson's death hit the airwaves Thursday, it became clear how important the "King of Pop" was to the Northland.

"As soon as we mentioned it all of our phone lines lit up. We took phone calls for two hours straight," said Corey Carter, who co-hosts the Mix 108 morning radio show. "If we would have been around in the 1980s we would have been playing Michael Jackson like crazy.".

He's playing Jackson's songs now, as many as he can every hour, taking requests from fans and sharing stories.

"I just remember the moonwalk, you know, that was the cool thing," said one fan calling into the radio station Friday.

"Could you do the moonwalk?" asked Carter.

"Uh, I thought I could!" said the fan.

Carter says the requests have mainly been for Jackson's No. 1 songs and most well-known hits.

"It's fun to hear those Michael Jackson songs again and you remember how good and what a talented artist he was," Carter said.

Over at Best Buy, Jackson fans were keeping Alex Sampson busy Friday.

"I've rung up like 23 items today," said Sampson, who is a Best Buy employee. "Just of CDs and DVDs together. Each person I ask, I'm like, 'Ah, Michael Jackson fan,' and they're like, 'Yeah, it's gonna be a collector's item one day.'"

"I used to listen to Thriller all the time," said Addi Steinert, Sampson's manager at Best Buy.

She's also a Jackson fan and remembers how big a role he played in her childhood.

"Growing up, a lot of friends and everything would always play a joke on me and be like, 'Addi are you okay?'" said Steinert, referring to the Jackson song "Smooth Criminal," which has similar-sounding lyrics. "It was kinda something I thought of yesterday when the entire situation happened."

Even though controversy surrounded much of the singer's life, fans like Steinert say they're more concerned with his musical talent.

"You know, everyone has their own fair share of issues, just his were more public because he was such a huge icon," said Steinert. "He was phenomenal."