LaGrange residents joined millions of others worldwide who were shocked by Thursday’s death of pop superstar Michael Jackson.

“How could you not be” affected? said Pat Patten, an independent record producer and partner in Jammates Records in LaGrange.

“When he was just a young kid, through all the groundbreaking albums, he was, my goodness, in the spotlight for 40 of his 50 years,” Patten said Friday. “He set music , dance and video trends. He was a groundbreaker in all those areas.”

Jackson, who sold about 750 million albums, had planned a comeback next month with 50 shows in London. All 800,000 tickets had been sold in a matter of hours.

“His mark on music in the entertainment industry is undeniable,” Patten said. “You’ve got to believe he was among the very top artists in history.”

“Thriller” and his other records from the 1980s “from a producing and engineering standpoint, you had to study them,” Patten said. “The things he and Quincy Jones did were groundbreaking.”

Chips Moman of LaGrange, who produced records for Elvis Presley among others, said he didn’t want to compare the two artists.

“I would not compare (Jackson) to anybody,” Moman said. “He was one of a kind. There’s never been anybody like him and I don’t think there ever will be. Anybody with that much talent is a rare, rare breed. … Personally, I don’t think Elvis could touch him.”

Willie Edmondson, a preacher and LaGrange city councilman, said he’s always been a big Jackson fan. He was a “great singer,” Edmondson said, and “I think he’ll be remembered as a trendsetter.”

“I heard someone say he broke a lot of barriers before there was Obama and all the others,” he said. “He broke barriers in his own right in the music field. He transcended racial barriers. People from all walks of life loved his music.”

Jackson’s death moved even 89-year-old retired Army veteran Albert Jenkins of LaGrange.

“He was a great entertainer, and everybody all over the world knew about him and loved him,” Jenkins said.

Freelance writer Jackie Kennedy of LaGrange, who was a Jackson fan throughout the ’80s and ’90s, said she just wanted to play his music Friday.

“You cannot argue the fact that he had incredible talent and was a gifted songwriter, singer and entertainer,” she said. “The man could move. He invented dances. How often do people do that?”

Jackson started so young as a professional entertainer that he never got to experience childhood, nor did he get to experience a normal adulthood, Patten noted.

“He was unique and odd, no question about it,” he said. “His personal life was deeply troubled. All I can say is may he now rest in peace.”

Lee Johnson, music department chairman at LaGrange College, said he’s not the go-to guy for Michael Jackson commentary.

He wasn’t sure if Jackson’s music will inspire him to write a symphony, but “the Grateful Dead got one out of me, so you can never tell,” he said, referring to his “Dead Symphony No. 6.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.