Rolling Stone Magazine Raises Ire of Michael Jackson Family By Dubbing Harry Styles “New King of Pop”

Uh oh.

Rolling Stone may have bitten off more than it can chew. On the cover of their UK issue they’ve dubbed Harry Styles “the new king of pop.”

You know, there is only one King of Pop, and that’s Michael Jackson.

Michael’s nephew has responded quickly on Twitter. Taj Jackson writes:

“There is no new King of Pop. You don’t own the title @RollingStone, and you didn’t earn it, my uncle did. Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title has been retired. No disrespect to @Harry_Styles, he’s mega talented. Give him his own unique title.”

Truly, Harry would be best known as the Prince of Pop. To be the King of Pop would mean a much longer resume of hits and successes. Harry’s doing well, but not Michael Jackson good. Not yet.

Rolling Stone now is all about throwing out the previous generations of pop culture, particularly Baby Boomers. In a recent note on their website, editor Noah Schactman said they’d redesigned it so Rolling Stone no longer requires wearing “bell bottoms.” That’s really unfortunate. First of all Baby Boomers haven’t worn bell bottoms for 40 years. Second, they’re the generation that actually knows where the title of the magazine comes from. Don’t insult us.

And don’t cross the Michael Jackson fans. Word of wisdom to RS. You don’t need that headache.