It's a relief now to openly love the music I prefer.

But when I was a young Christian mom, our church preached against the evil of pop music and of Michael Jackson's Thriller in particular, and my religious husband agreed.

I had adored Michael Jackson and his music since he was in the Jackson Five, but in deference to my husband, I tried to hide it.

I remember passing a store window with my husband, where the Thriller video was playing. I pretended not to notice it, but I kept sneaking glances at the video...I thought the zombie dance was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

It was a nice surprise when I moved to Thailand in 2010 to find Michael Jackson almost worshipped here-his music played everywhere and Thai pop singers on Asian MTV copied his moves, costumes, and sound,