Madonna called Michael Jackson a "hero," a "king" and a "human being" as she paid tribute to the King of Pop at MTV's "2009 Video Music Awards," prior to Janet Jackson's anticipated performance.

"When I was six, my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the sick," she says of the music legend. "I never had a mother but he never had a childhood."

Madonna said when she learned of Michael's death while preparing for her tour, she felt as if she had "abandoned him."

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U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during a town hall on Friday, April 25, 2025, in Atlanta at the Cobb County Civic Center. (Jason Allen/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Credit: Jason Allen/AJC