Legend Lives on in Local Impersonator
Business up 60 percent since M.J.'s death
By TARA GRIMES
Updated 1:19 PM CST, Tue, Jul 28, 2009
If you think you saw Michael Jackson walking down your street after his death no need to start asking questions -- like when Elvis died and still many believe he's alive. No, Michael is gone.
But you’re not seeing things, either. It's possible you actually saw someone who looks a lot like Jackson walking around the Ashburn neighborhood.
You might say 40-year-old South Sider Rico Hampton is one of a kind, but really he’s not … he’s only doubling as one.
For 25 years Hampton has been a Michael Jackson impersonator, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, doing shows at children’s birthday parties for $175 and doing other shows for an upwards cost of a few thousand.
Hampton said that since Jackson died his phone hasn’t stopped ringing and business has jumped 60 percent.
It all started when “Thriller” came out.
Thinking it would be fun and only short-lived, Hampton never saw himself doing it for so long. Although he thought Jackson was a great artist, he never cared much for his personal “stuff.”
“I loved Michael for the entertainment and the love he gave to the world,” Hampton said.
Now Hampton says he’s still stunned by Jackson’s death. He was in his basement at the time, practicing and rehearsing to the “Invincible” CD, when he got the news.
“My sister sent me a text message that Michael Jackson had a heart attack,” Hampton told the papaer. “I thought it was a big publicity stunt, that it can't be real. I turned the radio on, and they had started playing Michael Jackson music. I was in a state of shock, which I am still in. Even today I have a copy of a newspaper that said he died. I can barely look at that paper.”
Recently, his performances have been bringing a bit of sorrow, along with happiness, to the audience.
“Now, more than ever, everybody wants to take photos,” Hampton told the Sun-Times. “They cry when I get on stage. It's really been hard for me to accept the whole thing. Oh God, yeah, I've cried. I haven't slept lately.”
Although it’s a full-time job for Hampton, he takes a break on his off hours. We’re glad to say he doesn’t mow his grass in the raiment of Jackson.
Being Michael hasn’t been his only job. He used to work for the city’s Department of Human Services, dealing with the homeless and doing well-being checks. But being Jackson must be somehow more fulfilling.
“If I could, I would tell (Jackson) thank you for all the years you have given and thanks for the life you have given me,” Hampton said. “Because, really, Michael Jackson has really changed my life for the best.”
Hampton’s not the only impersonator we’ve seen lately.
Child actor Corey Feldman felt the need to show up to yesterday’s Jackson memorial in L.A. emulating the appearance of the King of Pop. Dressed in a replica of Jackson’s famous military jacket and flaunting off black sunglasses and a black fedora, his appearance was a bit spooky, to say the least.
Both Jackson and Feldman were at the height of their careers in the 80’s when they met. Though they drifted apart throughout the years, Feldman was distraught by the news of Jackson’s death.
"I am filled with tremendous sadness and remorse," Feldman wrote on his Web site after Jackson's June 25 death. "All I choose to remember from this point is the good times we shared and what an inspiration he was to me and the rest of the world. Nobody will ever be able to do what Michael Jackson has done in this industry, and he was so close to doing it all again."
First Published: Jul 8, 2009 11:44 AM CST
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