Let’s quash this rumor before it gets started: Michael Jackson did not fake his own death to escape the exhausting rigors of stardom. The troubled man is gone. Let him go.

The problem is, when a legendary rock performer checks out early, desperate fans sometimes build such fables. From Jim Morrison to Tupac, enthusiasts who can’t let go (and Jackson had more than a few of those) insist their beloved musical icon is hiding in Iowa, not in heaven.

No fandom built its “faked death” mythology with more richly honed detail than the followers of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll whose untimely passing seems eerily similar to the death of the King of Pop. Jackson’s unexpected passing at 50 makes one pine for the late 1980s and The Elvis Conspiracy specials.