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President Barack Obama gestures during his interview with The Associated Press, Thursday, July 2, 2009, in the West Wing of the White House in Washington.(Agencies)

President Barack Obama called Michael Jackson a brilliant performer whose talents were paired with a tragic personal life.

"I'm glad to see that he is being remembered primarily for the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer," Obama said in an interview Thursday.

Obama said he didn't see any controversy in the fact that he did not issue a formal public statement upon Jackson's death, and said he was unaware of any dissatisfaction in the black community with his response.

"I know a lot of people in the black community and I haven't heard that," Obama said.

The president said he grew up on Jackson's music and "I still have all his stuff on my iPod."

"I think that Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers," Obama said. "His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways, sad personal life."

Jackson died June 25 at age 50.

美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马日前盛赞迈克尔•杰克逊是一位杰出艺人，他才华出众，但是个人生活却充满悲剧色彩。

奥巴马在上周四接受采访时说：“作为一名娱乐明星，他的非凡天赋给很多人带来无尽的欢乐，我很高兴看到人们因此而怀念他。”

奥巴马称，他并没有对杰克逊的辞世发表正式的公开声明，但也没发现自己因此受到指责。他表示自己对黑人社区对他的反应有何不满并不知情。

他说：“我认识很多黑人，但从没听他们说过。”

总统称，自己是听着杰克逊的歌声长大的，并且“现在我的iPod音乐播放器里面都是他的歌。”

奥巴马说：“我觉得迈克尔•杰克逊将作为最杰出的艺人之一载入史册。和他的表演天分相伴的是他悲剧人生，在很多方面来看，也是悲哀的个人生活。”

杰克逊于6月25日辞世，终年50岁。