Well, at least one of them is.

They both wear a mask and white gloves and they are both called Michael Jackson, but the dentist from Narromine and the late king of pop are worlds apart.

Narromine’s Dr Mick Jackson, as he prefers to be known, said his name had been a running joke among family, friends and patients his whole life.

“There have been phases when he was in the spotlight that the jokes and comments got worse,” he said.

Dr Jackson’s mother was a big MJ fan, but that was not where he got his name.

“I was named after my mother’s father,” he said.

The day it was reported that MJ died, Dr Jackson received text messages and e-mails saying, “when’s the wake” and “sorry to hear about your passing”.

“And a lot of people came into work on the day he died and said ‘we weren’t sure if you were going to be here. We heard you passed away’,” he said.

Dr Jackson’s favourite MJ song Billie Jean shares its name with his cousin’s daughter as well.

“That song has always just stuck in my head, and she’s called Billie Jean, so that might be why,” he said.

There was a stage in Dr Jackson’s life when his nickname was Thriller.

“After Thriller he got a bit weird though, so it wasn’t so good having that name association,” he said.

“He got weird with the changes to his face, but I think that was all a product of his childhood.”

When he heard about MJ’s death, Dr Jackson said it was “a bit of a shock”.

“He was a pretty unique entertainer, so it was a bit sad,” he said.

carly.dolan

@ruralpress .com