And even though he didn’t get the chance to tour before he was gone, he still had a few single performance’s no other in their late 40s could do

You are correct about him being mostly active during 70s, 80s, 90s. But that does not take away that he was still the biggest after 2000. He released «you rock my world»music video which is almost like a short movie

I dont think you know how big Michael Jackson was and still is. Before he died in 2009 he was planning what would be the biggest show ever. And when he died the whole world was in shock. So.. yes MJ still was the most popular artist in 21th century