"My spirit left from me for a minute. It hasn’t returned yet," Keith Strawder, Sr. said.
A Janet Jackson superfan was left stunned and speechless when the queen of pop surprised him as he was singing her praises after the concert.
Jackson embraced Keith Strawder Sr. from behind as he raved about his experience following her Las Vegas concert over the weekend.
“She walked up behind me and whispers her sweet soft voice in my ear and puts her hands on my shoulder,” Strawder of Houston told InsideEdition.com. “And my spirit left from me for a minute. It hasn’t returned yet.”
Strawder explained that he’s been a huge fan of Jackson ever since she started her musical career.
“She is one of my favorites, absolutely,” he said. “We’re close to the same age. I’ve been following her since she was Penny on ‘Good Times’ when we were kids in the '70s, so her whole life, just watching her.”
On Father’s Day, her two sons, Chris and KB Strawder, surprised him with tickets to see Jackson perform in Las Vegas, where she has a residency.
The video they shared on social media of their dad’s heartwarming reaction quickly went viral and even gained the interest of Jackson and her team.
“He said, ‘Hey I’m with Janet’s team. We saw the video. She loved it. Can we set up a meet-and-greet for after the show? Do not tell your dad,’” KB said. “So from Father’s Day up until this past weekend, we had to keep it a big secret. It was very hard. I wanted to tell him the whole time.”
When it came to the big day, Strawder and his sons were pulled aside to do a quick interview about the experience with her camera crew but little did he know, Jackson was right there behind them overhearing the whole thing.
“I knew it was her,” Strawder said. “I knew instantly it was her because I heard the voice and I felt the hands and I felt the hair on the back of my neck and I just didn’t want to immediately turn around and lose it. I had to compose myself.”
He explained the pop star was everything he hoped she would be and more.
“I was telling her how proud I was of her and the thing she has done with her career and with her life and what a great example she is for us in this day and age,” Strawder said. “We’re very appreciative, but that’s just indicative of how sweet a person she is.”
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