Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25,
2009) was an American musician, dancer, and entertainer. Referred
to as the
King of
Pop, he is the most commercially successful and one of the most
influential entertainers of all time. His unique contributions to
music, dance, and fashion, along with a highly publicized personal
life, made him a prominent figure in popular culture for over four
decades.
Alongside his brothers, he made his debut in 1964 as lead singer
and youngest member of
The Jackson 5,
and later began a successful solo career in 1971. His 1982 album
Thriller remains the
best-selling
album of all time, with
Off
the Wall (1979),
Bad
(1987),
Dangerous (1991),
and
HIStory
(1995) also among the world's best selling albums. He is widely
credited with having transformed the
music
video from a promotional tool into an art form. Videos for his
songs "
Billie Jean", "
Beat It" and "
Thriller" made him the first
African American artist to amass a strong
crossover following on
MTV. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson
popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques,
such as the
robot and the
moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound,
vocal style and choreography inspired numerous
pop,
rock,
R&B and
hip
hop artists breaking down cultural, racial, and generational
barriers.
One of the
few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
twice, his other
achievements feature multiple Guinness World Records—including
the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 26 American Music Awards (24 only as a
solo artist, including one for "Artist of the Century")—more than
any artist—, 17 number
one singles in the US (including the four as a member of the
Jackson 5), and estimated sales between 350 million and 750 million
records worldwide making him one of the best selling artists in history.
He was also a notable
philanthropist
and
humanitarian who donated and raised
over 300 million dollars through support of 39 charities and his
own
Heal the World
Foundation.
Jackson's
personal
relationships and life generated controversy for years. His
changing
appearance was noticed from the late 1970s onwards, with
changes to his nose and to the color of his skin drawing media
publicity. He was accused of
child
sexual abuse in 1993 though no charges were brought, and in
2005 he was
tried and acquitted of
further allegations. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in
1996, and brought up three children, one born to a
surrogate mother. While preparing for the
This Is It
concert tour in 2009, Jackson
died at the age of 50 after
suffering from
cardiac arrest. He
reportedly had been administered drugs such as
propofol and
lorazepam,
and his death was ruled a
homicide by the
Los Angeles County coroner. His death triggered an outpouring of
grief from around the world with his globally live broadcast
memorial service
attracting an audience of up to one billion people.
Life and career
Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)

2300 Jackson Street (shown here after
Michael's death) was Michael's birthplace, residing in Gary,
Indiana.
Michael
Jackson was born August 29, 1958 as the eighth of ten children in
Gary,
Indiana
, an industrial suburb of Chicago, to an African
American working-class family. His mother,
Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout
Jehovah's Witness, and his
father,
Joseph Walter "Joe"
Jackson, a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band
called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters:
Rebbie,
La
Toya, and
Janet, and six brothers:
Jackie,
Tito,
Jermaine,
Marlon, Brandon (Marlon's twin
brother, who died shortly after birth) and
Randy.
Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father. He stated that
he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant
rehearsals, whippings, and name-calling, though he credited his
father's discipline for his success.
Michael Jackson's Secret Childhood,
VH1, June 20, 2008. In one altercation recalled by
Marlon, Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled
him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and
buttocks". Joseph would also trip or push his sons into walls. One
night while Michael was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room
through the bedroom window, wearing a fright mask and screaming. He
said he wanted to teach the children not to leave the window open
when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Jackson said he
suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom. Joseph
acknowledged in 2003 that he regularly whipped Jackson as a
child.
Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an
interview with
Oprah Winfrey broadcast
on February 10, 1993. He said that he had often cried from
loneliness and would sometimes vomit when he saw his father. In an
interview with
Martin Bashir, later
included in the 2003 broadcast of
Living with Michael
Jackson, Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him
when he was a child, but was nonetheless a "genius." When Bashir
dismissed the positive remark and continued asking about beatings,
Jackson put his hand over his face and objected to the questions.
He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as
he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the
right way, he would tear you up, really get you".
He showed talent early in his life, performing in front of
classmates during a Christmas recital in kindergarten. In 1964, he
and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers
Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing
congas and
tambourine.
Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing; at the
age of eight, he and Jermaine assumed lead vocals, and the group's
name was changed to
The Jackson 5. The
band toured
the Midwest
extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of
black clubs known as the "
chitlin'
circuit", where they often opened
stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they
won a major local talent show with renditions of
Motown hits and
James
Brown's "
I Got You ",
led by Michael.
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "
Big Boy", for the local record
label
Steeltown in 1967, and
signed with
Motown Records in 1968.
Rolling Stone magazine later
described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming
musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw
and lead singer." The group set a chart record when its first four
singles ("
I Want You Back",
"
ABC", "
The
Love You Save," and "
I'll Be There") peaked at
number one on the
Billboard
Hot 100.
Between 1972 and 1975, Jackson released four solo studio albums
with Motown, among them
Got to Be
There and
Ben,
released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing
successful singles such as "
Got
to Be There", "
Ben", and a remake of
Bobby Day's "
Rockin' Robin". The group's sales began
declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's
strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although
they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5
disco single "
Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit
"
I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left
Motown in 1975.
Move to Epic and Off the Wall (1975–1981)
The Jackson 5 signed a new contract with
CBS Records in June 1975, joining
the Philadelphia International Records division, later
Epic Records, and renaming themselves The
Jacksons. They continued to tour internationally, releasing six
more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Jackson was the
lead songwriter, writing hits such as "
Shake Your Body ",
"
This Place Hotel," and "
Can You Feel It".
In 1978, he starred as the
scarecrow
in the musical,
The Wiz, and
it was here that he teamed up with
Quincy
Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score. Jones agreed
to produce Jackson's next solo album,
Off the Wall. In 1979, Jackson
broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent
rhinoplasty was not a complete success;
he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his
career. He was referred to
Dr. Steven
Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and
subsequent operations.
Jones and Jackson produced the
Off the Wall album
together. At the album's pre-release party, Michael, himself,
stated that
Little Richard had a
"huge influence" on him. Songwriters for the album included
Jackson,
Heatwave's Rod Temperton,
Stevie
Wonder, and
Paul McCartney.
Released in 1979, it was the first album to generate four U.S.
top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "
Don't Stop 'til You Get
Enough" and "
Rock with You". It
reached number three on the
Billboard 200 and eventually sold
over 20 million copies worldwide. In 1980, Jackson won three awards
at the
American Music Awards
for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Male
Soul/R&B Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't
Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won
Billboard Music Awards for
Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best
Male R&B Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get
Enough". Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt
Off the
Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined
to exceed expectations with his next release. In 1980, he secured
the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of
wholesale album profit.
Thriller and Motown 25 (1982–83)
In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the
storybook for the film
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial;
the record won a Grammy for Best Album for Children.
Grammy Award Winners,
National Academy
of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
That same year Jackson issued his second Epic album,
Thriller, which became the most commercially successful
album of all time. The album remained in the top 10 of the
Billboard 200 for
80 consecutive weeks and 37 of those weeks at the peak
position. It was the first album to have seven
Billboard
Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "
Billie Jean", "
Beat It,"
and "
Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'."
Thriller was certified for 29 million
shipments by the
RIAA, giving it
Double
Diamond status in the United States.
It is the best-selling
album of all time in the United States
. It was, and currently remains, the
best-selling album of all
time, with 110 million copies worldwide.Jackson's attorney
John Branca noted that Jackson had the
highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point:
approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making
record-breaking profits from sales of CDs and
The Making of
Michael Jackson's Thriller, a documentary produced by Jackson
and
John Landis. Funded by MTV, the
documentary sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw
the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson,
which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12. Biographer
J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that,
"
Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item — like a
magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie — and started selling like
a household staple."
Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star
of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music
business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer
with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all
boundaries of taste and style and color too".
The New York Times wrote that, "in
the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is
everybody else".
Jackson's popularity would soar further. On March 25, 1983, he
performed live on the
Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today, Forever television special, both with The
Jackson 5 and on his own singing "Billie Jean". Wearing a
distinctive sequined glove, he debuted his signature dance move,
the
moonwalk, which former
Soul Train dancer and
Shalamar member,
Jeffrey
Daniel had taught him 3 years before. His performances during
the event were seen by 47 million viewers, and drew
comparisons to
Elvis Presley's and the
The Beatles' appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show. Anna
Kisselgoff of the
The New York Times said, "The moonwalk
that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How
does he do it? As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a
genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides
while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."
Ian Inglis, author of
Performance and Popular Music: History,
Place and Time (2006) noted Jackson had created a pivotal
turning point in the history of popular music "in that [his
performance] marked the shift of emphasis from musical performance
to visual presentation. In stark contrast to the other, live,
performances of
Motown 25, Jackson performed to a
pre-recorded soundtrack, lip-syncing to his multi-layered
pre-recorded voice, thus indicating that the visual reenactment of
music video imagery had become an integral, and perhaps dominant,
part of live performance." From this performance emerged the origin
of music video as the primary source through which artists promote
popular music.
Pepsi, "We Are the World" and business career (1984–85)
On January
27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi
Cola commercial, overseen by executive Philip Dusenberry, at the Shrine
Auditorium
in Los
Angeles. In front of a full house of fans during a simulated
concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire. He
suffered second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson underwent
treatment to hide the scars on his scalp, and he also had his third
rhinoplasty shortly thereafter. Jackson
never recovered from this injury.
Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson
donated his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical
Center in Culver
City
, California, which now has a "Michael Jackson Burn
Center" in honor of his donation.
On May 14, 1984, Jackson was invited to the White House to receive
an award from President
Ronald Reagan
for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol
and drug abuse. Jackson won eight awards during the Grammys that
year.
Unlike later albums,
Thriller did not have an official
tour to promote it, but the 1984
Victory
Tour, headlined by The Jacksons, showcased much of Jackson's
new solo material to more than two million Americans. He donated
his $5 million share from the Victory Tour to charity. He also
co-wrote the charity single "
We Are the
World" in 1985 with
Lionel Richie,
which was released worldwide to aid the poor in the U.S. and
Africa. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with
nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated
to
famine relief.
In 1985, ATV Music, a music publishing company owning thousands of
music copyrights, including the
Northern
Songs catalogue that contained the majority of the
Lennon/McCartney compositions recorded by
The Beatles, was put up for sale.
Jackson had become interested in owning music catalogs after
working with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s: Jackson had learned
McCartney made approximately $40 million a year from other
people's songs. McCartney's attorney assured Jackson's attorney
that McCartney was not interested in bidding on ATV: McCartney
reportedly said "It's too pricey". However, McCartney later changed
his mind and tried to persuade John Lennon's widow
Yoko Ono to join him in a joint bid. Ono declined,
and McCartney pulled out. Jackson eventually beat the rest of the
competition in negotiations that lasted 10 months, purchasing the
catalog for $47.5 million.
Appearance, tabloids, Bad, autobiography and films
(1986–87)
Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color for the entire
duration of his youth, but starting in the mid 1980s, it gradually
grew paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including
rumors that he was bleaching his skin. According to
J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in
1986, Jackson was diagnosed with
vitiligo
and
lupus; the vitiligo
partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in
remission; both illnesses made him
sensitive to sunlight. (His long-term dermatologist Dr.
Arnold Klein confirmed this on
Larry King Live, after his death.) The
treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin
tone, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out
blotches, he could appear very pale. The structure of his face had
also changed: several surgeons speculated that he had undergone
multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and
cheekbone surgery.
Jackson lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet
and a desire for "a dancer's body". Witnesses reported that he was
often dizzy and speculated that he was suffering from
anorexia nervosa; periods of weight loss
would become a recurring problem later in life. Some medical
professionals have further speculated that he was suffering from
body dysmorphic disorder, a
psychological condition whereby the sufferer dislikes his
appearance and has no concept of how he is viewed by others.
Jackson claimed that he had only two rhinoplasties and no other
surgery on his face, although at one point he mentioned having a
dimple created in his chin.
He became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In 1986,
the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the
aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box. Although
the claim was untrue, Jackson had disseminated the fabricated story
himself. When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called
Bubbles from a laboratory, it was
reported as an example of increasing detachment from reality. It
was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of
Joseph Merrick (the "elephant man") and
although untrue, Jackson did not deny the story. Although initially
he saw these stories as publicity, he stopped leaking untruths to
the press as they became more sensational, so the media began
making up their own stories.
These reports became embedded in the public consciousness,
inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko," which Jackson came to
despise. Responding to the gossip, Jackson remarked to a
reporter:

180px-Michael_Jackson's_"Bad"_Jacket_and_Belt.jpg"
style='width:180px' alt="" />
Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt in
the Bad era
Jackson starred in the
3-D film
Captain EO, directed by
Francis Ford Coppola. It was the most
expensive film produced on a per-minute basis at the time, and was
later hosted in
Disney theme
parks.
Disneyland featured the film in its Tomorrowland area for nearly 11 years, while
Walt Disney
World
screened the film in its EPCOT
theme park
from 1986 to 1994. With the industry expecting another major
hit, Jackson's first album in five years,
Bad (1987), was highly anticipated. It had
lower sales than
Thriller, but was still a substantial
commercial success, spawning seven hit singles in the U.S., five of
which ("
I Just Can't Stop
Loving You", "
Bad",
"
The Way You Make Me Feel",
"
Man in the Mirror" and "
Dirty Diana") reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts, more than any other album.
As of 2008, the album had sold 30 million copies
worldwide.
In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's
Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the
Thriller video. The
Bad World Tour began on September 12
that year, finishing on January 14, 1989. In Japan alone, the tour
had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the
previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.
He broke a
Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven
sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium
. He performed a total of 123 concerts to an
audience of 4.4 million people, and gained a further
Guinness World Record when the tour grossed him
$125 million. During the trip he invited underprivileged
children to watch for free, and gave donations to hospitals,
orphanages, and other charities.
Autobiography, changing appearance and Neverland
(1988–1990)

Jackson performing "The Way You Make
Me Feel."
In 1988, Jackson released his first autobiography,
Moon Walk, which took four years to
complete and sold 200,000 copies. Jackson wrote about his
childhood,
The Jackson 5, and the
abuse he had suffered. He also wrote about his facial appearance,
saying he had had two rhinoplastic surgeries and dimple created in
his chin. He attributed much of the change in the structure of his
face to
puberty, weight loss, a strict
vegetarian diet, a change in hair style,
and stage lighting.
Moon Walk reached the top position on
The New York Times best
sellers' list. The musician then released a film called
Moonwalker, which featured live
footage and music videos that starred Jackson and
Joe Pesci. It debuted atop the
Billboard
Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was
eventually knocked off the top spot by
Michael Jackson: The
Legend Continues.
In March
1988, Jackson purchased land near Santa Ynez
, California to build Neverland Ranch
at a cost of $17 million. He installed
Ferris wheels, a
menagerie, and a
movie
theater on the property. A security staff of 40 patrolled the
grounds. In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.
In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and
concerts was estimated at $125 million for that year alone.
Shortly
afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television
ad in the Soviet
Union
.
His success resulted in him being dubbed the "
King of Pop."The
nickname was popularized by
Elizabeth
Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage
Award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and
soul." President
George H.
W. Bush presented him with The White House's
special "Artist of the Decade." From 1985 to 1990, he donated
$500,000 to the
United Negro
College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in
the Mirror" went to charity. Jackson's live rendition of "You Were
There" at
Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th
birthday celebration received an Emmy nomination.
Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation and Super Bowl
XXVII (1991–93)
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for
$65 million, a record-breaking deal at the time, displacing
Neil Diamond's renewal contract with
Columbia Records. He released his
eighth album
Dangerous in
1991. As of 2008,
Dangerous had shipped seven million
copies in the U.S. and had sold 32 million copies worldwide;
it is the most successful
new jack
swing album of all time. In the United States, the album's
first single "
Black or White" was its
biggest hit, reaching number one on the
Billboard
Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar
chart performances worldwide. The album's second single "
Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in
the top five in the United States, peaking at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 1993, Jackson
performed the song at the
Soul Train
Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in
rehearsals. In the UK and other parts of Europe, "
Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the
album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at
number two in 1992.
Jackson founded the "
Heal the
World Foundation" in 1992. The charity organization brought
underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park
rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also
sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children
threatened by war, poverty, and disease. The
Dangerous World Tour began on June 27,
1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to
3.5 million people in 67 concerts. All profits from the
concerts went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions
of dollars in relief. He sold the broadcast rights to his
Dangerous world tour to
HBO for
$20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.
Following the illness and death of
Ryan
White, Jackson helped draw public attention to
HIV/
AIDS, something that was still
controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the
Clinton Administration at
Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give
more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.
In a
high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries,
among them Gabon
and Egypt
. His
first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable and enthusiastic
reception of more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs
that read, "Welcome Home Michael."
In his trip to Côte
d'Ivoire
, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal
chief. He then thanked the dignitaries in French and
English, signed official documents formalizing his kingship and sat
on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.
One of Jackson's most acclaimed performances came during the
halftime show at
Super Bowl XXVII.
As the performances began, Jackson was catapulted onto the stage as
fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvas, he
maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance",
dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he
remained completely motionless for several minutes while the crowd
cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and
began to sing and dance. His routine included four songs: "
Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White" and "Heal
the World". It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures
increased during the half-time show, and was viewed by
135 million Americans alone; Jackson's
Dangerous
album rose 90 places up the album chart.
Jackson was given the "Living Legend Award" at the
35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los
Angeles. "Black or White" was Grammy nominated for best vocal
performance. "Jam" gained two nominations: Best R&B Vocal
Performance and Best R&B Song.
First child sexual abuse allegations (1993)
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to
Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his second
television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his
childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had
missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often
cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought
the bones of
the Elephant Man,
slept in a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or
bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he had
vitiligo. The interview was watched by an American
audience of 90 million, becoming the fourth most-viewed
non-sport program in U.S. history. It also increased awareness of
vitiligo, a relatively unknown condition.
Dangerous
re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after
its original release.

Once labeled a "Truth Serum", sodium
amytal is now considered a mind-altering sedative.
In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of
child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy
named Jordan Chandler and his father, Evan Chandler, a dentist. A
year after Jackson met the boy, Evan administered
sodium amytal to Jordan, a controversial
sedative. Jordan told his father that
Jackson had touched his penis. Jackson initially refused to pay the
Chandlers, but due to deteriorating health he could not endure a
long trial '
like O.J.'.
Evan Chandler and Jackson engaged in unsuccessful negotiations to
reach a financial settlement. The negotiations were initiated by
Chandler but Jackson did make several counter offers. Jordan told a
psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in
acts of kissing,
masturbation and
oral sex, as well as giving a detailed
description of what he alleged were the singer's genitals.
The father was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue
charges, where he said, "If I go through with this, I win big-time.
There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will
be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over". In the
same conversation, when asked how this would affect his son,
Chandler replied, "That's irrelevant to me...It will be a massacre
if I don't get what I want. It's going to be bigger than all us put
together...This man [Jackson] is going to be humiliated beyond
belief...He will not sell one more record". The recorded
conversation was a critical aspect of Jackson's defense against the
upcoming allegation made against him. He and his supporters argue
that he was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to
extort money from the singer.
An official investigation began, with Jordan's mother adamant that
there was no wrongdoing on Jackson's part. Neverland Ranch was
searched; and multiple children and family members denied that
Jackson was a
pedophile, though his image
took a further hit when his older sister,
La Toya, accused him of being a pedophile, a
statement she later retracted. Jackson agreed to a 25-minute
strip search, conducted by police and
doctors at his ranch, required to see if a description provided by
Jordan of Jackson's genitals was accurate. Doctors concluded there
were strong similarities, but it was not a definitive match. His
friends said he never recovered from the humiliation. He described
the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his
innocence.
The tabloids painted him in an extremely unfavorable light.
Complaints about them included bias against Jackson, paying for
stories about alleged criminal activity, and buying leaked
confidential material from the police investigation. On January 1,
1994, Jackson's insurance company settled with the Chandlers out of
court for $22 million, after which Jordan stopped co-operating
regarding criminal proceedings. Jackson was never charged, and the
state closed its criminal investigation, citing lack of
evidence.
First marriage (1994)
In May 1994, Jackson married singer-songwriter
Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of
Elvis Presley.
They had first met in
1975, during one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand
Hotel and Casino
, and were reconnected through a mutual friend in
early 1993. They stayed in contact every day over the
telephone. As the child molestation accusations became public,
Jackson became dependent on Presley for emotional support; she was
concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.
Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that
he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted
to save him. I felt that I could do it." In a phone call he made to
her, she described him as high, incoherent and delusional. Shortly
afterwards, she persuaded him to settle the allegations out of
court and go into rehabilitation to recover. Jackson proposed to
Presley over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I
asked you to marry me, would you do it?"
They married in the
Dominican
Republic
in secrecy, denying it for nearly two months
afterwards. The marriage was, in her words, "a married
couple's life ... that was sexually active". At the time, the
tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up
Jackson's public image. Jackson and Presley divorced less than two
years later, remaining friendly.
HIStory (1995–97)
In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's
publishing division creating
Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson
retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million
upfront as well as
the rights to even
more songs. He then released the
double
album HIStory: Past, Present
and Future, Book I. The first disc,
HIStory
Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later
reissued as
Greatest Hits – HIStory Vol. I
in 2001, while the second disc,
HIStory Continues,
contained 15 new songs. The album debuted at number one on the
charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in
the US. It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time,
with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.
HIStory received a Grammy nomination for best album.

One of many identical statues,
positioned throughout Europe to promote
HIStory.
The statue illustrates the singer's flamboyant clothing and
hair style, influenced by military imagery.
The first single released from the album was the
double A-side "
Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet,
performed with Jackson's youngest sister
Janet. The single had the highest debut on the
Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a
Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".
"
You Are Not Alone" was the second
single released from
HIStory; it holds the
Guinness
World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on
the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was seen as a
major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy
nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance". In late 1995, Jackson
was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a
televised performance; the incident was caused by a stress related
panic attack. "
Earth Song" was the third single released from
HIStory, and topped the UK singles chart for six weeks
over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's
most successful single in the UK. The
HIStory World Tour began on September 7,
1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82
concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans. The show,
which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's
most successful in terms of audience figures.
Second marriage and fatherhood (1996–99)
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson
married
dermatology nurse
Deborah Jeanne Rowe on November 14, 1996 in an
impromptu ceremony close to his Sydney hotel room. She gave birth
to Michael's first two children: a son named Michael Joseph Jr
(commonly known as Prince), and a daughter, Paris-Michael
Katherine. Rowe and Jackson first met in the mid-1980s, when
Jackson was diagnosed with
vitiligo. She
spent many years treating his illness as well as providing
emotional support. They built a strong friendship, then became
romantically involved. Originally, there were no plans to marry,
but following Rowe's first pregnancy, Jackson's mother intervened
and persuaded them to do so. The couple divorced in 1999 but
remained friends, and Rowe gave full custody of the children to
Jackson.
In 1997, Jackson released
Blood on the Dance
Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit
singles from
HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales
stand at 6 million copies as of 2007, making it the
best selling remix
album ever released. It reached number one in the UK, as did
the
title track. In
the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number
24. Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and
$20 million in 1997.
Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of
charitable events. He joined
Luciano
Pavarotti for a
benefit concert
in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the
non-profit organization War Child, and raised a million dollars
for the
refugees of
Kosovo, as well as additional funds for the children of
Guatemala. Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael
Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other
artists involved included
Slash,
The Scorpions,
Boyz II Men,
Luther
Vandross,
Mariah Carey,
A. R. Rahman,
Prabhu Deva
Sundaram,
Shobana
Chandrakumar,
Andrea Bocelli and
Luciano Pavarotti.
The proceeds went to the "Nelson Mandela
Children's Fund", the Red Cross
and UNESCO
.
Label dispute, Invincible and third child
(2000–03)
In October 2001, Jackson released
Invincible. This was
his first full-length album in six years, and it turned out to be
the last album of new material he released while still alive. The
release of the album was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and
his record label,
Sony Music
Entertainment.
Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to
revert to him sometime in the early 2000s. Once he had the
licenses, he would be able to promote the material however he
pleased and he would also be able to keep all the profits. However,
due to various clauses in the contract, the revert date turned out
to be many years away. Jackson discovered that the attorney who
represented him in the deal was also representing Sony, creating a
conflict of interest. Jackson
was also concerned about another conflict of interest. For a number
of years, Sony had been pushing to buy all of Jackson's share in
their music catalog venture. Jackson feared that Sony might have
something to gain from Jackson's career failing, since if his
career did fail he would have to sell his share of the
catalog.
These conflicts were utilized by the entertainer to leverage an
early exit to his contract. Just before the release of
Invincible, Jackson
informed the head of Sony Music Entertainment,
Tommy Mottola, that he was leaving Sony. As a
result, all singles releases, video shootings and promotions
concerning the
Invincible album were canceled.
In spite of the uproar preceding its release,
Invincible
came out in October 2001 to much anticipation. Just before the
album's release, a special
30th Anniversary
celebration at Madison Square Garden occurred in September 2001
to mark the singer's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared
onstage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984. The
show also featured performances by
Mýa,
Usher,
Whitney Houston,
'N
Sync,
Destiny's Child,
Monica,
Luther Vandross, and Slash, among other
artists.
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks,
Jackson helped organize the United We Stand: What More
Can I Give benefit concert at
RFK Stadium
in Washington, D.C.
The concert was aired on October 21, 2001,
and included performances from dozens of major artists, including
Jackson, who performed his song "
What More Can I Give" as the
finale.
Invincible proved to be a hit, debuting atop the charts in
13 countries and going on to sell approximately 13 million
copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in the
US. However, the sales for
Invincible were lower than
those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion,
no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came
out at a bad time for the music industry in general. The album cost
$30 million to record, not including promotional
expenditures.
Invincible spawned three singles, "
You Rock My World", "
Cry" and "
Butterflies", the latter
without a music video.
Jackson alleged in July 2002 that Mottola was a "
devil" and a "racist" who did not support his
African-American artists, using them merely for his own personal
gain. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague
Irv Gotti a "fat
nigger".
Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $25
million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to
tour in the United States.
Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed
"Blanket") was born in 2002. The mother's identity is unknown, but
Jackson has said the child was the result of
artificial insemination from a
surrogate mother and his own
sperm cells.
In November of that year, Jackson brought
his newborn son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon
in Berlin, as fans stood below, holding him in his
right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face.
The baby was briefly extended over a railing, four stories above
ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson
later apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake".
Sony released a compilation of Jackson's
hits on
CD and
DVD. In the US, the
album was certified platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was
certified for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.
Second child sexual abuse allegations (2003–05)
In a series of interviews with
Martin
Bashir, broadcast in 2003, as
Living with Michael
Jackson, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing
sleeping arrangements with
Gavin
Arvizo, 13, who later accused him of
sexual abuse. Shortly after the
documentary aired, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child
molestation and two counts of
administering an
intoxicating agent in relation to Arvizo. Jackson denied the
allegations, saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature.
During the two years between the charges and the trial, Jackson
reportedly became dependent on
pethidine
(Demerol), and lost a lot of weight. The
People v. Jackson began on January 31, 2005, in
Santa
Maria
, California, and lasted five months, until the end
of May. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all
counts.
After the trial, he relocated to the
Persian
Gulf
island of Bahrain
, as a guest of Sheikh
Abdullah. A
media circus
surrounded the event.
Final years (2006–09)
Reports of financial problems for Jackson became frequent in 2006,
after the closure of the main house on the Neverland Ranch as a
cost-cutting measure. One prominent financial issue concerned a
$270 million loan secured against his music publishing
holdings. After delayed repayments on the loan, a refinancing
package shifted the loans from
Bank of
America to debt specialists
Fortress Investments. A new
package proposed by Sony would have had Jackson borrow an
additional $300 million and reduce the interest rate payable
on the loan, while giving Sony the future option to buy half of
Jackson's stake in their jointly owned publishing company (leaving
Jackson with a 25% stake). Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed
refinancing deal, although details were not made public. Despite
these loans, according to Forbes, Jackson was still making as much
as $75 million a year from his publishing partnership with Sony
alone.
Jackson was awarded the
Diamond
Award on November 15, 2006, for selling over 100 million
albums, at the
World Music
Awards. Following the death of
James
Brown, Jackson returned to the U.S. to pay tribute during
Brown's public funeral on December 30, 2006. In late 2006, he
agreed to share joint custody of his first two children with
ex-wife Debbie Rowe. Jackson and Sony bought
Famous Music LLC from
Viacom in 2007. This deal gave him the rights to
songs by
Eminem,
Shakira and
Beck, among
others.
The 25th anniversary of
Thriller was marked by the release of
Thriller 25, recorded in
Ireland, it featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time"
and re-mixes. Two remixes were released as singles to moderate
success: "
The Girl
Is Mine 2008" and "
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2008".
Thriller 25 sold well as a re-issue, peaking at
number one in eight countries and Europe. In 12 weeks
Thriller
25 sold over three million copies worldwide. To celebrate
Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of
compilation albums called
King
of Pop.
King of Pop did reach the top 10 in most
countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in
other countries.
Fortress
Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch
, which Jackson used as collateral for loans running
into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress
opted to sell Jackson's debts to
Colony
Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's
title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, which was a
joint venture between Jackson and Colony
Capital LLC. This deal cleared Jackson's debt, and he reportedly
even gained an extra $35 million from the venture. At the time of
his death, Jackson still owned a stake in Neverland/Sycamore
Valley, but it is unknown how large that stake was.
In September 2008, financial concerns prompted Jackson to enter
negotiations with
Julien's Auction
House to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia
amounting to approximately 1390 lots. The auction was scheduled to
take place between April 22 and April 25. Though an exhibition of
the lots opened on 9900 Wilshire Blvd between April 14 and 25, the
auction was eventually cancelled at Jackson's request.
In March
2009, Jackson announced in a press conference at London's O2 arena
that he would perform there in major comeback
concerts titled This Is It. The
shows were to be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the
HIStory World Tour finished in 1997, and had been cited as one of
the year's most important musical events with over one million
people attending in total. Jackson suggested possible retirement
after the shows; in his own words it would be his "final curtain
call". Although initially a 10 date concert, it was increased to 50
dates after record breaking ticket sales. Jackson rehearsed in Los
Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of
choreographer/director
Kenny Ortega.
The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009 and finished on
March 6, 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due
to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson
died of a cardiac arrest.
AEG Live, the concert promoters, released a
promotional video that took up an entire commercial break, setting
a record for ITV. According to Jackson's website, ticket sales for
the concerts broke several records. Randy Phillips, president and
chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone
would have earned the singer approximately £50 million.
Columbia Pictures made a feature
documentary
concert-film from the rehearsal
and pre-recorded footage. The contract for the film stipulated that
a cut of the film must be screened for Jackson's estate, which
stands to receive 90 percent of the profits. A final cut was done
on October 28, 2009, for a limited 2 week run in theatres
worldwide.
A new single titled "
This Is It" was released
on October 12, 2009, with a new album of the same name,
This Is
It which was released worldwide on October 26, 2009, and
in North America on October 27, 2009, the day before the
Michael Jackson's This
Is It documentary film, which became the highest grossing
documentary ever (more than $226 million worldwide). Two versions
of the new song appear on the second "This Is It" album's first
disc, which also features original masters of Michael Jackson's
hits in the order in which they appear in the movie. The album's
second disc features previously unreleased versions of more Jackson
hits, as well as a previously unheard spoken word poem entitled
"Planet Earth."
Death and memorial
.jpg/200px-Michael_Jackson_Star_on_Hollywood_Blvd_(cropped).jpg)
Jackson's fans paid tribute to him at
his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, shortly after the
announcement of his death.
On June
25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion at 100 North
Carolwood Drive in the Holmby
Hills
district of Los Angeles. Attempts at
resuscitating him by his
personal
physician were unsuccessful.
Los Angeles Fire Department
paramedics received a
911 call at
12:22 p.m. (
PDT), arriving
three minutes later at Jackson's location. He was reportedly not
breathing and
CPR was
performed.
Resuscitation efforts continued en route to
the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical
Center
, and for an hour after arriving there at
1:13 p.m. (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at
2:26 p.m. local time (21:26 UTC).
The
memorial was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center
in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family
service at Forest
Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Jackson's casket
was present during the memorial but no information was released
about the final disposition of the body. While some unofficial
reports claimed a worldwide audience as high as one billion people
the U.S. audience was estimated by Nielsen to be 31.1 million, an
amount comparable to the estimated 35.1 million that watched the
2004 burial of President Ronald Reagan, and the estimated 33.1
million Americans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess
Diana.
Stevie Wonder,
Lionel Richie,
Mariah
Carey,
John Mayer,
Jennifer Hudson,
Usher,
Jermaine Jackson, and
Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the
event.
Berry Gordy and
Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while
Queen Latifah read, "We had him," a
poem written for the occasion by
Maya
Angelou. The Reverend
Al Sharpton
received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's
children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your Daddy. It was strange
what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."
Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, cried as she told
the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father
you could ever imagine ... I just wanted to say I love him ... so
much."
On August 24, multiple news outlets quoted anonymous sources as
stating that the Los Angeles coroner had decided to treat Jackson's
death as a homicide; this was later confirmed by the coroner on
August 28. At the time of death, Jackson had been administered
propofol,
lorazepam and
midazolam.Law enforcement officials are currently
conducting a manslaughter investigation of his personal physician,
Conrad Murray.
Jackson was buried on September 3, 2009, at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park
in Glendale, California
.
Artistry
Influences
Jackson's music genre takes roots in
R&B,
Motown's
music,
pop and
soul. He had been influenced by the work of
contemporary musicians such as
Little
Richard,
James Brown,
Jackie Wilson,
Diana
Ross,
David Ruffin,
Gene Kelly,
Fred
Astaire,
Sammy Davis, Jr. and
the
Bee Gees. He was also an admirer of
performers from the English
music hall
tradition, such as
Benny Hill and
Charlie Chaplin.
While Little Richard had a huge influence on Jackson, James Brown
was for him, since early childhood, his greatest inspiration: "the
master" or "a genius" especially when he was playing with his
group,
the Famous Flames,
describing his performance as "phenomenal". He declared: "Ever
since I was a small child, no more than like six years old, my
mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping,
no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the
master at work. And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I had
never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right then and
there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of
my life because of James Brown."
At first, the young Michael Jackson owed his vocal technique in
large part to
Diana Ross. In October
1969, it was decided that Michael would live with Diana Ross. Not
only a mother figure to him, he often observed her in rehearsal as
an accomplished performer. He later confessed: "I got to know her
well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit in the corner and
watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way
she moved, the way she sang - just the way she was." He told her:
'I want to be just like you, Diana'. She said: 'You just be
yourself.'" But Michael especially owed his
oooh's to
Diana Ross. At first, Michael almost always punctuated his verses
with a sudden interjection of
oooh. Diana Ross used this
effect on many of the songs recorded with the
The Supremes, and young Michael was delighted
to take ownership.
Musical themes and genres
Steve Huey of
Allmusic said that,
throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to
experiment with various themes and genres. As a musician, he ranged
from
Motown's dance fare and ballads
to
techno and
house-edged
new jack
swing to work that incorporates both
funk
rhythms and
hard rock guitar.
Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper.
Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder; when recording he
would sing from memory. Several critics observed
Off the
Wall was crafted from funk, disco-pop,
soul,
soft rock,
jazz and
pop ballads.
Prominent examples include the ballad "
She's Out of My Life", and the two
disco tunes "Workin' Day and Night" and "Get on the Floor".
According to Huey,
Thriller refined the strengths of
Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more
aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more
soulful. Notable tracks included the ballads "The Lady in My Life",
"Human Nature" and "
The Girl Is
Mine"; the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'";
and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "
P.Y.T. ". With
Thriller,
Christopher Connelly of
Rolling Stone commented that
Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of
paranoia and darker imagery. Allmusic's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be
Startin' Somethin'". In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an
obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers. In
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the
media. The anti-gang violence rock song "Beat It" became a homage
to
West Side Story, and was
Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to
Huey. He also observed that the title track "
Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the
theme of the
supernatural, a topic he
revisited in subsequent years. In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the
charity anthem "
We Are the World";
humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics
and public persona.
In
Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover can be
seen on the rock song "
Dirty Diana". The
lead single "
I Just Can't
Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "
Man in the Mirror" is an anthemic ballad
of confession and resolution. "
Smooth
Criminal" was an evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely
murder. Allmusic's
Stephen
Thomas Erlewine states that
Dangerous presents Jackson
as a stark paradoxical individual. He comments the album is more
diverse than his previous
Bad, as it appeals to an urban
audience while also attracting the middle class with anthems like
"
Heal the World". The first half of
the record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like
"
Jam" and "
Remember the Time". The album is Jackson's
first where social ills become a primary theme; "Why You Wanna Trip
on Me", for example, protests against world hunger,
AIDS, homelessness and drugs.
Dangerous
contains sexually charged efforts like "
In
the Closet", a love song about desire and denial, risk and
repression, solitude and connection, privacy and revelation. The
title track continues the theme of the predatory lover and
compulsive desire. The second half includes introspective,
pop-gospel anthems such as "
Will You
Be There", "Heal the World" and "Keep the Faith"; these songs
show Jackson finally opening up about various personal struggles
and worries. In the ballad "
Gone Too
Soon", Jackson gives tribute to his friend
Ryan White and the plight of those with
AIDS.
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia. Its content
focuses on the hardships and public struggles Jackson went through
just prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk-rock
efforts "
Scream" and "Tabloid
Junkie", along with the R&B ballad "
You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates
against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs much of
his anger at the media. In the introspective ballad "
Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments over
his "fall from grace", while songs like "
Earth Song", "
Childhood", "Little Susie" and "Smile" are
all operatic pop pieces. In the track "
D.S.", Jackson launched a verbal attack against
Tom Sneddon. He describes Sneddon as an
antisocial, white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or
alive". Of the song, Sneddon said, "I have not — shall we
say — done him the honor of listening to it, but I’ve been
told that it ends with the sound of a gunshot".
Invincible
found Jackson working heavily with producer Rodney Jerkins. It is a
record made up of urban soul like "
Cry" and "The Lost Children",
ballads such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn" and "
Butterflies" and mixes
hip hop, pop and
rap in "2000 Watts", "Heartbreaker" and
"Invincible".
Vocal style
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal
style changed noticeably. Between 1971 and 1975, Jackson's voice
descended from boy soprano to high tenor. Jackson first used a
technique called the "vocal hiccup" in 1973, starting with the song
"It's Too Late to Change the Time" from
the Jackson 5's
G.I.T.: Get It Together album.
Jackson did not use the hiccup technique— somewhat like a gulping
for air or gasping— fully until the recording of
Off the Wall: it can be seen in
full force in the "
Shake Your Body "
promotional video.
With the arrival of
Off the Wall in the late 1970s,
Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded. At the time,
Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless,
dreamy stutter" of
Stevie Wonder.
Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is
extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling
falsetto that's used very daringly". 1982
saw the release of
Thriller, and
Rolling Stone
was of the opinion that Jackson was then singing in a "fully adult
voice" that was "tinged by sadness".
Gritty lead vocals on the verse were displayed by the release of
"Bad" in 1987 and lighter tones employed on the chorus. A
distinctive deliberate mispronunciation of "come on", used
frequently by Jackson, occasionally spelt "cha'mone" or "shamone",
is also a staple in impressions and caricatures of him. The turn of
the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album
Dangerous.
The New York Times noted that on some
tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or
drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and
he had a "wretched tone". When singing of brotherhood or
self-esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals.
When commenting on
Invincible,
Rolling Stone were
of the opinion that—at the age of 43—Jackson still performed
"exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies".
Nelson George summed up Jackson's vocals by stating "The grace, the
aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the falsetto, the
smoothness—that combination of elements mark him as a major
vocalist".
Music videos and choreography
Referred to as the King of Music Videos, Steve Huey of Allmusic
observed how Jackson transformed the
music
video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex
story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo
appearances; simultaneously breaking down racial barriers.
According to director
Vincent
Paterson, who collaborated with the singer on several music
videos, Jackson conceptualized many of the darker, bleak themes in
his filmography.
Before
Thriller, Jackson struggled to receive coverage on
MTV, allegedly because he was African American. Pressure from CBS
Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later
"Beat It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, also
helping other black music artists gain recognition. MTV employees
deny any racism in their coverage, or pressure to change their
stance. MTV maintains that they played rock music, regardless of
race. The popularity of his videos on
MTV helped
to put the relatively young channel "on the map"; MTV's focus
shifted in favor of pop and R&B. His performance on
Motown
25: Yesterday, Today, Forever changed the scope of live stage
show; "That Jackson lip-synced 'Billie Jean' is, in itself, not
extraordinary, but the fact that it did not change the impact of
the performance is extraordinary; whether the performance was live
or lip-synced made no difference to the audience" thus creating an
era in which artists re-create the spectacle of music video imagery
on stage. Short films like
Thriller largely remained
unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has
frequently been imitated. The choreography in
Thriller has
become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from
Indian films to
prisons in the Philippines. The
Thriller short film marked an increase in scale for music
videos, and has been named the most successful music video ever by
the
Guinness World Records.
In the 19-minute music video for "
Bad"—directed by
Martin Scorsese—Jackson began using sexual
imagery and choreography not previously seen in his work. He
occasionally grabbed or touched his chest, torso and crotch. While
he has described this as "choreography," it garnered a mixed
reception from both fans and critics;
Time magazine
described it as "infamous". The video also featured
Wesley Snipes; in the future Jackson's videos
would often feature famous cameo roles. For "
Smooth Criminal", Jackson experimented with
an innovative "anti-gravity lean" in his performances, for which he
was granted U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452. Although the music video for
"
Leave Me Alone" was not officially
released in the US, in 1989, it was nominated for four
Billboard Music Video Awards, winning three; the same year
it won a Golden Lion Award for the quality of the special effects
used in its production. In 1990, "Leave Me Alone" won a Grammy for
Best Music
Video, Short Form.
The
MTV Video Vanguard Artist
of the Decade Award was given to Jackson to celebrate his
accomplishments in the art form in the 1980s; the following year
the award was renamed in his honor. "
Black or White" was accompanied by a
controversial music video, which, on November 14, 1991,
simultaneously premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience
of 500 million people, the largest viewing ever for a music
video. It featured scenes construed as having a sexual nature as
well as depictions of violence. The offending scenes in the final
half of the 14-minute version were edited out to prevent the video
from being banned, and Jackson apologized.Michael Jackson
Dangerous on Film VHS/DVD Along with Jackson, it featured
Macaulay Culkin,
Peggy Lipton and
George
Wendt. It helped usher in
morphing as
an important technology in music videos.

Jackson and sister Janet angrily
retaliate against the media for misrepresenting them to the
public.
The acclaimed video for "Scream" was shot primarily in black
and white, and at a cost of $7 million.
"
Remember the Time" was an
elaborate production, and became one of his longest videos at over
nine minutes. Set in
ancient Egypt, it
featured groundbreaking
visual
effects and appearances by
Eddie
Murphy,
Iman and
Magic Johnson, along with a distinct complex
dance routine. The video for "
In the
Closet" was Jackson's most sexually provocative piece. It
featured supermodel
Naomi Campbell in
a courtship dance with Jackson. The video was banned in South
Africa because of its imagery.
The music video for "
Scream",
directed by
Mark Romanek and production
designer Tom Foden, is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed.
In 1995, it gained 11
MTV Video
Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won
"Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction".
The song and its accompanying video are a response to the backlash
Jackson received from the media after being accused of child
molestation in 1993. A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music
Video, Short Form; shortly afterwards
Guinness World
Records listed it as the
most expensive music video
ever made at a cost of $7 million.
"
Earth Song" was accompanied by an
expensive and well-received music video that gained a Grammy
nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The video had
an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty,
deforestation, pollution and war. Using special effects, time is
reversed so that life returns, wars ends, and the forests
re-grow.Michael Jackson
HIStory on Film volume II VHS/DVD
Released
in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival
, Ghosts was a short film
written by Jackson and Stephen King and
directed by Stan Winston. The
video for
Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds
the
Guinness World Record as the world's longest music
video.
Fashion
Phillip Bloch said "Michael Jackson was not influenced by fashion,
fashion was influenced by him." From early on Jackson was described
as a person with an utterly unique sense of style wearing fringed
shirts, platform heels, and wide bell-bottom pants with a “Huggy
Bear” inspired hat to top off his look. During
Off The Wall he would update he's style wearing
tuxedo jackets, pegged pants, thick white socks with black shiny
loafers, instantly giving a classic look, new flair, and
originality bringing in the start of his iconoclastic style. During
the thriller era Jackson would become a fashion icon bring about
the popularity of items which he wore in he's music videos, award
ceremony appearances, and stage performances such as his
Beat It red jacket, aviatar sunglasses, military
jackets, his jheri curls, high pants with white glittering socks,
the
Billie Jean black jacket, his black
fedora hat, and most famously he's glittering white glove which he
wore on the Motown 25 special.
Throughout the late 80's and and mid early 90's Jackson began to
wear iconic military-influenced outfits in gold and his trademark
armbands. He performed in these outfits during the Dangerous tour
and during the HIStory Tour where he wore a more futuristic gold
military space outfit. Towards the mid and late 90's Jackson
embraced his softer look wearing mostly lightweight flowy shirts
and a few occasion even barechested. Though he still sometimes wore
is military inspired outfits. During he's trials he would be seen
wearing surgical masks and umbrellas and in 2005 child abuse trial,
jackson was criticize by the media and legal analyist for not
wearing regular suits feeling he's outfits were'nt proper for
court. Mary Fulginiti Jenow, a former federal prosecutor who is now
a criminal defense lawyer described Jackson as looking ready to
"break out into the moonwalk." Jackson's creative sense of style
has also made a huge impact as well on the younger generation. He
has been described as having innovative style that impacted the
trendsetters of today who mimmick his fashion like
Usher,
Chris Brown,
Beyonce,
Rihanna,
Kanye West, and many others. He's style
for two decades has still inspires the fashion forward. On November
24 2009, his trademark white glove auctioned off for $350,000, plus
tax, to a Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong, a chinese buisness man.
Legacy and influence
Jackson transformed the art of the music video and paved the way
for modern pop music in his own country. Jackson's work,
distinctive musical sound and vocal style have influenced scores of
hip hop,
rock,
pop and
R&B artists, including
Beyonce,
Mariah Carey,
Usher,
Chris Brown,
Britney Spears,
Madonna,
Justin Timberlake,
Ludacris,
50 Cent,
The Game,
Fall Out
Boy,
Green Day,
Miley Cyrus,
John
Mayer,
Lenny Kravitz, and
R. Kelly. For much of his
career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over
the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian
contributions. Jackson's music and videos, such as
Thriller, helped
break down racial barriers
when first shown on
MTV, putting the relatively
new channel on the map, changing its focus from
rock to
pop music and
R&B, and therefore shaping it to what it
is today. Jackson remained a staple on MTV through the '90s.
Brazilian journalist Sergio Martins, in his article about the
artist and his death in
Veja magazine, wrote that after
Jackson's work being a versatile
dancer
became a must for subsequent male stars of
pop
music. Michael Jackson, along with his musical style and videos
have gone onto become pop culture phenomenons.
Michael
Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame
in 1984. Throughout his career he received
numerous honors and awards, including the
World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male
Artist of the Millennium, the
American Music Award's Artist of the
Century Award and the
Bambi Pop Artist
of the Millennium Award. He was a double-inductee of the
Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997
and later as a solo artist in 2001. Jackson was also an inductee of
the
Songwriters Hall of
Fame in 2002. His awards include multiple
Guinness World Records (eight in
2006 alone), 13
Grammy Awards, 26
American Music Awards (24 only
as a solo artist, including one for "artist of the century")—more
than any artist—, 13
number
one singles in the US in his solo career—more than any other
male artist in the Hot 100 era—and estimated sales between 350 and
750 million records worldwide, making him the
world's best selling male
solo pop artist.
He was characterized as "an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of
all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an
instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning
musical versatility and loads of sheer star power". In the
mid-1980s,
Time noted "Jackson is the biggest thing since
The Beatles. He is the hottest single
phenomenon since
Elvis Presley. He
just may be the most popular black singer ever". By 1990,
Vanity Fair had
already cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of
show business.
Daily
Telegraph writer
Tom Utley called
him an "extremely important figure in the history of popular
culture" and a "genius". In late 2007, Jackson said the following
of his work and future influence, "Music has been my outlet, my
gift to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I
know I will live forever."
His total lifetime earnings from
royalties
on his solo recordings and music videos, revenue from concerts and
endorsements have been estimated at $500 million; some
analysts have speculated that his music catalog holdings could be
worth billions of dollars. This speculation however is contradicted
by financial documents obtained by the Associated Press, which
showed that as of March 31, 2007, Jackson's 50 percent stake in the
Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog (his most prized asset) was worth
$390.6 million and Michael Jackson’s net worth was $236 million. As
one of the world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized
personal life, coupled with his
successful
career, made him a part of
popular
culture for the last four decades.
Shortly after his death on June 25, 2009, MTV briefly returned to
its original music video format to celebrate and pay tribute to his
work. The channel aired many hours of Jackson's music videos,
accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV
personalities and other celebrities. The temporary shift in MTV's
programming culminated the following week with the channel's live
coverage of Jackson's memorial service. At the memorial service on
July 7, 2009, founder of
Motown
Records Berry Gordy proclaimed Jackson as "the greatest
entertainer that ever lived." In November 2009 some of Michael
Jackson's memorabilia was auctioned in New York, including the
Rhinstone Glove used during his first moonwalk performance, which
sold for $350,000 at nine times its expected price. Among other
items were a 1989 "Bad" tour jacket which sold for $225,000 and a
fedora hat which sold for $22,000
Discography
Filmography
Tours
See also
References
Further reading
Further reading
External links