admin
article, I will only dwell on the salient points of his musical activities.
The King of Pop, Michael Joseph Jackson (1958-2009), was one of the world’s most talented music stars who dominated all the continents of the universe with his pop music.
The history of Michael Joseph Jackson began when he was born on August 29 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh of nine children (brothers: Sigmund “Jackie’” Toriano “Tito”, Jermaine, Marlon, Steven “Randy”; and sisters: Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya Jackson).
Michael began his musical career at the age of five as the lead singer of the Jackson 5; a family band formed in 1964 by their father, Joseph Jackson. In these early years the Jackson 5, Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and lead singer Michael played in local clubs and bars in Gary, Indiana.
However, they began moving farther afield as their talents grew and could compete in bigger competitions.
From those early days Michael would be at the same clubs as contemporary talented big stars such as Jackie Wilson and would be learning from them even back then.
In 1968 Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers discovered the Jackson 5 and from there they got an audition for Berry Gordy Jnr of Motown Records.
The Jackson 5 signed for Motown and moved to California. Their first four singles, “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” all made US No. 1 hits.
The Jackson 5 recorded 14 albums and Michael recorded four solo albums with Motown.
The Jackson 5 stayed with Motown until 1976. Wanting more artistic freedom they felt they had to move on and signed up with Epic.
The group name Jackson 5 had to be changed as it was owned by Motown, so they reverted to The Jacksons as they had been known in the early days.
Brother Jermaine married Berry Gordy’s daughter and stayed with Motown. Youngest brother Randy joined in his place. The Jacksons had a number of hit records and in total made six albums between the years of 1976 and 1984.
In 1977 Michael made his first film debut when he starred in the musical “The Wizard of Oz” playing Scarecrow with Diana Ross in the lead role of Dorothy. It was at this time Michael met Quincy Jones who was doing the score for the film.
Michael teamed up with Quincy Jones as his producer for his first solo album with Epic Records.
The album titled “Off The Wall” was a big success around the world and the first ever album to release a record breaking four No. 1 singles in the US.
In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world’s largest selling album of all time, “Thriller”.
This album produced seven hit singles, one of which was in collaboration with Paul MacCartney of the Beatles fame, breaking yet again more records, and went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide.
Michael was keen to use music video or short films as he called them to promote his singles from the album.
He worked with the best directors and producers, using the latest technology and special effects for the hit song “Billie Jean”.
The short film “Thriller” used the latest make-up artists technology combined with fantastic dancing and choreography to produce a 14-minute video, with a start, a middle and an ending.
So successful was this video that “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” documentary became the world’s largest selling home video combined with soaring album sales.
In 1983 Michael performed the now legendary moonwalk dance for the first time on the Motown 25 Years Anniversary show.
This performance alone set Michael undoubtedly into the realm of a superstar.
In 1984 Michael won a record breaking eight Grammy awards in one night.
The awards were for his work on the “Thriller” album and his work on the narrative for the “ET Storybook”.
On December 9 1984 at the last concert of the Jackson’s Victory Tour, Michael announced he was splitting from the group and going solo.
In 1987 Michael released his much awaited third solo album, titled “Bad”, and launched his record breaking first solo world tour. In 1988, Michael wrote his first autobiography, “Moonwalk”, talking for the first time on his childhood and his career.
At the end of the 1980s Michael was named “Artist of the Decade” for his success of “Thriller” and “Bad” albums.
In 1991 Michael signed with Sony Music the largest ever recording contract and released his fourth solo album, “Dangerous”.
He toured the world again in 1992, taking his concerts to countries that had never before been visited by a pop/rock artiste.
Michael was a renowned philanthropist donating to various charity organisations. He also founded the Heal the World Foundation to help improve the lives of children across the world.
In 1994 Michael married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock legend Elvis Presley. The marriage lasted for 19 months only, as they divorced in 1996.
In 1995 Michael released his fifth solo album, “HIStory”, which was a double album. The first half had new material and the second half was filled with his greatest hits. Michael toured again over a two- year period.
In between legs of the tour on November 14, 1996, Michael married Debbie Rowe, who was a nurse he had met in the treatment of his skin pigment disorder.
Together they had their first child Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jnr born on February 13 1997 and a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson born on April 3, 1998.
In 1997 Michael released the remix album “Blood on the Dance Floor” which also contained five new songs linked with a 38-minute film “Ghosts”.
In this film Michael played five roles using the latest special effects and make-up artistry, combined with his dance and music.
In September, 2001 Michael celebrated his 30th anniversary as a solo artiste with two concerts held in New York, USA.
Artistes such as Whitney Houston, Usher, Destiny’s Child, Shaggy and many more performed their own and Michael Jackson’s old hits.
Michael also reunited with all of his brothers and performed their biggest hits. Michael then went onto perform solo some of his biggest hits.
In October 2001 Michael released the album “Invincible” releasing only two singles including the big hit “You Rock My World”. Shortly after the album’s release there were rumours of a rift with Sony Music and a clear lack of promotion of the album.
The second single “Cry” was released with a very poor music video which did not feature Michael and no other singles were released.
In November 2003 a new single “One More Chance” was released as a single and was also a track on new compilation album “Number Ones”.
After this, Michael was embroiled in legal battles where allegations of child sexual abuse were levelled against him, but he was acquitted on all charges.
He then decided to move to the Middle East where he spent a number of years, with the assistance from his managers and agents, thinking about how he would come back onto the music scene in a big way.
In March 2009, Michael announced a shock comeback tour at the O2 Arena in London to start in July 2009, initially for 10 dates but the total grew to a sold out 50 dates with over 750 000 tickets sold.
All the 750 000 tickets sold out within minutes of being released. The promoters then decided to increase the number of performances from 10 to 50.
The rehearsals for those concerts put a lot of strain and pressure on Jackson.
On June 25, 2009 Michael Jackson died suddenly of a reported cardiac arrest after a drug-induced overdose of propofol. His doctor, Conrad Murray, who is said to have administered the drug, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Michael was 50 years old. He is survived by three children: Prince, Paris and Blanket ( Blanket? Really Michael? That explains why they called you Wacko!)
He will be remembered as the greatest pop star of the 21st century.
Feedback: [email protected]
Online Reporter