Michael Jackson
The King of Pop

With a voice to match his sweet face, Michael Jackson spent his childhood in the limelight as the youngest member of the Jackson 5, a Motown group, with four of his brothers. Before he could vote, he was a millionaire and solo recording artist. By the time he was old enough to drink alcohol, he was a hit-making machine, recording the brightest and best pop-dance songs, and when he was just 25, he was the biggest recording star in the world. But, in the '90s, the self-proclaimed "King Of Pop" persona was taking over, and vicious rumors shrouded his once fairy-tale life.

While Jackson didn't write all of his songs, he penned the majority, and those he didn't he in a sense made his own once he sang them. With one glove, a red jacket, and a pocket full of pretty pop ditties that made millions walk as if they were dancing on the moon, weird and eccentric Jackson became an immensely successful, world-renowned pop icon--to say the least. Rockin' off a string of hits with Jackson 5, the kid from Gary, Indiana, recorded two records sans the bros in the early '70s, resulting in a couple of bubblegum pop hits "My Girl," "Rockin' Robin" and "Got To Be There." At the closing of the '70s, Jackson and Diana Ross starred in The Wiz, which was produced by Quincy Jones; a fortuitously lucrative meeting, Jackson and Jones began working together on more mature, funky pop tunes, which ultimately vaulted Jackson to superstardom. With Jones producing, Jackson recorded Off The Wall (1979), which included four top 10 hits: "Rock With You," "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," "She's Out Of My Life" and the title track. "Don't Stop..." earned him a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal, Male. But four years later, Jackson was to make Grammy history, sales history, chart history, and dance history. In 1983, with Jones at the knobs again, Jackson created the quintessential pop-dance disc, Thriller, which eventually sold a phenomenal 45 million worldwide; beginning with the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine," the record ultimately generated an unprecedented seven top 10 singles: "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Thriller," and "Human Nature." Thriller also received a record 12 Grammy nominations, earning eight awards. Jackson also set new standards in videos with "Beat It," which paved the way for other black artists on MTV, and the auspicious "Thriller" video, a horror film short with voice work by Vincent Price. The Moonwalk became the next big dance step, and Jackson sipped Pepsi for money, received an award from then-President Ronald Reagan, toured the globe with his brothers for Victory, co-penned the number one hit "We Are The World," starred in his bizarre 3D short, Captain Eo, and purchased the ATV music publishing catalogue, which featured 250 Lennon/McCartney songs. If 1987's Bad had not been preceded by Thriller, it certainly would have been received better and had more impact; following the exceptional 1983 album, Bad fell short of expectations (as everything else would), and although it was nominated for several Grammy Awards, the album received only one. Not to slight its importance in the clubs and charts, Jackson had five hits including "Bad," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Dirty Diana" and "Man In The Mirror," and the record sold over 22 million copies worldwide.

Jackson was plagued with troubles in the '90s. Moving to his dream estate, Neverland, with Ferris wheels and wild animals, Jackson seemed to lose touch with reality and was reliving a childhood he never had--complete with children's parties. Ironically, Jackson's first album of the new decade was Dangerous, which eventually sold 20 million copies worldwide and was released on his own label, MJJ, through Epic Records. Although his image and sound were tougher, it was his private life that was becoming dangerous--as it gradually became more and more public. Reportedly, Jackson insisted MTV and BET refer to him as the "King Of Pop" when introducing his video for "Black And White," which Jackson later denied, but it was his rumored involvement with children that caused much more than controversy. For years he had donated millions of dollars to charities that primarily aided children, but in a twist of fate, a 13-year-old boy told his psychiatrist that he had been fondled by Jackson in 1993; the pop star denied the accusation, but eventually settled out of court even though nothing was proven by the police. The damage was done and perception of Jackson as philanthropist good guy was gone. He became addicted to painkillers, Pepsi ended the 10-year business relationship, and even stranger, in 1994, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley; rumors of it being for show were denied, but the questionable marriage ended in divorce. Also in 1993, Jackson received the Living Legend Grammy Award.

With a keen eye for business, and also possibly realizing his albums post-Thriller were selling less and less, Jackson sandwiched the old hits with potential new hits on the double-disc set, HIStory: Past, Present And Future, Book One, which entered the charts at number one in June 1995; the album, featuring 15 old and 15 new songs, produced several singles over the next two years. As one of many promotions, the self-indulgent, egotistical 30-minute television special Michael Jackson Changes HIStory aired on network TV as well as MTV, and featured the new short film, You Are Not Alone (which followed the previously released short Scream and preceded the 1996 35-minute film Ghost, which starred Jackson). In '97, while on tour in support of HIStory, Jackson released the remix album Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which included eight remixes from his 1995 album plus five new songs. Also in '97, Jackson's Thriller became the biggest selling record in the United States with 25 million sold. Although Jackson's appeal is still widespread worldwide, he's no longer thrilling fans with his music the way he used to; much of the interest in Jackson now comes from his freakish news-making incidents of plastic surgery, surgical masks, implications of sexually molesting children, and his latest headline, having a child, Prince Jackson, with a friend.

Taken fromLaunch