Michael Jackson

Biography, achievements, music, and more

Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on 29 August 1958 as the 7th of nine children. His parents were a working-class African-Americans. His father, Joseph Jackson, had some musical experience but to support his family he worked as a crane operator. He believed that his sons had talent, so in the early 1960s he joined them into a musical group. At first, the Jackson Family group consisted of Michael's older brothers Tito, Jackie, and Jermaine. Michael joined his siblings at the age of five, and soon become the group's lead vocalist. As a young performer he showed remarkable range and depth, and he always impressed audiences with his unique voice and ability to convey complex emotions. Older brother Marlon also joined the group which become known as Jackson 5.

Joseph Jackson did everything to make the group successful. Sometimes he also become violent with them. Michael Jackson and his brothers spent endless hours rehearsing and polishing up their act. At first, the Jackson 5 played local gigs and built a strong following. They recorded one single on their own, a song called "Big Boy" on the a-side and "You've Changed" on the b-side, but this single failed to generate much interest. The Jackson 5 worked an opening act for some R&B artists as the Pips, Sam and Dave, James Brown, and Gladys Knight. Many of these artists were signed to the legendary Motown record label. It was Gladys Knight who allegedly told Motown founder Berry Gordy about the promising group Jackson 5. Gordy was impressed and the Jackson 5 signed for Motown and moved to California.

When Michael and his brothers were relocated to Los Angeles, they started work on their music and dancing with their father as their manager. When they first arrived there they lived with Gordy and with Supremes singer Diana Ross. In August 1969, the Jackson 5 later served as the opening act for the Supremes. Their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, hit the charts in December 1969. Their first single was named "I Want You Back" and in January 1970 it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. More singles such as "ABC," "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" quickly followed and hit charts. Michael Jackson, in addition to his work with the Jackson 5, at the age of 13 launched a solo career. He made the charts in 1971 with "Got to Be There" from the album of the same name. His 1972 album, Ben, featured Jackson's first solo No. 1 single, the eponymous ballad about a rat.

For several years, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were supervised by Berry Gordy and his Motown staff. They maintained a busy tour and recording schedule. Many of the songs recorded by the group and by Michael Jackson as a solo artist were written by Berry Gordy. The Jackson 5 group was so popular that they even had their own cartoon show, Jackson 5, which ran from 1971 to 1973. There was trouble between the Jacksons and their record company as the Jacksons wanted more control over their recordings. Despite Jackson's great success and the group's achievements, tensions mounted between Gordy and Joseph Jackson over the management of his children's careers. Joseph Jackson wasn't satisfied with their level of participation in making music. This led to most of the Jacksons breaking ties with Motown records in 1975. Jermaine Jackson did not break ties, he married Berry Gordy's daughter, stayed with Motown and continued to pursue a solo career. He released several albums with success not even comparable to the success of his younger brother Michael.

The Jackson 5, wanting more artistic freedom, in 1976 signed up with Epic. The group name Jackson 5 was owned by Motown, so they reverted to The Jacksons as they had be known in the early days. Youngest brother Randy joined in Jermaine's place. Between the years of 1976 and 1984 they made 6 albums in total with many hits.

In 1977 Michael starred in the musical 'The Wiz' playing Scarecrow with Diana Ross in the lead role of Dorothy. At this time Michael met Quincy Jones who was doing the score for the film. Quincey Jones was Michael's producer for his first solo album with Epic Records. The album titled "Off The Wall" was a big success around the world. It was also the first album to release a record breaking 4 No 1 singles in the US.

In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world's largest selling album of all time, "Thriller". This album produced 7 hit singles: The Girl Is Mine, Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Human Nature, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Thriller. Thriller went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide. Michael used music videos or short films as he called them to promote his singles from the album. He worked with the best directors and producers, which used 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. This video was so successful that 'The Making Of Michael Jackson's Thriller' became the world's largest selling home video combined with soaring album sales. In 1983 on the 'Motown 25 years' anniversary show Michael performed the now legendary moonwalk for the first time. This performance alone set Michael Jackson into the realm of a superstar.

In 1984 Michael Jackson won a record breaking 8 Grammy awards in one night. The awards were for his work on the "Thriller" album and his work on the narrative for the '"T Storybook". On 9th December 1984 at the last concert of the Jackson's Victory Tour, Michael Jackson 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 off of his "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 world again in 1992, taking his concerts to countries that had never before been visited by a pop/rock artist. Michael Jackson also founded the "Heal the World Foundation" - a universal charity organization designed to improve the condition of all mankind.

In 1994 Michael married Lisa Marie Presley, an American singer-songwriter and daughter of rock legend Elvis Presley. They divorced in 1996, the marriage only lasted for 19 months.

In 1995 Michael released a fifth solo album, "HIStory". It was a double album, first half new material and second half half greatest hits. Michael toured again over a legs covering a 2 year period. On 14 November 1996, Michael Jackson married for his second time to Debbie Rowe. She was a nurse that Michael had met in the treatment of his skin pigment disorder. Together they had their first child Prince Michael Joseph Jackson jr born on 13 February 1997 and a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson born on 3rd April 1998.

In 1997 Michael Jackson released the remix album "Blood On The Dance Floor" which also contained 5 new song linked with a 38 minute film "Ghosts". This film Michael played 5 roles using the latest special effects and make-up artistry, combined with his dance and music.

In September, 2001 Michael Jackson celebrated his 30th anniversary as a solo artist with two concerts to be held in New York, USA. Many artists such as Whitney Houston, Usher, Destinys Child, Shaggy and many more performed their own and Michael Jackson's past songs. Michael then reunited with all of his brothers and performed there biggest hits. Michael then went onto perform solo some of his biggest hits.

In October 2001 Michael Jackson released the album "Invincible". From this album only two singles were released including the big hit "You Rock My World". Shortly after the album release there were rumors 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. No other singles from the album "Invincible" were released.

In November 2003 a new single "One More Chance" from the new compilation album "Number Ones" was released.

In March 2009, Michael Jackson 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 sold tickets sold out within minutes of being released.

On June 25th 2009 Michael Jackson died at age 50 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

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