Michael Jackson Biography

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 June 25, 2009) was an
American singer, dancer, entertainer, and recording artist. Michael
Jackson epitomised the era of pop in the 70s, 80s and 90s, earning
himself the title the King of Pop. He remained a global icon until his
untimely death in 2009.
Michael Jackson began his music career alongside his fellow brothers and
family members in the Jackson Five. His career began in 1964, aged only
six. The group, led by Jacksons father, worked hard touring many clubs
and bars performing their mix of Motown hits. They gained the attention
of record labels and in 1968 signed with Motown records. It was the
youngest, baby faced Jackson, that really caught the eye of reviewers.
Rolling Stone magazine wrote that Michael was a prodigy with
overwhelming musical gifts. Michael stood out for his exceptional
enthusiasm and soft, infectious musical voice. The group produced four
number one hit singles, including I Want You Back, ABC and the Lover
You Save
Despite achieving his goal to be a music performer, Michaels childhood
was far from happy. He was regularly beaten and threatened by his
authoritarian father. This legacy of abuse left Michael scarred throughout
his adult life.
Solo Career Michael Jackson
By the late 1970s, Michael was increasingly looking to pursue a solo
career. With the help of music producer, Quincy Jones, Michael produced
the solo album Off The Wall. The album was a great success, eventually
selling over 20 million copies. The album gained much critical acclaim
and Michael secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry (37%
of album profit)
His second solo album, Thriller, launched Michael Jackson into a position
as the most famous pop singer in the world. With little commercial
advertising and promotion, Thriller rose to number one on album sales
and remained at the number one spot for a total of 37 weeks. It gained
one of many Guinness World Records for Michael Jackson, gaining 110
million global sales and 29 million sales in the US. Thrillerincluded

number one hits such as Beat It, Billie Jean.

In March 1983, Michael Jackson performed live on Motown 25, Yesterday,
today, forever, -a TV special. He performed his distinctive and
memorable dance move the Moonwalk. In the dance routine, he
effortlessly moves backwards with seemingly keeping one leg perfectly
straight. His performance made him a global icon of not just music, but
dance. Michael Jackson pioneered the importance of music video in
promoting a pop artist. This performance has been put in the same
category as the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
His next big albums were Bad (1987) and Dangerous (1991). His final
album was Invincible (2001).
By the late 80s, there was an increasing number of stories speculating on
Jacksons personal life, health and physical appearance. Michael Jackson
underwent numerous operations of plastic surgery to fix his nose and add
a dimple in his chin. During the 1980s, his skin started to lighten; this
was due to a rare skin pigment disease, but it didnt stop a wave of
speculative press stories that he was bleaching his skin colour. The press
covered a range of speculative stories over Michael Jackson, including
imaginary stories Michael had invented himself (such as sleeping in an
oxygen tent to avoid ageing process)
Ive been in the entertainment industry since I was sixyears-old, and as Charles Dickens would say, Its been the
best of times, the worst of times. But I would not change
my career While some have made deliberate attempts to
hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a
strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and
continue, to support me.
Michael Jackson
The press attention made Michael increasingly reclusive, spending much
of his time in his Never land ranch.
He married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994; it lasted two years though they
remained friendly after the divorce. In 1996 he married Deborah Rowe in
Sydney. Together they had two children. They divorced in 1999 and Rowe
gave full custody of children to Jackson.
Allegations of child abuse were first raised in the 1980s and re-appeared
in the 1990s. This led to the trial of The People v Jackson on Jan 31, 2005

in Sante Maria, California. After five months of high publicity, Jackson was
acquitted. Though the experience left his physically weak and
emotionally stressed. He left America for the Persian gulf island of
Bahrain.
Towards the end of his life, he was increasingly plagued by money
troubles and ill health. He increasingly became dependent on a variety of
drugs, which was said to have contributed to his ill health and premature
death. Despite concerns over finance, he is said to have made career
earnings of $500m and had assets in Sony/ATV Music Publishing
catalogue worth over $300m alone.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 at a rented mansion in the district
of Los Angeles.
Citation
: Pettinger,
Tejvan.
Biography
of
Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, 28th Jul. 2010

Michael

Jackson,

Charity Work of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson supported many charities. This included a burns
charity in Culver City, California. This followed an incident where
Michael Jackson was burnt in filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984.
He also supported HIV / AIDS charities at a time when it was still
unfashionable.
In 1984, he received an award from President Ronald Reagan for his
support of charities which help overcome alcohol and drug abuse.
From his 1984, Victory Tour he donated all funds (around $8million to
charity)
In 1985, he also co-wrote the charity single We are the World with
Lionel Richie. It sold over 30 million copies and the proceeds were
sent to poor in the US and Africa.
He continued his charity work to the end of his life supporting
charity concerts such as Aid for victims of Kosovo war.