Michael Jackson - A Tribute To The King Of Pop

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana to African-American parents Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson and Katherine Esther (née Scruse). He was the seventh of nine children. His father was an employee of a steel mill and often performed in a band called The Falcons with his brother Luther.

Growing up, Michael said that he was physically and emotionally abused by his father from a young age, from having to endure constant rehearsals to whippings and name-calling. He first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993. He said that during his childhood he often cried from loneliness and would sometimes start to vomit upon seeing his father.

Michael showed his musical talent at a very young age. In 1964, Michael joined the Jackson Brothers, a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, first as a backup musician and later as a 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 Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy" in 1967. They later signed with Motown Records in 1968. Rolling Stone magazine described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts". The Jackson 5 made a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There") reached at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting in 1972, Jackson released four solo studio albums, including "Got to Be There" and "Ben". The Jackson 5's popularity started to decline, and in 1975, they left Motown.

The Jackson 5 moved to Epic Records in 1975, and was later on renamed "The Jacksons". The band still continued to release songs with Michael as the lead songwriter, and they toured internationally.

Michael has starred as Scarecrow in a musical The Wiz in 1978. Michael formed a partnership with Quincy Jones on the arrangement of musical scores during the film's production. Later, Quincy Jones agreed to produce Michael's next solo album, Off the Wall in 1979. It became the first album to generate four US top 10 hits, including singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You". In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts and also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

In 1982, Michael released a second album with Epic Records called "Thriller", which became the apex of his career. The album remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks, 37 at the peak. "Thriller" sold more than 109 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time. His hit song "Billie Jean" started his signature "Moonwalk" dance, and became an instant hit among his fans worldwide. The moonwalk became a signature Michael Jackson move, and one that he is well remembered.

In 1984, he co-wrote a charity song "We Are The World" with Lionel Richie to help the poor in Africa and the US. He was one of the 39 music celebrities performing the song and the single became one of the best-selling singles of all time. It sold nearly 20 million copies and millions of dollars donated to famine relief.

In 1987, after five years, Michael released another album called "Bad", which became another hit. The sales were lower than Thriller, but it was nevertheless a commercial success. The album produced 5 hit singles including "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Man In The Mirror", "Dirty Diana", "The Way You Make Me Feel", and the album cover "Bad". He began The Bad World Tour on September 1987, and finished on January 1989. Michael Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended 7 sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He earned another Guinness World Record when the tour grossed $125 million. During the tour he invited less privileged children to watch for free and donated to hospitals, orphanages and other charities.

He released his first autobiography "Moonwalk" in 1988, which took 4 years to write and sold 200,000 copies worldwide. Michael revealed in his autobiography his childhood days with the Jackson Five, and the abuse he went through with his father.

In 1988, Michael purchase some land near Santa Ynez,California, and built his Neverland ranch for $17 million. The property has a ferris wheel, a menagerie, and a movie theatre. In 2003, it was estimated that the property was valued at $100 million.

Michael Jackson released another album called Dangerous in 1991. The album's first single "Black Or White" became a n umber one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 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 US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In other parts of the world, "Heal The World" became a big hit at number 2, and stayed for 5 weeks on the charts.

In 1993, Michael was accused of child sexual abuse, which he responded emotionally, claiming the media to be biased, and told of his story about the strip search. This led him to take painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him. By the fall of 1993, Jackson was addicted to the drugs. As a result, his health deteriorated to the point that he canceled the remaining shows of the Dangerous World Tour and went into drug rehabilitation for a few months.

In 1994, he married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the legendary Elvis Presley. They married secretly in the Dominican Republic. Their marriage was short-lived and the couple split up after nearly 2 years. The media and tabloids called the marriage a ploy by Michael to gain more popularity after the child sex abuse scandal.

HIStory was an album that Michael Jackson released in 1995. It's a double disc album that forms as his greatest hits album, with 15 tracks of his greatest hits, and 15 new tracks. HIStory won a Grammy award for Best Album. He recorded a track called "Scream" with his youngest sister Janet Jackson and had the highest debut in the Billboard charts at number 5. He caused controversy on one of his songs "They Don't Really Care About Us" with the lyrics being antisemitic, and has upset his friend Steven Spielberg.

He went on a HIStory world tour in 1996. On the Australian leg of the tour, he married his dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, with whom he had two children with, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as "Prince"), and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. The couple divorced in 1999, and Debbie Rowe had to give up full custody of her children to Michael.

In 2001, he released an album called Invincible, after nearly 6 years since the last album release. The album was a success, but has a markedly lower sales compared to all of his previous releases. This is partly due to the diminishing pop music industry. In 2002, his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (a.k.a. Blanket) was born from a surrogate mother that was not revealed to the public. In November of that year, he brought his newborn son onto a balcony of a hotel in Berlin, where fans and the press were waiting for him to appear. This dangerous handling of the baby caused widespread criticism by the media and later Michael apologized saying it was a terrible mistake.

Michael released a documentary in 2003 called Living With Michael Jackson, where he was seen holding hands with a boy and discussing sleeping arrangements. Later that year, he was accused for child sexual abuse by the boy, with 7 counts of child sexual abuse and 2 counts of administering an intoxicating substance to the boy to commit the act. Michael denied all allegations, and was defended by long time friend Elizabeth Taylor.

In 2009, he was scheduled to do a comeback tour starting in London in July 2009, but his untimely death on 25th June 2009 has caused it to be changed into a tribute concert for the King Of Pop. Michael Jackson was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center after paramedics were called to his LA home to resuscitate the pop icon. He was pronounced dead after an hour of doctors trying to revive him. He died of a heart attack, caused by overdose of painkillers.

May you Rest In Peace, Michael.