The Life and Times of Michael Jackson

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MJ was born on August 29th, 1958 and was the seventh of nine children. His siblings were: brothers: Sigmund "Jackie", Toriano "Tito", Jermaine, Marlon, Steven "Randy", and sisters Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya Jackson. By now, almost everyone is aware of the harsh nature and stern discipline of "Papa Joe" Jackson. Many have said that it was his cruelty and controlling management that distorted Michael's view of reality and fantasy. Michael seemed to be a sensitive child and since he was so creative and talented, that would be par for the course.

Michael used to hang out at some of the clubs that were frequented by some of the big name music stars at that time. In 1968, the Vancouvers and Bobby Taylor "discovered" the Jackson 5 and arranged for a Motown recording. Their first four recordings, ABC, The Love you Save, I want you Back and I'll be There all made it to number 1 on the charts. When Michael and his brothers signed with Motown, Michael was only 9 years old. The Jackson's stayed with Motown until 1976. Jermaine stayed with Motown and Randy joined in his place as they signed with Epic. It was during this time that they also met and performed with Dianna Ross, who would remain a lifetime friend of Michael's.

Their first album was made in December 1969. Titled "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5". It only had one single (I want you back) on it but had 12 songs total. They also appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. For such a young person, being thrust into the limelight had to be difficult and mentally taxing. Remember, he was only a young boy, and a sensitive young boy at that. He was a young man who basically paid the price of fame by being denied a childhood. In 2001, he gave a speech at Oxford University. Here is an excerpt from that speech:






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Tonight, I come before you less as an icon of pop (whatever that means anyway), and more as an icon of a generation, a generation that no longer knows what it means to be children.

All of us are products of our childhood. But I am the product of a lack of a childhood, an absence of that precious and wondrous age when we frolic playfully without a care in the world, basking in the adoration of parents and relatives, where our biggest concern is studying for that big spelling test come Monday morning.

Those of you who are familiar with the Jackson Five know that I began performing at the tender age of five and that ever since then, I haven't stopped dancing or singing. But while performing and making music undoubtedly remain as some of my greatest joys, when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends. But fate had it otherwise and all I could do was envy the laughter and playtime that seemed to be going on all around me.

There was no respite from my professional life. But on Sundays I would go Pioneering, the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. And it was then that I was able to see the magic of other people's childhood.

Since I was already a celebrity, I would have to don a disguise of fat suit, wig, beard and glasses and we would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door-to-door or making the rounds of shopping malls, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I loved to set foot in all those regular suburban houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderful, ordinary and starry scenes of everyday life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were mesmerising.

I used to think that I was unique in feeling that I was without a childhood. I believed that indeed there were only a handful with whom I could share those feelings. When I recently met with Shirley Temple Black, the great child star of the 1930s and 40s, we said nothing to each other at first, we simply cried together, for she could share a pain with me that only others like my close friends Elizabeth Taylor and McCauley Culkin know.

I do not tell you this to gain your sympathy but to impress upon you my first important point : It is not just Hollywood child stars that have suffered from a non-existent childhood. Today, it's a universal calamity, a global catastrophe. Childhood has become the great casualty of modern-day living. All around us we are producing scores of kids who have not had the joy, who have not been accorded the right, who have not been allowed the freedom, or knowing what it's like to be a kid.

Today children are constantly encouraged to grow up faster, as if this period known as childhood is a burdensome stage, to be endured and ushered through, as swiftly as possible. And on that subject, I am certainly one of the world's greatest experts.

Ours is a generation that has witnessed the abrogation of the parent-child covenant. Psychologists are publishing libraries of books detailing the destructive effects of denying one's children the unconditional love that is so necessary to the healthy development of their minds and character. And because of all the neglect, too many of our kids have, essentially, to raise themselves. They are growing more distant from their parents, grandparents and other family members, as all around us the indestructible bond that once glued together the generations, unravels.

This violation has bred a new generation, Generation O let us call it, that has now picked up the torch from Generation X. The O stands for a generation that has everything on the outside - wealth, success, fancy clothing and fancy cars, but an aching emptiness on the inside. That cavity in our chests, that barrenness at our core, that void in our centre is the place where the heart once beat and which love once occupied.

And it's not just the kids who are suffering. It's the parents as well. For the more we cultivate little-adults in kids'-bodies, the more removed we ourselves become from our own child-like qualities, and there is so much about being a child that is worth retaining in adult life.

Love, ladies and gentlemen, is the human family's most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance. And it is a treasure that is handed down from one generation to another. Previous ages may not have had the wealth we enjoy. Their houses may have lacked electricity, and they squeezed their many kids into small homes without central heating. But those homes had no darkness, nor were they cold. They were lit bright with the glow of love and they were warmed snugly by the very heat of the human heart. Parents, undistracted by the lust for luxury and status, accorded their children primacy in their lives.

As you all know, our two countries broke from each other over what Thomas Jefferson referred to as "certain inalienable rights". And while we Americans and British might dispute the justice of his claims, what has never been in dispute is that children have certain inalienable rights, and the gradual erosion of those rights has led to scores of children worldwide being denied the joys and security of childhood.

I would therefore like to propose tonight that we install in every home a Children's Universal Bill of Rights, the tenets of which are:

1. The right to be loved without having to earn it

2. The right to be protected, without having to deserve it

3. The right to feel valuable, even if you came into the world with nothing

4. The right to be listened to without having to be interesting

5. The right to be read a bedtime story, without having to compete with the evening news

6. The right to an education without having to dodge bullets at schools

7. The right to be thought of as adorable - (even if you have a face that only a mother could love).

According to statements made by Michael Jackson and also the movie of the Jackson's, their Father Joe was extremely hard on the kids during this time. He was extremely controlling and pushed them very hard. However, having 9 children could not have been easy on anyone and he himself may have felt a great deal of pressure. It must also be stated that were it not for his persistence and determination, there may never have been the singing sensation of the Jackson 5. Still and all, the end doesn't justify the means and he just doesn't seem to have been a very loving father at all

By all accounts, Michael was always sensitive and a bit "different". What he was NOT, however, was stupid. He was said to be very loving but when it came to music, he could be very shrewd. It may just have been that combination of intelligence and sensitivity that helped sculpt his unique personality and character.

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There is one thing that is certain; Michael Jackson did well both with his brothers and without. His talent was not only in his singing ability but his dance moves. The man had talent, it's as simple as that. When he left the Jackson 5 he immediately made a name of his own in the music world.






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While his music and dance brought him acclaim, it was his personal life and character that brought humiliation and ridicule to the Pop icon. Headlines began to spring up proclaiming yet more bizarre behavior on Michael's part but some of it, he started himself. My own belief is that he needed the expression. His dance and music weren't enough. He was searching for something that I am not sure he ever found. It is sad, but in our own ways I believe we are all searching and some of that displays into eccentricity.

So, Michael Jackson's talent was matched only by the ridicule he received from the media as well as a portion of the public. It was then that the allegations began; after he had opened Neverland and opened his home and his joy to children (which some claim was inappropriate for a man of his age) did the really nasty rumors about Michael start. One allegation followed another and Michael seemed to be fighting an uphill battle.

In 1994, Michael married Lisa Marie Presley which made him the Son-in-Law of the late Elvis Presley. There was wide speculation of how the King of Rock and Roll would have reacted to having the King of Pop marry his daughter! Their marriage lasted 20 months and it was only after Michael's death that Lisa Marie opened up about the relationship. She claimed she loved him very much and that she believed he had loved her. She said that by trying to save Michael from himself and all of the vultures, she was losing herself.

According to Rolling Stones Magazine: "Jackson and his bride appeared on television with Diane Sawyer to discuss the marriage; it would be a short-lived one, as the couple divorced in 1996. Jackson later married Debbie Rowe, a nurse he'd met in the early 1980s when undergoing treatment for vitiglio. A boy, Prince, and a girl, Paris, resulted from the union." In 2001 Jackson hired the services of a surrogate Mother and his son Prince Michael II was the result. It caused another fury when Jackson playfully dangled the child over the balcony so the press could take pictures of the blanket covered baby. Michael nicknamed the boy "Blanket".

It seemed Michael was always in the news for one reason or another. There was the Pepsi commercial fire which burnt his scalp and face and of course, the many rumors (that later proved to be untrue) such as that he slept in a hyperbolic chamber. As many people that hated him due to the publicity, there were an equal number, if not more who loved Jackson and his music.

Very similar to when the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, passed away, fans are mourning the loss in record numbers. There are many similarities between the two stars and many have claimed that Michael Jackson is the Elvis of this generation. There is no doubt that his presence and his music, dancing and overall talent will be missed.

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As soon as reports came out that he had died, he was already being "blamed" for upstaging the death of Farrah Fawcett, who had died that morning. Can you imagine? I'm certain he did not say to himself "Hey! I'm more important than she...I think I'll go into cardiac arrest so I can grab the spotlight!" No, it was what it was. A day which Hollywood will not soon forget. An emotional roller coaster of a day for many a Farrah AND Michael fan. The Jackson family is demanding another autopsy since so few questions were answered in the first.

Michael may not have been an angel. In fact, a lot of the ridicule and rumor, he brought about himself. My own personal opinion is that he was NOT a child molester and his unbridled excitement to bring joy and happiness to children clouded his judgment. Because he was such a unique person to begin with, it was all too easy for the media and others to paint him as a monster and a freak. Wacko Jacko? Maybe. Incredibly talented music legend? No doubt about it.