Michael Joseph Jackson[2][3] (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called the
King of Pop,
[4][5][6]
his contributions to music and dance, along with his publicized
personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four
decades.
The eighth child of the
Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his elder brothers
Jackie,
Tito,
Jermaine, and
Marlon as a member of
the Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in
popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "
Beat It", "
Billie Jean", and "
Thriller",
were credited with breaking down racial barriers and with transforming
the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of
these videos helped to bring the then-relatively-new television channel
MTV to fame. With videos such as "
Black or White" and "
Scream",
he continued to innovate the medium throughout the 1990s, as well as
forging a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video
performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance
techniques, such as the
robot and the
moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres.
Jackson's 1982 album
Thriller is the
best-selling album of all time. His other albums, including
Off the Wall (1979),
Bad (1987),
Dangerous (1991), and
HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling albums. Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
twice. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the
Dance Hall of Fame as the first and only dancer from pop and rock music.
His other
achievements include multiple
Guinness World Records, 13
Grammy Awards, the
Grammy Legend Award, the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 26
American Music Awards—more than any other artist—including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the 1980s", 13
number-one singles in the United States during his solo career,—more than any other male artist in the
Hot 100 era—and estimated sales of over 400 million records worldwide.
[Note 1] Jackson has won
hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.
[7] He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the
Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when "
Love Never Felt So Good" reached number nine on May 21, 2014.
[8] Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his humanitarianism, and, in 2000, the
Guinness World Records recognized him for supporting 39 charities, more than any other entertainer.
[9]
Aspects of Michael Jackson's personal life, including his changing
appearance,
personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In the mid-1990s, he was
accused of child sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount and no formal charges were brought.
[10] In 2005, he was
tried and acquitted
of further child sexual abuse allegations and several other charges
after the jury found him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for
his comeback concert series titled
This Is It, Jackson
died of acute
propofol and
benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The
Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician,
Conrad Murray, was convicted of
involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and a live broadcast of his
public memorial service was viewed around the world.
[11]
Contents
- 1 Life and career
- 1.1 1958–75: Early life and the Jackson 5
- 1.2 1975–81: Move to Epic and Off the Wall
- 1.3 1982–83: Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
- 1.4 1984–85: Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career
- 1.5 1986–90: Appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography, and Neverland
- 1.6 1991–93: Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII
- 1.7 1993–94: First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage
- 1.8 1995–99: HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood
- 1.9 2000–03: Label dispute and Invincible
- 1.10 2003–05: Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal
- 1.11 2006–09: Closure of Neverland, final years, and This Is It
- 2 Death and memorial
- 3 Artistry
- 4 Legacy and influence
- 5 Honors and awards
- 6 Earnings and wealth
- 7 Discography
- 8 Filmography
- 9 Tours
- 10 See also
- 11 Notes
- 12 References
- 13 External links
Life and career
1958–75: Early life and the Jackson 5
Jackson's childhood home in
Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was the eighth
of ten children in an African-American working-class family who lived
in a two-bedroom house in
Gary, Indiana, an industrial city and a part of the
Chicago metropolitan area.
[12][13] His mother,
Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout
Jehovah's Witness. She once aspired to be a country and western performer who played clarinet and piano, but worked part-time at
Sears to help support the family.
[14] His father,
Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at
U.S. Steel.
Joe also performed on guitar with a local rhythm and blues band called
the Falcons to supplement the family's household income.
[15] Michael grew up with three sisters (
Rebbie,
La Toya, and
Janet) and five brothers (
Jackie,
Tito,
Jermaine,
Marlon, and
Randy).
[16] A sixth brother, Marlon's elder twin Brandon, died shortly after birth.
[17]
Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.
[18][19] In 2003, Joe acknowledged that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.
[20] Joe was also said to have verbally abused his son, often saying that he had a "fat nose".
[21]
Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during
incessant rehearsals, though he credited his father's strict discipline
with playing a large role in his success.
[18] Speaking openly about his childhood in an interview with
Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993, Jackson acknowledged that his youth had been lonely and isolating.
[22]
Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and
chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant,
especially with his father, and to remain childlike throughout his adult
life, are consistent with the effects of the maltreatment he endured as
a young child.
[23]
In an interview with
Martin Bashir, later included in the 2003 broadcast of
Living with Michael Jackson,
Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him when he was a child,
recalling that Joseph often sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he
and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right
way, he would tear you up, really get you."
[24][25]
Both of Jackson's parents have disagreed with the longstanding
allegations of abuse, with Katherine stating that while the whippings
are considered abuse today, such action was a common way to discipline
children back then.
[26][27][28] Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon have also said that their father is not abusive, but rather misunderstood.
[29]
Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972.
In 1965, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed
by their father and which included brothers Jackie, Tito, and
Jermaine—as backup musicians playing
congas and
tambourine.
[30] In 1966, Jackson began sharing lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to
the Jackson 5.
[16] That following year, the group won a major local talent show with Jackson performing the dance to
Robert Parker's 1965 hit "
Barefootin'".
[31] From 1966 to 1968 the band toured the
Midwest, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "
chitlin' circuit" as the opening act for artists such as
Sam & Dave,
the O'Jays,
Gladys Knight, and
Etta James. The Jackson 5 also performed at clubs and cocktail lounges, where
striptease shows and other adult acts were featured, and at local auditoriums and high school dances.
[32][33] In August 1967, while touring the
East coast, the group won a weekly amateur night concert at the
Apollo Theater in
Harlem.
[34]
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "
Big Boy" (1968), their first single, for
Steeltown Records, a Gary, Indiana, record label,
[35] before signing with
Motown in 1969.
[16] The Jackson 5 left Gary in 1969 and relocated to the Los Angeles area, where they continued to record music for Motown.
[36] The magazine
Rolling Stone
later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming
musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and
lead singer."
[37] The group set a chart record when its first four singles—"
I Want You Back" (1969), "
ABC" (1970), "
The Love You Save" (1970), and "
I'll Be There" (1970)—peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100.
[16] In May 1971, the Jackson family moved into a large home on two-acre estate in
Encino, California,
[38] where Michael evolved from child performer into a teen idol.
[39]
As Jackson began to emerge as a solo performer in the early 1970s, he
continued to maintain ties to the Jackson 5 and Motown. Between 1972,
when his solo career began, and 1975, Michael released four solo studio
albums with Motown:
Got to Be There (1972),
Ben (1972),
Music & Me (1973), and
Forever, Michael (1975).
[40] "
Got to Be There" and "
Ben", the title tracks from his first two solo albums, both became successful singles, as did a remake of
Bobby Day's "
Rockin' Robin".
[41]
The Jackson 5 were later described as "a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists."
[42]
Although the group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band
members chafed under Motown's refusal to allow them creative control or
input, they continued to score several top 40 hits, including the top
five single "
Dancing Machine" (1974), before the group left Motown in 1975.
[43]
1975–81: Move to Epic and Off the Wall
In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with
Epic Records, a subsidiary of
CBS Records,
[43]
and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally
joined the band around this time, while Jermaine chose to stay with
Motown and pursue a solo career.
[44]
The Jacksons continued to tour internationally, and released six more
albums between 1976 and 1984. Michael, the group's lead songwriter
during this time, wrote hits such as "
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), "
This Place Hotel" (1980), and "
Can You Feel It" (1980).
[30] Jackson's work in film began in 1978, when he starred as the
Scarecrow in
The Wiz, a musical directed by
Sidney Lumet that also starred
Diana Ross,
Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross.
[45] The film was a box-office disaster.
[46] While working on the film Jackson met
Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score, and Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album,
Off the Wall.
[47] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent
rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr.
Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.
[48]
Off the Wall (1979), which Jones and Jackson co-produced,
established Jackson as a solo performer. The album helped Jackson
transition from the "bubblegum pop" of his youth to the more complex
sounds he would create as an adult.
[39] Songwriters for the album included Jackson,
Rod Temperton,
Stevie Wonder, and
Paul McCartney.
Off the Wall
was the first solo album to generate four top 10 hits in the United
States: "Off the Wall", "She’s Out of My Life", and the chart-topping
singles "
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "
Rock with You".
[49][50] The album reached number three on the
Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
[51] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the
American Music Awards
for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite
Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't
Stop 'Til You Get Enough".
[52][53] He also won
Billboard Year-End
awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album, and a Grammy Award for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 1979 with "Don't Stop 'Til You
Get Enough".
[54] In 1981 Jackson was the American Music Awards winner for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.
[55] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt
Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.
[56] In 1980, he secured the highest
royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.
[57]
1982–83: Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
In 1982, Jackson combined his interests in songwriting and film when he contributed the song "Someone in the Dark" to the
storybook for the film
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The song, with Quincy Jones as its producer, won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children for 1983.
[58] Even more success came after the release of
Thriller in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys
[58] and eight American Music Awards, including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it.
[59]
"Thriller" was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983.
[60][61] It became the best-selling album of all time in the United States,
[62] and the
best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated
65 million copies.
[63] The album topped the
Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven
Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "
Billie Jean", "
Beat It", and "
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".
[64] In March 2009
Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the
RIAA,
[65] giving it
Double Diamond status in the United States.
Thriller
won Jackson and Quincy Jones the Grammy award for Producer of the Year
(Non-Classical) for 1983. It also won Album of the Year, with Jackson as
the album's artist and Jones as its co-producer, and a Best Pop Vocal
Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Beat It" won Record of the Year,
with Jackson as artist and Jones as co-producer, and a Best Rock Vocal
Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Billie Jean" won Jackson two
Grammy awards, Best R&B Song, with Jackson as its songwriter, and
Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, as its artist.
[58] Thriller also won another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding
Bruce Swedien for his work on the album.
[66]
The AMA Awards for 1984 provided Jackson with an Award of Merit and
AMAs for Favorite Male Artist, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Male Artist,
Pop/Rock. "Beat It" won Jackson AMAs for Favorite Video, Soul/R&B,
Favorite Video, Pop/Rock, and Favorite Single, Pop/Rock.
Thriller won him AMAs for Favorite Album, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Album, Pop/Rock.
[59][67]
In addition to the award-winning album, Jackson released "
Thriller", a fourteen-minute music video short directed by
John Landis, in 1983.
[68] It "defined music videos and broke racial barriers" on the Music Television Channel (
MTV), a fledgling entertainment television channel at the time.
[39] In December 2009, the
Library of Congress selected the music video for "Thriller" for inclusion in the
National Film Registry.
It was one of twenty-five films named that year as "works of enduring
importance to American culture" that would be "preserved for all time."
[69][70] The zombie-themed "Thriller" is the first and, as of 2009, the only music video to be inducted into the registry.
[68][70][71]
Jackson's attorney
John Branca
noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry
at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making
record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette
of the documentary
The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold
over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of
novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in
stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.
[72] Biographer
J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "
Thriller
stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a
hit movie—and started selling like a household staple."
[73] In 1985,
The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.
[58] Time
described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio,
rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter
who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the
street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and
color too".
[72] The New York Times wrote that, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".
[74]
A defining point in Jackson's career took place on March 25, 1983,
when he reunited with his brothers for a legendary live performance,
which was taped at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, for
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special. The show aired on May 16, 1983, to an estimated audience of
47 million viewers, and featured the Jacksons and other Motown stars.
[75] The show is best remembered for Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean", which earned Jackson his first Emmy nomination.
[76] Wearing a distinctive black-
sequined jacket and a golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his signature dance move, the
moonwalk, which former
Soul Train dancer and
Shalamar member
Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years earlier.
[77]
Jackson originally turned down the invitation to perform at the show,
believing he had been doing too much television at the time; however at
the request of
Berry Gordy, Jackson relented and agreed to perform at the show in exchange for time to do a solo performance.
[78] According to
Rolling Stone
reporter Mikal Gilmore, "There are times when you know you are hearing
or seeing something extraordinary...that came that night."
[39] Jackson's performance drew comparisons to
Elvis Presley's and
the Beatles' appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show.
[79] Anna Kisselgoff of
The New York Times
later wrote, "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for
his dance style. How does he do it? As a technician, he is a great
illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he
glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."
[80]
Berry Gordy said of the performance, "from the first beat of Billie
Jean, I was mesmerized, and when he did his iconic moonwalk, I was
shocked, it was magic, Michael Jackson went into orbit, and never came
down."
[81]
1984–85: Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career
By the mid-1980s, Jackson's award-winning musical career contributed
to his commercial appeal, which proved to be substantial. In November
1983 he, along with his brothers, partnered with
PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke advertising industry records for a celebrity endorsement. The first
Pepsi
campaign, which ran in the United States from 1983 to 1984 and launched
its "New Generation" theme, included advertising, tour sponsorship,
public relations events, and in-store displays. Jackson, who was
actively involved in creating the iconic
Pepsi advertisement, suggested using his song, "Billie Jean", as its musical jingle with a revised chorus.
[82] According a
Billboard
report in 2009, Brian J. Murphy, executive VP of branded management at
TBA Global, commented, "You couldn't separate the tour from the
endorsement from the licensing of the music, and then the integration of
the music into the Pepsi fabric."
[82]
On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi Cola commercial that was overseen by executive
Phil Dusenberry,
[83] a
BBDO ad agency executive, and
Alan Pottasch, Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, at the
Shrine Auditorium
in Los Angeles. In front of a full house of fans during a simulated
concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire, causing
second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson underwent treatment to hide
the scars on his scalp, and had his third
rhinoplasty shortly thereafter.
[48] Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in
Culver City, California. Its Michael Jackson Burn Center is named in his honor.
[84] Dusenberry later recounted the episode in his memoir,
Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career in Advertising.
Jackson signed a second agreement with Pepsi in the late 1980s for a
reported $10 million. The second campaign had a global reach to more
than twenty countries and provided financial support for Jackson's
Bad album and his world tour in 1987–88.
[82] Although Jackson had endorsements and advertising deals with other companies, such as
LA Gear,
Suzuki, and
Sony, none were as significant as his deals with Pepsi, which later signed other music stars such as
Britney Spears and
Beyoncé to promote its products.
[82][82][85]
Jackson's humanitarian work was recognized on May 14, 1984, when he
was invited to the White House to receive an award from President
Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse,
[86] and in recognition of his support for the
Ad Council's and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Drunk Driving Prevention campaign. Jackson donated the use of "Beat It" for the campaign's public service announcements.
[87]
Unlike later albums,
Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the
Victory Tour
of 1984 headlined the Jacksons and showcased much of Jackson's new solo
material to more than two million Americans. It was the last tour he
would do with his brothers.
[88]
Following a controversy over the concert's ticket sales, Jackson held a
press conference and announced that he would donate his share of the
proceeds from the Victory Tour, an estimated
$3 to 5 million, to charity.
[89][90] Jackson's charitable work and humanitarian awards continued with the release of "
We Are the World" (1985), which he co-wrote with
Lionel Richie.
[91] The song was recorded on January 28, 1985
[92] and was released worldwide in March 1985 to aid the poor in the United States and Africa.
[93] The song earned $63 million for famine relief,
[93] and became one of the
best-selling singles of all time, with 20 million copies sold.
[94] "We Are the World" won four Grammys for 1985, including Song of the Year going to Jackson and Richie as its co-songwriters.
[91]
Although the American Music Award directors removed the charity song
from the competition because they felt it would be inappropriate, the
AMA show in 1986 concluded with a tribute to the song in honor of its
first anniversary. The project's creators received two special AMA
honors: one for the creation of the song and another for the
USA for Africa
idea. Jackson, Quincy Jones, and entertainment promoter Ken Kragan
received special awards for their roles in creation of the song.
[91][92][95][96]
Jackson's financial interests in the music publishing business
expanded after Jackson collaborated with Paul McCartney in the early
1980s. He subsequently learned that McCartney was making approximately
$40 million a year from other people's songs.
[93]
By 1983, Jackson had begun investing in publishing rights to songs that
others had written, but he was careful with his acquisitions, only
bidding on a few of the dozens that were offered to him. Jackson's early
acquisitions of
music catalogs and song copyrights such as the
Sly Stone collection included "Everyday People" (1968),
Len Barry's "
1-2-3" (1965), and
Dion DiMucci's "
The Wanderer" (1961) and "
Runaround Sue" (1961); however, Jackson's most significant purchase came in 1985, when he acquired the publishing rights to
ATV Music Publishing after months of negotiation.
[93] ATV had acquired the publishing rights to nearly 4000 songs, including the
Northern Songs catalog that contained the majority of the
Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded by
the Beatles.
[97]
In 1984
Robert Holmes à Court, the wealthy Australian investor who owned ATV Music Publishing, announced he was putting the ATV catalog up for sale.
[97] In 1981, McCartney was offered the ATV music catalog for £20 million ($40 million).
[93][98][99] According to McCartney, he contacted
Yoko Ono about making a joint purchase by splitting the cost at £10 million each, but Ono thought they could buy it for £5 million each.
[93][99]
When they were unable to make a joint purchase, McCartney, who did not
want to be the sole owner of the Beatles' songs, did not pursue an offer
on his own.
[98][99]
According to a negotiator for Holmes à Court in the 1984 sale, "We had
given Paul McCartney first right of refusal but Paul didn't want it at
that time."
[100]
Jackson was first informed about the sale by his attorney, John Branca, in September 1984.
[97]
An attorney for McCartney also assured Branca that McCartney was not
interested in bidding. McCartney reportedly said "It's too pricey",
[93][98]
but several other companies and investors were interested in bidding.
Jackson submitted a bid of $46 million on November 20, 1984.
[97]
His agents thought they had a deal several times, but encountered new
bidders or new areas of debate. In May 1985, Jackson's team walked away
from talks after having spent more than $1 million and four months of
due diligence work on the negotiations.
[97] In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that
Charles Koppelman's and
Marty Bandier's
The Entertainment Company had made a tentative agreement with Holmes à
Court to buy ATV Music for $50 million; however, in early August, Holmes
à Court's team contacted Jackson and talks resumed. Jackson raised his
bid to $47.5 million, which was accepted because he could close the deal
more quickly, having already completed due diligence of ATV Music.
[97] Jackson also agreed to visit Holmes à Court in Australia, where he would appear on the
Channel Seven Perth Telethon.
[100] Jackson's
purchase of ATV Music was finalized on August 10, 1985.
[97]
1986–90: Appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography, and Neverland
Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color for the duration of his
youth, but starting in the mid-1980s it gradually grew paler. The change
gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that he might be
bleaching his skin.
[101] According to
J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1986 Jackson was diagnosed with
vitiligo, which Taraborrelli noted may be a consequence of skin bleaching. He claimed Jackson was diagnosed with
lupus. The vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in
remission.
Both illnesses made his skin sensitive to sunlight. The treatments
Jackson used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and with
the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches he could appear
very pale.
[102] Jackson was also diagnosed with vitiligo in his autopsy though not lupus.
[103]
Jackson claimed he had only two rhinoplasties and no other surgery on his face, although at one point he mentioned having a
dimple created in his chin. He lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire for "a dancer's body".
[104] Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy, and speculated he was suffering from
anorexia nervosa. Periods of weight loss would become a recurring problem later in life.
[105]
During the course of his treatment, Jackson made two close friends: his dermatologist, Dr.
Arnold Klein, and Klein's nurse
Debbie Rowe.
Rowe eventually became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two
eldest children. He also relied heavily on Klein for medical and
business advice.
[106]
Jackson became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In
1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber
to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box.
Although the claim was untrue, according to tabloid reports that are
widely cited, Jackson had disseminated the fabricated story himself.
[107] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called
Bubbles from a laboratory, he was reported to be increasingly detached from reality.
[108] It was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of
Joseph Merrick (the "Elephant Man") and, although untrue, Jackson did not deny the story.
[109]
Although he initially saw these stories as opportunities for publicity,
he stopped leaking untruths to the press as they became more
sensational. Consequently, the media began making up their own stories.
[107][110][111] These reports became embedded in the public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson came to despise.
[3][112] Responding to the gossip, Jackson remarked to Taraborrelli:
Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars? Tell them I eat live
chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter.
But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I
eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight," people would say,
"Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth."[113]
Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt during the Bad era.
Jackson collaborated with
George Lucas and
Francis Ford Coppola on the 17-minute
3D film Captain EO, which debuted in September 1986 at both the original
Disneyland and at
Epcot in Florida, and in March 1987 at
Tokyo Disneyland. The $30 million movie was a popular attraction at all three parks. A Captain EO attraction was later featured at
Euro Disneyland
after that park opened in 1992. All four parks' Captain EO
installations stayed open well into the 1990s: the Paris installation
was the last one to close, in 1998.
[114] The attraction would later return to Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.
[115]
In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the
Jehovah's Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the
Thriller video.
[116][117] With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years,
Bad (1987), was highly anticipated.
[118]
Jackson performing in 1988.
The album spawned seven hit singles in the U.S., five of which ("
I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "
Bad", "
The Way You Make Me Feel", "
Man in the Mirror" and "
Dirty Diana") reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100. This was a record for most number one Hot 100 singles from any one album, including
Thriller.[119] As of 2012, the album sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide.
[120][121][122][123] Thanks to the
Bad album, Bruce Swedien and
Humberto Gatica
won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical
and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "
Leave Me Alone" in 1989.
[58][66] In the same year, Jackson won an Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards because
Bad
is the first album ever to generate five number one singles in the
U.S., the first album to top in 25 countries, and the best-selling album
worldwide in 1987 and 1988.
[124][125][126][127] In 1988, "Bad" won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single.
[128]
The
Bad World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989.
[129]
In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people,
nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.
[130] Jackson broke a
Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at
Wembley Stadium.
[131] He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people.
[132]
In 1988, Jackson released his only autobiography,
Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies.
[133] Jackson wrote about his childhood,
the Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered.
[134] He also wrote about his facial appearance.
[104] He attributed much of the change in the structure of his face to
puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style, and stage lighting.
[104] Moonwalk reached the top position on
The New York Times best sellers' list.
[135] The musician then released a film called
Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films that starred Jackson and
Joe Pesci. The film was originally intended to be released to theaters, but due to financial issues, the film was released
direct-to-video. It saw a theatrical release in Germany, though. It debuted atop the
Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues.
[136]
In March 1988, Jackson purchased land near
Santa Ynez, California, to build
Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million.
[137] He installed several carnival rides on the 2,700-acre (11 km
2) property, including a
Ferris wheel, a
carousel, and a
menagerie, as well as a movie theater and a zoo.
[137][138][139] A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds.
[138] In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.
[140] In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts were estimated at $125 million for that year alone.
[141] Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television ad in the
Soviet Union.
[136]
His success resulted in him being dubbed the "
King of Pop".
[4][5][6] The nickname was popularized by
Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul."
[142] President
George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade".
[143] From 1985 to 1990, he donated $455,000 to the
United Negro College Fund,
[144] and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.
[145] Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at
Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration allowed Jackson to receive his second Emmy nomination.
[76][136]
1991–93: Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal at the time,
[146] displacing
Neil Diamond's renewal contract with
Columbia Records.
[147] In 1991, he released his eighth album,
Dangerous, co-produced with
Teddy Riley.
[148] Dangerous was certified seven times platinum in the U.S., and, as of 2008, has approximately sold 30 million copies worldwide.
[149][150] In the United States, the album's first single "
Black or White" was its biggest hit, reaching number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide.
[151] The album's second single "
Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the United States, peaking at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
[152] At the end of 1992,
Dangerous
was awarded the best-selling album of the year worldwide and "Black or
White" was awarded best-selling single of the year worldwide at the
Billboard Music Awards. Additionally, he won an award as best-selling
artist of the 1980s.
[153] In 1993, Jackson performed the song at the
Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in rehearsals.
[154] In the UK and other parts of Europe, "
Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.
[152]
Jackson founded the
Heal the World Foundation
in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to
Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the
property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe
to help children threatened by war, poverty, and disease. In the same
year, Jackson published his second book, the bestselling collection of
poetry,
Dancing the Dream.
While it was a commercial success, and revealed a more intimate side to
Jackson's nature, the collection was mostly critically unacclaimed at
the time of its release. In 2009, the book was republished by
Doubleday and was more positively received by some critics in the wake of Jackson's untimely death. The
Dangerous World Tour grossed
$100 million. The tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 70 concerts.
[152][155] He sold the broadcast rights to his
Dangerous world tour to
HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.
[156]
Following the illness and death of
Ryan White,
Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was
still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the
Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.
[157][158] In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them
Gabon and
Egypt.
[159]
His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable and enthusiastic
reception of more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that
read, "Welcome Home Michael."
[159] In his trip to
Ivory Coast, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief.
[159]
He then thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed official
documents formalizing his kingship, and sat on a golden throne while
presiding over ceremonial dances.
[159]
In January 1993, Jackson made an appearance at the
Super Bowl XXVII
halftime show in Pasadena, California. Because of dwindling interest
during halftime in the years before, the NFL decided to seek big-name
talent that would keep viewers and ratings high, with Jackson being
selected because of his popularity and universal appeal.
[160]
It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during
the half-time show to more than the game itself. The performance began
with Jackson catapulting onto the stage as fireworks went off behind
him. As he landed on the canvas, he maintained a motionless "clenched
fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military
outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for a minute
and a half while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his
sunglasses, threw them away and sang four songs: "
Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White", and "Heal the World". Jackson's
Dangerous album rose 90 places up the album chart soon after.
[101]
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to
Oprah Winfrey
on February 10, 1993, his second television interview since 1979. He
grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his
father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years,
admitting that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors
that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric
oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he
had vitiligo.
Dangerous re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after its original release.
[25][101][152]
In February 1993, Jackson was given the "Living Legend Award" at the
35th Annual Grammy Awards
in Los Angeles. "Black or White" was Grammy-nominated for best vocal
performance. "Jam" gained two nominations: Best R&B Vocal
Performance and Best R&B Song.
[152] The
Dangerous album won a Grammy for Best Engineered – Non Classical, awarding the work of Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley.
[66] In the same year, Michael Jackson won three American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album (
Dangerous), Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("
Remember the Time"),
and was the first to win the International Artist Award, for his global
performances and humanitarian concerns. This award will bear his name
in the future.
[161][162]
1993–94: First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage
In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of
child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler and his father,
Evan Chandler, a dentist.
[163][164][165]
The Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer
initially refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that
Jackson had sexually abused him.
[109][166]
Evan Chandler was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue
charges, saying, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no
way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed
forever..... Michael's career will be over". Jordan's mother was,
however, adamant at the time that there had been no wrongdoing on
Jackson's part.
[165]
Jackson later used the recording to argue that he was the victim of a
jealous father whose only goal was to extort money from the singer.
[165]
In January 1994, however, after investigation on allegations of
extortion against the singer by Chandler, deputy Los Angeles County
district attorney Michael J. Montagna stated that Chandler would not be
charged due to lack of cooperation from Jackson's camp and its
willingness to negotiate with Chandler for several weeks among other
reasons.
[167]
In August 1993, Jackson's home was raided by the police who,
according to court documents, found books and photographs in his bedroom
featuring young boys with little or no clothing.
[168] Since the books were legal to purchase and own, the jury decided not to indict Jackson.
[169] In December 1993, Jackson was
strip searched.
[170] Jordan Chandler had reportedly given police a description of Jackson's
intimate parts, and the strip search revealed that Jordan had correctly claimed Jackson had patchy-colored buttocks, short
pubic hair, and pink and brown marked
testicles.
[170]
Reportedly, Jordan had also previously drawn accurate pictures of a
dark spot on Jackson's penis only visible when his penis was lifted.
[171] Despite differing initial internal reports from prosecutors and investigators
[172] and later, with reports of jurors feeling otherwise that the photos did not match the description,
[173] the DA stated his belief in a sworn
affidavit that the description was accurate,
[174] along with the sheriff's photographer stating the description was accurate.
[175]
A 2004 motion filed by Jackson's defense asserted that Jackson was
never criminally indicted by any grand jury and that his settlement
admitted no wrongdoing and contained no evidence of criminal misconduct.
[176]
The investigation was inconclusive and no charges were ever filed.
[173] Jackson described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence.
[163][170][177]
On January 1, 1994, Jackson settled with the Chandlers out of court for
$22 million. A Santa Barbara County grand jury and a Los Angeles County
grand jury disbanded on May 2, 1994, without indicting Jackson,
[178] and the Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994.
[176][179][180]
The out-of-court settlement's documentation specifically stated Jackson
admitted no wrongdoing and no liability; the Chandlers and their family
lawyer Larry Feldman signed it without contest.
[181]
Feldman also explicitly stated "nobody bought anybody's silence".
[182]
A decade after the fact, during the second round of child abuse
allegations, Jackson's lawyers would file a memo stating that the 1994
settlement was done without his consent.
[176] A later disclosure by the
FBI
of investigation documents compiled over nearly 20 years led Jackson's
attorney to suggest that no evidence of molestation or sexual
impropriety from Jackson toward minors existed.
[183] According to reports the
DCFS had investigated Jackson beginning in 1993 with the Chandler allegation and again in 2003. Reports show the
LAPD and DCFS did not find credible evidence of abuse or sexual misconduct.
[184][185][186]
In May 1994, Jackson married
Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of
Elvis and
Priscilla Presley. They had first met in 1975, when a seven-year-old Presley attended one of Jackson's family engagements at the
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and were reconnected through a mutual friend.
[187] According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A."
[188]
They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As the child
molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on
Presley for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering
health and addiction to drugs.
[189]
Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he
was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save
him. I felt that I could do it."
[190] She eventually persuaded him to settle the civil case out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover.
[189]
Jackson proposed to Presley over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?"
[189] They married in the
Dominican Republic in secrecy, denying it for nearly two months afterwards.
[191] The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life..... that was sexually active".
[192] At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image.
[191] The marriage lasted less than two years and ended with an amicable divorce settlement.
[193]
In a 2010 interview with Oprah, Presley admitted that they had spent
four more years after the divorce "getting back together and breaking
up", until she decided to stop.
[194]
1995–99: HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood
In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division creating
Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million upfront as well as
the rights to even more songs.
[195][196] He then released the double album
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first disc,
HIStory Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later reissued as
Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001, while the second disc,
HIStory Continues,
contained 13 new songs and 2 cover versions. The album debuted at
number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million
shipments in the US.
[197] It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.
[151][198] HIStory received a Grammy nomination for
Album of the Year.
[199]
The first single released from the album was "
Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet, performed with Jackson's youngest sister
Janet.
The song fights against the media, mainly for what the media made him
out to be during his 1993 child abuse allegations. The single had the
highest debut on the
Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".
[199] "
You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from
HIStory; it holds the
Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart.
[141] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".
[199]
In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing
during rehearsals for a televised performance; the incident was caused
by a stress-related
panic attack.
[200] "
Earth Song" was the third single released from
HIStory, and topped the
UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.
[199] The track "
They Don't Care About Us" became controversial when the
Anti-Defamation League and other groups criticized its allegedly
antisemitic lyrics. Jackson quickly put out a revised version of the song without the offending lyrics.
[201]
In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for
"Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
[58][202]
The album was promoted with the successful
HIStory World Tour.
The tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997.
Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, and
grossed a total of
$165 million. The show, which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures.
[129] During the tour, Jackson married his
longtime friend Deborah Jeanne Rowe,
a dermatology nurse, in an impromptu ceremony in Sydney, Australia.
Rowe was approximately six months pregnant with the couple's first child
at the time. Originally, Rowe and Jackson had no plans to marry, but
Jackson's mother Katherine persuaded them to do so.
[203]
Michael Joseph Jackson Jr (commonly known as Prince) was born on
February 13, 1997; his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born a
year later on April 3, 1998.
[193][204]
The couple divorced in 1999, and Jackson got full custody of the
children. The divorce was relatively amicable, but a subsequent custody
suit was not settled until 2006.
[205][206]
In 1997, Jackson released
Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from
HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at
6 million copies, it is the
best selling remix album ever released.
[207] It reached number one in the UK, as did the
title track.
[207][208] In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.
[149][199] Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.
[140] Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of charitable events. He joined
Luciano Pavarotti for a
benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the nonprofit organization
War Child, and raised a million dollars for the
refugees of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia, as well as additional funds for the children of Guatemala.
[209]
Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson &
Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved
included
Slash,
The Scorpions,
Boyz II Men,
Luther Vandross,
Mariah Carey,
A. R. Rahman,
Prabhu Deva Sundaram,
Shobana,
Andrea Bocelli, and
Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the
Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the
Red Cross and
UNESCO.
[210] From August 1999 through 2000, he lived in New York City at 4
East 74th Street.
[211]