MICHAEL Jackson was a child prodigy, a musical genius and died as one of
the most idolised artists on earth. The 50-year-old was worshipped by
fans for revolutionising music, dance and music videos at the peak of his
success.
Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his showbusiness debut with four
of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the
stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming
one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label.
The Jacksons produced
seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three
multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS's Epic
Records in 1976.
Despite the early success, Jackson was
to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act
broke up, as Jackson went
solo.
In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, “Off the
Wall”, a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.
They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson's breakthrough
album as a composer and co-producer, ”Thriller”, which became the top-selling
album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.
”Thriller” was followed by ”Bad” in 1987 (20 million sold) and
“Dangerous” in 1991 (21 million sold) with videos whose auto-erotic dance
contrasted with Jackson's
sweet, childlike personality offstage.
A pop culture icon with enormous wealth, Jackson in 1991 signed a deal with Sony
Music described as the most lucrative contract ever for a recording artist.
As Jackson's
life was complicated by his meteoric rise to fame, he also started undergoing a
dramatic physical transformation.
Over the years, his skin has become much lighter and he appears to have
had extensive plastic surgery on his face. Vanity Fair magazine reported in
2003 that the tip of his nose is actually a prosthesis.
In 1994, he stunned the public by marrying Lisa Marie Presley, the
26-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley.
The marriage lasted less than two years and was a hot topic for the
tabloids. However, the renewed interest in Jackson's love life did not spark interest in
his music.
In June 1995, he released the double album “HIStory, Past, Present and
Future – Book I” to negative reviews and weak sales – despite Sony Music's
40-million-dollar investment. AndJackson's next album, ”Invincible”, flopped.
Jackson then
married Debbie Rowe, a 37-year-old nurse he met while undergoing plastic
surgery in 1997. They had two children, Prince Michael and Paris Michael
Katherine, before divorcing in 1999.
Prior to his death, Jackson had
been scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million
people, at London's O2 arena,
from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010.
A public memorial service was held at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. The service
ended with speeches by members of his family, including his brothers, Jermaine and Marlon,
and his daughter Paris.
Initially,
Michael Jackson's casket, dubbed "The Promethean" was not expected to
appear at the memorial service, however, due to a change in the family's plans
the casket was taken to the memorial service.
Viewing
parties were held all over the world for the broadcast, including at several
movie theaters, in Times Square, the Apollo Theater, Raleigh,
Federation Square in Melbourne, and Berlin.
