Wikipedia: Michael Jackson More options
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John Lucas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_jackson
~§~MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON~§~ (born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana)
is an
American entertainer who is known by his fans and peers as the
~§~"KING OF
POP"~§~, and by his critics as "wacko jacko". He began his career at
the age
of 11 as lead singer of the Motown produced act The Jackson 5 (later
"The
Jacksons") in the 1960s, and made his first solo recordings in 1971 as
part
of the Jackson 5 franchise. Jackson began a full-fledged solo career
in 1979
and formally parted with his siblings in 1987. He has since become
the
~§~MOST SUCCESSFUL RECORDING ARTIST IN BLACK MUSIC HISTORY~§~, and
the
~§~BIGGEST SELLING SOLO ARTIST OF ALL-TIME*, with worldwide sales of
over
~§~350 MILLION~§~ as a solo artist. He has also sold an additional
150
million records as lead singer and chief songwriter of The Jackson 5,
bringing his total record sales to ~§~500 MILLION~§~.
His 1982 album Thriller currently holds the title of the ~§~BEST-
SELLING
ALBUM IN HISTORY~§~, having sold over ~§~60 MILLION~§~ copies
worldwide.
Jackson has had thirteen number-one Billboard Hot 100 solo hits,
including
"Ben", "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock With You", "Billie
Jean",
"Beat It", "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Black or White", as well as
an
additional four with the Jackson 5. His distinctive voice, dance
moves,
music videos and pop appeal have inspired and influenced many of
today's
singers, such as Janet Jackson, Usher, Beyoncé, and Justin Timberlake,
among
others.
His love for children has often been viewed negatively by the public.
In
2003, Jackson was dogged by the mass media over allegations of child
sexual
abuse. These allegations resulted in a trial and ~§~ACQUITTAL~§~ in
2005.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Jackson was born the seventh of nine children in Gary, Indiana to
Joseph and
Katherine Jackson. The entire family, including older siblings
Rebbie,
Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, LaToya, and Marlon, and younger siblings Randy
and
Janet, lived together in a tiny two-bedroom house, while Joseph earned
a
meager living working in a steel mill. At the behest of their mother,
but
against Joseph's wishes, the Jackson children were raised as
Jehovah's
Witnesses and practiced door-to-door evangelism.
According to the J. Randy Taraborrelli book, "Michael Jackson, The
Magic and
The Madness", The Jackson siblings also have a half-sister named Joh
Vonnie
(b. 30th August 1974).
In accordance with Joseph Jackson's strict rules, the children were
kept
locked in their house while he worked the night shift. However, the
children
would regularly sneak out of the house, venturing to their neighbors'
homes,
where they practiced singing and playing music. The older Jackson
brothers
would sometimes play Joseph's prized guitar without his permission
while he
was at work. Eventually, Tito broke a string. Joseph found out, and
after a
severe punishment was given to Tito, Joseph ordered him to play the
guitar
for him. He did, and Michael's older brothers sang and danced, and
thus,
Joseph discovered their musical abilities and decided to capitalize
upon it
in order to leave Gary for California.
THE JACKSON 5
GROUP FOUNDING and EARLY YEARS
Joseph organized Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and two unrelated
neighborhood
youths, Milford Hite (on drums) and Reynaud Jones (on keyboards) as an
act
called The Jackson Brothers in 1962. Within two years, Michael and his
older
brother Marlon began playing congas and tambourine, respectively, with
The
Jackson Brothers, before the group's name was changed to The Jackson
Five
(later the Jackson 5) in 1966 and by the next year, eight-year-old
Michael
was appointed lead singer.
MOTOWN SUCCESS
With Michael on lead vocals, the Jackson 5 built up a following by
playing
at clubs and bars on the ~§~"CHIT'LIN CIRCUIT"~§~ throughout the
Midwest,
winning an Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem,
New
York. The Jackson 5 signed their first recording contract with the
local
Steeltown label in 1967, and had a regional hit with "Big Boy" in
1968.
The Jackson 5 were discovered by both Gladys Knight and Bobby Taylor,
who
brought them to Motown Records in 1968. Label head Berry Gordy bought
out
the Jackson 5's Steeltown contract and signed the group to Motown in
March
1969. Gordy then moved the Jackson family to Los Angeles, California,
and
proceeded to turn them into ~§~INTERNATIONAL STARS~§~. In the fall of
1969,
The Jackson 5 were presented to the public by Diana Ross, and were
officially launched as the next big Motown act.
The group's first four singles, "I Want You Back" from 1969, and
"ABC", "The
Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" from 1970, all became ~§~NUMBER-
ONE
HITS~§~ in the U.S. Later hits included "Mama's Pearl" and "Never Can
Say
Goodbye" (1971), "Lookin' Through the Windows" (1972), "Get It
Together"
(1973) and "Dancing Machine" (1974). The Jackson 5 recorded fourteen
albums
for Motown, and Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie all recorded solo albums
as
part of the Jackson 5 "franchise". Michael released four solo albums
while
at Motown, spawning the hits "Got to Be There", "Rockin' Robin", "I
Wanna Be
Where You Are", and the number-one hit "Ben", among others. Most of
the
Jackson 5 hits were produced by either The Corporation - a collective
of
songwriters and record producers including Gordy, Freddie Perren,
Alphonzo
Mizell, and Deke Richards - or by Motown songwriter/producer Hal
Davis.
THE MOVE TO EPIC
In 1975, the Jackson brothers signed a new contract with CBS Records,
first
joining the Philadelphia International division and later moving over
to
Epic Records. The new deal with CBS provided larger royalties and
~§~CREATIVE FREEDOM~§~ that the Jackson 5 were not allowed at Motown.
Upon
learning that the Jackson 5 had signed a contract with another label,
Motown
sued the group for breach of contract; as a result, they lost the
rights to
use the "Jackson 5" name and logo. Additionally Jermaine, who had
married
Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel, opted to remain at Motown for a full-
time solo
career. Now known as "The Jacksons", and featuring youngest Jackson
brother
Randy in Jermaine's place, the brothers continued their ~§~SUCCESSFUL
CAREER~§~, touring internationally and releasing six albums between
1976 and
1984. Hits during this period included "Enjoy Yourself" and "Show You
The
Way To Go" in 1976, "Blame It On The Boogie" in 1977, "Shake Your Body
(Down
to the Ground)" in 1978, and "Can You Feel It" and "Heartbreak Hotel"
in
1980. The Jacksons would continue to record together well into the
1980s,
even bringing Jermaine back into the fold for their 1984 Victory album
and
tour. By the end of the decade, Michael and Marlon were no longer
members of
The Jacksons, and the group disbanded in 1990.
SOLO CAREER
THE WIZ and OFF THE WALL
In 1978, Michael co-starred in The Wiz as the Scarecrow, with former
labelmate Diana Ross as Dorothy. The musical film's songs were
arranged and
produced by famed producer Quincy Jones, who found a rapport with
Jackson.
After Jackson signed a solo contract with Epic in 1978, he began work
on his
first of several albums with Jones.
Michael Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was a ~§~WORLDWIDE HIT~§~,
and
spawned the number-one hit singles and music videos "Don't Stop 'Til
You Get
Enough" and "Rock With You". The ballad "She's Out of My Life" also
reached
the top ten in 1980. With that accomplishment, Jackson became the
~§~FIRST
SOLO ARTIST~§~ to have ~§~FOUR Top 10 HIT SINGLES~§~ in the Billboard
Hot
100 singles chart from a ~§~SINGLE ALBUM~§~. The album went on to sell
over
~§~20 MILLION~§~ copies ~§~WORLDWIDE~§~, establishing Jackson as a
~§~MUSICAL FORCE~§~ without his brothers.
THRILLER
In the 1980s, Jackson released a progression of solo albums of
slickly-produced synthesizer-heavy pop. In what was perhaps the
"Golden Age"
of the music video, some of Jackson's videos were virtually short
films with
detailed plots, special effects, and featuring Jackson's distinctive
dance
style.
Michael Jackson's 1982 album Thriller produced seven top-ten hit
singles,
broke sales records, and became the ~§~BEST-SELLING ALBUM IN MUSIC
HISTORY~§~. The "Billie Jean" music video, released to promote
Thriller,
became the ~§~FIRST~§~ video by a ~§~BLACK ARTIST~§~ to gain regular
airplay
on MTV. The fourteen-minute "Thriller" music video became the
~§~WORLD'S
BEST-SELLING HOME VIDEO~§~ at the time (packaged with the featurette
The
Making of Michael Jackson's "Thriller"). The album's third major
single,
"Beat It", was another #1 pop hit in the U.S., accompanied by a
popular West
Side Story-inspired music video. The videos for "Billie Jean",
"Thriller"
and "Beat It" frequently place highly on MTV and VH1 countdowns of
notable
classic videos, and receive airplay on MTV2 to this day.
While performing "Billie Jean" during the Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today,
Forever special on television on May 16, 1983, Jackson publicly
performed
his moonwalk dance for the first time. In January 1984, at the
American
Music Awards, Jackson was nominated for nine awards, and won a record
eight.
At the Grammy Awards in February, Jackson was nominated for twelve
awards,
and won a ~§~RECORD BREAKING EIGHT~§~: seven for Thriller and one for
his
narrative on The E.T. Storybook. In May, Thriller was certified by
the
Guinness Book of Records as the ~§~BEST SELLING POPULAR MUSIC ALBUM OF
ALL
TIME~§~. The same year, he was also awarded the H. Claude Hodson Medal
of
Freedom at the NAACP Image Awards, honored at the White House by
President
Ronald Reagan with the Presidential Special Achievement Award, and
was
awarded a star in November on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. By 2005,
Thriller
had been certified ~§~TWENTY-SEVEN TIMES PLATINUM~§~ in the U.S.
Jackson became a spokesman for Pepsi at the height of Thriller's
popularity.
On January ...