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, dance and fashion[7][8][9] 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, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5, and began his solo career music videos, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Jackson's 1987 album Bad spawned the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana", becoming the first album to have five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. He continued to innovate with videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" throughout the 1990s, and forged 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.
Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide. Jackson's other albums, including Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995), also rank among the world's best-selling albums. He is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time by Guinness World Records.[10][11] Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame as the 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 350 million records worldwide.[Note 1] Jackson has won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]
Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, 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.[15] 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, 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.[16] Forbes ranks Jackson as the top-earning dead celebrity, a title held for a sixth consecutive year, with $115 million in earnings.[17]
Life
and career
1958–1975:
Early life and the Jackson 5
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on
August 29, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children in a working class
African-American family living in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city and a part of
the Chicago metropolitan
area.[18][19] His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness.
She played clarinet and piano and once aspired to be a country-and-western performer, but worked
part-time at Sears to support the family.[20] Michael's 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, the Falcons, to supplement the family's household
income.[21] Michael grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy).[22] A sixth brother, Marlon's twin
Brandon, died shortly after birth.[23]
Jackson had a troubled relationship
with his father, Joe.[24][25] In 2003, Joe acknowledged that he
regularly whipped him as a boy.[26] Joe was also said to have verbally
abused his son, often saying that he had a "fat nose".[27] 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.[24] In an interview with Martin Bashir for the 2003 documentary Living with
Michael Jackson, Jackson recalled that Joe 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."[28][29]
Jackson's parents have disputed the
longstanding allegations of abuse, with Katherine stating that while whipping
is considered abuse today, it was a common way to discipline children at the
time.[30][31][32] Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon have
also said that their father was not abusive and that the whippings, which were
harder on Michael because he was younger, kept them disciplined and out of
trouble.[33] 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.[34] His 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.[35]
The Jackson 5 recorded several
songs, including "Big Boy" (1968), their first single, for Steeltown Records, a Gary, Indiana, record label,[41] before signing with Motown in 1969.[22] They left Gary in 1969 and relocated
to the Los Angeles area, where they continued to record music for Motown.[42] Rolling Stone later described the young
Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts"
who "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."[43] 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.[22] In May 1971, the Jackson family moved
into a large home on two-acre estate in Encino, California.[44] During this period, Michael evolved
from child performer into a teen idol.[45] As Jackson began to emerge as a solo
performer in the early 1970s, he maintained 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).[46] "Got to Be There"
and "Ben", the title
tracks from his first two solo albums, both became successful singles, as did a
cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".[47]
The Jackson 5 were later described
as "a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists."[48] Although the group's sales began to
decline in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's refusal to allow
them creative input, they achieved several top 40 hits, including the top five
single "Dancing Machine"
(1974), before leaving Motown in 1975.[49]
1975–1981:
Move to Epic and Off the Wall
In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed
with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records,[49] 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.[50] 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).[36]
His 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.[51] The film was a box-office failure.[52] While working on the film Jackson met
producer Quincy Jones, though
this was not the first time they had met (they originally met when Michael was
12, at Sammy Davis Jr.'s
house).[53] Jones was arranging the film's musical
score and agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.[54] 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.[55]
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.[45] 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".[56][57] The album reached number three on the Billboard 200
and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[58] 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".[59][60] 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".[61] In 1981 Jackson was the American Music
Awards winner for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male
Artist.[62] Despite its commercial success,
Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a bigger impact, and was
determined to exceed expectations with his next release.[63] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of
wholesale album profit.[64]
Jackson recorded with Queen singer Freddie Mercury from 1981 to 1983, including a
demo of "State of Shock",
"Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This".[65] The recordings were intended for an
album of duets but, according to Queen's then-manager Jim Beach, the relationship between the singers
soured when Jackson insisted on bringing a llama
into the recording studio.[66] The collaborations were not officially
released until 2014.[67] Jackson went on to record the single
"State of Shock" with Mick Jagger for the Jacksons' album Victory
(1984).[68] Mercury included the solo version of
"There Must Be More To Life Than This" on his Mr. Bad Guy album (1985).[69]
1982–1983:
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.[70]
More success came with the release
of his sixth album, Thriller,
in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys[70] and eight American Music Awards,
including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it.[71] It was the best-selling album
worldwide in 1983,[72][73] and became the best-selling album of
all time in the United States[74] and the best-selling album
of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies.[75] It 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'".[76] In December 2015, Thriller was
certified for 30 million shipments by the RIAA,
making it the only album to achieve that feat in the United States.[77] 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.[70] Thriller also won another
Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work on the album.[78] 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.[71][79]
In addition to the album, Jackson
released "Thriller",
a 14-minute music video directed by
John Landis, in 1983.[80] It "defined music videos and
broke racial barriers" on the Music Television Channel (MTV),
a fledgling entertainment television channel at the time.[45] In December 2009, the Library of Congress
selected the "Thriller" music video for inclusion in the National Film Registry.
It was one of 25 films named that year as "works of enduring importance to
American culture" that would be "preserved for all time."[81][82] As of 2009, the zombie-themed
"Thriller" is the only music video to have been inducted into the
registry.[80][82][83]
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 such as dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in
stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.[84] 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."[85] In 1985, The Making of Michael
Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.[70] 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".[84] The New York Times wrote that
"in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is
everybody else".[86]
On March 25, 1983, Jackson reunited
with his brothers for a live performance 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.[87] The show is best remembered for
Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean", which earned Jackson his
first Emmy nomination.[88] 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.[89] 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 agreed to perform in
exchange for time to do a solo performance.[90] According to Rolling Stone
reporter Mikal Gilmore, "There are times when you know you are hearing or
seeing something extraordinary...that came that night."[45] Jackson's performance drew comparisons
to Elvis Presley's and the Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.[91] 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."[92] 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."[93]
1984–1985:
Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career
In November 1983 Jackson and his
brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million
promotional deal that broke advertising industry records for a celebrity
endorsement. The first Pepsi Cola campaign, which ran
in the United States from 1983 to 1984 and launched its "New
Generation" theme, included tour sponsorship, public relations events, and
in-store displays. Jackson, who was actively involved in creating the iconic
advertisement, suggested using his song, "Billie Jean", as its jingle with a revised chorus.[94] According to a Billboard report
in 2009, Brian J. Murphy, executive VP of branded management at TBA Global,
said: "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."[94]
On January 27, 1984, Michael and
other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi commercial overseen by executive Phil Dusenberry,[95] a BBDO
ad agency executive, and Alan Pottasch,
Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. During a
simulated concert before a full house of fans, pyrotechnics accidentally set
Jackson's hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his
scalp. Jackson underwent treatment to hide the scars and had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter.[55] 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.[96] 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 of more than 20 countries and would provide financial support for
Jackson's Bad album and 1987–88 world tour.[94] 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.[94][97]
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,[98] 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.[99]
Unlike later albums, Thriller
did not have an official tour, 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.[100] Following controversy over the
concert's ticket sales, Jackson held a press conference and announced that he
would donate his share of the proceeds, an estimated $3 to 5 million, to
charity.[101][102] His charitable work and humanitarian
awards continued with the release of "We Are the World" (1985), which he co-wrote
with Lionel Richie.[103] The song was recorded on January 28,
1985[104] and was released worldwide in March
1985 to aid the poor in the United States and Africa.[105] The song earned $63 million for
famine relief,[105] and became one of the best-selling
singles of all time, with 20 million copies sold.[106] "We Are the World" won four
Grammys for 1985, including Song of the Year going to Jackson and Richie as its
co-songwriters.[103] 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
the song's creation.[103][104][107][108]
Jackson's financial interests in the
music publishing business grew 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.[105] 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.[105] 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.[109]
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.[109] In 1981, McCartney was offered the
ATV music catalog for £20 million ($40 million).[105][110][111] 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.[105][111] 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.[110][111] According to a negotiator for Holmes
à Court in the 1984 sale, McCartney was given first right of refusal and
declined to purchase.[112]
Jackson was informed of the sale by
his attorney, John Branca, in September 1984.[109] An attorney for McCartney also
assured Branca that McCartney was not interested in bidding. McCartney
reportedly felt it was too expensive,[105][110] but several other companies and
investors were interested in bidding. Jackson submitted a bid of $46 million on
November 20, 1984.[109] His agents thought they had a deal
several times, but encountered new bidders or new areas of debate. In May 1985,
Jackson's team left talks after having spent more than $1 million and four
months of due diligence work on
the negotiations.[109] 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.[109] Jackson also agreed to visit Holmes à
Court in Australia, where he would appear on the Channel Seven
Perth Telethon.[112] Jackson's purchase of ATV
Music was finalized on August 10, 1985.[109]
1986–1990:
Changing appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography, and Neverland
See also: Michael
Jackson's health and appearance
Jackson's skin had been a
medium-brown color during his youth, but starting in the mid-1980s gradually
grew paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that
he might have been bleaching his skin.[113] According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's
biography, in 1984, 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 pale.[114] Jackson was also diagnosed with
vitiligo in his autopsy, though not lupus.[115]
Jackson claimed he had only two
rhinoplasties and no other facial surgery, although at one point 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".[116] 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.[117] 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.[118]
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 in a glass box. Although the
claim was untrue, according to tabloid reports that are widely cited, Jackson
had disseminated the fabricated story himself.[119] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee
named Bubbles from a
laboratory, he was reported to be increasingly detached from reality.[120] 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.[121] 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
fabricating stories.[119][122][123] These reports became embedded in the
public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which
Jackson came to despise.[3][124] 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."[125]
Jackson collaborated with filmmakers
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 to close, in
1998.[126] The attraction would later return to
Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.[127] In 1987, Jackson disassociated
himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses,
in response to their disapproval of the Thriller video.[128][129]
With the industry expecting another
major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad
(1987), was highly anticipated.[130]
The album produced seven successful 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.[131]
As of 2012, the album had sold between 30 and 45 million copies worldwide.[132][133][134][135]
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.[70][78]
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.[136][137][138][139]
In 1988, "Bad" won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Single.[140]
The Bad
World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989.[141]
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.[142]
Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people
attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium.[143]
He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people.[144]
In 1988, Jackson released his only
autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and
sold 200,000 copies.[145]
He wrote about his childhood, the Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered.[146]
He also wrote about his changing facial appearance, attributing it to puberty, weight
loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style, and stage lighting.[116]
Moonwalk reached the top position on The New York Times best
sellers' list.[147]
Jackson released a film, Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short
films starring Jackson and Joe Pesci. Due to financial issues, the film was only
released theatrically in Germany; in other markets it was released direct-to-video.
It debuted at the top of 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.[148]
In March 1988, Jackson purchased
land near Santa Ynez, California, to build Neverland
Ranch at a cost of $17 million.[149]
He installed several carnival rides on the 2,700-acre (11 km2)
property, including a Ferris wheel, carousel, menagerie,
as well as a movie theater and a zoo.[149][150][151]
A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds.[150]
In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.[152]
In 1989, Jackson's annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts
were estimated at $125 million for that year alone.[153]
Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television ad
in the Soviet
Union.[148]
Jackson's 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."[154]
President George H. W. Bush designated him the White
House's "Artist of the Decade".[155]
From 1985 to 1990, he donated $455,000 to the United Negro College Fund,[156]
and all profits from his single "Man
in the Mirror" went to charity.[157]
Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy
Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration won Jackson a second Emmy nomination.[88][148]
1991–1993:
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,[158]
displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia
Records.[159]
In 1991, he released his eighth album, Dangerous, co-produced with Teddy
Riley.[160]
Dangerous was certified seven times platinum in the U.S., and by 2008
had sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide.[161][162]
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.[163]
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.[164]
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. Jackson also won an award
as best-selling artist of the 1980s.[165]
In 1993, he performed the song at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying
he had suffered an injury in rehearsals.[166]
In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal
the World" was the album's most successful song; it sold 450,000
copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.[164]
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,
Dancing the Dream, a collection of poetry,
revealing a more intimate side of his nature. While it was a commercial
success, it received mostly negative reviews. In 2009, the book was republished
by Doubleday and was more positively received by
some critics in the wake of Jackson's 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.[164][167]
He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a
record-breaking deal that still stands.[168]
Following the illness and death of
AIDS spokesperson Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS,
something that was 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.[169][170]
In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among
them Gabon and Egypt.[171]
His first stop to Gabon was greeted with an enthusiastic reception of more than
100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home
Michael."[171]
In his trip to Ivory Coast, Jackson was crowned "King Sani"
by a tribal chief.[171]
He thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed official documents
formalizing his kingship, and sat on a golden throne while presiding over
ceremonial dances.[171]
In January 1993, Jackson performed
at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena,
California. Because of a dwindling interest during halftime in the preceding
years, the NFL decided to seek big-name talent that would keep ratings high,
with Jackson selected for his universal appeal.[172]
It was the first Super Bowl whose half-time performance drew greater audience
figures 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 "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 performed 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.[113]
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.[29][113][164]
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.[164]
The Dangerous album won a Grammy for Best Engineered – Non Classical,
awarding the work of Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley.[78]
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 of
Excellence, for his global performances and humanitarian concerns.[173][174]
Jackson agreed to produce the soundtrack for Sega's 1994 video game
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with collaborators Brad Buxer,
Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug
Grigsby, and Cirocco Jones.[175][176][177]
Jackson left the project before completion and was never officially credited,
allegedly due to his dissatisfaction with the Sega
Genesis console's audio chip.[178][179][180]
1993–1994:
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.[181][182][183]
The Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer initially
refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that Jackson had sexually
abused him.[121][184]
Evan Chandler was 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.[183]
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.[183]
In January 1994, 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 party and its willingness to negotiate with Chandler for several
weeks, among other reasons.[185]
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.[186]
Since the books were legal to purchase and own, the jury decided not to indict
Jackson.[187]
In December 1993, Jackson was strip-searched.[188]
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.[188]
Reportedly, Jordan had also previously drawn accurate pictures of a dark spot
on Jackson's penis only visible when his penis was lifted.[189]
Despite differing initial internal reports from prosecutors and investigators[190]
and later, with reports of jurors feeling otherwise that the photos did not
match the description,[191]
the DA stated his belief in a sworn affidavit
that the description was accurate,[192]
along with the sheriff's photographer stating the description was accurate.[193]
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.[194]
The investigation was inconclusive
and no charges were filed.[191]
Jackson described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed
his innocence.[181][188][195]
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,[196]
and the Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around
July 6, 1994.[194][197][198]
The out-of-court settlement's documentation stated Jackson admitted no
wrongdoing and no liability; the Chandlers and their family lawyer Larry
Feldman signed it without contest.[199]
Feldman also stated "nobody
bought anybody's silence".[200]
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.[194]
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.[201]
According to reports the Department
of Children and Family Services (Los Angeles County) 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.[202][203][204]
In May 1994, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis
and Priscilla Presley. They had met in 1975, when a
seven-year-old Presley attended one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and reconnected
through a mutual friend.[205]
According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in
November 1992 in L.A."[206]
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.[207]
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."[208]
She eventually persuaded him to settle the civil case out of court and go into
rehabilitation to recover.[207]
Jackson proposed to Presley over the
telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me,
would you do it?"[207]
They married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy, denying it for
nearly two months afterwards.[209]
The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life ... that was
sexually active."[210]
The tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's
public image.[209]
The marriage ended less than two years later with an amicable divorce
settlement.[211]
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.[212]
1995–1999:
HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood
In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV
Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He retained
ownership of half the company, earning $95 million up front as well as the rights to more songs.[213][214]
In June, he released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and
Future, Book I. The first disc, HIStory Begins, is a 15-track greatest hits album (later reissued as Greatest
Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001); the second disc, HIStory Continues,
contains 13 original 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.[215]
It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies
(40 million units) sold worldwide.[163][216]
HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.[217]
The first single released from the
album was "Scream/Childhood". "Scream", a duet
with Jackson's youngest sister Janet,
protests the media, particularly for its treatment of him during the 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".[217]
"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.[153]
It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a GraIn late 1995, Jackson was rushed to
a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance,
caused by a stress-related panic attack.[218] "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.[217] 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 released a
revised version of the song without the offending lyrics.[219] 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.[70][220]
HIStory was promoted with the successful HIStory World Tour,
beginning on September 7, 1996, and ending on October 15, 1997. Jackson
performed 82 concerts in five continents, 35 countries and 58 cities to over
4.5 million fans, and grossed a total of $165 million, becoming Jackson's most
successful tour in terms of audience figures.[141] 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.[221] 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.[211][222] The couple divorced in 1999, and
Jackson received full custody of the children. The divorce was relatively
amicable, but a subsequent custody suit was not settled until 2006.[223][224]
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, making it the best-selling
remix album of all time.[225] It reached number one in the UK, as
did the title track.[225][226] In the US, the album was certified
platinum, but only reached number 24.[161][217] Forbes placed Jackson's annual income
at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.[152]
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, and additional funds for the children of Guatemala.[227] Later that month, Jackson organized a
series 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.[228] From August 1999 through 2000, he
lived in New York City at 4 East 74th Street.[229]
2000–2003:
Label dispute and Invincible
At the turn of the century, Jackson
won an American Music Award as Artist of the 1980s.[230] Throughout 2000 and 2001, he worked
with collaborators including Teddy Riley and Rodney Jerkins to produce his tenth solo album, Invincible,
released in October 2001. The album cost $30 million to record, not including
promotional expenditures.[231] Invincible was Jackson's first
full-length album in six years, and was the last album of original material he
released in his lifetime. The release was preceded by a dispute between Jackson
and his record label, Sony Music
Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of
his albums to revert to him sometime in the early 2000s. Once he had the
licenses, he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and keep
all the profits; however, clauses in the contract set the revert date years
into the future. Jackson discovered that the attorney who had represented him
in the deal had also been representing Sony.[226] Jackson was also concerned about the
fact that for years, Sony had been pressuring him to sell his share in its
music catalog venture. Jackson feared that Sony might have a conflict of
interest, since if Jackson's career failed, he would have to sell his share of
the catalog at a low price.[232] Jackson sought an early exit from his
contract.[226]
In September 2001, two 30th
Anniversary concerts were held at Madison Square Garden to mark
Jackson's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared onstage alongside his
brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also featured performances by Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, NSYNC,
Destiny's Child, Monica, Luther Vandross, and Slash, among other
artists.[233] The second of the two shows took
place the night before the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.[234] After 9/11, Jackson helped organize
the United
We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium
in Washington, D.C. The concert took place on October 21, 2001, and included
performances from dozens of major artists, including Jackson, who performed his
song "What More Can I Give"
as the finale.[232] Due to contractual issues related to
the earlier 30th Anniversary concerts, later edited into a two-hour TV special
titled Michael
Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration broadcast in November
2001, Jackson's solo performances were omitted from the televised benefit
concert, although he could still be seen singing background vocals.
Invincible was released in October 2001 to much anticipation. It
debuted at number one in 13 countries and went on to sell approximately 13
million copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in the U.S.[161][163] However, sales for Invincible
were lower than Jackson's previous releases, due in part to the record label
dispute and the lack of promotion or tour, and its release at a bad time[235] for the music industry in general.[232] Invincible spawned three
singles, "You Rock My World",
"Cry",
and "Butterflies",
the latter without a music video. Jackson alleged in July 2002 that the-then
Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a
"devil" and a "racist" who did not support his African-American
artists, using them merely for his own personal gain.[232] He charged that Mottola had called
his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger".[236] Sony refused to renew Jackson's
contract, and claimed that a $25 million promotional campaign had failed
because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.[231]
In 2002, Michael Jackson won his
22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century.[237] In the same year, his third child,
Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born.[238] The mother's identity was not
announced, but Jackson said the child was the result of artificial
insemination from a surrogate mother and his
own sperm.[223] On November 20 of that year, Jackson
brought his infant son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin as fans stood below,
holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face.
The baby was briefly extended over a railing, four stories above ground level,
prompting widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apologized for the
incident, calling it "a terrible mistake".[239] In November 2003, Sony released Number
Ones, a compilation of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the
U.S., the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was
certified six times platinum for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.[161][240]
2003–2005:
Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal
Further information: Living with
Michael Jackson and Trial of Michael
Jacksonmmy
nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".[217]
As soon as the documentary aired,
the Santa Barbara county attorney's office began a criminal investigation.
After an initial probe from the LAPD
and DCFS was
conducted in February 2003, they had initially concluded that molestation
allegations were "unfounded" at the time.[204] After the young boy involved in the
documentary and his mother had told investigators that Jackson had behaved
improperly with the boy, Jackson was arrested in November 2003, and was charged
with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an
intoxicating agent in relation to the 13-year-old boy shown in the
film.[241] Jackson denied the allegations,
saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature. The People v. Jackson
trial began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria,
California, and lasted five months, until the end of May. On June
13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all counts.[242][243][244] After the trial, in a highly
publicized relocation he moved to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, as a guest of Sheikh
Abdullah.[245] Bahrain was also where the family
intended to send Jackson if he was convicted (though Jackson did not know about
the plan), according to a statement by Jermaine Jackson printed in The Times of London in September 2011.[246]
2006–2009:
Closure of Neverland, final years, and This Is It
In March 2006, the main house at the
Neverland Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure.[247] There were numerous reports around
that time that Jackson had been having financial problems. He had been
delinquent on his repayments of a $270 million loan secured against his music-publishing
holdings, even though those holdings were reportedly making him as much as $75
million a year.[248] Bank of America sold the debt to Fortress Investments.
Sony reportedly proposed a restructuring deal which would give them a future
option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly-owned publishing
company, leaving Jackson with a 25% stake.[214] Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed
refinancing deal in April 2006, although the details were not made public.[249] Jackson did not have a recording
contract at the time. In early 2006, it was announced that Jackson had signed a
contract with a Bahrain-based startup called Two Seas Records.
However, nothing came of the deal, and the Two Seas CEO Guy Holmes later stated that the deal had never
been finalized.[250][251]
Throughout 2006, Sony repackaged 20
singles from the 1980s and 1990s as the Michael Jackson:
Visionary series, which subsequently became a box set. Most of those singles returned to the
charts as a result. In September 2006, Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe
confirmed reports that they had settled their long-running child custody suit.
The terms were never made public. Jackson continued to be the custodial parent
of the couple's two children.[224] In October 2006, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman
said that Jackson had been recording at a studio in rural Westmeath, Ireland. It was not known at the time
what Jackson had working on, or who had paid for the sessions, since his
publicist had recently issued a statement claiming that he had left Two Seas.[251][252]
In November 2006, Jackson invited an
Access Hollywood
camera crew into the studio in Westmeath, and MSNBC
reported that he was working on a new album, produced by will.i.am.[163] Jackson performed at the World Music Awards
in London on November 15, 2006, and accepted a Diamond Award for selling over
100 million records.[163][253] He returned to the United States
after Christmas 2006 to attend James Brown's funeral in Augusta, Georgia, where he gave one of the
eulogies, saying that "James Brown is my greatest inspiration."[254] In the spring of 2007, Jackson and
Sony teamed up to buy another music publishing company, Famous Music LLC, formerly owned by Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by
Eminem and Beck,
among others.[255][256] In March 2007, Jackson gave a brief
interview to the Associated Press
in Tokyo, where he said: "I've been in the entertainment industry since I
was 6 years old, and as Charles Dickens
would say, 'It's been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not
change my career ... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I
take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful
friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."[257] In March 2007, Jackson visited a U.S.
Army post in Japan, Camp Zama, to greet over
3,000 U.S. troops and their families. The hosts presented Jackson with a
Certificate of Appreciation.[258]
In September 2007, Jackson was
reportedly still working on his next album, but the work was never completed.[259] In 2008, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of
the original Thriller.
This album featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time", an
outtake from the original sessions, as well as remixes, where Jackson
collaborated with younger artists who had been inspired by his work.[260] Two of the remixes were released as
singles with modest success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008"
(with will.i.am) and "Wanna Be
Startin' Somethin' 2008" (with Akon). The first single was
based on an early demo version, without Paul McCartney. The album was a
commercial success.[260][261][262][263] In anticipation of Jackson's 50th
birthday, Sony BMG released a series of greatest hits albums, King of Pop.
Slightly different versions were released in various countries, based on polls
of local fans.[264] King of Pop reached the top 10
in most countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in other
countries (such as the United States).[265][266]
In late 2008, Fortress Investments
threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as collateral
for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress
opted to sell Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson
transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, a
joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. The deal cleared
Jackson's debt and reportedly earned him an additional $35 million. At the time
of his death, Jackson still owned a stake of unknown size in Neverland/Sycamore
Valley.[267][268] In September 2008, Jackson entered
negotiations with Julien's Auction House
to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia amounting to
approximately 1,390 lots. The auction was scheduled to take place between April
22 and 25.[269] An exhibition of the lots opened as
scheduled on April 14, but the actual auction was eventually cancelled at
Jackson's request.[270]
In March 2009, Jackson held a press
conference at London's O2 Arena to
announce a series of comeback concerts titled This Is It.
The shows would be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory
World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson suggested possible retirement after the
shows, saying it would be his "final curtain call". The initial plan
was for 10 concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips, president and chief
executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone would earn the
singer approximately £50 million.[271] The London residency was increased to
50 dates after record-breaking ticket sales: over one million were sold in less
than two hours.[272] The concerts would have commenced on
July 13, 2009, and finished on March 6, 2010. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles
in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place
at the Staples Center,
owned by AEG.[273] Less than three weeks before the
first show was due to begin in London, with all concerts sold out, Jackson died
after suffering cardiac arrest.[274] Some time before his death, it was
reported that he was starting a clothing line with Christian Audigier.[275][276]
Jackson's first posthumous song
released entirely by his estate was "This Is It",
which he had co-written in the 1980s with Paul Anka. It was not on the setlists for the
concerts, and the recording was based on an old demo tape. The surviving
brothers reunited in the studio for the first time since 1989 to record backing
vocals. On October 28, 2009, a documentary film about the rehearsals, Michael Jackson's
This Is It, was released.[277] Despite a limited two-week
engagement, it became the highest-grossing documentary or concert film of all
time, with earnings of more than $260 million worldwide.[278] Jackson's estate received 90% of the
profits.[279] The film was accompanied by a compilation
album of the same name. Two versions of "This Is It"
appear on the album, which also featured original masters of Jackson's hits in
the order in which they appear in the film, along with a bonus disc with
previously unreleased versions of more Jackson hits and a spoken-word poem,
"Planet Earth".[280] At the 2009 American
Music Awards, Jackson won four posthumous awards, two for him and
two for his album Number Ones, bringing his total American Music Awards
to 26.[281][282]
Death
and memorial
Main articles: Death of Michael
Jackson and Michael
Jackson memorial service
Jackson's death triggered a global
outpouring of grief.[283] The news spread quickly online,
causing websites to slow down and crash from user
overload. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times suffered outages.[289] Google initially believed that the millions of
search requests meant their search engine was under DDoS
attack, and blocked searches related to Michael Jackson for 30
minutes. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia at 3:15 pm PDT (22:15 UTC).[290] The Wikimedia Foundation
reported nearly a million visitors to Jackson's biography within one hour,
probably the most visitors in a one-hour period to any article in Wikipedia's
history.[291] AOL Instant Messenger
collapsed for 40 minutes. AOL called it a "seminal moment in internet
history ... We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."[292] Around 15% of Twitter posts (5,000 tweets per minute) reportedly mentioned Jackson
after the news broke,[293][294] compared to the 5% recalled as having
mentioned the Iranian
elections or the flu pandemic that had made headlines earlier in
the year.[294] Overall, web traffic ranged from 11% to at least 20%
higher than normal.[293][295] MTV
and BET aired marathons of
Jackson's music videos.[296] Jackson specials aired on television
stations around the world. The British soap opera EastEnders added a last-minute scene to the
June 26 episode in which one character tells another about the news.[297] MTV briefly returned to its original
music video format to celebrate his work,[298] airing hours of Jackson's music
videos, accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV
personalities and other celebrities.[299] The temporary shift in MTV's
programming culminated the following week in the channel's live coverage of
Jackson's memorial service.[299]
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi
performed at the event. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read "We Had Him", a poem
written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.[303] The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation with
cheers when he told Jackson's children: "Wasn't nothing strange about your
daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it
anyway."[304] Jackson's 11-year-old daughter Paris
Katherine, speaking publicly for the first time, wept as she told the crowd:
"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine
... I just wanted to say I love him ... so much."[305][306] Reverend Lucious Smith provided a
closing prayer.[307]
At the time of death, Jackson had
been administered propofol, lorazepam, and midazolam,[308] and the Los Angeles coroner decided
to treat the death as a homicide.[309][310] Law enforcement officials conducted a
manslaughter investigation of his personal physician Conrad Murray, and charged him
with involuntary
manslaughter in Los Angeles on February 8, 2010.[311] Jackson's body was entombed on
September 3, 2009, at Forest
Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[312]
On June 25, 2010, the first
anniversary of Jackson's death, fans traveled to Los Angeles to pay tribute.
They visited Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his family's home,
and Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Many of the fans were carrying sunflowers and
other tribute items to leave at the sites. Members of the Jackson family and
close friends arrived to pay their respects.[313][314] Katherine returned to Gary, Indiana
to unveil a granite monument constructed in the front yard of the family home.
The memorial continued with a candlelight vigil and a special performance of
"We Are the World".[315][316] On June 26, there was a protest march
in front of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division at
the old Parker Center building and a petition with thousands of signatures
demanding justice.[317][318] The Jackson Family Foundation, in
conjunction with Voiceplate, presented "Forever Michael", an event
bringing together Jackson family members, celebrities, fans, supporters and the
community to celebrate and honor his legacy. A portion of the proceeds were
presented to some of Jackson's favorite charities. Katherine also introduced
her new book "Never Can Say Goodbye".[319][320][321]
Aftermath
In the 12 months after his death,
Jackson sold more than 8.2 million albums in the United States and 35 million
albums worldwide, making him the best-selling albums artist of 2009.[322][323] He became the first artist to sell
one million downloads in a week in music download history, with a record-breaking
2.6 million downloads of his songs. Three of his albums sold more than any new
album, the first time a catalog album has ever scanned more sales than any new
album.[324] Jackson also became the first artist
in history to have four of the top 20 best-selling albums in a single year in
the United States.[322] Following this surge in sales, Sony
announced that they had extended their distribution rights for Jackson's
material, which had been due to expire in 2015.[325] On March 16, 2010, Sony Music
Entertainment, spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label
Group division, signed a new deal with the Jackson estate to extend
their distribution rights to his back catalogue until at least 2017, and
release ten new albums of previously unreleased material and new collections of
released work.[326]
On November 4, 2010, Sony announced
the first postumous album, Michael, released on December 14, with the
promotional single, "Breaking
News", released to radio on November 8.[327] Sony Music reportedly paid the
Jackson estate $250 million for the deal, plus royalties, making it the most
expensive music contract pertaining to a single artist in history.[325][328] Video game developer Ubisoft announced a dancing-and-singing game featuring Michael
Jackson for the 2010 holiday season, Michael
Jackson: The Experience; it is among the first games to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the motion-detecting camera
systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 respectively.[329]
On November 3, 2010, the theatrical
performing company Cirque du Soleil
announced that it would launch Michael
Jackson: The Immortal World Tour in October 2011 in Montreal,
while a permanent show will reside in Las Vegas.[330] The 90-minute $57-million production
will combine Jackson's music and choreography with the Cirque's artistry, dance
and aerial displays involving 65 artists.[331] The tour was written and directed by Jamie King[332] and centers on Jackson's
"inspirational Giving Tree – the wellspring of creativity where his love
of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature are
unlocked."[333] On October 3, 2011, the accompanying
compilation soundtrack album Immortal
was announced to have over 40 Jackson's original recordings re-produced by
Kevin Antunes.[334] A second, larger and more theatrical
Cirque show, Michael Jackson: One,
designed for residency at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, was announced
on February 21, 2013. This show, also produced, written and directed by King,
began its run on May 23, 2013 in a newly renovated theater to critical and
commercial success.[335][336][337][338]
In April 2011, billionaire
businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed,
chairman of Fulham Football Club
and Jackson's longtime friend, unveiled a statue of Michael
Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage.[339] Fulham fans were bemused by the statue
and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club.[340] Al Fayed defended the statue and told
the fans to "go to hell" if they did not appreciate it.[339] The statue was removed in September
2013[341] and moved to the National Football
Museum in Manchester in May 2014.[342]
In 2012, in an attempt to end public
family feuding, Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson retracted his signature on a
public letter criticizing executors of Michael Jackson's estate and his
mother's advisers concerning the legitimacy of his brother's will.[343] T.J. Jackson, son of Tito Jackson,
was given co-guardianship of Michael Jackson's children after false reports
surfaced of Katherine Jackson going missing.[344]
On May 16, 2013, choreographer Wade Robson alleged on The Today Show
that Jackson "performed sexual acts on me and forced me to perform sexual
acts on him" for 7 years, beginning when Robson was 7 years old.[345] Robson had previously testified in
defence of Jackson at the singer's 2005 child molestation trial.[346] The attorney for Jackson's estate
described Robson's claim as "outrageous and pathetic".[347] The date for the hearing which will
determine whether Robson can sue Jackson's estate was scheduled for June 2,
2014.[348] In February 2014, the Internal Revenue
Service reported that Jackson's estate owed $702 million, including
$505 million in taxes and $197 million in penalties after they claimed the
estate undervalued Jackson's fortune.[349]
On March 31, 2014, Epic Records
announced Xscape, an album
of eight songs of unreleased material culled from past recording sessions.[350] It was released on May 13, 2014.[351] On May 12, 2014, another young man,
Jimmy Safechuck, sued Jackson's estate, claiming Jackson sexually abused him
"from the age of 10 to about 14 or 15" in the 1980s.[352] During the 2014 Billboard
Music Awards on May 18, a "Pepper's ghost" likeness of Jackson
appeared, dancing to "Slave
to the Rhythm", one of the tracks from Xscape.[353] Later that year, Queen released three duets that Freddie Mercury had recorded with Jackson in the
1980s.[67]
Jackson's earnings have
exponentially increased following his sudden death in comparison to his final
years alive. According to Forbes, he has been the top-earning dead celebrity
each year since his death, with triple-digit millions per annum ($115 million
in 2015).[17] In December 2015, Jackson's album Thriller
became the first album in the United States to surpass 30 million shipments,
certifying it 30× platinum by the RIAA.[77] Two months later, Billboard
reported that the album was certified again at 32× platinum, surpassing 32
million shipments after Soundscan added streams and
audio downloads to album certifications.[354]
Artistry
Influences
Jackson was influenced by musicians
including Little Richard, James Brown,[355] Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, Fred Astaire,[355] Sammy Davis Jr.,[355] Gene Kelly,[355][356] David Ruffin,[357] the Isley Brothers,
and the Bee Gees.[358] According to choreographer David Winters,
who met and befriended Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana Ross TV special Diana!, Jackson watched the musical West Side Story almost every week, and it was
his favorite film; he paid tribute to it in "Beat It" and the "Bad" video.[358][359][360] While Little Richard had a
substantial influence on Jackson,[361] James Brown was Jackson's greatest
inspiration. In reference to Brown, Jackson declared: "Ever since I was a
small child, no more than like six years old, my mother would wake me no matter
what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the
television to see the master at work. And when I saw him move, I was
mesmerized. I had never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right
then and there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my
life because of James Brown."[362]
The young Jackson owed his vocal
technique in large part to Diana Ross. Not only a mother figure to him, she was
often observed in rehearsal as an accomplished performer.[clarification needed]
He later said: "I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to
just sit in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I
studied the way she moved, the way she sang – just the way she was." He
told her: "I want to be just like you, Diana." She said: "You
just be yourself."[363] Jackson owed part of his enduring
style—especially his use of the oooh interjection—to Ross. From a young
age, Jackson often punctuated his verses with a sudden exclamation of oooh.
Diana Ross had used this effect on many of the songs recorded with the Supremes.[364]
Musical
themes and genres
Jackson explored a variety of music
genres, including pop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk,
rock, disco,
post-disco, dance-pop and new jack swing.[3][150][365][366][367][368] Unlike many artists, Jackson did not
write his songs on paper and instead dictated into a sound recorder.[369] When composing music, he preferred to
beatbox and imitate instruments vocally rather
than use instruments.[370]
According to Steve Huey of AllMusic,[3] Thriller refined the strengths
of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while
the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.[3] Its tracks included the ballads
"The Lady in My Life", "Human
Nature", and "The Girl Is Mine", the funk pieces
"Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'", and the disco set "Baby Be
Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty
Young Thing)".[3][371][372][373] With Thriller, Christopher
Connelly of Rolling Stone commented that Jackson developed his long
association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery.[373] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas
Erlewine noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean"
and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[371] In "Billie Jean", Jackson
sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers.[3] In "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media.[373] "Beat It" decried gang
violence in an homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first
successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey.[3][43] He also observed that the title track
"Thriller"
began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent
years.[3] In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity
anthem "We Are the World";
humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona.
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