Place of Birth. Born in Gary (Indiana, USA) and became the seventh of nine children of a steelworker.
Creation. When Michael was five years old, his father formed the Jackson 5, a family band that went from winning local competitions to a record deal with record giant Motown Records in 1969.
The Jacksons soon rose to the national level, and in 1970 their first four singles hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
But in 1973, the popularity of the family project began to decline, the record company limited their financial possibilities, and in 1976 they signed a contract with Epic Records, as a result of which they had to change their name to The Jacksons. From 1976 to 1984 they publish six more albums, travel around the country with concerts.
In parallel with his work in a group with his brothers, Michael Jackson began to record quite successful solo projects, including four albums and a number of singles.
In 1978, Michael starred with Diana Ross in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. On the set, he met music director Quincy Jones, who went on to produce his most famous albums. The first - "Off the Wall" (1979) - turned Jackson into a world superstar. Thanks to the hits "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You", 10 million copies were sold and the album went multi-platinum.
In 1982, Michael released an album called "Thriller", which sold worldwide with a record circulation and became the best-selling in the history of pop music. The album hit the top of the charts and topped the top ten for 37 consecutive weeks. In the same year, Michael received an unprecedented eight Grammy awards and was hailed as the King of Pop.
The popularity of the disc was also facilitated by Jackson's performance in May 1983, during which he presented the world with a 14-minute video clip shot for the song "Thriller" and designed in the style of a horror movie. At the same concert, during the performance of "Billie Jean", Jackson demonstrated his famous "moonwalk" for the first time.
Michael's next solo project, "Bad" (1987), gave the world five super hits and sold 25 million copies. In support of this album, Jackson undertook the biggest concert tour in history. The singer continued his "astronomical" sales in 1991 with the album "Dangerous".
In 1995, Michael released "HIStory Past, Present and Future Book I", which became the most successful double album of all time. A year later, "Blood On The Dance floor: HIStory In The Mix" was released, which many critics consider Jackson's best work.
At the end of 2001, a new album called "Invincible" was released, after which Jackson released only two collections of hits from past years.
Scandals. Every step of the King of Pop was covered and analyzed by the media, and his quirks were widely discussed in the press for years. Most of the time, Michael was forced to spend in seclusion at his strictly guarded ranch "Neverland", where children also lived, to whom the singer was always partial. In 1993, he was charged with corrupting a young boy, but the case was hushed up. Ten years later, history repeated itself. The trial of the singer lasted from February to May 2005 and ended in an acquittal.
In March 2009, Michael announced that he was going to play a series of concerts in London called "This is it Tour". The concerts were supposed to start in July.
In April 2009, the tabloids reported that during the next examination, doctors discovered that Michael had skin cancer. Information about the serious state of health of the pop star has appeared before. In particular, Jackson biographer Ian Halperin stated that the singer needed a lung transplant, and he also suffers from emphysema and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding. However, the official representative of the singer, Dr. Tomy Tomy denied this information. However, for a long time, Jackson rarely appeared in public and at the same time often hid his face under a mask due to problems that arose after numerous plastic surgeries and skin whitening.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, Michael fell at home in Los Angeles. The doctors who arrived at the call performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Jackson fell into a coma and died shortly after he was brought to the University of California Medical Center. The cause of death is believed to have been cardiac arrest.
Achievements. During his career, the king of pop has sold 750 million albums worldwide, won 13 Grammy awards, and climbed 13 times with his singles to the first line of the American charts. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a solo artist and as a member of the Jackson 5.
The Guinness Book of Records recognized Jackson as the most successful artist, and the Thriller album was recognized as the best-selling album of all time. He was also honored with the American Music Award's Artist of the Century.
Family. In 1994, Jackson surprised the world by secretly marrying Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Some saw it as an attempt to patch up their reputation, while others found the union of two prominent musical families touching. One way or another, after a year and a half, the marriage fell apart.
In February 1997, Michael's second wife Debbie gave the singer their first child, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. In 1998 they had a daughter, Paris-Michael Catherine Jackson. In 2002, Michael had a son, Prince Michael II, from a surrogate mother whom the singer had never even met.
06/26/2009