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Michael
Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958, in Gary,
Indiana), is an African-American singer, dancer,
screenwriter, songwriter, record producer and one of
the recognizable names in the world. Jackson began
his career as the lead singer of Motown act The
Jackson 5 in the 1960s and 1970s. After beginning a
full-fledged solo career in 1979, Jackson went on to
become one of the most successful solo artists in
music history .He is known as the King of the Music
Video and the King of Pop, a nickname that Elizabeth
Taylor gave him in 1989 during an awards ceremony.
He has,
however, been dogged by media fascination with his
alleged transracially changing physical appearance
and what some perceive as an eccentric lifestyle,
resulting in his being nicknamed Wacko Jacko.
Jackson's skin color, which he attributes to
vitiligo, is believed to have been bleached by some.
Jackson uses makeup in his public appearances, and
is protected from the sun by a parasol when he is
outdoors. Jackson believes that the media's coverage
of him is fueled by racism. Jackson and others
claimed, that in 2002, he outsold Elvis Presley, the
first white rock star. Comparisons with Elvis are
difficult to verify due to the lack of reliable
sales information.
Jackson
is fond of children, and, apart from having his own,
he has had friendships with a number of other
children, ranging from disadvantaged children to
child celebrities. He has invited many groups of
children to his ranch and has sponsored a number of
charity drives for children, such as his We are the
World album in 1985.
However, Jackson's relationship with children, both
his own and others, has been controversial in the
past. Jackson's sleepover parties at his mansion,
Neverland Ranch, have received widespread critical
media coverage, especially after he revealed that
they sometimes slept in the same bed. He has been
accused of sexually molesting some of these
children. As a result of one of these allegations,
he was tried, but found not guilty on all charges on
June 13, 2005.
Jackson
has received numerous music industry awards
including 18 Grammys. He has sold about 232 million
records worldwide as a solo artist and another
estimated 170 million records with The Jackson 5 and
The Jacksons. Some consider his Thriller video to be
the greatest music video of all time and a large
step forward in artistic quality for music videos.
MTV and Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled in
2000 named four of his songs ("Billie Jean" #5, The
Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" #9, "Beat It" #22, and
"Rock with You" #82) among the 100 greatest pop
songs of all time.
His
Thriller is the world's all time best-selling album
with over 59 million copies sold.
*
* * *
Personal background
Jackson
was born the seventh of nine children in Gary,
Indiana, to Joseph Jackson and Katherine Jackson.
The entire family--including older siblings Rebbie,
Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, LaToya, and Marlon, and
younger siblings Randy and Janet--lived in a tiny
two-bedroom house, and Jackson's father Joseph
Jackson earned a meager living working in a steel
mill. Jackson and his sister LaToya both claimed
that their father was cruel and physically abusive
to his children. Jackson broke down and wept during
a television interview when asked about this, and
said that even as an adult just meeting his father
often made him physically ill.
At the
behest of their mother Katherine, but against
Joseph's wishes, the Jackson children were raised as
Jehovah's Witnesses and practiced door-to-door
evangelization. Jackson continued to do so after
becoming famous, but then in disguise. His career
and flamboyant style led to friction with
congregation elders. At one point, his sister LaToya
was shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses, and in 1987, he
formally left the religion.
Due to
Joseph Jackson's strict rules, the children were
kept locked in their house while he worked the night
shift. However, the children would sneak out of the
house to their neighbors where they practiced
singing and playing music. Eventually, Jackson found
out about their musical abilities and decided to
capitalize upon it in order to leave Gary for
California. Michael later attended and graduated
from Montclair College Preparatory School.
Jackson
has been living at his 11 km² (2600 acres) Neverland
Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, named after the
magical kingdom Neverland featured in the children's
story Peter Pan, since purchasing the property in
1988. In December 2003, he said that after it had
been searched by police (see below), it no longer
felt like a home, and is now a house he just visits.
He lived for some time in Beverly Hills in a
$70,000-a-month rented home, but as of 2005 seems to
live at Neverland again.
Jackson
claims that his relationships with children stem
from the sense of innocence they have, an innocence
he feels he lost too soon. Like Peter Pan, Jackson
did not want to grow up. He has said he is
compensating for his "lost childhood". Neverland
contains a small zoo and amusement park. About once
a week he has been inviting a bus full of children
(especially the sick and poor) there for a day of
fun.
His
favorite pastimes include playing with children
(e.g. having water balloon and water gun fights, and
having rides with them in his golf carts, which
children are often allowed to drive themselves),
small steam train, and the other rides of the
amusement park, and having long telephone
conversations with young friends. He had had
sleepovers in the past with children, but stated in
2005 that this practice places him in a vulnerable
position by creating suspicions and allegations of
sexual abuse. He has publicly stated he will not put
himself in such a vulnerable position ever again.
Jackson
kept a chimpanzee, Bubbles, in Neverland, which he
valued highly, treating him more like a friend than
a pet. This chimp, and the other one, slept with
Jackson in his bedroom numerously. Bubbles was moved
from the ranch after reaching maturity because adult
chimpanzees are very strong and can be dangerous.
He
likes climbing trees; he has written several songs
sitting in his favorite tree at Neverland, which he
calls Giving Tree, because, he says, it is so
inspiring.
Jackson
collaborated with rabbi Shmuley Boteachto create the
now defunct "Heal the Kids" foundation. The "Heal
The World" (see information about the song with the
same name below) foundation was created by Jackson
solely in 1992, with further assistance of Jimmy
Carter. Michael is also the godfather of Lionel
Richie's adopted daughter Nicole Richie.
It has
been rumored that Jackson has used extensive plastic
surgery to modify his appearance, although he claims
to have had only three operations: Two rhinoplastic
surgeries (the first of which he claims was to
repair a broken nose resulting from a dancing
accident in 1978, and the second to correct
imperfections in the first surgery - that is what
media believe, though Jackson did not state that)
and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin
(Jackson often omits mentioning the cleft as
insignificant, comparing to media nonsense claims
that he rebuild his whole face, when listing his
cosmetic surgery, but he confirms the surgery in his
1988 autobiography Moon Walk). Some critics have
characterized his plastic surgery and purported
"skin bleaching" as an attempt to hide his
African-American ancestry, but destruction of the
melanin-producing cells, which looks like bleaching,
is a common treatment for advanced vitiligo, a
condition which leaves the skin with disfiguring
white patches, especially on the face and hands.
Jackson has insisted that he only uses heavy makeup
to mask the effects of the vitiligo.
Jackson's alleged extensive use of plastic surgery
has now caused increased concerns of media's
surgeons for possible cartilage and nose collapse.
They agree that Jackson's nose structure could
easily collapse during an altercation. Other
experts, however, claim that in the last 27 years,
Jackson had totally only two nosal bone structure
surgeries, the latest in 1982, and three other minor
corrections of the cartilage in 1983, 1990, 2000.
Jackson's marriages and children
In 1994
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of
Elvis Presley; the marriage lasted less than two
years, ending in divorce. In 1996, he married Debbie
Rowe, with whom he had a son, Prince Michael, and a
daughter, Paris Katherine. They were divorced in
1999. Rowe later said that she wanted Jackson have
the children as a "gift", she offered it even while
Jackson was married to Presley. Rowe had given up
her parental rights to the children, but as of 2005
a family court case is under way regarding
visitation. The godparents of these two children are
Macaulay Culkin and Elizabeth Taylor.
Around
February 2002 Jackson had another son, Prince
Michael II, also called "Blanket", apparently with a
surrogate mother whose identity has not been
disclosed. In late 2002, Jackson stirred up
controversy while staying at the Adlon hotel in
Berlin by briefly suspending him over the edge of
the railing of a balcony. Jackson defended his
actions, saying that he held the child very tightly
with his tennis player-sized arms. Jackson's
children are veiled or masked when they appear in
public with him, which he describes as a security
measure. Jackson's second wife, Rowe, said it was
her idea from the very beginning.
In
December 2003 Jackson's parents promised they would
look after the three children if they were taken
away from Michael. Reportedly the children have been
interviewed by social workers by request from Gloria
Allred. In March 2004 it was confirmed there was an
unspecified family matter between Michael Jackson
and Debbie Rowe, to be handled in mediation. In July
2004 news was released that Jackson is to be the
father of quadruplets, via artificial insemination.
The mother is said to be a "struggling actress".
Jackson however, strongly denied the allegations. It
was found out later that a woman, who made those
claimes, had made simililar allegations before.
Musical career
The
Jackson 5 and Motown
Five of
the Jackson brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon
and Michael, formed the Jackson 5, an R&B musical
act, in the mid 1960s. With Michael as the lead
singer, the group built up a following and a buzz by
playing at clubs and bars throughout the Midwest,
and even 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 &
the Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, 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 fall 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 #1 hits in the US. Later
hits included "Mama's Pearl" & "Never Can Say
Goodbye" (1971), "Lookin' Through the Windows"
(1972), "Get It Together" (1973) and "Dancing
Machine" (1974). Most of the Jackson 5 hits were
produced by The Corporation™, a collective of
songwriters and record producers including Gordy,
Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards.
With
Motown Records, the Jackson 5 made 14 albums, and
Michael also recorded four albums as a solo artist.
Among Michael's early solo hits were "Got to Be
There" (1971, his solo debut); and "Rockin' Robin",
"I Wanna Be Where You Are", and the #1 hit "Ben"
(all 1972).
The
Jacksons and Epic Records
In
1976, the Jackson brothers signed a deal with CBS
Records, first joining the Philadelphia
International division and later moving over to Epic
Records. The new deal with CBS provided more
creative freedom and larger royalties that they were
not allowed at Motown. By leaving Motown behind,
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 younger brother Randy in
Jermaine's place, the brothers continued their
successful career, touring internationally and
releasing 6 albums between 1976 and 1984. Hits
during this period included "Enjoy Yourself" & "Show
You The Way To Go" (1976), "Find Me A Girl" (1977),
"Blame It On The Boogie" (1978), "Shake Your Body
(Down to the Ground)" (1979), "Can You Feel It" &
"Heartbreak Hotel" (1980) and "Torture" & "State of
Shock" (1984).
Jackson
starred in the film The Wiz alongside mentor Diana
Ross in 1978. It was here that he met Quincy Jones,
the music producer for The Wiz, who would later
produce Michael's three most acclaimed solo albums,
Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Off the Wall,
released in 1979, produced a record four Top 10 hits
and sold seven million copies in the United States.
Solo
career
Off
The Wall to Thriller
Michael
Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was a worldwide
hit and spawned the #1 hit singles and music videos
"Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get
Enough". A ballad, "She's Out Of My Life" reached
the top 10 in 1980.
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 video clip, some
of Jackson's videos were virtually short films with
considerable plots, impressive special effects, and
featuring Jackson's distinctive dance style.
His
Thriller album was released in 1982, produced 7 Top
10 hit singles, broke records and quickly became the
world's best selling album ever. The "Billie Jean"
music video, released to promote Thriller, became
the first video by a black artist to be aired on
MTV, and the "Thriller" short film, included with
The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, became the
world's best selling home video at the time.
"Billie
Jean" and "Thriller", as well as "Beat It", were the
three music videos released from the album, and have
since become three of MTV's most significant videos
in history, placing highly on several MTV and VH1
countdowns, and receiving substantial airplay on
MTV2 to this day. The album's other singles were
"Human Nature" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)",
both of which were also hits, despite neither having
music videos.
While
performing "Billie Jean" during the Motown 25:
Yesterday, Today, Forever special on television on
May 16, 1983, Jackson publicly performed the
moonwalk (later his signature dance move) for the
first time, stunning TV audiences. In January 1984
at the American Music Awards, Jackson was nominated
for 9 awards and won a record 8 awards (tied by
Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1994).
In February at the Grammy Awards Jackson was
nominated for 12 awards and won a record-breaking 8
awards (now equaled by Carlos Santana's 1999
Supernatural) – 7 for Thriller and 1 for his
narrative on The E.T. Storybook. In May, Thriller
was certified by the Guinness Book of Records as the
biggest selling popular music album of all time. In
addition in 1984, he was also awarded the H. Claude
Hodson Medal of Freedom at the NAACP Image Awards,
feted at the White House by President Ronald Reagan
with the Presidential Special Achievement Award and
in November was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame. As of 2005, Thriller is certified 27x
Platinum.
"We
are the World" to Dangerous
Inspired by Band Aid, he was instrumental in
organizing the single "We Are the World" (co-written
with Lionel Richie) in 1985. "We Are the World" was
sung by 44 different singers including Harry
Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Ray Charles and
Stevie Wonder and sold 7 million copies in the
United States, becoming the best selling single of
all time (eclipsed by Elton John's "Candle In The
Wind" in 1997), to raise money for USA for Africa –
a charity working to raise awareness about and help
starving people in Africa.
Jackson
starred in the George Lucas/Francis Ford Coppola 3-D
film Captain Eo in 1986, which was shown in Disney
theme parks until 1998. Minute for minute it was the
most expensive film ever produced at the time,
costing an estimated US $17 million to make. The
film contained the songs "We Are Here To Change The
World" and "Another Part Of Me".
In
1987, Jackson released Bad and began his first solo
world tour. He performed to sold out audiences at
each concert. The following year Jackson released a
movie entitled "Moonwalker" and an autobiography
entitled Moon Walk.
Bad was
another smash success for Jackson though not as big
of a success as Thriller was. Its singles and music
videos "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The
Way You Make Me Feel", "Man In The Mirror", "Dirty
Diana", "Another Part Of Me", "Smooth Criminal" and
"Leave Me Alone" provided Jackson with another
string of hits. The album's only relatively
unsuccessful single, "Liberian Girl", remains to
this day as one of Jackson's least seen music videos
and least heard singles. Nonetheless, he made
history by becoming the first artist to generate 6
number one singles off of one album. Of the 7
singles released in the USA, the first 5 went to #1
on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, "Another Part Of
Me" peaked at #11 (#1 on Billboard's R&B charts) and
"Smooth Criminal" went to #7.
The
title track from Bad was intended as a duet with
longtime rival Prince. Prince was approached and
briefly considered taking part in the project, but
eventually decided against it because of the first
line ("Your butt is mine"). He later remarked that
the album was called "Bad" because "they didn't have
enough room to spell 'Pathetic'", though years
later, former producer Quincy Jones told a different
story when he said that Prince told him and Jackson
he didn't want to participate because it was a hit
"without him".
Jackson
was awarded a record breaking $890 million contract
by Sony and released an album Dangerous in 1991.
During the Dangerous world tour Jackson announced
the creation of his Heal the World Foundation.
Dangerous contained the singles and music videos
"Who Is It", "Give In To Me", "Gone Too Soon" (a
tribute to young AIDS victim Ryan White), and "Will
You Be There", which would later become the theme
song to the movie Free Willy. But the album's most
successful and memorable singles and videos were
"Jam", "Remember The Time", "Black Or White", "In
The Closet", and "Heal The World". As was becoming
the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos
were among the most costly, creative, and innovative
of their time. "Give In To Me" featured Slash from
Guns n' Roses in its video. The video for "Heal The
World", to correspond to Jackson's charity of the
same name, featured children and adults from
throughout the world. "Will You Be There" showed
Jackson singing in front of scenes from Free Willy.
Several of the other videos had complex storylines
and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances
by celebrities. The video for "Jam" showed Jackson
and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing
together, while "Remember The Time" was set in an
Egyptian palace and starred Eddie Murphy as the king
of the palace who was trying to entertain his wife,
played by Iman. Magic Johnson played the king's
chief guard. Jackson and Naomi Campbell played
lovers in "In The Closet". While in the U.S., sales
for the album only reached 7 million, worldwide, it
eclipsed "Bad" as the second biggest-selling album
of Jackson's career reaching over 29 million.
Black Or White
Of all
the album's groundbreaking and popular videos,
"Black Or White" probably remains the most aired and
most remembered today. The original video is over
ten minutes long, and premiered simultaneously on
November 14, 1991, on MTV, VH1, BET, and ABC,
becoming one of the most-watched music video
premieres in history. The original video begins in
suburban America, with Macaulay Culkin playing a
young Jackson fan whose father (played by George
Wendt) tells him to turn his music down. Culkin's
character, instead, decides to bring his speakers
into the living room and cranks the speakers to full
blast, which sends the father flying through the
roof, in a manner somewhat similar to that used in
an earlier Twisted Sister music video. He ends up
landing in the middle of an African veldt. The music
to "Black Or White" then starts, and Jackson
proceeds to take viewers on a trip around the world,
from country to country and culture to culture. As
the song ends, the video features a morphing effect,
whereby the faces of several different people of
different ethnicities' (including Tyra Banks and
voice actor Cree Summer) are morphed one into
another, as a symbol of global unity. Although this
was not the first music video to feature morphing
technology — former 10cc members Godley & Creme used
morphing even more extensively in the 1985 video to
their song "Cry", though in a less technologically
polished way — it was the first exposure many people
had to the technology, and this effect amazed those
who saw the video for the first time. Thanks in part
to "Black Or White", as well as the development of
computer technology, the morphing effect has since
become somewhat common in music videos today, and
can now be done much cheaper than in the early
1990s. The original video for "Black Or White" then
continued, even after the song itself ended, for
another four minutes. The last four minutes depicted
Jackson doing his infamous crotch-rubbing, smashing
store windows, and destroying a car with a metal
crowbar. It finally ended with a cameo appearance by
Bart and Homer Simpson. However, Jackson's rampage
and crotch grabbing caused a good deal of
controversy with many parents of young children who
watched the video's premiere. MTV and other music
video stations decided to cut out the last four
minutes of the video for all subsequent airings, and
Jackson issued an apology statement to anyone who
had been offended. To date, the final four minutes
of the "Black Or White" video has only since
re-aired in America on MTV2 between the hours of 1
AM and 4 AM, as part of their special uncensored
airing of the "Most Controversial Music Videos" of
all time, however the extended version is available
on Jackson's DVDs. A few years ago, VH1 Europe aired
them in daytime but now cuts them out.
The
"Black Or White" video was mocked by the American
comedy show In Living Color in a notoriously pungent
parody that tackled Jackson's well-known transracial
skin color issues and American race relations. In
it, the Jackson impersonator sang that he was not
sure whether he was black or white, and was
immediately arrested at the end when he struck a
car's shatterproof windshield with a sledgehammer.
Genesis also poked fun at the infamous section of
"Black Or White" in their video for "I Can't Dance".
After "Black and White" was when the tabloids began
calling him "Jacko", then they put in "Wacko", and
then began rhyming it with additional words.
HIStory to Invincible
HIStory, a double-disc album, was released in 1995.
Its first disc had fifteen of his greatest hits and
second disc contained fifteen new songs. The album
produced two new hit singles and videos in America.
"Scream" was a duet with his sister Janet whose
futuristic music video, with a seven million dollar
price tag, is the most expensive music video ever
made. Thanks to a change in Billboard's chart
policy, "You Are Not Alone" became the first song to
ever debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Singles Chart; the video had a cameo from Jackson's
then-wife, Lisa Marie Presley. The album's other
singles and videos, "Childhood", "Earth Song",
"Stranger In Moscow", and "They Don't Care About Us"
had limited success in America, and performed far
better in Europe. "Earth Song" is an emotional plea
for taking care of our environment. "Childhood" is
notable for having been the theme song to Free Willy
2. "They Don't Care About Us" caused a stir when it
was released due to controversial lyrics which were
considered by some to be anti-Semitic. This caused
American MTV and VH1 to ban the song's music video,
even though it garnered heavy airplay on many of
America's Boxnetworks. The lyrics "Jew me, sue me/
Kick me, kike me" were modified on the album's
official release in response to the criticism. Apart
from the video for "Scream," singles and videos from
HIStory nowadays garner little airplay in America,
making the album a failure overall by Jackson's
standards, though it has sold over 18 million double
albums as of 2004. It was branded a failure very
quickly in American shores. Executives and Jackson
hoped it would stay at #1 throughout the summer, yet
it only spent 2 weeks at the top with unspectacular
sales. On the other hand, the album spawned his
biggest hit ever in the UK, "Earth Song" stayed at
the top of the chart for six weeks and sold over a
million copies.
In 1997
Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor, a remix
album of several of the tracks off of HIStory, which
also included 5 new songs and has since become the
biggest-selling remix album of all time. The album
only had one single and official music video, the
title track, which failed to catch on in America,
and again proved a far more popular hit in Europe.
However, Jackson also produced "Ghosts", a 40-minute
short film, which was shown in several movie
theaters and uses the songs "Ghosts" and "2 Bad" in
the film. The short film "Ghosts" is occasionally
played as an hour-long special, with space made for
commercials, on MTV and VH1, especially during the
Halloween season. Four years later, Jackson was
inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001
as a solo artist.
Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, speculated but
never confirmed as the most expensive album ever
produced, debuted at number one on the U.S. charts,
selling 2 million copies in the United States and 8
million worldwide. While the numbers seemed
impressive, the sales figures were nonetheless
disappointing, considering Jackson's previous
success and the cost of the album. As opposed to his
earlier albums which each spawned at least six
singles, most of which were generally worldwide
smashes, Invincible produced only the singles "You
Rock My World" and "Butterflies" in America. "Cry"
was also issued as a third single in Europe. "You
Rock My World" managed the top ten in America, but
only for a week, and its big-budget, 14-minute music
video received only sparse airplay on MTV, VH1,
MTV2, and BET, usually in a shortened, 5-minute
version. "Butterflies" was a top 20 hit in America
as well as a #2 hit on the R&B charts, but did not
reach the top 10, despite a popular radio remix
featuring rapper Eve; the song's relative lack of
success also allowed no budget for a music video.
In June
2002, Jackson was inducted for his work as a
songwriter to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In
November 2002 Jackson received in Berlin Germany's
Millennium Bambi 2002 award, in recognition of his
status as the world's "greatest living pop icon".
The awards recognize outstanding personalities and
performances in various fields, including show
business, film, politics and sport.
"One
More Chance"
On
November 20, 2003, Jackson released a new song, "One
More Chance," written by R. Kelly. It was the only
new track on his Number Ones greatest hits album.
"One More Chance" went on to become the #1 track on
Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart for
three straight weeks. The song was also featured as
a montage video on the CBS TV special "Michael
Jackson Number Ones." The special was then released
on DVD as "The One." As well as the montage, there
is also an original music video shot for "One More
Chance" that remains unreleased.
Miscellaneous controversies
Released in late 2001, Jackson's most recent album
of full new material, Invincible, wholesold about 8
million copies worldwide. Jackson blamed his record
label and industry executives for its relatively
poor performance, most notably the legendary record
executive Tommy Mottola, whom Jackson likened to
Satan, for ceasing all the promotion for the album
and cancellation of realease at least 5 singles and
videos from the album. Jackson suggested that
Mottola tried to bring him to cash crisis so he was
compelled to sell his part of $1.2 billion worth
Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue. Eventually only
two music videos were produced for the album, "You
Rock My World" (with Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando
appearances) and "Cry". For Michael Jackson, 11
million copies as wholesale were disappointing
figures (though it is outstanding result for any
artist, and unique for the album with support of
only two videos), the album was projected to have
20-30 million copies sales potential.
Jackson
recorded the song What More Can I Give featuring
various celebrities on vocals in an attempt to raise
funds for disaster relief following the September
11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. However, the song was
never released. One possible reason was that
producer Marc Schaffel has worked as a producer of
homosexual pornography (his house was searched by
the police in 2004; it is not clear whether this was
related to Jackson).
In
October 2002 various international banks claimed
that Jackson was tens of millions of dollars in
debt. That same month, concert promoter Marcel Avram
sued Jackson in a court in Santa Maria, California,
claiming that he reneged on a deal to perform on a
series of millennium concerts crossing the
International Date Line on the evening of December
31, 1999 - January 1, 2000. Jackson lost the case,
and is appealing.
He has
been involved in a legal dispute with his former
financial adviser, Union Finance and Investment
Corp. of South Korea, who claim that Jackson owes
the firm $12 million in fees and expenses and that
Jackson's extravagant spending may lead to his
bankruptcy. See also Jackson's finances in
connection to the trial.
He has
also repeatedly been accused of child sexual abuse
and was on trial for alleged child molestation and
other offenses until June 2005. He denied the
charges. On Monday June 13, 2005 the jury acquitted
Jackson on all 10 counts in the indictment.
In the
prelude to the trial, Jackson allowed a high profile
visit of children to Neverland, in December of 2004.
Michael Jackson's spokesperson provided the press
with a list of non-profit children's organizations,
that had sent the children. According to Court TV,
most of these organizations, turned out to be either
non-existent, or were upset that they were falsely
associated with the visit. One group, that actually
did send children, was headed by Minnie Williams
Foxx, the girlfriend of Thomas Mesereau, Jackson's
lawyer. Critics of Jackson, contend that the visit
was arranged to boost Jackson's image before the
trial. Jackson's spokesperson insisted that the list
given was correct, that it was wrong for the media
to investigate the list, and the visit of children
was a very common occurance at Neverland.
Miscellaneous
Jackson
owns 50% of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, with a music
catalog that includes publishing rights to songs by
the Beatles, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and
others. In March 2005 he indicated that some sort of
battle was going on regarding this. Jackson also
owns Mijac Music, which holds his own songs.
Michael
Jackson is a fan of video games and helped develop
the popular Sega of America video game 'Michael
Jackson in Moonwalker (1990) where the player
controlled the famous pop star in an effort to save
the world's children from an evil criminal
mastermind. The arcade and video game was especially
popular for having Jackson's songs as background
music and special ability to defeat enemies by
making them dance.
In
April 2003 the television special Michael Jackson's
Private Home Movies was aired, among other things
showing Jackson having fun with children.
Scott
Thorson, former lover of Liberace, was a friend of
Jackson from 1979, for some years. In April, 2004 he
claimed in The National Enquirer and on television
interviews, that he twice had sex with Jackson in
1979, when both were 20 years of age. Also he
claimed that he had seen what appeared to be child
pornography in Jackson's possession. Jackson denies
the latter two things.
On
February 27, 2004, Jackson was stopped by police
while vacationing with his children near Aspen,
Colorado, where he went because his children wanted
to see snow. Jackson had been shopping at a Wal-Mart
earlier in the day wearing a ski mask. Employees
found this suspicious and called the police with a
description of his vehicle. The incident led to
nothing when he was pulled over, asked to reveal his
identity, and then left to go on his way.
Jackson
continues to be the focus of tabloid stories and
speculation.
Jackson
was considering a tour of Africa in May or June 2004
to raise money to fight AIDS, if the court would let
him. The countries he was planning to visit included
Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Senegal.
[Added
by PSP: June 2005 - Michael Jackson has been
acquitted (i.e., he's not guilty) of all charges in
the child molestation lawsuit.]
King
of Pop
Michael
Jackson is referred to as King of Pop in the same
manner that "The King of Rock and Roll" is given to
rock legend Elvis Presley.
The
title "King of Pop" was allegedly first coined by
Elizabeth Taylor. The term has commonly been
mistaken as being "self proclaimed" by Michael
Jackson, though it was his fans that first gave him
the title, which was later accepted by mainstream.
Critics
have questioned whether Michael Jackson is still the
King of Pop. His 1982 album Thriller is the
best-selling all-original album of all time, with
over 59 million records sold to date.
In
February of 2005, Michael Jackson's Thriller music
video was voted No.1 on the UK Channel 4's vote for
the 100 Greatest Pop Videos of all time.
Vocal Profile
Vocal
timbre: Spinto, Countertenor, Baritone (in the song
2000 Watts of Invinvible album, for exmaple)
Highest
note: B5
Lowest
note : E2
Vocal
range: 3.6+ octaves (E2-B5; 44 notes by the middle
of 1980s according to Seth Riggs, Jackson's vocal
consultant (Quote from Seth Riggs); in the 1990s,
Riggs said the range expanded to 4 octaves.
Apparently, due to aging, Jackson got few additional
lower notes, while not losing the highest ones.)
*
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