Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) would have celebrated his 60th birthday today. Born in Gary, Indiana to Katherine Esther Jackson and Joseph Walter (Joe) Jackson.
Michael, the eight child (out of ten) in the Jackson family, started his career with his brothers with the Jackson 5 in 1964- a band formed by their father. The band toured cocktail lounges, clubs and high school dances until the signed with Motown Records in 1969 and moved to Los Angeles.
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
Michael began his solo career in 1971 while he continued to work with The Jackson 5. From '72-75 Jackson releases four solo albums with Motown. Couple of singles of the first two albums were somewhat successful. But it wasn't until his 5th album, Off the Wall, Jackson would transform into the Pop icon.
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"
The album reached number 3 on Billboard and went on to sell over 20 million copies. And began his decorations as an artist, winning awards at American Music Awards, and a Grammy for Best Male R&B Artist.
And then came Thriller. Released in 1982, it won seven Grammys, eight AMA Awards, best selling album worldwide that year and became the best selling album ALL TIME in the US and Worldwide with over 66 million copies sold. It spent 37 weeks at the top of Billboard and had 7 top 10 singles.
And unless you were living in a closet, you have seen the 14 minute movie/video 'Thriller' that became the most popular video all time on MTV (when they played videos).
The next five years, no albums were released, but Michael continued to build his empire. Signing a deal with Pepsi to become the highest paid celebrity endorsement deal. He received an award from President Regan for his humanitarian work. Released 'We are the World' with Lionel Richie, which earned $63 million in aide for Africa and became on of the best singles of all time.
Jackson's 7th Album, Bad (1987) kept the pop icon on top. Of the nine singles, five reached number one: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". Another record, most number one singles from an album.
In the year following Bad, Michael toured, released his book Moonwalk and built his $17 million dollar Neverland Ranch in California.
The follow up to Bad was Jackson's 8th album Dangerous. While it wasn't as successful as previous albums, the single 'Black or White' did reach number one and the album was the best selling album of the year.
In January 1993, Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena, California - the first half-time performance that drew a larger audience than the actual game (Bills vs Cowboys).
The Mid 90's were a bit of a roller coaster for Jackson. His first marriage, accused of sexual abuse, the double album History, and his second marriage to Lisa Marie Presley.
Jackson's 10th album Invincible finally was released in 2001 to less than stellar sales and only produced three singles. The album was cast in a shadow due to a lable dispute with Jackson and Sony.
This is the end. June 25th, 2009 The King of Pop took his last breath. He died under the care of his physician who had given him medication to help him sleep. After unsuccessful attempts at resuscitating Jackson, he was pronounced dead at 2:26PM at the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center.
