Michael Jackson Biography

Born: August 29, 1958

Gary, Indiana



African American entertainer, singer, and songwriter

Aperformer since the age of five, Michael Jackson is one of the most
popular singers in history. His 1983 album,

Thriller,

sold forty million copies, making it the biggest seller of all time.
Through his record albums and music videos he created an image imitated by
his millions of fans.

Career planned in advance

Michael Joe Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958, the
fifth of Joe and Katherine Jackson’s nine children. The house was
always filled with music. Jackson’s mother taught the children
folk and religious songs, to which they sang along. Jackson’s
father, who worked at a steel plant, had always dreamed of becoming a
successful musician. When this failed to happen, he decided to do
whatever it took to make successes of his children. He tried to control
his children’s careers even after they were adults. The struggle
for the control of the musical fortunes of the Jackson family was a
constant source of conflict.

The Jackson boys soon formed a family band that became a success at
amateur shows and talent contests throughout the Midwest. From the age
of five Michael’s amazing talent showed itself. His dancing and
stage presence caused him to become the focus of the group.
His older brother, Jackie, told Gerri Hershey in

Rolling Stone,

“It was sort of frightening. He was so young. I don’t
know where he got it. He just

knew.

”

Discovered by Motown

The Jacksons’ fame and popularity soon began to spread. While
performing at the Apollo Theater in New York City’s Harlem
neighborhood in 1968, Motown recording artist Gladys Knight
(1944–) and pianist Billy Taylor discovered them. Later that year
singer Diana Ross (1944–) became associated with the boys during
a “Soul Weekend” in Gary. With Ross’s support, the
Jacksons signed a contract with Motown Records. Berry Gordy
(1929–), the famous head of Motown, took control of the
Jacksons’ careers.

By 1970 the group, known as the Jackson Five, was topping the charts and
riding a wave of popularity with such hits as “ABC,”
“The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be
There,” each of which sold over one million copies. The group
also appeared on several televised specials, and a

Jackson Five

cartoon series was created. Gordy quickly recognized Michael’s
appeal and released albums featuring him alone. These solo albums sold
as well as those of the Jackson Five. The group managed to survive
Michael’s voice change and a bitter break with Motown Records in
1976, but as the Jackson family they continued to fight with each other
and with their own father.

In 1978 Michael Jackson appeared in

The Wiz,

an African American version of

The Wizard of Oz.

He sang the only hit from the film’s soundtrack album
(“Ease On Down the Road”) in a duet with the star, Diana
Ross. His success as the Scarecrow was a preview of what was to come in
his videos, for Jackson seemed to care

Moonwalk,

refers to a dance that Jackson made popular.)

most about dancing. (He later dedicated his autobiography [the story of his one’s own life] to dance legend Fred Astaire [1899–1987], and the autobiography’s title,refers to a dance that Jackson made popular.)

Unbelievable success

While working on

The Wiz,

Jackson met producer Quincy Jones (1933–). They worked together
on Jackson’s 1979 album

Off the Wall,

which sold ten million copies and earned critical praise. In 1982
Jackson and Jones again joined forces on the

Thriller

album.

Thriller

fully established Jackson as a solo performer, and his hit songs from
the album—”Beat It,”
“Billie Jean,” and “Thriller”—made
him the major pop star of the early 1980s. The success of

Thriller

(with forty million copies sold, it remains one of the best-selling
albums of all time) and the videos of its songs also helped Jackson
break the color barrier imposed by radio stations and the powerful music
video channel MTV. By 1983 Jackson was the single most popular
entertainer in America.

In 1985 Jackson reunited with Quincy Jones for USA for Africa’s
“We Are the World,” which raised funds for the poor in
Africa. Jackson’s next two albums,

Bad

(1987) and

Dangerous

(1991), were not as hugely successful as

Thriller,

but Jackson remained in the spotlight throughout the 1980s and into the
1990s. In 1992 he founded “Heal the World” to aid children
and the environment. In 1993 he was presented with the “Living
Legend Award” at the Grammy Awards ceremony and with the
Humanitarian (one who promotes human welfare) of the Year trophy at the

Soul Train

awards.

Rocked by scandal

Despite Jackson’s popularity and good works, he became the
subject of a major scandal (action that damages one’s
reputation). In 1993 a thirteen-year-old boy accused Jackson of sexually
abusing him at the star’s home. Jackson settled the case out of
court while insisting he was innocent. The scandal cost Jackson his
endorsement (paid public support of a company’s products)
contract with Pepsi and a film deal. His sexual preference was called
into question, and his public image was severely damaged.

In 1995 Jackson was criticized following the release of his new album

HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I.

One of the songs on the album, “They Don’t Care About
Us,” seemed to contain anti-Semitic (showing hatred toward Jewish
people) lyrics (words). To avoid further criticism, Jackson changed the
lyrics. He also wrote a letter of apology to Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of
the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, who had protested the
lyrics.

Marriage and fatherhood

In 1994 Jackson shocked the world when he married Lisa Marie Presley,
daughter of the late (deceased) rock legend Elvis Presley
(1935–1977). Many felt that the marriage was an attempt to
improve his public image. In August 1996 Jackson and Presley divorced.
In November 1996 Jackson announced that he was to be a father. The
child’s mother was Debbie Rowe, a long-time friend of Jackson.
They married later that month in Sydney, Australia. On February 13,
1997, their son, Prince Michael Jackson, Jr., was born in Los Angeles,
California. The couple’s second child, daughter Paris Michael
Katherine Jackson, was born in 1998. Rowe filed for divorce from Jackson
in October 1999.

Jackson and his brothers were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1997. Later that year another album,

Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix,

containing new versions of songs from

HIStory

along with five new songs, was released. The album received good
reviews, and the world continued to be fascinated by the talent and
career of Michael Jackson.

In 2000 Jackson’s promoter sued him for $21.2 million for backing
out of two planned concerts the previous New Year’s Eve. In 2001
Jackson, while delivering a lecture at Oxford University in England to
promote his Heal the Kids charity, described his unhappy childhood
and proposed a “bill of rights” for children that would
provide for the right to an education “without having to dodge
bullets.” Later that year Jackson was again elected to the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame, this time as a solo performer. Jackson also
released a new album,

Invincible,

in October 2001.

For More Information

Grant, Adrian.

Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary.

New York: Omnibus Press, 1994.

Graves, Karen Marie.

Michael Jackson.

San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2001.

Jackson, Michael.

Moonwalk.

New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Marsh, Dave.

Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream.

New York: Bantam, 1985.

Nicholson, Lois.

Michael Jackson.

New York: Chelsea House, 1994.

Wallner, Rosemary.

Michael Jackson: Music’s Living Legend.

Edina, MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1991.