Michael Jackson (born August 29, 1958, Gary, Indiana, U.S.—died June 25, 2009, Los Angeles, California) was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer who was one of the most popular and influential entertainers in the world in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Jackson transformed popular music in the 1980s, earning himself the title the “King of Pop.” His influence went beyond songwriting and singing to encompass revolutions in dance, concert touring, video presentation, and music production. He also shattered racial barriers for Black singers and musicians in a time when American radio had become racially segregated and African American artists were struggling to get their videos played during prime viewing hours on MTV.

When Jackson released his blockbuster album Thriller (1982), he became one of the most recognized figures in the world. But with such fame came rumors of a bizarre lifestyle, followed by accusations that he had sexually abused several boys. After various legal battles, Jackson rarely performed in public any longer and had enormous financial debts and a secret dependency on prescription opioids. He was in the midst of preparing for a comeback tour when he died from a drug overdose administered by his personal physician. His death shocked the world, leaving fans and critics alike to wrestle with a problematic but undeniably monumental artistic legacy.

The Jackson 5

Reared in Gary, Indiana, in one of the most acclaimed musical families of the rock era, Michael Jackson was the youngest and most talented of five brothers (including Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon) whom their father, Joseph, shaped into a dazzling group of child stars known as the Jackson 5. Joseph Jackson was a former boxer who worked as a crane operator in a steel mill and played guitar in a blues band. In 1949 he married Katherine Scruse, whom he met at a party and who was a talented pianist and singer. After they married, Katherine Jackson worked part-time at a department store. They had nine children and lived in a two-bedroom house in Gary. In his autobiography, Michael wrote of their family home, “You could take five steps from the front door and you’d be out the back.”

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An idea struck Joseph when he discovered a few of his sons playing his guitar and recognized that they had some musical talent. Believing that this could be the family’s ticket to a better life, he began training his sons as musicians to shape them into a band. Eventually, five-year-old Michael was recruited as the group’s lead singer.

According to several members of the Jackson family, Joseph was strict with his children, and his discipline included physical abuse. As Michael later recounted, “He’d sit at home with us every day after school and rehearse us. We’d perform for him and he’d critique us. If you messed up, you got hit, sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a switch.” The young Jacksons rehearsed for hours every day, and they soon began performing as the Jackson 5 in clubs on the Chitlin Circuit. From backstage, Michael was able to watch and learn from the performances of other artists, including soul and rhythm-and-blues (R&B) greats such as James Brown and Jackie Wilson, with whom the Jacksons sometimes shared a booking.

Motown Records president Berry Gordy, Jr., was impressed with the group and signed them in 1969. Sporting the loudest fashions, the largest Afros, the snappiest choreography, and a youthful, soulful exuberance, the Jackson 5 became an immediate success. They scored four consecutive number one pop hits with “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There” in 1970. Michael was singled out by music critics as a “prodigy.” He was soon topping the pop charts as a solo performer with “Ben”, and he reached number two with “Rockin’ Robin.” With the Jackson 5 he continued to produce trendsetting dance tracks such as “Dancing Machine.” The family’s string of hits for Motown lasted through 1975 and earned them two Grammy Award nominations.

As Michael matured, his voice changed, family tensions arose, and a contract standoff ensued. The group finally broke with Motown, moving to Epic Records as the Jacksons. Jermaine remained at Motown as a solo performer and was replaced by the youngest Jackson brother, Randy. As a recording act, the Jacksons enjoyed consistent success through 1984. Their sisters Rebbie, La Toya, and, most successfully, Janet Jackson embarked on their own singing careers in the early 1980s; however, Michael’s solo albums took on an entirely different status.

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The Wiz and Off the Wall

In 1978 Jackson starred with Diana Ross in the musical film The Wiz, a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz featuring Black actors. “Ease On Down the Road” from the film’s soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a duo, group, or chorus; significantly, it was Jackson’s first Grammy nomination for a performance that did not include his brothers.

Jackson’s first solo effort for Epic, Off the Wall (1979), exceeded all expectations and was the best-selling album of the year (it eventually sold more than 20 million copies). Produced by industry veteran Quincy Jones, Off the Wall yielded the massive international hit singles “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You,” both of which showcased Jackson’s energetic style and capitalized on the contemporary disco movement. The former song also won him his first Grammy, for best R&B male vocal performance. But Jackson was miffed that Off the Wall received only two Grammy nominations and no recognition for album of the year. He later wrote in his autobiography, “That experience lit a fire in my soul. All I could think of was the next album and what I would do with it. I wanted it to be truly great.”

Thriller

Three years later he returned with another collaboration with Jones, Thriller, a tour de force that features an array of guest stars and elevated Jackson to worldwide superstardom. Thriller captured a slew of awards, including seven Grammys. (Jackson won an eighth Grammy for his narration of the audiobook E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which made him the first artist to win eight Grammys in one night.) Thriller remained on the charts for more than two years and sold more than 65 million copies globally, holding the distinction of being the best-selling album in history.

The first single on the album, “The Girl Is Mine,” an easygoing duet with Paul McCartney, went to number one on the R&B charts and number two on the pop charts in the fall of 1982. The follow-up single, “Billie Jean,” an electrifying dance track and the vehicle for Jackson’s trademark “moonwalk” dance, topped the pop charts. In May 1983 he appeared with his brothers on the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. After a medley of Jackson 5 hits, Jackson debuted the moonwalk while performing “Billie Jean”; the moment established Jackson as a pop culture phenomenon.

Jackson stretched into rock territory with the song “Beat It,” which features a raucous solo from famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Moreover, “Beat It” helped break down the artificial barriers between Black and white artists on the radio and in the emerging format of music videos. For a discussion of Thriller and its influence, see Thriller.

The “King of Pop”

By 1984 Jackson was renowned worldwide as the “King of Pop.” His much anticipated Victory reunion tour with his brothers was one of the most popular concert events of 1984. In 1985 Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote “We Are the World,” the signature single for USA for Africa, an all-star project aimed at famine relief. His album Bad (1987) produced five chart-topping hits, among them the title song and “Man in the Mirror”. It also features the single “Leave Me Alone,” a response to the pile-up of tabloid rumors about his lifestyle that had been accumulating since the release of Thriller. These rumors portrayed Jackson as an eccentric recluse living out his childhood fantasies on his Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, often citing such belongings as his hyperbaric oxygen chamber, pet chimpanzee named Bubbles, and personal full-scale amusement park as evidence. As if to take greater control of his personal narrative, the following year he published an autobiography, Moonwalk, and released an experimental film, Moonwalker, which combined several of his music videos with short fantasy and biographical segments.

Much of Jackson’s next album, Dangerous (1991), was produced by New Jack Swing sensation Teddy Riley. Another huge success in record sales, it solidified Jackson’s dominance of pop music. In 1995 he released HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, which featured a combination of hits and new songs, including the number-one ballad “You Are Not Alone” and “Scream,” a duet with his sister Janet. Two years later the Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Jackson was inducted as a solo artist in 2001. That same year he released Invincible, which debuted at number one but did not spend nearly as much time on the album charts as his previous records had. It was Jackson’s last studio album.

Child molestation accusations

Jackson’s lifestyle grew increasingly controversial in the early 1990s. His reputation was seriously damaged in 1993 when he was accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy he had befriended; a civil suit was settled out of court. In 1994 Jackson secretly married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, but their marriage lasted less than two years. Shortly thereafter Jackson married again, to nurse Debbie Rowe. This marriage produced children—Michael Joseph (called Prince) and Paris-Michael Katherine (called Paris)—though the relationship, too, ended in divorce. (In 2002 Jackson had a third child, Prince Michael—nicknamed Blanket, later changed to Bigi—via a surrogate mother.)

While Jackson remained an international celebrity, his image in the United States was slow to recover, and it suffered even more in November 2003 when he was arrested and charged with child molestation involving a different boy than the 1993 case. Called to testify in Jackson’s defense during the trial that ensued was actor Macaulay Culkin, who had met and become friends with Jackson when he was nine years old and Jackson was an adult. Culkin said they bonded over their common experiences of having to deal with fame at a young age and having overbearing fathers. Culkin maintained that he had never experienced anything inappropriate with Jackson. After a 14-week trial that became something of a media circus, Jackson was acquitted in 2005.

Financial difficulties and death

In the wake of these events, Jackson suffered a financial collapse that resulted in the sale of many of his considerable assets, including, ultimately, his lavish Neverland Ranch. He was preparing for a series of high-profile concerts that he hoped would spark a comeback when he died suddenly of cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009. His death prompted a widespread outpouring of grief from his fans that culminated in a memorial celebration of his life and legacy on July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featuring tributes by friends and luminaries such as Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, Jr., Brooke Shields, and Al Sharpton. In August 2009 the coroner ruled Jackson’s death a homicide; the cause was a lethal combination of sedatives and propofol, an anesthetic. In November 2011 Jackson’s personal physician was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Legacy

The documentary film This Is It, which drew from more than 100 hours of footage compiled during rehearsals for Jackson’s scheduled 50-concert comeback engagement in London, premiered in October 2009. Later documentaries include Leaving Neverland (2019), which centers on two men who allege that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. (Although both men sued Jackson’s estate after Jackson’s death, neither was a subject of the court cases in 1993 and 2005.)

In 2007 the U.S. Library of Congress inducted Thriller into the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Two years later his 14-minute music video “Thriller” (1983), directed by John Landis, was inducted into the National Film Registry—the first music video to be so honored. In 2010 Jackson posthumously received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.