Michael+Jackson

﻿ Aliah Baez Imani Tunson Honors Am. History 10 Period = = = **MICHAEL "KING OF POP" JACKSON** = =__Early Life:__ = = = Michael Joseph Jackson or better known as the "King of Pop" was born August 29, 1959 in Gary, Indiana to middle-class working parents, Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Joseph Jackson had been a guitarist. Joseph also performed with a band called The Falcons. Following his marriage to Katherine he gave up his musical ambitions to pursue a family. Michael Jackson had five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy and a sixth that dies at birth named Brandon. He also had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya and Janet. As the Jackson family continued to grow so did Michael's musical talents.

In 1993 reports have been said that Joseph physically and emotionally beat his children. Michael discussed in an Oprah Winfey interview that he regurarly cried from fear of his father. This abuse played a huge role in Michael's personal appearance. His father often criticized his nose saying that it was fat. This lead to many more of Michael's insecurities with his outer appearance.



__The Jackson 5:__
The 1960's group The Jackson 5 consisted of the oldest Jackson sons, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine. They performed around their local city, Gary, Indiana gaining popularity. In 1964 Michael and Marlon joined their siblings. The new group became known as the Jackson 5. With Michael on lead vocals the world became aware of his musical capabilities and outstanding dance moves. The Jackson 5 group began to open for groups such as the O Jays and James Brown. While gaining media attention the group was introduced to Gladys Knight. Gladys Knight formally introduced the group to Berry Gordy. By 1969, the Jackson 5 were chart busting Motown Artists. Some of their hit singles include "I Want You Back," "ABC," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and "Got to Be There". By the 1970's the group was emerging into one of the most accomplished African American pop/soul vocal group. After the year 1972 The Jackson 5 began to go on a decline while still making music such as the disco style song called "Dancing Machine". This song introduced a dance called the robot. After this Joseph began to look for a new record deal. He negotiated with CBS Records and had to change their name to The Jacksons. This was because Motown claimed to have a trademark on The Jackson 5. During the year 1978 Michael Jackson starred in the movie titled __The Wiz__ along side Diana Ross. He also began to work on his first solo album not too long after.

__﻿﻿Solo Career Success: __
Michael's first album with Epic Records was titled Off The Wall. This album was released in 1979 and sold over 20 million copies worldwide. While working on this album Michael teamed up with major music producer Quincy Jones. The two creatively recorded the single "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough". This was a ground breaking moment for Michael.

The next album Michael created was in 1982 titled Thriller. This album was the most successful album of all times in the United States. It was also the world's best selling album of all time. With sales over 110 million, the Thriller album cemented Jackson's status as the most popular and influential pop star of all time. By breaking this barrier he got major recongnition from MTV. MTV was one of the first to use music videos as one of the most successful promotional tools. After 25 years of its release the album was reissued and titled Thriller 25. This new album consisted of remixes featuring contemoporarty artists and a previously unreleased song and DVD. To this day the Thriller album is ranking at number 20 on the Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Five years after the release of Michael's greatest selling albums he released another album called Bad. This album sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Some of the most popular singles include "Dirty Diana", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Smooth Criminal". This album was the only Michael Jackson album with five of its singles to peak to number one on the charts. This album was also the last time Quincy Jones and Michael collaborated together.

After Jackson's Bad album he recorded the album Dangerous. This album won Michael a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album. The singles from this album include "Black and White", "Remember the Time" and "Heal The World". The single "Black and White" also nominated Michael an award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 1993 a remix edition to the Dangerous album was released. It was titled Dangerous: The Remix Collection. After this studio album Michael later recorded many more ablums including HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, Blood On The Dancefloor: HIStory In the Mix, Invincible, and Michael.

[[image:imagesCA1FW7LB.jpg align="left"]]__**Personal Life Horror:**__
During much of Michael's life he was the constant story of the media's pages. Some of the many stories about Michael include him sleeping in a "hyperbaric chamber", multiple plastic surguries, a battle with a rare skin disease called vitiligo and sexual abuse with young children. As early as 1994 Michael Jackson has been accused of sexually abusing male children as young as 13 years old.

This allegation turned into a case which had been settled privately. Until the day Michael died he continued to deny any wrongdoing to the children he came into contact with. With this Michael began to exclude himself from the public eye.

During the year of 1994 Michael Jackson married Elvis Presly's daughter Lisa Marie Presely. Unlike his music career their marriage only lasted until January of 1996. And during that same year Michael later married another woman by the name of Debbie Rowe. Debbie Rowe was a nurse that had been reported of having gotten pregnant by Michael earlier that year. During their marriage the couple had two children, Prince Michael Jackson Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine. Again their marriage didn't last very long. They divorced in 1999. Soon after their divorce Michael had an addition to his family. Prince Michael II was born by an unknown mother.

__**﻿Until The End Of Times:**__
On June 25, 2009 the King Of Pop suffered a cardiac arrest and died. He passed away in his Los Angeles, California home. Under the care of his personal doctor, Conrad Murray, he found Michael unresponsive with a faint pulse.

Months after his death the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center declared Michael Jackson's death a homicide.

Dr. Conrad Murray has been reported in giving Michael several medications including propofol, lorazepam and midazolam. Collectively these drugs can harm a persons health.

On Feburary 8, 2010 Dr. Conrad Murray plead not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and was released on $75,000 bond. Dr. Conrad Murray's trial is set to start September 8, 2011.

The death of one of America's greatest entertainers had a major impact on society. People from all over the world have been known to shed any tears on this day. This was an unfortunate event because Michael had been preparing for a come back tour titled "This Is It". This tour was supposed to be the last of all his tours. It was supposed to include all of his past hits as well as brand new material from Michael Jackson himself as well as other contemporary artists.

Today and forever more the legacy of Michael Jackson continues to live on as well as continues to shape music today.

__**Works Cited:**__

 *  “Michael Jackson.” //Contemporary Black Biography// 76 (2009): n. pag. //Gale Biography in Context//. Web. 13 May 2011. .
 *  “Michael Jackson Biography.” //The Biography Channel// . A&E Television Networks, LLC., 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. .
 * <span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “Michael Joseph Jackson.” //Gale Student Resources in Context//. Gale, 12 Dec. 1998. Web. 13 May 2011. <http://ic.galegroup.com/‌ic/‌suic/‌ReferenceDetailsPage/‌ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SUIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1631003308&mode=view>.
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