Michael Jackson: A Biography

Michael Jackson or MJ was born on August 29, 1958 in Indiana, USA to Joseph and Katherine. He was the eighth of ten children. His father worked in a steel mill and sometimes performed for an R&B band. He brooked no indiscipline and the children were not spared the rod when they misbehaved.

MJ burst on the musical scene as a member of The Jackson 5. Later the group was renamed The Jackson Brothers. He became the lead singer along with brother Jermaine. They had contractual problems with Motown Records and signed a new contract with CBS records. They changed their name to The Jacksons. Michael wrote hits like This Place, Can You Feel It, and Shake Your Body for the group between 1976 and 1984. In 1978, he starred alongside Diana Ross in the Quincy Jones Broadway musical The Wiz. This was the beginning of a long association between MJ and Quincy Jones.

Off the Wall (1979) jointly produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones spent 48 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top 20 charts. It featured Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and many others. The hit Don't Stop Till You Get Enough won for Jackson a Grammy in 1980. In 1982 came his mega successful album Thriller. The album spent 37 weeks at No 1 in the Billboard charts. It is the best selling album of all time. The singles from Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat it catapulted Michael Jackson to worldwide fame and stardom.

In 1985, he co-wrote the song "We are the World" to raise money for the famine struck people of East Africa. It won the Grammy in the Song of the Year category. The album Bad came two years later. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror",and "Dirty Diana" went on to become No 1 in the U.S. In 1991, Jackson released Dangerous. It featured several hit singles such as "Black or White", "Give in To Me", "Remember the Time", "In the Closet", and "Heal the World". In June 1995, Jackson released HIStory: Past, Present And Future - Book, and in 2001, Invincible.

His personal life, however, came under public glare time and again for all the wrong reasons. He married and divorced twice , the first time to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley and a second time to Deborah Jeanne Rowe, his dermatologist's nurse. He fathered three children. Changes in his skin color from brown to pale white was attributed to skin bleaching by tabloid press. They said that Jackson was ashamed to be a black. He put the rumors to rest saying that the color of the skin changed due to a disease called vitiligo.

He was charged and later acquitted of charges of child molestation. His finances were totally mismanaged. He failed to repay bank loans, to provide employment insurance and wages to many of his employees. His Neverland Ranch was closed. Michael Jackson's charity efforts and his stand on environmental issues received as much attention. Michael Jackson continues to enthrall his fans with his performances. His music video, outfits, tenor and dancing style makes him unique. He is unmistakably the King of Pop.