Profile: Michael Jackson King of Pop Dead at 50

Superstar and king of pop Michael Jackson, known around the world for his music and his scandals, died today at age 50. Michael Jackson suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles this afternoon and was rushed by an ambulance staffed by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics to the UCLA Medical Centre. According to a Nashville radio news report, Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home.

Michael Jackson had been scheduled to play 50 sell-out shows at London's O2 Arena starting in July but Jackson had already had to postpone the first few nights of the tour. There is speculation now that the singer was already ailing causing the cancellations.

Michael Jackson - The Jackson 5

I grew up with the fresh-faced boy with the unbelievable vocals - when I say "grew up with," I mean of course like every kid growing up in the 1970s, I grew up hearing Michael Jackson on the radio day after day as part of the legendary The Jackson 5. Songs like "Rockin' Robin," "Ben," and "Got to Be There" were as much a part of my growing up years as school lessons and family trips.

The seventh child of the Jackson family, Michael made his debut on the professional music scene at age 11 as the youngest member of The Jackson 5 although he had performed background vocals with his older brothers since 1964. He quickly became the lead singer of the group. (Wikipedia)

Michael Jackson - Abusive Childhood

The Jackson home life was apparently quite terrible. In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson revealed how from a young age he was abused both physically and mentally by his working-class father who saw his children as his meal ticket to a better life. Some of his siblings corroborated the stories. The incessant rehearsals, whippings and name-callings at his father's hand left innumerable scars on Jackson and warped him from the fresh-faced boy into a very strange, damaged man who tried for the rest of his life to reclaim his lost childhood.

Michael Jackson - Strange Life

His extraordinary Neverland Ranch built at a cost of $17 million, his numerous rhinoplasty operations and changing physical appearance, and his sexual abuse accusations, led up to his his marriage to singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley (the daughter of Elvis Presley). This would have been enough to cement his place as a controversial and flamboyant figure in music history but Jackson took it several steps further with his second marriage to dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, with whom he fathered a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as "Prince"), and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. In 2002, Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II appeared. Jackson never revealed the mother's identity, but he has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm cells. This third child was the child Michael Jackson dangled over the railing of the balcony in Berlin.

Michael Jackson - Sad Ending to a Sad Story

Michael Jackson was apparently never good enough for his father as a boy, and never good enough for himself as a man. He tried to reinvent himself over and over, which was part of his musical genius, but the scars from his efforts to be someone other than who he was were visible, both physically and emotionally.

Jackson became extremely reclusive in his later years, but was rarely separated for long from his children. From such a deceptively bright beginning, to such a sad ending, the story of Michael Jackson's life would fill several books and movies. Full of controversy, allegations, and misunderstandings, I am not sure we will ever know the true story of the young boy who became king.

Sources
My Memories
Wikipedia

Also see Michael Jackson's gospel music ties

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