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Name: Michael Jackson
Date of birth: August 29, 1958
zodiac sign: Maid
Eastern horoscope: A Dog
Place of birth: Gary, Indiana, USA
Date of death: June 25, 2009 (50 years old)
Activity: Singer, dancer and pop king
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Biography of Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson is an American singer and dancer who began his career with performances in the family group "The Jacksons".
Since 1972, he has devoted himself to a solo career, quickly achieving unsurpassed success.
His fifth studio album "Thriller" has maintained the status of the best selling album in history for more than 40 years, and the name of Michael Jackson has become a pop music legend.
Michael Jackson is the King of Pop music
The childhood of Michael Jackson.
Humiliations and first glory
The boy, later recognized as the king of pop music, was born in the town of Gary, Indiana.
The boy's parents, Joseph Jackson and Catherine Vinty, were married in November 1949.
They were brought together by their love of music: the future father of the family was a bluesman, played guitar, and his mother, half Indian, half Mulatto, a native of the rural hinterland, was obsessed with country music.
Michael Jackson with his parents
19 year old Catherine quickly realized that family life was not as rosy as in her fantasies.
Joseph proved to be a real person, turning out to be an unsociable and even cruel person.
Michael Jackson's family in full force
When Michael was born in 1958, there were already seven children in the Jackson family.
Joseph's approach to raising children, an adherent of the strictest discipline, was harsh: he humiliated his children both mentally and physically.
The singer's brother Marlon said that his father dismissed his hands for the slightest offense.
In an effort to teach children to order, at night he put on a terrible mask, crept under the windows of the nursery and roared in different ways (Michael later admitted that he was constantly tormented by nightmares as a child).
My mother forced her sons to study the Bible and took them to meetings of "Jehovah's Witnesses".
Michael Jackson as a child
Only in 1993, Michael Jackson told Oprah Winfrey's studio that in those years he constantly cried and felt lonely, he was literally sick of communicating with his father.
Little Michael Jackson already loved eccentric dancing
In 1964, the brothers formed the band "The Jacksons".
Initially, the line up consisted of the older Tito, Jeremy and Jackie, and Michael and Marlon were backup musicians, playing tambourine and congo.
Later, Michael took the place of the backing vocalist, and also accompanied each performance with dances.
The strict father watched the band's rehearsals with a belt in his hands and used a leather weapon if he didnot like something.
The Jackson brothers rehearsed hard, fearing a strict father
In 1966, it was decided to rename the group "Jackson 5" ("Jackson's Five"), and Michael became the lead singer.
The young musicians won the city talent contest with the song " I Got You (I Feel Good)", after which they went on a tour of the Midwest, which lasted until 1968.
Michael and his brothers performed in strip clubs for "blacks", warming up the audience before the show.
"The Jacksons": the beginning
In 1970, the band of the Jackson brothers reached the national level – their first singles rose to the leading positions of the American Billboard chart.
Even then, Michael attracted the attention of the audience with eccentric dances, which he copied from Jackie Wilson and James Brown.
"Jackson 5" on the show "American Bandstand", 1970
The beginning of Michael Jackson's solo career
In 1973, the Jackson 5 were involved in a conflict with their recording studio Motown Records.
This did not prevent Michael from releasing 4 solo albums in collaboration with the label: the debut "Got to Be There" (1972), which sold more than five million copies, "Ben" (1972), "Music&Me" (1973), and, finally, "Forever, Michael" (1975).
In 1972, Michael Jackson began a solo career
In 1976, the Jacksons signed a contract with CBS Records, after which they had to return the name "The Jacksons – - Motown left the rights to the" Jackson Five " to itself.
Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz musical
In 1978, Michael Jackson took part in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical "The Amazing Wizard of Oz" together with Diana Ross.
The film set brought him together with music director Quincy Jones, who took the talented singer, who played the role of the Scarecrow, under his wing.
Producer Quincy Jones has robbed the talent of Michael Jackson
The first fruits of cooperation made themselves felt in 1979, when Michael Jackson presented to the public his fifth solo album " Off the Wall "(translated into Russian – "Alien to conventions").
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder helped the musician with the recording of the album.
Four singles from the album reached the top of the Billboard Hot chart: "Donot Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock with You", "She's Out of My Life" and "Off the Wall".
The album has sold 20 million copies worldwide.
The unconventional Michael Jackson, 1979
The heyday of Michael Jackson's career.
The King of Pop Music
By the early 80's, Michael Jackson had already achieved phenomenal success, and a new album, "Thriller", was waiting for fans ahead.
The work on it was carried out for 8 months; the album included 9 tracks, 4 of which Michael wrote independently.
Released in 1982, "Thriller" became a phenomenon
The album was released in November 1982, and in just a year it received the status of the best selling album in history, preserving it for several decades.
In the United States alone, fans of the black singer sold 26 million copies, and in the world this figure exceeded 109 million.
The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was on this list for two years.
Michael Jackson's" Thriller " remains the best selling album in history
The album was a breakthrough in music and, in addition, broke the latest racial stereotypes in the pop industry: three clips of Michael Jackson ("Thriller"," Billie Jean"," Beat It") were in the rotation of MTV, and the musician was invited to the White House to meet with Ronald Reagan.
Michael Jackson demonstrates the "moonwalk"for the first time
In 1983, on the 25th anniversary of Motown Records, Michael Jackson first presented his famous "moonwalk" during the performance of "Billie Jean", and also showed a 14 minute clip for the song "Thriller", which set new standards for music videos.
Michael Jackson – "Thriller", full clip
In 1984, Michael's work was again at the top of the charts.
This time there was a single "Say Say Say", recorded together with Paul McCartney.
The following year, Jackson bought out a controlling stake in ATV Music Publishing, which owns the rights to most of The Beatles ' songs, which caused a quarrel with McCartney, who also claimed securities.
Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney are working on "Say say say"
In March 1985, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie recorded the song "We Are the World".
All commercial fees, which exceeded the amount of $ 61 million, were given to help the starving children of Africa.
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie
Michael Jackson's seventh studio album ("Bad", 1987) did not repeat the phenomenal success of the previous record, but it still lasted 6 weeks on the first line of the Billboard 200, sold 29 million copies and gave the world several hits, including the compositions "I Just Canot Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Dirty Diana", "Smooth Criminal" and "Man in the Mirror".
A frame from a live performance of "Smooth Criminal"
Immediately after the release of the album, Michael Jackson went on his first international solo tour "Bad Tour", visiting 15 countries with 123 concerts over the next three years.
Jackson turned every performance into a brilliant show: he demonstrated crazy dance steps, communicated with the audience.
During one of the London concerts, he got into the Guinness Book of Records – a record half a million spectators came to the performance.
Every performance of Michael Jackson became an extravaganza
In 1989, Elizabeth Taylor called Michael Jackson "the real king of pop, rock and soul music"during the Soul Train Music Awards ceremony.
Fans shortened her phrase – "The King of Pop music", and this nickname was fixed for Michael forever.
Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor
In 1991, Michael pleased the fans with new material, releasing the eighth solo album "Dangerous".
The release was preceded by the premiere of the video for the song "Black or White", which topped the charts for 5 weeks.
Michael Jackson – "Black or White", 1991
Michael Jackson in Russia
In September 1993, Jackson visited Russia for the first time.
The concert was held at the Moscow Luzhniki Stadium in the pouring rain.
After that, the company "Dessa", which spent a million dollars on organizing the event, went bankrupt, and the stadium was closed for repairs.
Michael Jackson in Moscow, 1993
In 1995, the double album "HIStory: Past, Present and Future — Book I", a collection of the musician's best hits, including 15 new compositions, went on sale.
Among them was the sad ballad "Strangler in Moscow".
When fans asked why the song turned out to be so sad, did he really not like it in Moscow, Michael replied that the audience at the Moscow concert was almost the most welcoming in his memory, but at that moment he was shackled by a feeling of"overwhelming loneliness and cold".
Photos from the first concert of Michael Jackson in Russia
The pop king visited Moscow for the second time in September 1996 – he gave a concert at the Dynamo stadium, met with Yuri Luzhkov and Igor Krutoy.
Michael Jackson in Moscow, 1996
The further career of Michael Jackson
Next studio album ("Invisible") Michael Jackson released it only in 2001.
It consists of 16 tracks, on which Notorius Biaiji ("Unbreakable"), Chris Tucker ("You Rock My World") and Carlos Santana ("Whatever Happens") worked together with Michael.
Recording of the album "Invisible"
The musician dedicated the album to the tragic events in Oslo – on January 26, 2001, 16 year old African Norwegian Benjamin Hermansen was killed by neo Nazis.
A close friend of the deceased, Omer Bhatti, was also a good friend of Michael Jackson, so the musician took the death of the teenager especially hard.
Omer Bhatti, an old friend and fan of Michael Jackson
After the release of the album, Michael Jackson organized a performance at Madison Square Garden dedicated to the 30th anniversary of his solo career.
For the first time since 1984, he appeared on stage with the former "Jackson Five", and also sang together with Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, N'Sync and Usher.
Michael Jackson and "The Jacksons", 2001
In 2003, Michael released a collection of hits "Number Ones", which included several previously unreleased songs, including a brand new track"One More Chance".
Michael Jackson's Anniversary Concert
At this time, Michael was accused of child molestation, and although the musician was acquitted, due to the hype in the press, many celebrities refused to cooperate with Jackson to record a charity song in memory of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The song "I Have This Dream" was eventually recorded, but never appeared on sale.
Michael Jackson and Diana Ross
In 2004, a five disc set "Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection' Box Set " was released with 13 previously unreleased songs, and in August 2008 – a collection of hits "King of Pop", dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Michael Jackson.
All the stage images of Michael Jackson in one picture
Michael Jackson planned to release his eleventh studio album in 2009.
Personal life of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was married twice.
The first wife of the musician was the daughter of the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley.
With Lisa Maria Presley, Jackson first met in 1975 at the MGM Grand Hotel event in Las Vegas, but at that time she was only 8 years old.
Michael Jackson with his first wife, daughter of Elvis Presley
The next meeting was held in 1993.
After that, they began to communicate and quickly became best friends; Lisa supported him during the period when it seemed that everyone turned away from Jackson.
Once he asked a girl on the phone: "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?".
Six months later, they were secretly married in the Dominican Republic.
In 1996, their marriage broke up, but the former spouses remained friends.
Michael Jackson and Lisa Maria Presley remained friends
Michael was going through a very difficult divorce, which made his illness [vitiligo] worse.
During a visit to Arnold Klein's personal dermatologist, he met his assistant, Debbie Rowe.
They got into a conversation, and Debbie asked Michael what saddened him the most in this situation.
The musician replied that he deeply regrets that he never got children together with Lisa.
Then the woman suggested that Jackson carry his child so that he could experience the happiness of fatherhood.
Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe entered into a marriage of "convenience"
Michael gladly agreed.
The woman gave birth to two children a son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.
In 1999, Debbie considered her mission accomplished and filed for divorce, giving up all parental rights.
Children of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe
In 2002, Michael Jackson's second son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II, was born.
The musician kept the name of the surrogate mother who carried the child a secret.
Michael Jackson with his son on the balcony of a hotel in Berlin
During the artist's tour in Berlin, one journalist managed to shoot a video of Michael Jackson standing on the hotel balcony and holding his younger son in his hand.
The press inflated a real scandal from the video, accusing the singer of careless treatment of a child.
After this incident, the artist became wary of the press and hid all the details from his personal life, and if the Jacksons appeared in public together, the children's faces were hidden by masks.
Michael Jackson with his youngest son
Michael Jackson and the accusations of pedophilia
In 1988, Michael purchased 112 hectares of land in California, near the town of Santa Barbara.
In this place, the musician, who had withdrawn from the general attention, could finally be himself.
He rebuilt the ranch, turning it into a dream of every child: a mansion resembling a fairy tale palace, a miniature railway, carousels, a zoo, a huge variety of colorful sculptures…
He named the created amusement park "Neverland", in honor of the book about Peter Pan, a boy who will never become an adult.
Neverland, Michael Jackson's ranch
In 1993, the singer was accused of molesting thirteen year old Jordan Chandler, who was a fan of the artist and a frequent guest at the Neverland Ranch.
The son confessed to his father, Evan Chandler, that during the visits, Jackson forced the boy to touch his genitals.
During the investigation, Michael even had to demonstrate his "dignity" so that the jury could compare the descriptions of the boy with reality.
Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler
As a result, a settlement was concluded: the Chandlers withdrew the lawsuit, and Michael paid the family compensation in the amount of $22 million.
In 2003, Michael Jackson again appeared in court on charges of a similar crime.
The new "victim" was thirteen year old Gavin Arvizo, who told the press that Michael got him drunk and engaged in joint masturbation with him.
Pictured: Gavin Arvizo
Authorities raided Jackson's estate and arrested the singer, but released him on bail a day later.
During the investigation, the artist claimed that the Arvizo family decided to repeat the example of the Chandlers and is engaged in vile extortion.
The lawsuits lasted for two years, and in the end Michael Jackson was completely acquitted.
Unfortunately, the very fact of being accused of pedophilia had a very negative impact on the singer's reputation and career.
Michael Jackson fans decorate the idol's ranch as a sign of support
In 2005, Michael Jackson left the Neverland Ranch forever, moving to a mansion in Holmby Hills.
Michael Jackson's rented mansion in Holmby Hills
After the singer's death in 2009, Jordan Chandler admitted that all the words about molestation were lies from beginning to end, and said that his father forced him to tell the truth.
In November of the same year, the elder Chandler shot himself.
After the death of Michael Jackson, Evan Chandler committed suicide
Plastic surgery and Michael Jackson's disease
In 1987, after the release of the video for the title song of the album "Bad", fans noticed changes in the face of the idol, and with each subsequent performance, the singer became even paler and thinner.
How Michael Jackson's appearance changed
The media paid too much attention to the emaciated appearance of the artist: journalists built the most unexpected hypotheses about why Michael Jackson bleached his skin and changed the contours of his face, going as far as accusations of dysmorphophobia – hatred of his own body.
Michael Jackson was accused of hating his body
In the early 90s, Michael put an end to gossip, admitting that in 1986 he was diagnosed with two rare diseases vitiligo and lupus.
And if vitiligo affected only the pigmentation of the skin, which was covered with light spots due to the disease (hence the dead white complexion of Michael's face – this is a thick layer of cosmetics that hid the difference between healthy and affected areas of the skin), then lupus, a dangerous autoimmune disease that damages connective tissue, led to a failure of the cheekbones and a general deformity of the face.
In addition, the powerful medications prescribed to Michael by the doctor during the period of lupus relapse led to the musician's addiction to painkillers.
Vitiligo appeared in Michael Jackson in his youth
As for the number of plastic surgeries of Michael Jackson, experts who closely followed the gradual transformation of the artist, made conclusions about the presence of multiple surgical interventions.
According to them, he operated on his nose several times, changed the shape of his lips, reshaped his cheeks and eyelids, and also made a dimple on his chin.
Michael's mother confirmed that her son, in her opinion, was addicted to plastic surgery.
The artist himself stated that he had only done rhinoplasty twice.
Michael Jackson: "I've only had rhinoplasty twice"
The Death of Michael Jackson
On June 25, 2009, at 12: 21 local time, the California Rescue service received a call.
A confused voice called an ambulance to the Holmby Hills estate the property of Michael Jackson.
Medics arrived at the scene after 3 minutes and 17 seconds, found the motionless body of the pop king with a barely palpable pulse.
Doctors failed to resuscitate Michael Jackson
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the way to the medical center of the University of California and in the center itself did not help – Michael Jackson's death was pronounced at 14:26.
The news of the death of Michael Jackson spread around the world in a few minutes.
The death of Michael Jackson shocked the world
The police immediately began to investigate the incident.
The singer's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, was the first to be interviewed.
He said that he found a lifeless Jackson in bed, but managed to distinguish a pulse and tried to give him cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and when he realized that all attempts to resurrect the singer were unsuccessful, he called an ambulance.
The following fact played an important role here – Michael rented a mansion, so Conrad did not know the exact address.
While he was figuring out the coordinates, a whole half hour passed, which turned out to be fatal for Jackson.
"Breaking news: Michael Jackson has died"
This was Conrad Murray's version, but the coroners continued their investigation.
It turned out that one of the producers of the Emmy Award, Ken Ehrlich, saw the singer the day before his death – and he seemed to him very energetic and perky.
A minute of silence at the star of Michael Jackson on the Walk of Fame
An autopsy of the body showed that the singer was in an extreme stage of exhaustion – with a height of 178 centimeters, his weight was only 51 kilograms.
They didnot find a single hint of food in the stomach, but they found a decent amount of painkillers.
On August 24, the medical examiner's office established the true cause of Michael's death – an overdose of the anesthetic propofol administered intravenously.
In the death certificate of Michael Jackson, the reason was indicated as "murder".
Michael Jackson was exhausted to the limit before his death
On July 29, 2009, Conrad Murray admitted that he himself injected Michael Jackson with propofol shortly before his death, after giving him several pills with a sedative effect recently, the singer suffered from insomnia and pain due to the consequences of plastic surgery and spinal problems, so he needed anesthesia and sleeping pills.
Propofol found in Michael Jackson's bedroom
In November 2011, Murray was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
Conrad Murray was in solidarity with the court's decision
Michael Jackson's Funeral
On July 7, 2009, a private farewell ceremony was held with the idol of millions.
Jackson's closest friends came to the memorial park of the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The addresses of Diana Ross, Nelson Mandela, Queen Latifah, Stevie Wonder, the children of Martin Luther King were read.
The farewell ended with a speech by Paris Jackson.
Without holding back tears, the girl said: "He was the best father who could only be...".
Michael Jackson's daughter Paris could not hold back her tears
On September 3, 2009, 70 days after his death, Michael Jackson was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Michael Jackson's Funeral
Michael Jackson's Posthumous Albums
As it turned out after the opening of Michael Jackson's will, the singer's children inherited the rights to two hundred of his archival compositions.
The real estate and financial assets were transferred to the Jackson Family Trust Fund under the leadership of Katherine Jackson.
It is noteworthy that Joseph Jackson was not mentioned in the last will of the artist, as well as the mother of Michael's older children.
Michael Jackson's children have grown up and chosen their own path
In December 2010, the world heard the first posthumous album by Michael Jackson.
The album, called "Michael", consisted of 10 tracks recorded with the participation of Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent and Terill Jackson.
The release of the album divided the singer's fans into two camps: some believed that publishing songs deliberately hidden by the author "in the table" was blasphemy, having a strictly commercial purpose.
Others, on the contrary, were glad that even after the death of the idol continues to please fans with new creations.
Many celebrities, including Michael's brother, Randy Jackson, described the album as "raw" and "unfinished".
Michael Jackson's first posthumous album - "Michael"
The album "Xscape", released in 2014, received warmer reviews, which included only 8 tracks.
The song " Love Never Felt So Good "was especially liked by listeners, who noted that the track is comparable to the best hits with" Thriller "or"Off the Wall".
Michael Jackson continues to live in the hearts of millions
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