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The Truth about Michael Jackson
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Biography
Michael Joseph Jackson On August 29, 1958, a boy was born in a poor and unremarkable African American family of Joseph and Catherine Jackson, in the town of Gary, lost in the state of Indiana.
He was the seventh child in a family that lived in a small house so small that it looked like a garage.
The boy was named Michael.
So the greatest and most unsolved artist of the late twentieth century was born — Michael Jackson.
Hundreds of biographies, books, and studies have been written about the phenomenon of Michael Jackson, and none has yet been able to cover his entire image.
In this brief biography, we will certainly not be able to do this.
But still, let's try, for those who are just entering the magical world of the artist, to write a small biographical article.
Based on it, it will be easier to understand Michael Jackson's autobiography "Moonwalk", and other books, interviews, stories of people who were friends and worked with him for many years.
Growing up in Gary, Indiana
The town of Gary, where Michael was born — is a small settlement in Indiana, in the East Chicago area.
80% of the town's residents are African Americans ordinary workers living in poor houses and working at the local steel mill.
And Michael's father, Joseph Jackson, worked at that time in the foundry at this factory.
After Michael, two more children were born in the family, and six boys had to sleep in a tiny bedroom on three story beds.
The family barely made ends meet, but thanks to Michael's mother Catherine – a zealous follower of Jehovah's Witnesses the children grew up in an environment of strict rules, and the house was kept as tidy as possible.
Children from infancy were taught to clean themselves and take care of themselves.
Michael's house in Gary In addition, music was constantly playing in the house.
"We had a lot of singing at home, mostly popular blues songs at that time, such as"Mustang Sally".
Catherine and I loved to sing with the children, she also played the piano and sometimes the clarinet.
I could also play some songs on my guitar, and every free minute we played R&B records, such singers as Little Richard, Chi lites, Chuck Berry, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, Joe Tex, Big Maybell, The Impressions and Major Lance," the father of the family, Joseph, wrote later in his book.
It was he, according to Michael himself, who played a decisive role in his formation as an artist – despite the fact that the relationship between father and son could hardly be called harmonious.
Joseph Jackson Joseph was a man of no timid ten, a cool temper and great ambitions.
In his youth, he had to change a lot of activities – he visited, including, a boxing ring, worked as a sleeper stacker, picked cotton on the plantations of the South.
"One day I will also be at the very top, I promised myself," Joe later wrote in his autobiography.
But it is unlikely that in his youth he could imagine who would lead him to this peak, although show business was clearly very busy with his thoughts: the Falcons (Falcons) group created by him and his friends played all over the city, and also performed in clubs and colleges in northern Indiana and Chicago.
The first memories of Michael's childhood do not describe in too much detail his temper in infancy.
Everyone agrees only that the baby has always been full of unquenchable energy.
His mother recalls how at the age of two he famously danced to the sound of a washing machine; his older brother Jermaine about how agile he was, even without learning to walk – so that it was impossible to change his diapers; his father said that you couldnot take your eyes off him for a second, otherwise he disappeared, and then they found him under the table or under the bed.
The film "The Jacksons — The American Dream", based on the story of the creation of the Jackson 5 group, describes the legend of its origin.
According to her, it all started with the fact that one of the eldest sons, Tito, quietly took his father's guitar to learn how to play.
One day, the father discovered that his son was taking his instrument without asking.
Tito was punished, and punished cruelly: Joseph was not distinguished by humanity in raising children.
However, he was surprised to see that Tito had learned to play very well.
According to his own version, Tito tore a string on the guitar. "
"What did you do?I asked him calmly.
Tito looked at me incredulously.
He thought I was going to get angry.
"Well, show me what you can do”" I said.
I could hardly hide my joy.
And he actually knew how to play.
He taught himself the blues songs that I always played on the guitar.
Like me, he played by ear.
I didnot show Tito right away how proud I was of him, but a couple of days later I came home and brought him a gift: a new red guitar!" recalls Joe.
From that moment on, the fate of the children was decided.
The group "Falcons" gradually disappeared from the field of view of its creator.
Joseph created a musical group from the older boys, with whom he rehearsed day after day — for three hours or more.
Michael was one of the younger brothers, at the time of the creation of the group, he was about 5 years old.
They didnot want to notice this little tomboy for a while: at first he just played the bongo, which, according to his father and brothers, he really liked.
It is curious that even as an adult, Michael remained an excellent percussionist, and also performed beatbox perfectly.
But one day during a rehearsal, according to legend, Catherine's mother heard Michael singing.
"Listen to how he sings," she told her husband.
And Joe heard it.
The frontman of the "Jackson Five"
Everyone who remembers little Michael says with one voice that his talent was immediately visible.
In his book "Moonwalk", he told about his first performance at a school concert: he sang the song " Climb every mountain "from the musical"The Sound of Music".
"The reaction of the audience when I finished singing shocked me.
The audience burst into applause, people smiled, some stood up.
The teachers were crying.
I just couldnot believe my eyes.
I gave them all happiness.
It was such a wonderful feeling.
But at the same time I was a little confused: I didnot do anything special.
I just sang like I used to sing at home every night, " Michael recalled.
Life has confirmed: "I will climb any mountain" - this is really his motto.
Joseph was astute: once convinced of how great his young son's gift was, he made Michael the frontman of the band.
Thus, the beginning of Michael Jackson's artistic career was laid.
At the age of five, he became one of the most gifted children of artists of the twentieth century.
But the same talent that made Michael the most famous artist on Earth, already from childhood began to limit his freedom.
From the age of five, the boy's life was subordinated to the most severe schedule of rehearsals and concerts.
Over time, he, like his brothers, had to leave school: a teacher, Rose Fine, was specially hired to teach the boys, who traveled around the world with the Jackson 5 group.
And there was simply no time for such things as communication and playing with peers.
So the theme of "lost childhood" became one of the main "red lines" in the artist's work, and in the whole life of the artist.
A Motown artist In "Moonwalk" he wrote: "I used to come home from school and, barely dropping my textbooks, rush to the studio.
There I sang until late at night, actually, when it was long past my bedtime.
There was a park across the street from the studio, and I remember watching the guys playing there.
I looked at them and marveled — I simply could not imagine such freedom, such a carefree life — and more than anything in the world I wanted to be so free that I could go out and behave like them.
So I had some sad moments as a child.
But this happens with all children who have become "stars".
Elizabeth Taylor told me she felt the same way.
When you work very young, the world can seem terribly unfair.
No one forced me to be a little Michael soloist — I chose it myself, and I loved it — but the work was hard.
When we were recording for an album, for example, we would go to the studio right after school, and sometimes I would get a snack, and sometimes not.
There just wasnot time.
I would come home exhausted, at eleven, or even at twelve at night, when it was long past bedtime."
All this was complicated by the tough and cruel temper of the main mentor, and then the producer of the Jackson brothers Joseph.
The rudeness and rigidity of the father, his tendency to solve problems with a belt and shouting had different effects on the boys, but Michael, a gifted child with a fine mental organization, was especially difficult to bear it.
The father trained his children perfectly, he instilled in Michael the concept of the importance of discipline and hard work for the rest of his life, without which no talent can be realized; however, a vulnerable child with a stormy imagination needed not only a strict coach, but also a loving person.
"He trained me as a showman, and under his guidance I could not make a single wrong step.
But what I really wanted was for him to be a dad.
I wanted a father who would show me his love, " Michael said later.
In adulthood, he managed to overcome childhood and adolescent resentments, and Joe himself eventually became softer, but nevertheless, the traumas experienced in childhood were never completely forgotten, and the relationship with his father remained tense until Michael's death.
In many ways, this child tragedy of the child prodigy artist repeated the fate of such geniuses as Paganini or Mozart, who were the same "child stars", led by strict fathers.
As an adult, Michael quickly found a common language with people with a similar fate – this is how, for example, his friendship with Elizabeth Taylor and a tender attachment to the "girl star" of old Hollywood Shirley Temple began.
Jackson 5 Meanwhile ,the "Five Jacksons" have won recognition in their city and surrounding areas for three to four years.
The children performed wherever they could - in schools, at various talent competitions, which they invariably won, in nightclubs and strip bars, where little Michael got acquainted with the whole "underside" of show business at the age of seven or eight.
Often the group performed "as an opening act" at the page and then she would stay in the hall or come home late at night – and the next day she would rehearse and perform again.
The next stage was the conquest of Chicago.
Everywhere the boys were waiting for success first of all thanks to the amazing baby soloist, who masterfully performed covers of songs by Motown artists — the first "black" music label in the United States, which brought out a whole galaxy of brilliant soloists and groups in the style of R&B.
After a while, the band was invited to the oldest "black" musical theater in the United States – the famous New York Apollo Theater in the heart of Harlem, the cradle of such world famous talents as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Jackie Wilson, Nina Simone, James Brown.
The demanding and wayward New York audience was literally conquered: the triumph of the Jackson five was deafening.
After that, the brothers were invited to television, to the David Frost show – but suddenly, at the very last moment, Joseph refused the invitation.
The boys, hearing about this, could not believe their ears, but their father explained: "Motown called."
Growing up.
Motown and Epic
Jackson 5 on the cover of Life magazine, the "Five Jacksons" were invited to audition for the famous label, and for many years this audition determined their fate.
They joined the team of stars of the studio as equals at the very zenith of its history, when such artists as The Supremes (with Diana Ross), The Temptations, The Four Tops, singers Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson and young prodigy Stevie Wonder shone on the stage.
James Brown The main idols of young Michael were the famous black stars James Brown and Jackie Wilson.
Sitting for hours behind the scenes, Michael watched and watched them while his brothers rested carelessly, and learned from these masters the art of keeping the audience's attention, absorbed their expression, mastered dance techniques.
Michael was a master at imitating his idols, and this touched the audience, but Michael's vocal talent was not just an object of emotion.
The boy, who had never studied music or vocals, sang his parts in the purest voice, easily memorizing any melody, it was only necessary to hum it to him.
Throughout his career, Michael Jackson remained "musically illiterate", that is, self taught in everything.
However, ignorance of the notes did not prevent him from composing music, and ignorance of vocal techniques did not prevent him from recording songs from the first take.
In the United States, there are fans of Michael Jackson who are older than him in age.
These are the ones who caught the resounding success of the"Jackson Five".
All of America fell in love with these boys.
According to the attendance of concerts ,the "Five Jacksons" broke the records of The Beatles.
They were the idols of the young audience, and the paparazzi began to hunt for them.
Michael, 12 years old, Michael's life has changed greatly and forever.
He became a superstar at the age of 11 and at the same time grew into the only artist in the history of music who, having grown up, not only did not lose the audience's love, but also multiplied the success of his childhood years many times.
In the early 1970s, thanks to the talent of the Jackson brothers and Joe's perseverance, the whole family moved to live in California, where the Motown label also moved.
The Jacksons collaborated with Motown for several more years, but then their paths parted, mainly because the brothers wanted to compose songs themselves, which they were not allowed to do in Motown.
Michael, at the age of 16, discussed the termination of the contract with the label's management.
It should be noted that even at such a young age, when it came to business, Michael behaved decisively and uncompromisingly.
As a result, the band moved to another label – Epic - and changed its name to The Jacksons.
And little Michael has grown up a lot unnoticed by everyone.
17 chronicling his growing up in his autobiography, Michael recalls that it became a great stress for him.
When you grow up in front of the whole country and do not leave the covers of magazines, people want to see you the way they initially liked you, he said.
A cute little boy with an afro hairstyle, bright perky eyes and dimples on his cheeks was a favorite of millions.
And as it turned out, no one recognized the thin teenager with youthful pimples on his face.
Sometimes, in search of "little Michael", people passed by him, and when they realized that Michael was standing next to them, they did not hide their annoyance.
"Fuel to the fire" was also added by Joseph, who pointed out to his son his huge wide nose, insisting that this trait of appearance was inherited from his mother.
Both brothers and cousins teased Michael — no one missed the opportunity to humiliate the public favorite.
Perhaps the stress experienced in adolescence and youth was not the last factor that influenced the subsequent artificial changes in Michael's appearance.
However, these changes are explained by many other things – both the state of his health, and his understanding of art as, among other things, the art of sculpting himself and his life to his liking.
Off The Wall.
Thriller.
Conquering the top
Michael, 21, Michael started his official solo career when he turned 21.
He refused his father's services as a manager, broke his contract with him and took control of his creative destiny into his own hands.
His first solo album Off The Wall, consisting of songs in the then popular disco style, was released in 1979 and was a phenomenal success much more than the works of Michael and his brothers, released shortly before that.
This CD was recognized at that time as the most successful album by a black artist in history.
Many music critics, especially in America, still consider it the pinnacle of Michael Jackson's work.
However, Michael himself was dissatisfied.
The album was awarded a series of awards, but did not receive the most influential award of the music industry — the Grammy Award "Album of the Year".
"I felt that my colleagues ignored me, and it hurt," Michael later recalled.
"This experience lit a fire in my soul," he wrote in his autobiography.
– I was only thinking about the next album and how I would create it.
I wanted him to become really great."
And he fully realized his idea.
It is customary to talk about Michael's next album as the greatest achievement in the history of modern sound recording.
The Thriller album has received such a success that it is virtually impossible to repeat.
The best selling album, the Guinness Book record holder, the peak that only one person has climbed and only once.
The album won seven Grammy Awards at the 1984 ceremony, including the Album of the Year award — Michael's revenge was deafening.
In his cult film "Thriller" It was with this album that the triumphant march through the world of Michael Jackson's video clips began.
Michael decided to invite film directors to work on his musical films.
He himself did not call his videos "video clips" — he called them "short films".
And in general, he was right, because the genre of the video clip neither before Michael nor after him reached such perfection and sophistication.
In addition, Michael completely reinvented his own image.
Moonwalk.
A shiny glove.
The famous Black Fedora hat…
All these most recognizable features of Michael Jackson's appearance entered the world of popular music precisely in the era of Thriller.
Michael invested his profit from the record sales of the album in a strategically important acquisition.
On the advice of his colleague Paul McCartney, he bought the ATV music catalog, which contained the rights to songs by many famous artists (including, ironically, songs by The Beatles themselves).
Buying the catalog turned out to be a wise investment: Michael had the right to dispose of where and how the songs from the catalog were used and throughout his later life he received royalties every time these songs brought commercial income.
Michael is taken to the hospital with a burn in his chest, which, however, was overshadowed by an accident.
In 1984, on the set of a commercial for the PepsiCo company, as a result of a pyrotechnic explosion, sparks hit Michael's head, and his hair caught fire.
Michael's security guard, Miko Brando, put out the flames with his hands, and Michael was immediately taken to the hospital.
He had severe burns on his skin.
It took several operations to restore the skin of the head.
The procedures were lengthy and painful.
The recovery was delayed for several years and was complicated by the appearance of keloid scars, which grew and prevented normal hair growth.
As Michael's nurse and future wife, Debbie Rowe, told later, he had to struggle with this problem for decades.
It was from that time that Michael began to wear a black hat so often – at first it performed a cosmetic function, and then it became an integral part of the image.
Bad.
"Crazy Jacko".
Neverland
25 years after the resounding success of Thriller, Michael plunged back into work: he rarely gave interviews, told little about his hobbies outside of music, and even more so about his private life.
He carefully guarded his personal space.
In addition, this was his PR strategy: he believed that in order to succeed, you need to intrigue the audience and let them have time to miss the "star", and not bother them by blinding their eyes on TV screens and social gatherings.
He carefully created a persona that made people get lost in guesses and discuss him.
Thus, he soon became known as a strange "hermit", leading a reclusive lifestyle in the company of his animals (Michael had a small zoo at home).
Rumors began to spread.
Michael sometimes appeared in public in the company of singer and actress Diana Ross, then accompanied by film actress Brooke Shields, then with Elizabeth Taylor.
But they could not see romance in these appearances, and Michael was accused of hiding his true sexual orientation.
Some said he was gay.
And when people noticed that Michael changed the shape of his nose and began to use makeup off stage, the conviction that "something is wrong" with him only grew.
Michael with Diana Ross, American Music Awards, 1980 However, many rumors were fueled by Michael and his manager Frank Dileo intentionally.
They seemed to be playing with the press and public opinion believing that they were keeping the situation under control.
So, the rumors that Michael "sleeps in a pressure chamber" and that he bathes only in Evian water were deliberately dismissed.
"It all depends on the rhythm and the right timing," Michael once explained his tactics of working with the audience, as if talking about a real stage performance.
— You need to know exactly what you are doing…
It's like a fever: people are waiting, waiting.
It is very important to wait.
Preserve, cherish this feeling…
If you remain mysterious, people's interest will grow."
However, the game has gone too far.
"Suddenly, at one point, all of Jackson's eccentricity, which just a few months ago was considered intriguing or even insignificant, began to be called strange, strange and amazing," writes Joseph Vogel in his book "A Man in Music".
— It became difficult for the artist to withstand relentless attacks, interference in his life, annoying questions and attention.
<...
> He was isolated from the world more than ever.
As soon as he left the house, a crowd of fans and paparazzi immediately attacked him.
< ...
> Every aspect of the artist's life was examined under a microscope.
People wanted to know everything about him.
Why does he have such a high pitched voice?
Did he take hormones?
Did he have sex reassignment surgery ?
Is he a homosexual?
Is he asexual?
Why does he live in a secluded and fabulous environment?
Why is he obsessed with animals and children?
Why does he wear masks and costumes?
Is he not out of touch with reality?
Is he even a human being?"
The already shy and isolated Michael almost completely stopped appearing in public.
In the vacuum caused by the absence of the artist, gossip spread and multiplied.
Soon the label "Crazy Jacko" firmly stuck to him, and streams of fabrications poured out of the floodgates of human slander.
Some of the stories seemed harmless, though strange: rumors about a supposed "sanctuary" that he built in honor of Elizabeth Taylor, about the chimpanzee Bubbles, and even that he bought the bones of an elephant Man.
Bad period "By 1987, for the public, the Jackson man seemed to have ceased to exist," Vogel writes.
— He was transformed into the creature that they tried to mold out of him.
Even those to whom he seemed completely normal noticed the consequences.
"One day in the studio, I saw Michael sitting on a bedside table in the bathroom, behind the equipment room," recalls assistant sound engineer Russ Ragsdale.
— He was sitting with his feet on the countertop, leaning his shoulder against the mirror and was almost in a trance, like an animal in a cage."
The public's opinion about the artist has changed so much that his new album Bad, despite very strong material, a number of hits and strong global sales, was recognized by readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the "worst album".
Later that year, during the Bad World Tour, Jackson wrote a despairing letter to the press from his hotel room.
It said: "As the old Indian saying goes, do not judge a person until you have passed two moons in his moccasins.
Many people donot know me, so they write such things, most of which are not true.
I often cry because it hurts me... animals attack not out of anger, but because they want to live.
And the same goes for those who criticize: they need our blood, not our pain…
But show mercy, because I have been bleeding for a very long time."
Michael in the "Chaplin" image, in fact, Michael spent most of his time working hard.
The unprecedented success of the Thriller album set an unattainable bar for him, which the artist, nevertheless, tried to surpass with each subsequent album.
He carefully studied the weekly charts, tracked the novelties and trends of modern music to know what finds the greatest response from the audience.
He attracted the most talented producers and musicians to cooperate.
When preparing the albums, Michael worked on dozens of songs, the best of which were then selected for the final tracklist.
And he was constantly studying.
Michael Jackson was an avid reader and collected his library, which eventually grew to 20 thousand volumes.
His collection included books on world art, history, biology and psychology.
He was deeply interested in the biographies of great people of the past and drew life lessons from their destinies.
He was fond of auto training techniques and developed programs for himself to mentally target results.
In addition, he not only, like any American, loved movies and cartoons, but seriously studied film art, admired Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin.
Rich gateway to Neverland During this period, Michael also bought a new home — a picturesque ranch of 2,800 acres in a two and a half hour drive from Los Angeles.
He named the ranch "Neverland" - in honor of the fairyland from his favorite story about Peter Pan.
After moving from his parents ' house to Neverland, Michael converted the ranch to his liking and turned it into a truly magical, fabulous place for guests especially for children.
"I wanted to create a place where there would be everything that I missed in my childhood," Michael said of Neverland.
There was a zoo with exotic animals, an amusement park, a cinema, an arcade with video games and a railway with a real steam locomotive.
Having arranged the ranch, Michael opened it to visitors.
He invited friends, fans and children from the surrounding schools to visit.
Every few weeks, sick and needy children were brought to the ranch by buses so that they could spend a day in "fairyland".
The rural idyll of Neverland also gave Michael solitude and a sense of harmony with nature — the necessary components of creative inspiration.
Dangerous.
Accusations of an international scandal
Although Michael (like no one else to this day) failed to surpass the commercial success of the Thriller album, all his subsequent albums invariably turned out to be at the top of the charts.
With the release of the album Dangerous and the world tour of the same name in 1992-93, Jackson expanded the geography of his performances to include countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
This raised his already great global popularity to a hitherto unprecedented level.
In the "third world" countries, the hysteria about Michael Jackson was not inferior to the American and British.
He won the title of the most famous person in the world even in perestroika Russia.
His arrival in Moscow with the Dangerous concert in September 1993 became one of the landmark events of the era of change for Russians.
But such fame, like a snowball, "wound" more and more rumors on the artist's reputation.
People seemed to be restless with curiosity, burning with a desire to find out what he eats, what he sleeps in, who he dines with, what color his socks are, why he is wearing a hat, why he is white, why he has makeup on his face, why a bandage on his sleeve, who his girlfriend is, why children are around him.
In February 1993, for the first time in ten years, Michael decided to give a big interview to TV host Oprah Winfrey.
The interview was intended to dispel rumors around the star and to lift the veil of mystery that hid his true life.
The world saw a light skinned man with a high voice, long black hair and makeup on his face, who was sitting in the living room of his luxurious mansion on the territory of a huge ranch with the magical name "Neverland" and answered questions that excited the public for almost an hour.
Much of this interview was a revelation to the public.
In particular, it was then that Michael first told that he suffers from a skin disease (vitiligo), as a result of which his skin loses its natural pigment and becomes light.
The interview won a record high rating: according to the TV channel, 85 million Americans watched it live.
It caused a new wave of interest in the artist's work and had a positive effect on Michael's image in the eyes of ordinary people.
Unfortunately, the effect of the interview was short lived.
In the same 1993, the madness around the name of Michael Jackson reached a "boiling point".
All the misunderstanding that had accumulated around his image, all that attracted attention to Michael, all his resounding success and mega popularity turned out to be a breeding ground for the most terrible accusation that he himself could only think of.
In August, Evan Chandler, the father of the family with whom Michael became friends, filed a civil lawsuit, accusing the artist of "inappropriate behavior" towards his underage son.
The news that the King of Pop Music is a pedophile spread around the world in a matter of days.
Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler It's hard to imagine what Michael himself was going through at that time.
According to his family and friends, the accusation was a terrible blow for him.
After all, exactly what Michael considered his mission, the meaning of his life – helping children — was distorted and turned against him.
His best aspirations and the most important principles of life were misinterpreted.
When the global scandal broke out, Michael was on tour.
Every evening he had to go on stage in different countries and cities, not knowing how he would be greeted by a new audience and what thousands of people who had gathered for the concert really thought about him.
During a short visit to Russia, he wrote a poignant song about loneliness "Stranger In Moscow": "I wandered in the rain, hiding behind a mask of life, feeling that I was going crazy..."
Strong stress, coupled with an exhausting schedule of performances, changing time zones and pain from the operation suffered before the start of the tour, made themselves felt — Michael's insomnia worsened, and he had to turn to painkillers and sleeping pills to keep working.
By November, his condition became critical: the remaining concerts of the Dangerous tour had to be canceled, and Michael's girlfriend, Elizabeth Taylor, took him to a rehabilitation clinic in London.
Michael spent about a month there, restoring his health and strength.
Michael in the children's hospital, 1993 Was there anything rational in the accusations made against Michael?
Both fans of the singer and his detractors argued a lot about this, but it is worth looking first of all at the facts.
Evan Chandler, a dentist who was divorced from his wife and took a very modest part in his son's life, was a man of great ambitions and dreamed of making a career in Hollywood.
When his son Jordan met the superstar, Michael Jackson, Evan initially reacted favorably to this friendship and even tried to start a friendly relationship with Michael.
However, Jordan began to spend more and more time with Michael, clearly seeing him as a father figure, and Evan, by his own admission, became jealous and felt that he was losing his son.
And the boy's mother, June, liked Michael more than her ex husband.
In the summer of 1993, Evan, allegedly having received a confession from Geordie, first turned to Michael with a demand for money and threats to start a public scandal.
In a published private telephone conversation, Evan admits that he conceived a plan and his goal is to get his own or ruin Michael's career.
He also says that his son's interests in this case "do not matter".
This probably explains why Evan did not file a police report, as a truly angry parent would have done in his place, but instead tried to extort financial compensation from Jackson.
When Jackson refused to meet his conditions, Chandler put his threats into action and filed a civil lawsuit.
Michael declares his innocence on TV Michael Jackson has always fiercely defended his innocence.
At first, he intended to fight for his honor to the end and did not agree to make concessions.
However, the scandal undermined his health and jeopardized his career.
The trial threatened to drag on for several years, which would have a disastrous effect on the sales of music and the public image of the artist.
In addition — despite the fact that the Chandlers never contacted the police, the Santa Barbara County prosecutor opened an investigation on his own initiative with the intention of bringing criminal charges against Michael.
If he had succeeded, Jackson would have had to defend himself on "two fronts" at once.
The situation was extremely stressful for Michael.
The last straw was the humiliating personal search that Michael was subjected to: he, a shy man and extremely sensitive about his public image, was forced to strip naked in the presence of investigators and doctors and photographed his genitals to compare with the description given by the boy.
Shortly after this traumatic event, Michael, yielding to the persuasions of his advisers, went to a peace agreement with the Chandlers.
"We wanted to put this horror behind us," he later explained in a TV interview.
The amount that his insurer paid to Evan Chandler was $ 15 million.
Prime Time interview, 1995the peace agreement with the Chandlers on a civil lawsuit did not affect the investigation led by the prosecutor's office — and the investigation continued for several more months.
However, the police did not find any evidence or reliable evidence that would indicate Michael's criminal behavior.
The description given earlier by Jordan was not confirmed by photos, and Jordan himself did not want to testify against Michael.
Two grand juries assembled on this issue eventually refused to charge Jackson for lack of grounds.
Michael was left alone, but this scandal and the monetary payment had an extremely negative impact on his reputation.
PepsiCo, the company that sponsored his world tour, decided not to renew his contract with him.
Many former friends suddenly disappeared from his life.
And the question has always remained in the minds of the public: "If he was innocent, why did he pay?"
HIStory.
The king of pop music and the princess of rock.
Second marriage and children
Michael himself publicly commented on these events only twice – in a statement of his innocence on TV and later in an interview with the Prime Time TV program.
However, personal experiences have abundantly resulted in his work: most of the new album History, released in 1995, was his response to the accusations.
For example, in the song "This Time Around", Michael throws to unnamed offenders: "This time I will not let myself be stung, although you really want to get to me!"
In the song "Money", he accuses the opponent of greed: "You will do anything for money...", and in the song "D. S." openly incriminates the district attorney who started hunting him: "Tom Sneddon is a heartless man."
Michael and Lisa Marispust just a few months after the scandal subsided, the world was shocked by another unexpected news: Michael Jackson got married.
Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter and heiress of the Elvis empire, told the world that she is the legitimate wife of the King of Pop music.
"I am truly in love with Michael and I want to dedicate my life to him," she said in a statement to the press.
At that moment, the general public did not know anything about the history of the relationship between Michael and Lisa Marie, so this news was received with skepticism by many.
The young people were hastened to accuse that the marriage is fictitious, that its purpose is to help Michael restore his reputation after the accusations and demonstrate his heterosexuality.
Over time, however, it became increasingly obvious that this was not the case.
Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley The first joint photo Shootmichael and Lisa met in 1992 through a mutual friend: Lisa wanted to offer Michael to produce her debut album.
Later, she admitted that at the first meeting she was fascinated by Michael: he denied the rumors about himself and turned out to be completely different from what the press portrayed him.
"I forgot that he was a superstar after 20 minutes — he was so open and simple with me," she said.
Michael and Lisa began to communicate often, and an affair began between them.
At that time, Lisa was still married to her previous husband, Danny Keu, but this did not prevent Michael from continuing courtship, and Lisa from accepting them.
During the accusations, Lisa supported Michael, and soon after the crisis passed, the couple decided to get married.
The secret marriage ceremony took place on May 26, 1994 in the Dominican Republic.
Both Michael and Lisa Marie were people who jealously guarded their privacy, so they never advertised the details of their relationship.
In many ways, this is what provoked disbelief and criticism from the public.
Only after Michael's death, Lisa Marie told about how their romance developed — how Michael, kneeling down, offered her his hand and heart, how their life together proceeded and how much she loved him.
"God, I've never felt so uplifted in my life [as with him].
I've never felt so high in my life — " she recalled in an interview with Oprah in 2010.
— And I'm not kidding.
There was something so intoxicating about him…
When he was ready to share it with you, to be himself, to let you in — I donot know if anything else has ever intoxicated me so much."
Michael and Lisa Marie, February 1998The first time the couple seemed really happy, but the marriage lasted only a year and a half — in early 1996, Lisa Marie filed for divorce.
According to her, she could not live "in an ivory tower" built around Michael.
She, like any woman, wanted attention and marital understanding — Michael was used to existing in the mode of a public performance, played out by himself.
The dissolution of the marriage was an impulsive decision ("a stupid step", as Lisa Marie later called it).
The couple's relationship continued for several years after the divorce.
Lisa did not hide that she loved Michael for many years, and although the separation left her with bitterness and doubts about the reciprocity of these feelings, after Michael's death, she admitted: "And he loved me as much as he could."
For Michael, a serious disappointment in his marriage was that Lisa Marie did not give birth to his child.
Growing up in a large family and seeing children as a source of inspiration, Michael really wanted to become a father, but Lisa, who already had two small children from her first marriage, was in no hurry to conceive, and the marriage was childless as a result.
A year and a half after the divorce of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, a message appeared that Debbie Rowe, a nurse and a long time acquaintance of Michael, is expecting a child from him.
Soon — in Australia during the HIStory world tour Michael and Debbie signed.
This news was met with even more criticism than Jackson's first marriage.
Most people heard the name Debbie Rowe for the first time and did not know anything about her friendship with Jackson.
"An unknown nurse of ordinary appearance is not a match for a world famous superstar," the public reasoned.
The marriage was again called a sham, and this time it seemed that even Michael himself did not try to deny it.
Perhaps this relationship was really not built on romance, but Debbie Rowe was far from a random person in Michael's life.
Michael met Debbie back in the early 80s at a dermatologist's appointment, where he underwent therapeutic and cosmetic procedures to improve the condition of the skin.
For more than a decade, Debbie helped Michael cope with vitiligo — a disease that caused his skin to lose its natural pigment — as well as the consequences of a burn received on the set of an advertisement.
In the early 90s, when Michael underwent a painful operation on the scalp, Debbie lived with him for several weeks, helping him during the postoperative period.
Michael and his first born son, Prince Michael, Michael saw in Debbie a devoted friend, she really loved him and did not hide it.
Noticing how Michael was worried about his failed marriage to Lisa Marie, Debbie offered her help in fulfilling his most cherished dream — to become a father.
And Michael gratefully accepted her offer.
On February 13, 1997, Debbie gave Michael probably the most precious gift in his life — she gave birth to his son Prince, and a year later daughter Paris.
Soon after, the couple filed for divorce.
The children stayed with Michael, and Debbie saw them only from time to time.
Many condemned the couple for this decision and accused Debbie of abandoning her children.
But according to her, this was the plan from the very beginning: she didnot want to become a mother, but only wanted to give children to Michael, to make him happy.
She gave birth to children for him.
Michael with his three children, according to Michael himself, the appearance of children has radically changed his life.
The children gave it a new meaning, became an inspiration and support for him.
From now on, they were more important to him than anything in the world, and even music faded into the background.
According to all of Michael's acquaintances, friends and colleagues, without exception, he was an exemplary parent.
He himself took care of his children from infancy: I changed their diapers, washed them, cleaned up after them, cooked for them, taught them good manners and engaged in their versatile development.
He studied books on parenting and aspired to become the best father in the world.
"My biggest dream is that one day Prince and Paris will say about me: “He was the best dad!""
- Michael confessed to his friend in a private conversation published later.
No matter where he traveled, no matter what projects he worked on, he always took care of the needs of his kids and always found time for them.
In February 2002, Michael had a third child a son, Prince Michael Jackson II.
The baby received from his father the affectionate nickname "Blanket", which was fixed for him as the main name.
Nothing about the boy's mother it was not publicly reported (as Michael's personal assistant later told in his memoirs, Blanket was born from a surrogate mother).
Invincible.
Bashir's film.
New charges and trial
Action against the Sun in 2001, Michael Jackson's long awaited new album Invincible was released.
The release was accompanied by two concerts in New York; there were rumors that Michael would go on tour again.
However, the advertising campaign in support of the album was abruptly interrupted: the Sony Music label stopped releasing video clips and promoting the album in the media.
Sony executives explained this by the fact that huge funds had already been invested in the album (it took $ 30 million just to record and mix the songs), and sales did not pay for further costs.
Michael, who had devoted several years of hard work to this project, was hurt and angry.
He believed that Sony had sabotaged the promotion of the album, and began to suspect the label's management of a conspiracy to leave him in debt and force him to sell his share of shares in the Sony/ATV catalog, a joint venture that Michael by this time owned in half with Sony.
Michael broke off relations with the head of the label, Tommy Mottola, and began to openly oppose Sony.
Many fans of the singer supported him with protest actions.
The album ultimately failed to meet commercial expectations, and although Michael worked with Sony on several more releases after that, he never forgave the label for this betrayal.
Unfortunately, this betrayal was not the last and not the most difficult in the life of Michael Jackson.
In 2003, Michael made another attempt to overcome the image imposed on him by the yellow press, and to find understanding from the general public.
He invited the British journalist Martin Bashir to make a documentary about his private life off stage.
Relying on the recommendations of friends, Michael trusted Bashir and agreed to give him unlimited access to his home and his life for eight months.
Michael in the film Bashirabashir spent almost a year with Michael.
He communicated with his children, lived in Neverland, accompanied him on his travels.
However, the film, which was eventually released on the screens, turned out to be quite different from what Michael expected.
From eight months of filming, Bashir carefully selected moments illustrating the most scandalous topics.
Michael's lines were skillfully edited to add sensationalism to the film, the most innocent scenes were provided with ambiguous voiceover comments.
Michael was portrayed as an antisocial, abnormal person who had tendencies to megalomania and paranoia and posed a threat to his own and other people's children.
Relatives and friends did not recognize him in this film.
Many viewers and even celebrities criticized Bashir's film.
Michael released a rebuttal program that exposed the duplicity of the journalist.
However, the damage has already been done.
The most terrible consequence of the film was a new attempt to accuse the artist of an inappropriate relationship with a child.
The film featured a teenager from a poor Latin American family, whom Michael helped to cope with a serious cancer.
The negative presentation of this story and Bashir's insinuations led to the fact that Michael's relationship with the boy's family deteriorated, and the boy's mother helped initiate criminal proceedings against Michael.
On the days of the trial.
2005, Santa Marijana this time District Attorney Tom Sneddon (who failed to charge Jackson in 1993) achieved the nomination of formal charges.
Michael was arrested and escorted in handcuffs to the police station in front of the cameras.
His Neverland ranch was unceremoniously searched with the participation of 70 police officers.
All his plans for the implementation of new projects (including the creation of a designer clothing brand and the production of films) were crossed out.
The investigation of the case lasted for two years, after which the trial took place, which turned into a world media spectacle.
Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom, and they surrounded the courthouse like a flock of vultures, filming Michael's daily arrival at the hearing and his exit from the hearing.
There were fans outside the courthouse who supported the artist, and haters who shouted threats at him.
Michael Jackson went through this three month public ordeal with quiet dignity.
According to the stories of his confidants, these were the hardest months of his life for him, a period of despair, during which he drew strength only from his children, the support of fans and faith in God.
On June 13, 2005, Michael was unanimously acquitted by a jury of fourteen charges.
Recent years.
This Is It
Although the jury found the artist not guilty, this trial itself had a strong impact on his state of mind.
According to relatives, Michael became more withdrawn, stopped trusting people, preferred to avoid appearing in public.
Immediately after the trial, he left Neverland, saying that he would never be able to live there again, and left the country.
For the next year and a half, he and his children wandered around the world: for a while he stayed with the Prince of Bahrain, then moved to a quiet estate in Ireland.
It was only in December 2006 that he finally found the strength to return to his homeland.
By this time, his financial situation had become critical.
Jackson had not released new music or performed for seven years and his career seemed to have been consigned to oblivion.
Having no new sources of income, he was increasingly living in debt.
By 2008, the size of his loans reached the value of the mortgaged property: Michael almost lost the Neverland Ranch and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The only way out of the situation was to return to the stage.
Announcement of This Is It concerts and in January 2009, a contract was signed with one of the largest concert promoters AEG Live for 10 concerts at the O2 Arena in London.
The concerts were called This Is It — "That's all".
Michael announced them as his "last bow".
According to eyewitnesses, he was forced to accept this contract.
It was psychologically difficult for him to return to the stage — Bashir's film, the accusations and the trial had an extremely negative impact on his image: many people at that time considered Michael Jackson a madman, or even a criminal.
He didnot know how the audience would accept him.
However, contrary to fears, the demand for tickets turned out to be unheard of: within a day after the announcement, applications were received from almost a million people.
The number of concerts hastened to increase to fifty.
The upcoming "marathon" of fifty performances and intensive preparation for it turned out to be extremely stressful for Michael.
He was afraid that in his 50 years he would not be able to withstand such a load, he was worried that he would disappoint the fans, that the show would fail.
There was too much at stake.
His insomnia, which usually accompanied him on tours, worsened.
Michael had to resort to strong drugs to get enough sleep before rehearsals.
His health deteriorated sharply, he lost weight — the team members who worked on the preparation of the show, and even the fans sounded the alarm.
But it was not possible to prevent the tragedy.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, a week before his flight to London and three weeks before the start of the concerts, Michael Jackson died from an overdose of an anesthetic administered to him by his attending doctor.
Dr. Conrad Murray was subsequently found guilty of the manslaughter of the artist and sentenced to four years in prison.
Fans are seeing Michael off at the Apollo Theater, New York Michael Jackson's passing from life was an event that caused even more public outcry than his failed grandiose return to the stage.
On June 25, 2009, the news of his death brought down the servers of Twitter and a number of news sites that could not cope with the explosion of traffic as a result of this news.
Google reacted to millions of search queries about Michael Jackson as a cyber attack.
Wikipedia has registered a record number of visitors to a single article for the entire existence of the service.
The artist's Facebook page gained 10 million subscribers in a matter of hours.
The leaders of the Internet corporation America Online called the death of Michael Jackson "a significant milestone in the history of the Internet."
Many people, who were not even ardent fans of the artist, cried when they heard about his death.
Others admitted that it was difficult for them to realize the news: Michael Jackson became such a bright and integral part of modernity for his generation that it was difficult for people to imagine the world without him.
A wave of tributes swept across the globe: from Stockholm to Taipei, from Mexico City to Hong Kong, young people took to the streets and danced to Michael's songs.
Hundreds of obituaries, memoirs and articles have appeared in the press and blogs, rethinking the personality and creativity of the"King of Pop Music".
His songs, which were rarely heard on the radio in the last years of his life, returned to active rotation.
The documentary "This Is It", edited on the basis of recordings of rehearsals for failed concerts, broke the box office record and earned unanimous praise from critics.
The album Invincible was named the best album of the decade by the results of a vote of readers of the Billboard website.
A reassessment of Jackson's work began: people began to discover his less well known and commercially successful works.
Paris Jackson at the memorial service But, perhaps, the key event that marked the beginning of a new, eternal life for Michael Jackson was the words of his daughter Paris, pronounced by her at the farewell ceremony, which was watched live by about a billion people.
When Michael's family took the stage, his 11 year old daughter suddenly asked for a microphone in a fit of emotion and, barely holding back tears, uttered the very words that Michael once dreamed of hearing to the audience and to the TV cameras: "From the moment I was born, my dad was the best father you could imagine.
I love him so much..."
This simple short eulogy did what Michael had not been able to achieve for many years — it was as if in an instant he allowed millions of people to throw off the blinders from their eyes and finally see a man in the hero of a scandalous gossip column.
Death, alas, took this man away, but it also freed his personality and genius from the burden of social prejudices.
Authors: Karina Kotsinyan, Elena Zelikova, Vera Serova
9 thoughts about " Biography”
Valentina 17.12.2014 at 18: 06 Permalink
Thanks.
A brilliant article.
It is written easily, clearly, without too much pathos.
I wish there were more such articles.
To answer
vova kryazhov 22.01.2015 at 17: 38 Permalink
Cool
To answer
Edward 01.01.2015 at 06: 15 Permalink
It was very difficult for me to read it to the end…
The article is actually very truthful and accurate.
Michael was a genius and will always be one.
It's a pity that so many bad things were done to him in his life.
To answer
Alexey 08.01.2015 at 00: 01 Permalink
The article is excellent and Michael Jackson is a genius for all time, he is the coolest of all, only God is cooler than him.
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vova kryazhov 22.01.2015 at 17: 36 Permalink
Thank you for the article I'm a fan of Michael Jackson myself
To answer
Love 06.06.2015 at 12: 16 Permalink
Hello!
Thank you very much for an interesting article about my favorite singer since childhood!
Michael Jackson is truly the best and no one will ever be better than Him!
I admire and will continue to admire his talent .
Thank you for His songs , that they were, are and will always be with us.
Michael — you are The Best!!!
To answer
Olga Maslova 05.12.2015 at 21: 35 Permalink
Thank you for the article !
Thank you to Michael for my childhood and youth!
You are the best!.
To answer
Natasha 28.12.2015 at 14: 58 Permalink
Good article.I clarified a lot.
It is very interesting to read.thanks.
To answer
Masha 03.04.2016 at 01: 38 Permalink
Michael Jackson is the best of the best !!!
He loved his fans very much !!!
His songs are the best !!!
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