Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958-June 25, 2009)

Was an American Pop Icon known as the king of pop. He was born into the Jackson family as the 7th child of Joseph Jackson. When Michael Jackson was very young, 11 years old, he and 4 of his siblings began a band with their father Joseph Jackson as the manager. The band was called “the Jackson 5″ and the group attained much commercial success. It was not until 1971 that Michael Jackson left the Jackson 5 and began his solo career. He went on to become one of the most famous recording artists of all time and eventually became the “king of pop” a title he bestowed upon himself. His solo albums hold many titles for their astounding number of sales. 5 of his albums hold records for number of sales.

His career really began to take off in the early 1980’s. and he was one of the first and most popular black artists to gain a prominent following on MTV. This was due in large part to the huge budget and extravagant budgets of his music videos for his songs. Songs with record holding videos include: Beat it – Billie Jean – and Thriller. Some of these videos are so influential that they are credited with changing music videos from a recording of the song into mini movie works of art. This led further to Michael Jackson’s popularization of amazing and complicated dance choreographing and musical numbers. This dancing featured prominently in his live shows. His record breaking live shows earned him enormous amounts of money.

Some of the dances moves popularized at these live shows include the robot and the moonwalk. Michael Jackson’s musical influence stretched across many musical genre’s including hip-hop, pop and R&B in part because of his eccentric and distinct style of vocals and music.

One thing that many do not know about Jackson is that he raised and donated MILLIONS of dollars to over 39 charities for a multitude of causes through his namesake foundation. This is often overlooked due to his appearance and increasingly bizarre and changing appearance. Not to mention a string of child molestation accusations…

Michael Jackson’s Last Portrait Photo

Michael Jackson’s Life and career

1958–1975: Early life and The Jackson 5

1975–1981: Move to Epic and Off the Wall

1982–1985: Thriller, Motown 25, We Are the World and business career

1986–1990: Tabloids, appearance, Bad, autobiography and films

1991–1993: Dangerous and Super Bowl XXVII

1993–1994: Sexual abuse accusations and marriage

1995–1999: HIStory, second marriage and fatherhood

2000–2002: Label dispute, Invincible and third child

2003–2007: Documentary, trial and business ventures

2008–2009: Milestones, real estate, planned return to live performance

2009.6.25: Death