Michael Jackson: biography, personal life, family, wife, children - photo. Invincible

Michael Joseph Jackson

On August 29, 1958, a boy was born into a poor and unremarkable family of African-Americans Joseph and Katherine Jackson, in the town of Gary, lost in Indiana. He was the seventh child in a family living in a small house - so small that it looked like a garage. The boy was named Michael. This is how the greatest and most mysterious artist of the late twentieth century was born - Michael Jackson.

Hundreds of biographies, books, and studies have been written about the Michael Jackson phenomenon, and not one has yet been able to capture his entire image. In this short biography we will not be able to do this. But let’s try, for those who are just entering the magical world of the artist, to write a short biographical article. Based on it, it will be easier to understand Michael Jackson’s autobiography “Moonwalk” and other books, interviews, and stories of people who were friends and worked with him for many years.

Childhood in Gary, Indiana

The town of Gary, where Michael was born, is a small community 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 plant. After Michael, two more children were born into the family, and six boys had to sleep in a tiny bedroom on three-story beds. The family struggled to make ends meet, but thanks to Michael's mother Catherine, a devout follower of Jehovah's Witnesses, the children grew up under strict rules and the house was kept as tidy as possible. From infancy, children were taught to clean themselves and take care of themselves.

In addition, music was constantly playing in the house. “We sang a lot in our house, mostly blues songs that were popular at the time, like “Mustang Sally.” Katherine and I loved to sing with the children, and 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 by singers such as Little Richard, the 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, later wrote in his book. It was he, according to Michael himself, who played decisive role in his development as an artist - despite the fact that the relationship between father and son could hardly be called harmonious.

Joseph was a man of no timidity, a tough character and great ambitions. In his youth, he had to change many occupations - he visited, among other things, the boxing ring, worked as a sleeper stacker, and picked cotton on the plantations of the South. “Someday I, too, will be at the very top, I promised myself,” Joe later wrote in his autobiography. But it’s unlikely that in his youth he could have imagined who would take him to this peak, although show business was clearly very much on his mind: the group he created with his friends, “Falcons” (“Falcons”), 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 his temperament in infancy in much detail. Everyone only agrees that the baby was always full of unquenchable energy. His mother recalls how, at two years old, he famously danced to the beat of washing machine; older brother Jermaine - about how agile he was before he even learned to walk - so much so that it was impossible to change his diapers; my father said that you couldn’t take your eyes off him for a second, otherwise he would disappear, and then he would be found under the table or under the bed.

Film "The Jacksons" American dream", based on the history of the Jackson 5, describes the legend of its origins. According to her, it all started when one of the eldest sons, Tito, slowly took his father's guitar to learn 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, at the same time, he was surprised to see that Tito had learned to play very well. According to his own version, Tito broke a string on his 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 didn’t 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!” - Joe recalls.

From that moment on, the fate of the children was decided. The Falcons group gradually disappeared from the sight 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, he was about 5 years old when the group was created. They didn’t want to notice this little tomboy for some time: at first he just played the bongos, 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 excellent beatboxing. But one day during a rehearsal, according to legend, Catherine’s mother heard Michael sing. “Listen to how he sings,” she told her husband. And Joe heard.

Frontman of the Jackson 5

Everyone who remembers little Michael unanimously says that his talent was immediately visible. In his book Moonwalk, he recounted 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 listeners when I finished singing shocked me. The hall burst into applause, people smiled, some stood up. The teachers were crying. I just couldn't believe my eyes. I gave them all happiness. It was such a wonderful feeling. But at the same time I was a little embarrassed: I didn’t do anything special. I just sang like I sang at home every night,” Michael recalled. Life has confirmed: “I can climb any mountain” - this is indeed his motto.

Joseph was shrewd: once convinced of how great his young son's gift was, he made Michael the frontman of the group. Thus was the beginning of Michael Jackson's artistic career. At the age of five he became one of the most gifted child artists of the twentieth century. But the same talent that made Michael the most famous artist on Earth began to limit his freedom from childhood.

From the age of five, the boy’s life was subject to a strict schedule of rehearsals and concerts. Over time, he, like his brothers, had to leave school: a teacher, Rose Fine, who traveled with the Jackson 5 group around the world, was specially hired to teach the boys. And there was simply no time left for things like communicating and playing with peers. Thus, the theme of “lost childhood” became one of the main “red lines” in the artist’s work, and indeed in the entire life of the artist.

In “Moonwalk” he wrote: “I used to come home from school and, as soon as I left my books, I rushed to the studio. There I sang until late at night, in fact, when it was already time for me to sleep. Across the street from the studio<...>there was a park, and I remember I looked at 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 into the street and behave like them. So I also had sad moments as a child. But this happens with all children who become “stars”. Elizabeth Taylor told me she felt the same way. When you work when you're very young, the world can seem terribly unfair. Nobody forced me to be little Michael the lead singer—I chose it myself, and I loved it—but it was hard work. When we were recording for the album, for example, we'd go into the studio right after school, and sometimes I'd get a snack and sometimes I wouldn't. There just wasn't time. I returned home exhausted, at eleven, or even twelve at night, when it was already time to sleep.”

All this was complicated by the harsh and cruel temper of the main mentor, and then the producer of the Jackson brothers, Joseph. His father's rudeness and harshness, his tendency to solve problems with a belt and shouting, influenced the boys in different ways, but Michael, a gifted child with a fine mental organization, found it especially difficult to endure. The father trained his children “excellently”; he instilled in Michael throughout his life the concept of the importance of discipline and hard work, without which no talent can be realized; however, a vulnerable child with a wild 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 move. But what I really wanted was for him to be a dad. I wanted a father who would show me his love,” Michael later said.

As an adult, he managed to overcome childhood and youth grievances, and Joe himself became softer over time, but nevertheless, the traumas experienced in childhood were never completely forgotten, and relations with his father remained tense until Michael’s death. In many ways, this childhood tragedy of a child artist repeated the fates 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 his tender affection for the “girl star” of old Hollywood, Shirley Temple, began.

Meanwhile, the Jackson Five gained recognition in their city and surrounding area within three or four years. Children performed wherever the opportunity presented itself - in schools, at various talent competitions, which they invariably won, in nightclubs and strip bars, where little Michael, at the age of seven or eight, became acquainted with the whole “underside” of show business. Often the group performed as an opening act for strippers, and then stayed in the hall or came home late at night - and the next day they rehearsed and performed again.

The next stage was the conquest of Chicago. Everywhere the boys found success - primarily thanks to the amazing little soloist who skillfully performed covers of songs by Motown artists - the first “black” music label in the USA, which brought to light a whole galaxy of brilliant soloists and groups in the R&B style. After some time, the group was invited to the oldest “black” musical theater in the USA - the famous New York Apollo Theater in the heart of Harlem, the cradle of such worldwide famous talents like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Jackie Wilson, Nina Simone, James Brown. The demanding and capricious New York public was literally captivated: the triumph of the Jackson Five was deafening. After this, the brothers were invited to appear on television, on the David Frost show - but suddenly, at the very last moment, Joseph refused the invitation. The boys couldn’t believe their ears when they heard about this, but their father explained: “Motown called.”

Growing up. Motown and Epic

The Jackson Five were invited to audition for the famous label, and for many years this audition determined their fate. They joined the team of studio stars 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 shone on stage. and young prodigy Stevie Wonder.

Young Michael's main idols were famous black stars James Brown and Jackie Wilson. Sitting behind the scenes for hours, Michael watched and watched them while his brothers rested carelessly, and learned from these masters the art of holding the attention of the public, absorbed their expression, and learned 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 affection. The boy, who had never studied either music or vocals, sang his parts in the clearest voice, easily remembering any melody, as soon as you hummed it to him. Throughout his career, Michael Jackson remained “musically illiterate,” that is, self-taught in everything. However, ignorance of 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 USA there are fans of Michael Jackson who are older than him. These are the ones who witnessed the resounding success of the Jackson Five. All of America fell in love with these boys. In terms of attendance at concerts, the Jackson Five broke the records of The Beatles. They were idols of young audiences, and the paparazzi began hunting for them.

Michael, 12 years old Michael's life 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 matured, not only did not lose the love of the audience, but also multiplied the success of his childhood years.

In the early 1970s, thanks to the talent of the Jackson brothers and Joe's perseverance, the whole family moved to California, where the Motown label also moved. The Jacksons collaborated with Motown for several more years, but then they went their separate ways, mainly because the brothers wanted to write their own songs, which Motown did not allow them to do. Michael, at the age of 16, discussed termination of the contract with the label 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 group moved to another label - Epic - and changed its name to The Jacksons. And little Michael, unnoticed by everyone, has grown a lot.

17 years old Describing his growing up in his autobiography, Michael recalls that it became very stressful for him. When you grow up in front of the whole country and never leave the covers of magazines, people want to see you the way they initially liked you, he said. The cute boy with an afro hairstyle, bright, playful eyes and dimples was the favorite of millions. And as it turned out, no one recognized the thin teenager with youthful acne 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.

Joseph also added “fuel to the fire” by pointing out to his son his huge wide nose, insisting that he got this feature from his mother. Both brothers and cousins ​​teased Michael - no one missed the opportunity to humiliate the public's 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 peak

Michael, 21 Michael began 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 greater than the work of Michael and his brothers, released shortly before. This disc 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 remained unsatisfied. The album received a string of awards, but did not win the music industry's most influential award, Grammy Awards"Album of the Year" “I felt ignored by my colleagues, 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 truly great."

And he fully realized his idea. Michael's next album is usually spoken of as the greatest achievement in history. modern sound recording. Album Thriller received such success that it is virtually impossible to repeat. The best-selling album, a Guinness record holder, a peak that only one person has climbed and only once. The album won seven Grammy awards at the 1984 ceremony, including Album of the Year, and Michael's comeback was deafening.

In his cult film “Thriller” It was from this album that Michael Jackson’s triumphal march through the world of video clips began. Michael decided to invite film directors to work on his musical films. He himself didn't call his videos "video clips" - he called them "short films." And in general, he was right, because the video clip genre, neither before nor after Michael, had reached such perfection and sophistication.

In addition, Michael completely reinvented his own image. Moonwalk. Shiny glove. The famous black fedora... All these most recognizable features of Michael Jackson's appearance have entered the world popular music precisely in the era Thriller.

Michael invested his profits from record sales of the album into a strategically important acquisition. On the advice of 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 control where and how songs from the catalog were used and throughout his life. later life received royalties every time these songs generated commercial income.

The series of successes, however, was overshadowed by an accident. In 1984, while filming a commercial for PepsiCo, a pyrotechnic explosion caused sparks to 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 was left with severe burns on his skin. Several surgeries were required to restore the scalp. The procedures were long and painful. The recovery took 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, later said, 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 served a cosmetic function, and then became an integral part of his image.

Bad. "Crazy Jacko." Neverland

25 years after resounding success Thriller Michael plunged back into work: he gave interviews very rarely, talked little about his hobbies outside of music, and especially about privacy. He carefully guarded his personal space. In addition, this was his PR strategy: he believed that in order to achieve success, he needed to intrigue the public and give them time to miss the “star”, and not become annoying, an eyesore on television screens and social events. He carefully created a persona that made people wonder and discuss him.

Thus, he soon became known as a strange “hermit”, leading a reclusive life in the company of his animals (Michael had a small zoo at home). Rumors spread. Michael sometimes appeared in public either in the company of singer and actress Diana Ross, sometimes accompanied by film actress Brooke Shields, sometimes with Elizabeth Taylor. But the romance could not be discerned in these appearances, and Michael began to be accused of hiding his true sexual orientation. Some said he was gay. And when people noticed that Michael had changed the shape of his nose and began wearing makeup off stage, the conviction that “something was wrong” with him only grew.

However, many rumors were intentionally fueled by Michael and his manager Frank DiLeo. They seemed to be playing with the press and public opinion - believing that they had the situation under control. Thus, rumors that Michael “sleeps in a pressure chamber” and that he bathes only in Evian water were deliberately spread. “It’s all about rhythm and timing,” Michael once explained his audience tactics, as if talking about a real stage performance. - You need to know clearly what you are doing... It’s like a fever: people are waiting, waiting. It is very important to wait. Preserve, protect this feeling... If you remain mysterious, people’s interest will grow.”

However, the game has gone too far. “Suddenly, in an instant, all of Jackson's eccentricities, which only a few months ago had been considered intriguing or completely insignificant, began to be called strange, wonderful and wonderful,” writes Joseph Vogel in his book “The Man in the Music.” “It became difficult for the artist to withstand merciless attacks, interference in his life, annoying questions and attention.<…>He was more isolated from the world 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 voice? Was he taking hormones? Did he have sex reassignment surgery? Is he homosexual? Is he asexual? Why does he live in solitude and a fabulous environment? Why is he obsessed with animals and children? Why does he wear masks and costumes? Is he out of touch with reality? Is he even a man?”

Already shy and isolated, Michael almost completely stopped appearing in public. In the vacuum caused by the artist's absence, 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, if strange: rumors about a supposed "shrine" he built in honor of Elizabeth Taylor, about Bubbles the chimpanzee, and even that he bought the bones of the Elephant Man.

“By 1987, to the public, Jackson the man seemed to have ceased to exist,” Vogel writes. “He transformed into the creature they tried to mold him into.” Even those to whom he seemed completely normal noticed the consequences. “One day in the studio I saw Michael sitting on the bathroom cabinet behind the control room,” recalls assistant engineer Russ Ragsdale. “He sat with his feet on the tabletop, leaning his shoulder on the mirror and was almost in a trance, like an animal in a cage.”

The public's opinion of the artist has changed so much that his new album Bad, despite very strong material, a number of hits and strong worldwide sales, was recognized by the 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, don’t judge a man until he’s walked two moons in his moccasins. Many people don't know me, so they write things, most of which are not true. I often cry because it hurts... Animals attack not out of anger, but because they want to live. And the same goes for those who criticize: they want our blood, not our pain... But show mercy, because I have been bleeding for a very long time.”

In reality, Michael spent most of his time working hard. Unprecedented success of the album Thriller set an unattainable bar for him, which the artist, nevertheless, tried to surpass with each subsequent album. He carefully studied the weekly charts, tracked new products and trends modern music to know what resonates most with your 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 learning.

Michael Jackson was a voracious reader and collected his own library, which over time 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 interested in auto-training techniques and developed programs for himself to mentally target results. In addition, he not only loved movies and cartoons like any American, but seriously studied film art and admired Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin.

Rich Gateway to Neverland During this period, Michael also purchased a new home for himself - a picturesque 2,800-acre ranch two and a half hours from Los Angeles. He named the ranch "Neverland" - in honor of the fairy-tale land from his favorite story about Peter Pan. After moving from his parents' home to Neverland, Michael refurbished the ranch to his own liking and turned it into a truly magical, fairy-tale destination for guests - especially children. “I wanted to create a place that would have everything that I missed in my childhood,” Michael said about 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 established the ranch, Michael opened it to visitors. He invited friends, fans and children from surrounding schools to visit. Every few weeks, sick and needy children were bussed into the ranch so they could spend a day in “fairyland.” The rural idyll of Neverland also gave Michael solitude and a sense of harmony with nature - essential ingredients for creative inspiration.

Dangerous. Accusations and international scandal

Although the commercial success of the album Thriller Michael (like no one else to this day) could not be surpassed; all his subsequent albums invariably ended up 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, including countries on the tour of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. This raised his already great global popularity to a previously unseen level. In Third World countries, Michael Jackson hysteria was no less than American and British. He won the title of the most famous personality 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 around the artist’s reputation. It seemed that people were overwhelmed with curiosity, burning with the desire to know what he eats, what he sleeps in, who he dines with, what color his socks are, why he’s wearing a hat, why he’s white, why he’s wearing makeup on his face, why he’s wearing a bandage on his sleeve. , who is his girlfriend, why are there children around him.

Michael and Oprah, 1993 In February 1993, Michael decided to give a big one for the first time in ten years. The interview was intended to dispel rumors around the star and lift the veil of secrecy that hid his true life. The world saw a light-skinned man with a high-pitched voice, long black hair and makeup on his face, who sat 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 in this interview was a revelation to the public. In particular, it was then that Michael first spoke about the fact that he suffers from a skin disease (vitiligo), as a result of which his skin loses its natural pigment and becomes light. The interview achieved record high ratings: the channel estimated that 85 million Americans watched it live. It caused new wave interest in the artist’s work and had a positive impact 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 its “boiling point.” All the misunderstanding that 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 emergence of the most terrible accusation that he himself could only imagine. 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 minor son. The news that the King of Pop was a pedophile spread around the world in a matter of days.

It is difficult to imagine what Michael himself was going through during that period. According to his family and friends, the accusation was a terrible blow for him. After all, it was precisely what Michael considered his mission, the meaning of his life - helping children - that was distorted and turned against him. His best aspirations and most important life principles misinterpreted. When the global scandal broke, Michael was on tour. Every evening he had to go on stage in different countries and cities, not knowing how the new audience would greet him and what the thousands of people gathered for the concert actually thought of him. During a short visit to Russia, he wrote a poignant song about loneliness, “Stranger In Moscow”: “I wandered in the rain, hiding behind the mask of life, feeling like I was going crazy...” Intense stress, coupled with a grueling performance schedule, jet lag and pain from the surgery he had undergone before the start of the tour, they made themselves felt - Michael’s insomnia worsened, and he was forced to turn to painkillers and sleeping pills in order to maintain his ability to work.

By November, his condition had become critical: the remaining dates 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.

Was there anything rational about the accusations made against Michael? Both the singer’s fans and his ill-wishers have talked about this a lot, but it’s worth looking first at the facts. Evan Chandler, a dentist divorced from his wife and taking very little part in his son's life, was a man of great ambition and dreamed of making a career in Hollywood. When his son Jordan met superstar Michael Jackson, Evan initially responded favorably to the friendship and even tried to become friendly 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, sympathized with Michael more than with her ex-husband. In the summer of 1993, Evan, allegedly having received a confession from Jordie, first approached Michael demanding money and threatening to start a public scandal. In a published private telephone conversation, Evan admits that he has conceived a plan and his goal is to get his way or ruin Michael's career. He also says his son's interests in the case are "irrelevant." This probably explains why Evan did not file a police report, as a truly angry parent would have done, but instead tried to extort financial compensation from Jackson. When Jackson refused to comply with his terms, Chandler carried out his threats and filed a civil suit.

Michael declares his innocence on TV Michael Jackson has always vigorously 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 had a detrimental effect on music sales and the artist's public image. In addition, despite the fact that the Chandlers never contacted the police, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, on his own initiative, opened an investigation with the intention of bringing criminal charges against Michael. If he succeeded, Jackson would have to defend himself “on two fronts.” The situation was extremely stressful for Michael.

The final straw was the humiliating body search to which Michael was subjected: he, a shy man who was extremely sensitive to his public image, was forced to strip naked in the presence of investigators and doctors and his genitals were photographed to compare with the description given by the boy. Shortly after this traumatic event, Michael, succumbing to the persuasion of his advisers and the insurance company, agreed to a peace agreement with the Chandlers. “We wanted to put this horror behind us,” he later explained in a television interview. The amount his insurer paid Evan Chandler was $15 million.

Prime Time Interview, 1995 The settlement with the Chandlers in the civil suit 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 photographs, and Jordan himself did not want to testify against Michael. Two grand juries convened on the matter ultimately declined to indict Jackson for lack of merit.

Michael was left alone, but this scandal and the monetary payment had an extremely negative impact on his reputation. PepsiCo, which sponsored his world tour, decided not to renew his contract. Many former friends suddenly disappeared from his life. And the question forever remained in the minds of the public: “If he was innocent, then why did he pay?”

HIStory. The King of Pop and the Princess of Rock. Second marriage and children

Michael himself publicly commented on these events only twice - in a statement declaring his innocence on TV and later in . However, personal experiences poured abundantly into his work: most of the new one, released in 1995, became his response to the accusations. For example, in the song “This Time Around,” Michael says to the unnamed offenders: “This time I won’t let myself get stung, although you really want to get to me!” In the song “Money” he accuses the enemy of self-interest: “You will do anything for money...”, and in the song “D.S.” openly incriminates the district attorney who began the hunt for him: “Tom Sneddon is a heartless man.”

Michael and Lisa Marie Just a few months after the scandal died down, the world was shocked by another unexpected news: Michael Jackson got married. Lisa Marie Presley, daughter and heir to the Elvis empire, told the world that she is the legal wife of the King of Pop. “I am truly in love with Michael and want to dedicate my life to him,” she said in a statement to the press.

At that moment, the general public knew nothing about the history of the relationship between Michael and Lisa Marie, so this news was received with skepticism by many. The young people were quick to accuse the marriage of being fictitious, and that its purpose was to help Michael restore his reputation after the accusations and demonstrate his heterosexuality. Over time, however, it became increasingly clear that this was not the case.

Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley First joint photo shoot Michael and Lisa met in 1992 through a mutual friend: Lisa wanted to invite Michael to produce her debut album. She later admitted that at the very first meeting she was fascinated by Michael: he denied the rumors about himself and turned out to be completely different from how the press portrayed him. “I forgot that he was a superstar after 20 minutes - he behaved so openly and simply with me,” she said. Michael and Lisa began to communicate often, and an affair began between them. At the time, Lisa was still married to her previous husband, Denny Keough, but this did not stop Michael from continuing his courtship or Lisa from accepting it.

Michael and Lisa Marie, February 1998 At first, the couple seemed truly happy, but the marriage lasted only a year and a half - at the beginning of 1996, Lisa Marie filed for divorce. According to her, she could not live “in the 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 staged by himself. Ending the marriage was an impulsive decision (“a stupid move,” as Lisa Marie later called it). The couple's relationship continued for several years after the divorce. Lisa made no secret of the fact that she loved Michael for many years, and although the breakup 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 knew how.”

For Michael, a serious disappointment in his marriage was that Lisa Marie did not give birth to his child. Having grown 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 ultimately childless.

Michael and Debbie A year and a half after the divorce of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, a message appeared that Debbie Rowe, a nurse and longtime acquaintance of Michael, was expecting a child from him. Soon - in Australia during the HIStory world tour - Michael and Debbie got married. The news was met with even more criticism than Jackson's first marriage. Most people heard the name Debbie Rowe for the first time and knew nothing 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 fictitious, and this time, it seemed, even Michael himself did not try to deny it.

Perhaps this relationship really was 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 an appointment with a dermatologist, from whom he underwent medical and cosmetic procedures to improve his skin condition. For more than ten years, Debbie helped Michael cope with vitiligo, a disease that caused his skin to lose its natural pigment, as well as the effects of a burn received on the set of a commercial. In the early 90s, when Michael underwent painful scalp surgery, Debbie lived with him for several weeks, helping him through the post-op period.

Michael saw Debbie as a devoted friend, but she truly 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 deepest 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.

Shortly after this, the couple filed for divorce. The children remained 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 did not want to become a mother, but only wanted to give children to Michael, to make him happy. She bore children for him.

Michael with his three children According to Michael himself, having children radically changed his life. The children gave her 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: he changed their diapers, did laundry, cleaned up after them, cooked for them, taught them good manners and was involved in their diversified development. He studied books on parenting and strived to become the world's best father. “My biggest dream is that one day Prince and Paris will say about me: “He was the best dad!”” Michael admitted 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 little ones and always found time for them.

In February 2002, Michael had a third child - a son, Prince Michael Jackson II. The baby received the affectionate nickname “Blanket” from his father, which stuck with him as his main name. Nothing was publicly reported about the boy’s mother (as he later said in his memoirs personal assistant Michael, Blanket was born from a surrogate mother).

Invincible. Bashir's film. New charges and trial

Action against Sony In the fall of 2001, the long-awaited new album of Michael Jackson was released Invincible. The release was accompanied by two concerts in New York; there were rumors that Michael would tour again. However advertising campaign support for the album was suddenly interrupted: the Sony Music label stopped releasing video clips and promoting the album in the media. Sony executives explained this by saying that huge amounts of money had already been invested in the album (the recording and mixing of the songs alone cost $30 million), and sales did not cover further costs. Michael, who had devoted several years of hard work to this project, was hurt and angry. He believed that Sony was sabotaging the album's promotion and began to suspect the label's management of a conspiracy to keep 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 half-and-half with Sony. Michael broke off relations with label head Tommy Mottola and began to openly oppose Sony. Many fans of the singer supported him with protests. The album ultimately failed to live up to commercial expectations, and although Michael subsequently worked with Sony on several more releases, 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 tabloid press and find understanding among the general public. He invited British journalist Martin Bashir to film documentary about his private life off stage. Relying on recommendations from friends, Michael trusted Bashir and agreed to give him unrestricted access to his home and his life for eight months.

Michael in Bashir's film Bashir spent almost a year with Michael. He communicated with his children, lived in Neverland, and accompanied him on his travels. However, the film that was eventually released was not at all what Michael expected. From eight months of filming, Bashir carefully selected moments that illustrated the most scandalous themes. Michael's remarks were skillfully edited to add sensationalism to the film; the most innocent scenes were provided with ambiguous voice-over comments. Michael was portrayed as an antisocial, abnormal person who had tendencies towards 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 refutation program exposing the journalist's duplicity. However, the damage had already been done. The most terrible consequence of the film was a new attempt to accuse the artist of having an inappropriate relationship with a child. The film showed a teenager from a poor Latin American family, whom Michael helped cope with a serious cancer disease. 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 contributed to the initiation of a criminal case against Michael.

On the days of judgment. 2005, Santa Maria This time, District Attorney Tom Sneddon (who failed to indict Jackson in 1993) secured formal charges. Michael was arrested and, in front of cameras, escorted in handcuffs to the police station. His Neverland ranch was unceremoniously raided by 70 police officers. All his plans to implement new projects (including creating a designer clothing brand and producing films) were crossed out.

The investigation into the case lasted two years, after which a trial took place, which turned into a worldwide media spectacle. Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom, and they surrounded the courthouse like a flock of vultures, filming Michael's daily arrival and departure from hearings. There were fans at 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 those close to him, these were the hardest months of his life, 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 counts.

Last years. This Is It

Although the jury found the artist not guilty, this trial itself had a profound impact on his state of mind. According to relatives, Michael became more withdrawn, stopped trusting people, and preferred to avoid appearing in public. Immediately after the end of the trial, he left Neverland, saying that he could never live there again, and left the country. For the next year and a half, he and his children wandered around the world: for some time he stayed with the Prince of Bahrain, then moved to a quiet estate in Ireland. And only in December 2006 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 in seven years and his career seemed to be consigned to oblivion. Without new sources of income, he lived increasingly 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 the 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 "final 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 charges and the trial had an extremely negative impact on his image: many people by that time considered Michael Jackson crazy, or even a criminal. He didn't know how the public would receive him. However, contrary to fears, the demand for tickets turned out to be unheard of: within 24 hours of the announcement, applications were received from almost a million people. They hastened to increase the number of concerts 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 at the age of 50 he would not be able to withstand such a load, he was worried that he would disappoint his fans, that the show would fail. There was too much at stake. His insomnia, which usually accompanied him on tour, worsened. Michael was forced to resort to strong drugs to get enough sleep before rehearsals. His health deteriorated sharply, he lost weight - team members working on preparing the show, and even fans sounded the alarm. But it was not possible to prevent the tragedy.

On the morning of June 25, 2009, a week before flying 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 physician. Dr Conrad Murray was subsequently found guilty of the artist's manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison.

Fans see Michael off at the Apollo Theater, New York Michael Jackson's passing was an event that caused an even greater public outcry than his failed grand return to the stage. On June 25, 2009, the news of his death crashed Twitter and a number of news sites, unable to cope with the explosion of traffic that resulted from the news. Google responded to millions of searches 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, even those who were not ardent fans of the artist, cried when they heard about his death. Others admitted that it was difficult for them to comprehend the news: Michael Jackson had become such a bright and integral part of modernity for his generation that it was difficult for people to imagine a 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 appeared in the press and blogs, rethinking the personality and work of the “King of Pop”. 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,” based on recordings of rehearsals for the canceled concerts, broke box office records and earned unanimous praise from critics. Album Invincible According to the results of a vote by Billboard readers, it was named the best album of the decade. A re-evaluation of Jackson's work began as people began to discover his lesser-known and commercially successful works.

Paris Jackson at the funeral service But perhaps key event, which marked the beginning of a new, eternal life for Michael Jackson, were the words of his daughter Paris, spoken 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, in a fit of emotion, asked for a microphone and, barely holding back tears, uttered to the audience and to the television cameras the very words that Michael once dreamed of hearing: “From the day I was born, dad was the best.” the kind of father you could ever imagine. I love him so much...” This simple short eulogy did what Michael had not been able to achieve for many years - it seemed to instantly allow millions of people to take off the blinders from their eyes and finally see a person in the hero of the scandalous gossip column. Death, alas, took this man away, but it also freed his personality and genius from the burden of social prejudices.

Michael Jackson is the King of Pop.

He was a controversial personality, with his own oddities and fears, but his influence on the entire show business simply cannot be denied.

It was he who brought pop music to the standards that are still used today, it was he who first began to gather audiences of thousands and organize shows, and not just concerts, it was his albums that sold the largest copies.

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zillaphoto/

In the format of interesting facts, you will learn about Michael Jackson.

The first few facts are quite standard, well-known and even boring, but then...

Biography of Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 into a large family of Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary (Indiana, USA).

In addition to Michael, there were 9 more children in the family, and all of them suffered from abuse from their father. Joseph was a cruel man and had rather unusual views on raising children, so Michael got a lot of trouble from his father, as did his brothers and sisters.

Having already become popular, Michael repeatedly spoke about abuse from his father, about his childhood fears due to bullying and nightmares at night. The father himself later admitted to journalists that he was cruel to his children.

2. King

Jackson received the title of “King of Pop” from his friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor. She first called him “the king of pop” in 1989 at the Soul Train Music Award, and since then the title has stuck with him.

In 1992, during his visit to Africa, Michael was also crowned "King of Sani".

3. Pre-show ritual

4. Achievements

Jackson's career was full of ups and downs, and he himself was a controversial personality. But few would argue that he not only influenced the world of show business, he made it completely different.

He became the most successful pop music performer, received 15 Grammys, more than 100 other awards, and was included in the Guinness Book of Records 25 times.

In total, more than 1 billion artist albums have been sold worldwide.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as a solo artist and as a member of The Jackson 5.

5. Oscar

In 1999, he bought David Selznick's Oscar for $1.5 million, which he won for best picture for Gone with the Wind.

6. Egyptian sculpture

Michael Jackson's career

7. The Jackson 5

The Jackson family was famous for its talents even before Michael began performing. The Jacksons, which included three older brothers - Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, were already known in certain circles, and in 1964 they were joined by Michael and his other brother, Marlon. The group was renamed The Jackson 5, and Michael, originally hired to play congas, first moved to backing vocals and then became the main vocalist.

Already an accomplished performer, Michael said that his voice from the time of The Jackson 5 was too much like the voice of Mini Mouse.

The Jackson 5 group experienced both ups and downs, and Michael began a parallel solo career.

8. The role of the Scarecrow in the movie “The Wiz”

The young boy was invited to play the role of a scarecrow in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Wiz”. Diana Ross and Richard Pryor also took part in the filming. It was on the set that Michael met music director Quincy Jones, his future producer.

9. Start of a solo career

While still performing in a family band, he recorded songs such as “Got to Be There,” “Rockin’ Robin” and “Ben.” The last song took first place in the charts in 1972, from that moment the singer was noticed.

Having recorded several solo songs, the artist met producer Quincy Jones, this event became significant in Michael’s career. It was with Johnson’s help that the first famous album “Off the Wall” was recorded (released August 10, 1979) with such hits as “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You.”

10. Record-breaking “Thriller”

The album “Thriller” (released November 30, 1982) can rightfully be considered the best music album not only of that time, but in the entire history of music. This is Michael Jackson's sixth studio album with many hits:

11. "The Girl Is Mine"

The composition was recorded together with Paul McCartney. Critics called it too sweet and not deep enough, which did not prevent the composition from taking second place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the Hot Black Singles chart.

The song talks about two men arguing over one girl.

It is noteworthy that they tried to sue Jackson twice for plagiarism because of this song. First, Fred Standford in 1984 accused the artist of copying his song "Please Love Me Now", and then in 1993, Robert Smith, Reynolds Jones and Clifford Rubin accused Michael of copying their songs "Don't Let The Sunshine Catch You Crying" and "Happy Go Lucky Girl" Jackson won both trials.

12. "Billie Jean"

One of the most famous and recognizable compositions in the whole world. It's enough to hear the first couple of drum beats and you already know what the song is going to be.

The composition is dedicated to groupies - girls who constantly accompany famous groups and performers during tours. Jackson had been familiar with the groupies since the days of “The Jackson 5”; the girls repeatedly accused his older brothers of being the fathers of their children, constantly harassed the musicians and threatened them.

The performer admitted that Billie Jean is a collective image of a groupie, and he did not want to offend anyone with the composition. By the way, the song could have been called “Not My Lover” so as not to be associated with the then famous tennis player Billie Jean King.

The video for this song revolutionized musical world USA. Firstly, this was one of the first videos with a clear plot, and not just a performance of a song with a lot of special effects. Secondly, this video became the first in MTV rotation with a black performer.

A little more about this...

In the early 80s, the MTV channel was just beginning to gain popularity, but the channel’s managers had a small “fad” - they did not accept clips of black performers into rotation. Then the president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, threatened MTV not to bring them any more videos, and also to tell the whole world about discrimination against the black population. On March 2, 1983, the video was put into rotation on MTV.

It was from the video for the song “Billie Jean” that the tradition began that every single release should be accompanied by a high-budget video. By the way, Jackson's video was recorded for $75,000.

13. "Beat It"

Another composition that has become known throughout the world. The song was put into rotation on MTV without any controversy, and it also became the first song by an African-American to appear regularly on American radio stations.

The song was received positively by critics, and it received numerous awards, including two Grammys and two American Music Awards.

The combination of elements of rhythm and blues and rock was unusual for that time, and the words were directed against violence and gangsterism. It is noteworthy that Eddie Van Halen, leader of the rock band Van Halen, was invited to perform the guitar solo. He recorded the musical part completely free of charge.

Another notable fact about the guitar solo...

While Eddie Van Halen was recording his 30-second part, a technician knocked on the door, unaware that he was recording. Jackson insisted that this random knocking recording be used in the final version.

$150,000 has already been allocated to record a music video for the song “Beat It”; the plot is quite simple - Michael, in his own style, stops a showdown between two warring gangster groups.

It is noteworthy that real gangster groups - Crips and Bloods - were involved in the filming. 80 bandits and 30 professional dancers took part in the filming.

In 1984, a parody of the video from "Weird Al" Yankovic called "Eat It" was released. The director of the original video, Bob Giraldi, said that he hated the parody because it made fun of everything that was important and dear to him in the video. But Jackson, who had good feeling humor, allowed the use of music to create a parody. It was this parody that made Yankovic famous.

The red jacket with 27 zippers became a real cult for many years. Paired with loafers, white socks and cropped trousers, the jacket created Jackson's most striking look yet.

14. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”

The lyrics of the song are directed against the media and gossip. There was no official video for this song, but in 2012, a concert recording from the Bad World Tour appeared on the singer’s YouTube channel.

The singer was dissatisfied with the final version of the song, which was included in the album.

15. "Thriller"

The track has a 14-minute video based on 1950s horror films. The clip received several MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2009 it was included in the National Film Registry, becoming the first video to be included in the Library of Congress.

$500,000 was allocated to create the video clip, and following the video, which, of course, immediately went on MTV, a short 45-minute documentary was released about the making of the video. MTV bought the rights to the film for $250,000, Showtime paid $300,000 for the screening, and Vestron Video paid another $500,000 for the right to release the documentary on videotape.

The "Thriller" video has its own Lego version.

16. Good year

1984 can be called the peak of Jackson's career - he received 8 Grammys at once; no one has ever received so many awards in one year.

But there are also negative aspects...

17. Facial injuries

In 1984, Michael suffered a second-degree burn to his face while filming a Pepsi commercial. The accident occurred due to the explosion of pyrotechnics near the artist, and as compensation, Pepsi paid Jackson $1.5 million.

How the artist disposed of the money and whether there were any lawsuits against Pepsi, you will find out below...

It was after this incident that the guy began to be more attentive and picky about his own appearance.

At one of the rehearsals, he broke his nose while performing another trick. After this, he began to complain of difficulty breathing and doctors advised him to undergo plastic surgery to correct the deficiency.

In numerous interviews, he admitted only that he had undergone surgery on his nose to restore breathing, although his appearance changed very seriously throughout his career.

18. Diseases and appearance

There is an opinion that Michael was ashamed of his origin and tried all his life to change his image. He did have plastic surgery on his face, but the skin discoloration is mostly due to a rare disease.

Until the mid-80s, the artist’s skin was dark, but later many began to notice that Michael was becoming lighter every year. Naturally, he was immediately accused of using skin bleaching procedures.

In 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with lupus and vitiligo almost simultaneously. Strong remedies were used to combat the first disease, but vitiligo manifests itself in the form of light spots on the skin, which loses pigment. At first, the light spots were few and easy to disguise, but when the spots covered most of his body, the artist began to mask the dark areas of his face and body.

There is an opinion that the artist’s desire to change his appearance became an addiction that was superimposed on childhood psychological trauma.

19. Moonwalk

Jackson cannot be called the creator of the moonwalk. Something similar had already been performed in live performances and films, but it was Michael who popularized it, making it his most famous dance move.

The artist first demonstrated the unusual movement while performing the song “Billie Jean” on March 25, 1983 at the anniversary show “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” The audience really liked it, and the performance itself was later called one of the most significant on American television.

In 1988, the musical film Moonwalk was released.

20. Autobiography

In 1988, the autobiography “Moonwalk” was also published, in which the artist himself talks about his father’s bullying, plastic surgery on his nose and other personal facts.

21. Collaboration with Pepsi

On January 27, 1984, the artist received burns to his head while filming a Pepsi commercial video. This significantly influenced his attitude towards his own appearance, but revealed him even more as a person. He, along with the company itself, invested the compensation received from Pepsi into a children's burn center in his name.

Until the end of his life, Michael was involved in charity work, including with the help of this burn center.

22. Did he sleep in the pressure chamber?

The artist’s attitude towards his own appearance gave rise to a lot of rumors. To advertise his own burn center, Michael starred in a commercial in which he sleeps in a pressure chamber. Naturally, rumors began to circulate that he constantly slept in it to preserve his youth.

In fact, Michael was in a pressure chamber once in his life - at the time of recording the video.

23. Buying the rights to the Beatles

In 1985, he bought Northern Songs, which owned the rights to most of The Beatles' songs, for $47.5 million. Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney also wanted to buy shares. The singer even quarreled with Paul after purchasing the shares.

In 1995, he sold the rights to the Beatles' songs to Sony for $95 million.

24. Album “Bad”

The album was released on August 31, 1987. In total, 65 million copies were sold worldwide, and it became the first album in history to have five songs hit number one on Billboard.

The tour in support of the new album lasted from September 12, 1987 to January 14, 1989, and during this time the concerts were attended by 4.4 million spectators. A total of 123 concerts took place in 15 countries, which brought in $125 million.

During the Bad Tour, a record was set at a concert in London - 504 thousand spectators at one performance.

To the album.

25. "Speed ​​Demon"

The song was written after Jackson himself was fined for speeding. The lyrics of the song talk about a car chase, and the drums and synthesizer, according to the singer's idea, imitate the sound of gear shifting on a motorcycle.

26. "Liberian Girl"

One of the first compositions that simultaneously celebrates the beauty of the African woman and became popular in pop culture.

An unprecedented number of stars of that time were involved in the filming of the video: Whoopi Goldberg, Steven, Olivia Newton-John, Quincy Jones, Virginia Madsen, David Copperfield, Danny Glover and Dan Ackroyd.

27. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"

Barbra Streisand could have participated in the recording of the song, but she simply did not show up at the scheduled time for the recording. Michael also invited Whitney Houston, but she refused without explanation. As a result, the song was recorded with the participation of Saida Garrett.

It is noteworthy that the song was recorded not only in English, but also in Spanish and French.

28. "Dirty Diana"

Another song about a groupie girl. This time the love story follows the classic love triangle between a star, his girlfriend and a groupie girl.

29. "Smooth Criminal"

A whole series of gangster songs by Michael Jackson can be associated with this song. Back in 1985, he recorded “Chicago 1945,” which prompted the singer to record “Al Capone.” But the song about a famous gangster eventually transformed into “Smooth Criminal.”

The track begins with Jackson's own heartbeat. It was recorded by Dr. Eric Chevlin and processed on the Synclavier.

The video for the song was part of the musical film Moonwalk. Initially, the idea was to make a video in the style of the Wild West, but in the end Jackson chose the gangster style of the 1930s, especially since the history of the creation of the song contributed to this.

It was because of the filming of the video that the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses actually expelled Jackson from its ranks.

30. The story of Michael and Jehovah's Witnesses

His mother raised Michael as a Jehovah's Witness and encouraged him to study the Bible. But things didn’t work out for the artist with religion.

Until 1984, he continued to preach as a Jehovah's Witness, attended various religious meetings, and refused to celebrate Easter, Christmas, and his own birthday. But representatives of this movement were always against Jackson's lifestyle.

In 1987, Michael's sister La Toya Jackson was expelled from the organization and the family was prohibited from communicating with her on spiritual topics. Naturally, Michael himself did not like this.

In the same year, filming took place for the video “Smooth Criminal”, where the plot shows the artist holding a weapon in his hands. Representatives of the organization said that either he chooses faith or a career as an artist. Michael did not abandon the planned plot and left the organization.

31. Movie "Captain EO"

In 1986, Francis Coppola directed a short film called "Captain EO" to be shown in the Disney theme parks. The film's 17 minutes cost $23.7 million, making it the most expensive film per minute. The producer and co-writer of the story was George Lucas.

The film began showing at Disneyland in September 1986 and ran until August 17, 1998.

After the death of Michael Jackson, interest in the film increased again, and it began to be shown in Tokyo and Paris Disneyland.

32. Anti-gravity shoes

In the video for the song “Smooth Criminal,” the artist, along with other dancers, demonstrates an unusual movement - they lean forward at an angle of 45 degrees. Jackson seems to be breaking every law of physics.

For other artists, such a movement would have remained exclusively in the video, and its performance would have been attributed to cunning editing, but not for Michael. He set himself the goal of repeating the movement during the performance, which resulted in special shoes, later patented by Jackson themselves under the number US5255452 A.

To the artist for a long time managed to hide the execution secret dance movement until one day, at a performance in Moscow, his heel fell off and he almost collapsed on stage.

There is no special secret, the boots have a special slot into which pins are inserted, which are pulled out of the stage at a certain time. The moment of fastening the boots was always masked by extinguishing the light, and after bending over, the performers deftly removed the boots from the fastenings.

By the way, a broken shoe from a Moscow performance was given to the Moscow branch of the Hard Rock Cafe, and after the artist’s death, a pair of shoes was sold for $600,000.

33. “Diamond” glove and attention to hands

While dancing, the artist considered it very important to focus attention on his hands, since he performed rather complex movements with them. On March 25, 1983, at the anniversary show “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever,” he not only demonstrated for the first time “ moonwalk”, but also put on a “diamond” glove to emphasize his hand movements. The effect was amazing, despite the fact that the glove was decorated with ordinary rhinestones.

The very first glove was made by Michael himself from an ordinary golf glove. After the performance, the glove was presented to the participant music group Commodores, which put it up for auction in 2009 and fetched $350,000.

Another trick to draw attention to your hands is to put adhesive tape on your fingertips. When performing “Smooth Criminal”, it was impossible to use gloves embroidered with rhinestones, as they did not fit the image, but the bright white adhesive plaster attracted the attention of the audience.

There are many other versions about the adhesive plasters on the fingertips, from an attempt to stop biting nails to hiding sudden vitiligo.

34. Neverland Ranch

In 1988, the artist purchased the Sycamore Valley Ranch in California and renamed it Neverland, in honor of the country of Peter Pan. The land plot with an area of ​​10.83 sq. km cost Michael between 16 and 30 million dollars, and subsequently became one of the causes of financial problems.

The fact is that a small amusement park was built on the ranch and a private zoo was opened. All this required additional costs, so the monthly maintenance of the estate cost $120,000. At the peak of his popularity, Michael had no problems with money, but when money stopped flowing to him like a river, the ranch became too expensive for the artist.

In 2006, part of the ranch was closed and several employees were laid off. In 2008, the singer was forced to transfer the estate to Colony Capital LLC, a company owned by the Jacksons' close friend Thomas Barrack.

After the artist’s death, his relatives admitted that after all the litigation, Jackson hated the Neverland estate and did not want to appear there anymore.

35. Album “Dangerous”

In 1991, a new album called “Dangerous” was released with such hits as “Black or White”, “Jam”, “Who Is It”, “Remember the Time”.

Jackson's friend Macaulay Culkin starred in the video for "Black or White."

"Dangerous" became Jackson's best-selling album since "Thriller" and also won a Grammy.

Scandals

36. Jordan Chandler child molestation scandal

Children were frequent guests at the Neverland Ranch, so it is not surprising that Michael eventually received charges of child molestation.

In 1993, the parents of 13-year-old Jordan Chandler sued the singer. The singer was accused of forcing the boy to touch his genitals. The case ended with a settlement in which Jackson paid $22 million to his parents.

It is not known for certain why the artist went to war, but many years later Jordan Chandler himself admitted that he had slandered Jackson under pressure from his father.

37. The Oprah Winfrey Show

In 1993, a big show with Oprah Winfrey about Michael Jackson was released. The artist shows his house, discusses various topics and talks about his life and problems.

With this show, the artist is trying to justify himself to the tabloids, who have begun to speculate too much on the topic of eccentricity in his life.

38. Gavin Arvizo child molestation scandal

It all started with the film “Living with Michael Jackson” by journalist Martin Bashir, he gained confidence in the artist and conducted a very frank interview in which Jackson admitted that he slept with little boys. But, emphasizing that there was nothing sexual about it, they just slept together. The journalist was surprised by this, but in the end the film was released without any cuts and the whole world learned that Jackson considers it normal to sleep in the same bed as children.

After the film was released in 2003, a 13-year-old boy, Gavin Arvizo, along with his parents, accused Michael of pedophilia. The boy was indeed a frequent visitor to the ranch, the artist helped him overcome cancer, but the artist was not going to make concessions again.

The trial lasted two years, Jackson spent almost $100 million on lawyers, but in the end he proved his innocence.

It was the litigation and Gavin's betrayal that undermined Jackson's psychological and financial condition.

39. Strange things in the house

During the second scandal with accusations of pedophilia, a search was carried out at the Neverland ranch and it shocked the police a little.

Inside the house were many realistic child mannequins, some of them skimpily dressed and in unusual poses.

Also discovered was a large collection of superhero action figures and a cardboard cutout of little Shirley Temple.

The evidence became the basis for the arrest of the celebrity in 2003.

40. Friendship with Macaulay Culkin

One of Michael's frequent guests was little Macaulay Culkin, who became famous after the release of the film Home Alone. The celebrities had met before, but after the film was released, Jackson called Culkin and invited him to visit him.

They became friends, spent a lot of time together, and later Macaulay became the godfather of Michael's children.

Neither during Michael’s life nor after his death, Macaulay never accused the singer of molestation. He said that Jackson remained a child at heart, who loved helping children, playing with them, going on rides and taking care of them.

41. "Super Bowl"

In 1993, he was invited to Super Bowl XXVII with the singles "Jam" (with the beginning of "Why You Wanna Trip On Me"), "Billie Jean" and "Black or White".

The artist received $1 million for the performance, but spent part of the money on charity.

42. Performances in Moscow

With the tour in support of “Dangerous”, the artist visited Russia for the first time and gave a concert in Moscow. On September 15, 1993, he performed at Luzhniki in the pouring rain.

The weather prompted him to write his ballad about loneliness - “Stranger in Moscow”.

It is worth noting that in Moscow the artist not only earned a fee, but also visited an orphanage, talked with children and donated money.

43. Persecution mania

In 1995, he was hospitalized with a mental disorder. Amid the legal proceedings, he had an attack of persecution mania.

44. Album “HIStory”

On June 16, 1995, a double album entitled “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I” was released: the first disc contains a collection of the best hits, the second contains 15 new songs.

It was planned to release two more of these double albums.

45. "Blood on" the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix"

Another non-standard remix album for Michael was released in 1997 - he wrote several new songs, but the remixes were prepared by other performers.

The album sold 6 million copies and became the best-selling remix album in the world.

In 1996, the 39-minute musical film “Michael Jackson: The Haunting” was released based on the screenplay by Stephen King. The film features songs from the HIStory album, as well as the then-unreleased Blood on the Dance Floor album.

The film was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest music video.

47. "Invincible"

The next full-length album, “Invincible,” was released only on October 30, 2001. It became Jackson's tenth and final lifetime album.

Listeners liked the album, but critics tore it to smithereens. It sold 10 million copies worldwide.

The album was dedicated to 15-year-old Afro-Norwegian boy Benjamin Hermansen, who was killed by neo-Nazis in Oslo on January 26, 2001.

48. 30th anniversary

In 2001, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his solo career with a grand concert at Madison Square Garden. The concert marked the first time since 1984 that Michael appeared on stage with his brothers.

49. Concert 9/11

Also in 2001, he took part in the performance of United We Stand: What More Can I Give, dedicated to the victims terrorist attacks of September 11. Main song concert - “What More Can I Give” performed by Michael.

50. "Men in Black 2"

In 2002, he appeared as a cameo in the film Men in Black 2. A celebrity asks to join the ranks of a secret organization.

51. Parody of Michael

One of the most succinct parodies of Jackson is in the film Scary Movie 3.

The parody plays on not only his “passion” for boys, but also his ability to dance well and plastic surgery on his nose.

52. Last years of career

In 2003, a collection of Jackson’s hits “Number Ones” was released, in 2004 “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection”.

In 2008, Sony launched a global campaign and, after voting by listeners, created its own collection of Michael’s hits for each country.

In 2009, a new album was planned to be released; Will.I.Am, Kanye West and R&B singer Akon took part in the recording.

A series of concerts in England was also planned for 2009, but the tour did not take place due to the death of the performer.

Personal life of Michael Jackson

53. First wife

He first married in 1994 to the daughter of the “King of Rock and Roll” Lisa Marie Presley. Since this happened immediately after the scandal with the molestation of a minor, the media immediately dubbed this marriage a cover-up and a demonstration of Michael’s “normality.”

Jackson claimed that he had true love with Lisa, but two years later the marriage broke up.

It is worth noting that the marriage was registered in the Dominican Republic, but it was “semi-fictitious”, since according to the laws of this country, a woman cannot get married if she was divorced less than three months before. Lisa had just divorced her ex-husband.

Behind true love Two facts speak: the newlyweds not only got married, but also held a wedding ceremony, and the very fact of the wedding was hidden for two months.

54. Second wife

In 1996, the singer married Deborah Rowe, who by that time had already given birth to two children from Michael. The children were named Prince Michael Jackson and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.

After their parents divorced in 1999, both children remained to live with their father.

55. Third child

In 2002, Michael had his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II. He was born from a surrogate mother, and after the singer’s death, his mother Katherine Jackson took custody of the children.

A scandalous situation happened with the third child when he was still very young. The media always followed Jackson and one day he either wanted to show them a child who was being hunted by the media, or the singer lost his nerve. Michael carried the child out onto the hotel balcony and showed the child to the journalists, but it looked like he almost dropped the baby.

Naturally, photos from this incident appeared on the covers of many media outlets.

56. How did he protect his children?

The artist carefully hid his children from the public, so when they were with him, they wore masks.

57. Who were you friends with?

Michael Jackson was friends with many celebrities, even after numerous scandals, most of these people remained loyal to the singer and defended him in the media.

Culkin has already been mentioned, but other friends are also worth mentioning: Whitney Houston, Eddie Murphy, Diana Ross, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Mark Lester, Chris Tucker, Omer Bhatti.

Other facts

58. Animals around the singer

Having his own zoo, the artist always made sure that the animals in captivity felt good. After death, many animals dispersed throughout the world, since there was no one to maintain the zoo on the ranch.

One of Michael's favorite animals was the chimpanzee Bubble. He was with Jackson from 1980 to 2002, accompanied him on tour, and lived on the ranch. During this time, the primate learned to eat with a spoon and fork, went to a special toilet, and, according to Michael himself, helped clean the house.

In 2002, the primate had to be sent to a special center because it became too aggressive.

Facts about the death of Michael Jackson

59. Place and time

Previously, this mansion belonged to many celebrities, including Sean Connery.

60. Cause of death

Died from an overdose of propofol. Conrad Murray, his attending physician, gave him the injection, and 2 hours later he found the artist dead.

He tried to resuscitate the patient himself and called an ambulance. Doctors tried to save Michael on the way to Medical Center University of California and another hour after arrival, but all attempts were unsuccessful.

Murray was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years in prison and had his medical license revoked.

61. Flurry of messages

Jackson's death became known almost immediately. Several social networks and large Internet resources reported an unprecedented increase in traffic: Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Twitter and Wikipedia.

62. Funeral

On July 7, 2009, a farewell ceremony for the singer took place in Los Angeles, which consisted of two parts. A family farewell was held at Liberty Hall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, followed by a public farewell at Staples Center.

The public farewell was broadcast on television and the Internet and was watched by more than 1 billion people. However, there was no exact information about the location of the body.

But Michael Jackson's career is not over...

Posthumous albums

Sony has signed a contract with Michael's family for 10 albums; they will include both re-releases of old hits and previously unpublished songs.

63. Album “Michael”

In 2010, the first posthumous and eleventh studio album was released. Most critics, fans and musicians criticized the album, calling it too "raw".

64. Album “Immortal”

In 2011, a more successful remix album, “Immortal,” was released. Received positive reviews from critics, and a compilation of tracks in the form of a soundtrack was used in the Cirque du Soleil show tour called “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour”.

65. Album “Xscape”

The second posthumous album of previously unreleased tracks was released in 2014. Critics noted the quality of the work, but unanimously agreed that it could not be compared with the best works of Jackson's lifetime.

66. Hologram of Michael Jackson

On television Billboard ceremonies Music Awards in 2014, Pulse Evolution gave the world another performance famous singer. Michael Jackson's memorable performance of "Slave to the Rhythm" shocked the whole world, and many of the guest stars cried when they saw Michael back on stage.

In fact, it was not a hologram, but a 19th century illusion technology. It consists of projecting an image onto glass or transparent plastic located at an angle of 45 degrees to the floor.

But does that make the performance any less impressive?

The world-famous king of pop, singer and dancer Michael Jackson began his career in “The Jacksons,” which was their family group. This is a style icon, the king of pop music, a legendary personality, a talented person and a loving father. His albums have remained top-selling albums for years. And the fifth album remained at the top of the list of popular albums in the world for more than forty years. Since 1972, Michael Jackson has declared himself as solo artist and since then managed to conquer the whole world, which loves, appreciates and remembers his songs even after his death.

Height, weight, age. Years of life of Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson, this is the full name of the singer, is the idol of millions of people around the world. He has always been a mysterious person and an interesting personality. Fans wanted to know everything about him, height, weight, age, years of Michael Jackson's life. According to his driving documents, the world learned that the king’s height is 1 meter and 80 centimeters, and his weight is about 62 kilograms. Famous performer and the author of the “moonwalk” forever fell into the hearts of his fans and remains one of the most famous world stars.

Biography of Michael Jackson. Date of death and funeral

Michael was born into the family of a simple steel foundry worker on August 29, 1958. In the United States of America in Indiana, where he spent his childhood and teenage years. Michael was the 7th of 9 children in the family, and in 1964 his father decided to create the Jackson 5 group. They successfully competed in local competitions and received victories. And after 5 years they even signed a contract with a famous recording studio. They were a very famous group and their songs topped the charts in America in the early 1970s.

Three years later, their popularity began to decline, they changed the group's name to “The Jacksons” and also changed their record company. Between 1976 and 1984 they released 6 albums and toured all states. At the same time, starting in 1972, Michael began working on a solo project separately from his brothers. And he successfully released 4 albums and several singles.

His television career began with the musical "The Wizard of Oz", in which he starred in 1978 with Diana Ross. During the filming of this Broadway musical, Michael met the famous director Quincy Jones. It was he who would later be the producer of his most popular albums.

The album that made him a star was called “Off the Wall” and was released to the world in 1979. It was a stunning success, the record sold more than 10 million copies and was certified multi-platinum. His second album, Thriller, which was released in 1982, was also special, as it was recognized as the most popular album in the history of pop music. This is the only singer who managed to win 13 Grammy awards, and rightfully began to be considered the king of pop music.

Michael Jackson's biography is full of facts about the crazy popularity of his albums, performances and singles. In 1983, at Michael’s concert, the public saw the famous “moonwalk” for the first time, as well as a video for the song “Thriller”, shot in the style of a horror film. The album "Bad", which was released in 1987, was extremely popular, it had five super hits and sold more than 25 million copies. In support of this album, the largest tour in history was carried out. But Michael Jackson didn’t stop there; he released his next album, “Dangerous,” at the very beginning of the 90s, which was a stunning success.

The king's last album with new songs was released in 2001 and was called “Invincible”, after which Michael Jackson released 2 more collections of songs from previous years.

Michael Jackson was a very extraordinary person, and he often got into various scandals. There were active discussions in the press every now and then, with Michael Jackson in the main role. The singer's cause of death was cardiac arrest. He died at the University of California Hospital without ever emerging from his coma. The date of death of Michael Jackson is June 25, 2009. It was on this tragic day that the beloved and famous king of pop passed away. Several years before this date, the singer appeared in public wearing a mask, as due to many operations on his face, as well as the skin whitening procedure, the singer had problems that he hid from everyone under a medical mask. Michael Jackson after his death became even more popular than during his life, his records began to be sold in even larger quantities than before.

Personal life of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's personal life has always been under the radar of paparazzi photos and video cameras. The public demanded news and details regarding the life of the king of pop. This world-famous singer and musician was a very impulsive person who attracts people with his unsurpassed talent, charisma and uniqueness. Michael Jackson made several attempts to build a family and meet his only woman, who would become the mother of their children. Michael Jackson was married twice, and both of his marriages unfortunately failed.

Michael Jackson Family

The star's parents lived in Gary, Indiana. They married at a young age in 1949. His father Joseph Jackson played the blues and loved playing the guitar, and his mother Katherine Vinta, a 19-year-old native of the rural outback, could not imagine her life without country music. It was music that brought this young couple together. Michael Jackson's family had nine children and all of them were raised in strictness and control. The father even frightened the children with evil masks so that they would be afraid and obey their elders. Michael Jackson once admitted that nightmares accompanied him throughout his childhood. The mother did not take the children to church; instead, she attended councils of Jehovah's Witnesses with them. When rehearsals of the family group “Jackson 5” were taking place, the father held the belt in his hands, and in case of disobedience or poor performance, the children were punished. This affected the children’s psyche, and Michael admitted more than once that he and his father had a tense relationship.

Michael Jackson's children

The King of Pop left heirs, these are his three children. Michael Jackson's children have no simple life, which is associated with the worldwide fame and scandals surrounding their father. Many people doubt that these are indeed Michael's biological children. Some Internet users type in the query “Michael Jackson’s children, photos now” and peer into their faces and see the facial features of the King of Pop. In any case, they felt loved next to Michael, they lived in love, care and home comfort. Currently, after the death of his father, his heirs have a fortune. Even though their star father passed away with a bunch of debts. After his death, his record sales skyrocketed, allowing him to pay off all his debts and amass a huge fortune.

Michael Jackson's son - Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.

The first heir to the famous king of pop, a famous musician, director and singer, was born in 1997. He was born in Michael's second marriage to Debbie Rowe. Michael Jackson's son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., was a very welcome and long-awaited child in the family. Once in an interview, Michael's wife Debbie Rowe told how she told him the news of her pregnancy. He met her at the airport, they drove off a little on a motorcycle and Debbie asked to stop. And she told him that he would become a father, Michael was in seventh heaven, ran out to runways and for a long time I could not come to my senses.

Michael Jackson's son - Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II

Michael Jackson's son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II, was born in 2002. He was born by a surrogate mother, whom Michael Jackson chose very carefully. Everything took place in strict secrecy, and Michael never even saw the face of the woman who gave him an heir. He had never mentioned her name anywhere in his life. Although many journalists tried to find out the answer to this question from him, and by all means to extract this information from Michael. He didn't give up. Michael's only requirement for the surrogate mother was that she be completely healthy, intelligent and with excellent vision.

Michael Jackson's daughter - Paris-Michael Catherine Jackson

In the pop star's second marriage in 1998, his first and only daughter, Michael Jackson, Paris-Michael Catherine Jackson, was born. The parents were beside themselves with happiness. Michael, who grew up in big family and dreamed of his own for a long time, finally he became a father twice.

“Michael Jackson’s daughter is real or not” - these were the headlines then in every newspaper and on the entire world wide web. Everyone was wondering: why is Michael Jackson’s daughter white, how could it happen that not a single one of his children inherited the real skin color of the King of Pop. Michael did not give interviews about this, he loved children madly and tried not to make his personal life public. When going outside, children hid their faces under masks, including Michael Jackson's daughter. Photos of their happy family can be easily found on the Internet, and you will be convinced that the King of Pop was a loving and truly happy father.

Michael Jackson's ex-wife - Lisa Marie Presley

Michael Jackson entered into his first marriage with the daughter of famous musician Elvis Presley. Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, first saw Michael when she was just a girl, she was eight years old. And their second meeting took place 18 years later, and they immediately became friends. They have been best friends since 1993, the girl always supported Michael in the most difficult moments of his life. Their secret wedding took place on the islands in Dominican Republic, but after living together for only 1.5 years, the couple filed for divorce. Michael and Lisa even after bad marriage remained friends and communicated for a long time. While still married, the king of pop suffered from vitiligo, and after the divorce, due to stress and strong feelings, the disease worsened sharply.

Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe

After his first unsuccessful marriage, being in terrible depression, Michael Jackson is trying to cope with an exacerbation of vitiligo. He comes to see his doctor to receive recommendations for further treatment of the disease. Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe worked as a nurse for Michael's personal physician. It was there that they met.

Michael was depressed because of his unsuccessful marriage, and he also really regretted that he did not have children. To which Debbie replied that she would give him children so that he would experience the wonderful feeling of fatherhood. The couple soon got married, and Debbie Rowe kept her promise and gave birth to two heirs to the king of pop. The couple separated in 1999, Debbie understood that her mission was completed and she needed to leave. Since there was no passion and great love in this marriage, Debbie Rowe renounced all rights to the children and left Michael’s house forever.

Michael Jackson is alive, new evidence

After the death of the King of Pop, whole legends circulate. Many claim that Michael Jackson is alive and hiding in Mexico. That he staged his murder because he had many reasons for this. These are crazy debts that the King of Pop couldn’t get out of for many years, and supposedly he wanted to get rid of them this way. Another goal is to increase your popularity rating. And indeed, after the death of the singer, his ratings gained crazy momentum, and his records sold millions of copies.

In magazines, newspapers and on various websites, headlines “Michael Jackson is alive, seen in his daughter’s selfie” are increasingly appearing. Of course, the press is trying to find out as many details as possible about the death of the king of pop. Since many questions and inconsistencies have surfaced related to his death. That is why all the news is full of the fact that Michael Jackson is alive. New evidence 2016, videos and photos, as well as details and nuances are offered by various news channels. Believe it or not, it’s everyone’s business, one thing is certain: the unsurpassed Michael Jackson will always remain in the hearts of his fans and admirers.

Michael Jackson moonwalk video watch online

When you hear the name Michael Jackson, the first thing that comes to mind besides his talented and worldwide hits is, of course, the famous and unique “moonwalk”. He presented it for the first time at the presentation of the video for the famous song “Thriller” in 1983. It was a sensation, recognition, popularity and a breakthrough in pop music. Michael Jackson moonwalk, watch video online - these are the main search phrases that fans around the world often look for about their favorite and unsurpassed singer and musician on the global Internet.

Michael Jackson Wikipedia

Wikipedia Michael Jackson is a whole collection of facts, events, ups and new career achievements of the famous and beloved king of pop. It is there that you can find all the interesting facts about the life of a dancer and musician, director and stage director of his chic performances. Information about his children and wives, about his singles and albums, about his awards and honors. Michael Jackson is a world personality who has made a huge contribution to the development of music, shows, dance and cultural life all over the world. He is not forgotten even after death, his songs are heard in all corners of the globe, and this is the best proof of this.

Childhood: humiliation and first glory

19-year-old Katherine quickly realized that family life was not as rosy as in her fantasies. Joseph showed himself to be his true self, turning out to be an unsociable and even cruel person.

When Michael was born in 1958, the Jackson family already had seven children. A disciplinarian, Joseph's approach to raising children was harsh: he humiliated his children both mentally and physically. The singer's brother Marlon said that his father let his hands go for the slightest offense. In an effort to teach the children order, at night he put on a scary mask, sneaked under the windows of the nursery and roared in different ways (Michael later admitted that he was constantly tormented by nightmares as a child). Mom forced her sons to study the Bible and took them to meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Only in 1993, Michael Jackson told Oprah Winfrey in the studio that in those years he constantly cried and felt lonely, he was literally sick of communicating with his father.

In 1964, the brothers created the group “The Jacksons”. The original lineup consisted of the elders Tito, Jeremy and Jackie, with Michael and Marlon serving as backup musicians, playing tambourine and conga. Later, Michael took the place of backing vocalist and also accompanied each performance with dancing. Strict father he watched the band's rehearsals with a belt in his hands and used the leather weapon if he didn't like something.

In 1966, it was decided to rename the group “Jackson 5” (“Jackson Five”), and Michael became the lead singer. Young musicians won a city talent competition with the song “I Got You (I Feel Good)”, after which they went on tour throughout the Midwest, which lasted until 1968. Michael and his brothers performed in black strip clubs, warming up the audience before the start of the show.

In 1970, the group of Jackson brothers reached the national level - their first singles climbed to the leading positions on the American Billboard chart. Even then, Michael attracted the attention of the public with eccentric dances, which he copied from Jackie Wilson and James Brown.

The Jackson 5 on American Bandstand, 1970

The beginning of a solo career

In 1976, the Jacksons signed a contract with CBS Records, after which they had to return the name “The Jacksons” - Motown retained the rights to “The Jackson Five”.

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 from Oz" with Diana Ross. Set brought him together with music director Quincy Jones, who took the talented singer, who played the role of the Scarecrow, under his wing.

The first fruits of cooperation made themselves felt in 1979, when Michael Jackson presented the public with his fifth solo album, “Off the Wall” (translated into Russian as “Alien to Conventions”). Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder b. helped the musician with the recording of the album. Four singles from the record reached number one on the Billboard Hot chart: "Don't Stop "Til You Get Enough", "Rock with You", "She's Out of My Life" and "Off the Wall". The album sold 20 million copies.

King of pop music

The record was released in November 1982, and in just a year received the status of the best-selling album in history, maintaining it for several decades. In the USA alone, fans of the black singer sold out 26 million copies, and in the world this figure exceeded 109 million. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and remained on the list for two years.

The album became a breakthrough in music and, moreover, broke the latest racial stereotypes in the pop industry: three Michael Jackson videos (“Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, “Beat It”) were included in MTV rotation, 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, at the 25th anniversary of Motown Records, Michael Jackson debuted his famous moonwalk while performing "Billie Jean" and also premiered the 14-minute video for "Thriller," which set new standards for music videos.

Michael Jackson - "Thriller" full video

In 1984, Michael's work was again at the top of the charts. This time the single “Say Say Say”, recorded together with Paul McCartney, was included there. The following year, Jackson bought a controlling stake in ATV Music Publishing, which owned the rights to most of The songs The Beatles, which caused a quarrel with McCartney, who also lay claim to securities.

In March 1985, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie recorded the song "We Are the World". All sales proceeds, exceeding $61 million, were donated to help starving children in Africa.

Michael Jackson's seventh studio album (Bad, 1987) did not repeat the phenomenal success of the previous record, but still stayed on the first line of the Billboard 200 for 6 weeks, sold 29 million copies and gave the world several hits, including the composition " I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Dirty Diana", "Smooth Criminal" and "Man in the Mirror".

Immediately after the album's release, Michael Jackson embarked on his first international solo tour, the 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 and interacted with the audience. During one of the London concerts, he entered the Guinness Book of Records - a record half a million spectators came to the performance.

In 1989, Elizabeth Taylor called Michael Jackson "the true king of pop, rock and soul" during the Soul Train Music Awards. Fans shortened her phrase - “King of Pop”, and this nickname stuck with Michael forever.

In 1991, Michael pleased fans with new material by releasing his eighth solo album, Dangerous. The release was preceded by the premiere of a video for the song “Black or White,” which topped the charts for 5 weeks.

Michael Jackson – “Black or White”, 1991

Michael Jackson in Russia

Michael Jackson in Moscow. 1996 ORT

In 1995, the double album “HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Book I”, a collection of the musician’s best hits, which included 15 new compositions, went on sale. Among them was the sad ballad “Stranger 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 constrained by a feeling of “all-consuming loneliness and cold.”

The second time the king of pop visited Moscow was in September 1996 - he gave a concert at the Dynamo stadium and met with Yuri Luzhkov and Igor Krutoy.

Further career

The musician dedicated the album to the tragic events in Oslo - on January 26, 2001, 16-year-old Afro-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.

After the album's release, Michael Jackson organized a performance at Madison Square Garden to mark 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 with Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, N'Sync and Usher.

In 2003, Michael released the hits collection “Number Ones,” which included several previously unreleased compositions, including a brand new track, “One More Chance.”

At this time, Michael was accused of child molestation, and although the musician was acquitted, due to the uproar in the press, many celebrities refused to collaborate 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 went on sale.

In 2004, a five-disc set “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection" Box Set” with 13 previously unreleased songs was released, and in August 2008, a collection of hits “King of Pop” was released, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson planned to release his eleventh studio album in 2009.

Personal life of Michael Jackson

The next meeting took place in 1993. After that, they started chatting and quickly became best friends; Lisa supported him during a period when it seemed that everyone had turned their backs on Jackson. One day he asked a girl on the phone: “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?” Six months later, they secretly got married in the Dominican Republic. In 1996, their marriage broke up, but the former spouses remained friends.

Michael had a very hard time with the divorce, which caused his illness [vitiligo] to worsen. During a visit to his personal dermatologist Arnold Klein, he met his assistant, Debbie Rowe. They started talking, and Debbie asked Michael what saddened him the most about the current situation. The musician replied that he deeply regretted that he never had children together with Lisa. Then the woman suggested that Jackson carry his child so that he could experience the happiness of fatherhood.

Michael happily 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.

In 2002, Michael Jackson gave birth to his second son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II. The musician kept the name of the surrogate mother who carried the child a secret.

Michael Jackson with his son on a hotel balcony in Berlin

During the artist's tour in Berlin, one journalist managed to shoot a video of Michael Jackson standing on a hotel balcony and holding his youngest son in his hand. The press made a real scandal out of the video, accusing the singer of careless treatment of a child. After this incident, the artist began to be wary of representatives of the press and hide all details from his personal life, and if the Jacksons appeared in public together, the children’s faces were hidden by masks.

Allegations of pedophilia

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 Neverland Ranch. The son admitted to his father, Evan Chandler, that during 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 boy’s descriptions with reality.

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” turned out to be thirteen-year-old Gavin Arvizo, who told the press that Michael got him drunk and masturbated with him.

Authorities searched 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 was engaged in vile extortion. The litigation lasted 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.

In 2005, Michael Jackson left Neverland Ranch for good, moving to a 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 that year, the elder Chandler shot himself.

Plastic surgery and Michael Jackson's illness

The media paid too much attention to the artist’s emaciated appearance: journalists made the most unexpected hypotheses about why Michael Jackson bleached his skin and changed the contours of his face, even going so far as to accuse him of dysmorphophobia - hatred of his own body.

In the early 90s, Michael put an end to the gossip by admitting that in 1986 he was diagnosed with two rare diseases - vitiligo and lupus. And if vitiligo only affected the pigmentation of the skin, which became covered with light spots due to the disease (hence Michael’s deathly white complexion - this is a thick layer of makeup that hid the difference between healthy and affected areas of the skin), then lupus, a dangerous autoimmune disease that damages the connective tissue tissue, led to the hollowing of the cheekbones and general deformation of the face. In addition, the powerful medications prescribed to Michael by the doctor during a relapse of lupus led to the musician’s addiction to painkillers.

As for the number of plastic surgeries on Michael Jackson, experts who closely followed the artist’s gradual transformation came to the conclusion that there were 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 only had rhinoplasty twice. Doctors failed to revive Michael Jackson

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the way to the University of California Medical Center and at the center itself did not help - Michael Jackson's death was pronounced at 14:26. The news of Michael Jackson's death spread throughout the world within minutes.

The police immediately began investigating 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 was able to discern a pulse and tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him, and when he realized that all attempts to revive 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.

This was Conrad Murray's version, but 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 very energetic and perky.

An autopsy showed that the singer was in an extreme stage of exhaustion - with a height of 178 centimeters, his weight was only 51 kilograms. They didn’t find a single hint of food in the stomach, but they did find a fair amount of painkillers. On August 24, the forensic examination established the true cause of Michael’s death - an overdose of the anesthetic propofol administered intravenously. Michael Jackson's death certificate listed the cause of death as "murder."

In November 2011, Murray was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Funeral

In December 2010, the world heard Michael Jackson's first posthumous album. The record, called “Michael,” consisted of 10 tracks recorded with the participation of Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent and Taryll 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 death the idol continued to delight fans with new creations. Many celebrities, including Michael's brother Randy Jackson, described the album as "raw" and "unfinished."