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Why The
World Still Loves
Michael Joseph Jackson, 29
August 1958, Gary, Indiana, USA. Jackson has spent almost his entire life
as a public performer. He was a founder member of the Jackson Five at the
age of four, soon becoming their lead vocalist and frontman. Onstage, he
modelled his dance moves and vocal styling on James Brown, and portrayed
an absolute self-confidence on stage that belied his shy, private
personality. The Jackson Five were signed to Motown Records at the end of
1968; their early releases, including US chart-toppers "I Want You
Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll
Be There", illustrated his remarkable maturity. Although Michael was
too young to have experienced the romantic situations that were the
subject of his songs, he performed with total sincerity, showing all the
hallmarks of a great soul artist. Ironically, his pre-adolescent vocal
work carried a conviction that he often failed to recapture later in his
career. When MGM Records launched the Osmonds as rivals to the Jackson Five in
1970, and singled out their lead singer, 13-year-old Donny Osmond, for a
solo career, Motown felt duty bound to reply in kind. Michael Jackson's
first As the Jackson Five's sales slipped in the mid-70s, Michael's solo
career was put on hold, and he continued to reserve his talents for the
group after they were reborn as the Jacksons in 1976. He re-entered the
public eye with a Jackson continued to tour and record with the Jacksons after this solo success, while media speculation grew about his private life. He was increasingly portrayed as a figure trapped in an eternal childhood, surrounded by toys and pet animals, and insulated from the traumas of the real world. This image was consolidated when he was chosen to narrate an album based on the 1982 fantasy movie ET - The Extra Terrestrial. The record was quickly withdrawn because of legal complications, but still won Jackson another Grammy Award. In 1982, Thriller, Jackson's second album with Quincy Jones, was released, and went on to become one of the most commercially successful albums of all time. It also produced a run of successful hit singles, each accompanied by a promotional video that widened the scope of the genre. "The Girl Is Mine", a duet with Paul McCartney, began the sequence in relatively subdued style, setting the scene for "Billie Jean", an effortless mix of disco and pop that was a huge transatlantic chart-topper and spawned a series of answer records from other artists. The accompanying video was equally spectacular, portraying Jackson as a master of dance, a magician who could transform lives, and a shadowy figure who lived outside the everyday world. Its successor, "Beat It", also topped the US chart and helped establish another precedent, with its determinedly rock-flavoured guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen making it the first black record to receive rotation airplay on the MTV video station. Its promotional film involved Jackson at the centre of a choreographed street battle, a conscious throwback to the set pieces of West Side Story. However, even this was a modest effort compared to "Thriller", a rather mannered piece of disco-funk accompanied by a stunning long-form video that placed Jackson in a parade of Halloween horrors. This promo clip spawned a follow-up, The Making Of "Thriller", which in turn sold more copies than any other home video to date. The Thriller album and singles won Jackson a further seven Grammies; amidst this run of hits, Jackson slotted in "Say Say Say', another duet with Paul McCartney which topped the US singles chart for six weeks. He accepted the largest individual sponsorship deal in history from Pepsi-Cola in 1983; the following year, his involvement in the Jacksons" "Victory Tour" sparked the greatest demand for concert tickets in the history of popular music. Jackson had by now become an almost mythical figure, and like most myths he attracted hyperbole. A group of Jehovah's Witnesses announced that he was the Messiah; he was said to be taking drugs to change his skin colour to white; it was claimed that he had undergone extensive plastic surgery to alter his appearance; and photographs were published that suggested he slept in a special chamber to prevent himself ageing. More prosaically, Jackson began 1985 by co-writing and performing on the USA For Africa benefit single "We Are The World", another international number 1. He then spent $47.5 million in purchasing the ATV Music company, who controlled the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, thus effectively sabotaging his musical relationship with his erstwhile partner. Later that year he took part in Captain Eo, a short film laden with special effects that was only shown at the Disneyworld amusement park; he also announced plans to write his autobiography. The book was delayed while he recorded Bad, another collaboration with Quincy Jones that finally appeared in 1987. It produced five US number 1 singles, among them the title track, which again set fresh standards with its promotional video. The album suffered by comparison with his previous work, however, and even its multi-million sales were deemed disappointing after the phenomenal success of Thriller. In musical terms, Bad certainly broke no fresh ground; appealing though its soft funk confections were, they lacked substance, and represented only a cosmetic advance over his two earlier albums with Jones. Unabashed, Jackson continued to work in large scale. He undertook a lengthy world concert tour to promote Bad, utilizing stunning visual effects to capture the atmosphere of his videos. At the same time, he published his autobiography, Moonwalker, which offered little personal or artistic insight; neither did the alarmingly expensive feature film that accompanied it, and which buttressed his otherworldly image. The long-awaited Dangerous arrived at the end of 1991 and justifiably scaled the charts. This was a tour de force of gutsy dance-orientated pop, with Teddy Riley contributing to a number of tracks. Although the customarily sweet pop was sharpened to a hard point, it still displayed the unmistakable Jackson sound. By maintaining a leisurely working schedule, Jackson had guaranteed that every new project was accompanied by frenzied public anticipation. As a result, the lead-off single "Black Or White" became a huge transatlantic number 1, topping the US charts for seven weeks. Until 1992, Jackson's refusal to undergo probing interviews had allowed
the The media were handed more bait when Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley
in May 1994, perhaps in an attempt to rebuild his image. The marriage
collapsed 19 months later, giving further rise to allegations that it was
merely a set-up to improve his soiled image. He did, however, enhance his
reputation with HIStory: Past, Present And Future - Book 1. One half of
the double set chronicled his past hits, but there was the equivalent of a
new album forming the second half. Lyrically, the new material was strong,
and Jackson very It appears that, despite the allegations of child abuse and the constant media attacks, particularly surrounding his unexpected second marriage to Debbie Rowe (which ended in October 1999) and the birth of three children, Jackson's fans are destined to remain loyal to the "King of Pop". In 2001 the singer celebrated his 30th anniversary as a solo artist, reuniting with the Jackson Five on stage and breaking a long recording silence in August with his new single, "You Rock My World". The attendant Invincible paired Jackson with hotshot urban producer Rodney Jerkins, but was let down by a surfeit of weak ballad material. The album went straight to the top of the US and UK charts following its November release, although long-term sales indicated Jackson's commercial heyday had well and truly passed. The singer returned to the spotlight in February 2003 when a controversial documentary filmed by the UK's ITV1 television channel drew record viewing figures. Despite all that
has happened, Michael Jackson's skills as a singer, dancer, writer and
businessman is unparalleled, and it is these prodigious talents that
will ultimately prevail over the negative aspects of his life. That's
why the world loves Michael Jackson. Click here now and get your Free Celebrity Gossip Newsletter
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