Michael Joseph Jackson, (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)
was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called
the King of Pop, his contributions to music and dance, along with his
publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over
four decades.
The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the
professional music scene along with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine,
and Marlon as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in
1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music.
The music videos for his songs, including those of
"Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were
credited with breaking down racial barriers and with transforming the medium
into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped to
bring the then-relatively-new television channel MTV to fame. With videos such
as "Black or White" and "Scream", he continued to innovate
the medium throughout the 1990s, as well as forging a reputation as a touring
solo artist.
Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a
number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to
which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous
hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop, and rock artists.
Jackson's 1982 album Thriller is the best selling album of
all time. His other albums, including:
- Off the Wall (1979)
- Bad (1987)
- Dangerous (1991)
- History (1995)
Also rank among the world's best selling albums. Jackson is
one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame twice. He was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the
Dance Hall of Fame as the first and only dancer from pop and rock music.
Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, set in 1984
His other achievements include multiple Guinness World
Records; 13 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award; 26 American Music Awards, more than any other
artist, including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the
1980s"; 13 number-one singles in the United States in his solo career,
more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era; and the estimated sale of
over 400 million records worldwide.
Jackson has won hundreds of awards, making him the most
awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. Jackson became the
first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in
five different decades when "Love Never Felt So Good" reached number
nine on May 21, 2014. Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his
humanitarianism and in 2000, the Guinness World Records recognized him for
supporting 39 charities, more than any other entertainer.
Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing
appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In the
mid-1990s, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled
out of court for an undisclosed amount and no formal charges were brought. In
2005, he was tried and acquitted of further child sexual abuse allegations and
several other charges after the jury found him not guilty on all counts.
Jackson at the White House being presented with an award by PresidentRonald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1984
While preparing for his comeback concert series titled This
Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June
25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Coroner
ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician Conrad Murray was
convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global
outpouring of grief and a live broadcast of his public memorial service was
viewed around the world.
The media has commonly referred to Jackson as the "King
of Pop" because, throughout his career, he transformed the art of music
videos and paved the way for modern pop music. The Daily Telegraph writer Tom
Utley described Jackson in 2003 as "extremely important" and a
"genius". For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled"
level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical
and humanitarian contributions.
Jackson's music and videos, such as Thriller, fostered
racial diversity in MTV's roster, helped to put the relatively new channel into
public awareness, and steered the channel's focus from rock to pop music and
R&B, shaping the channel into a form that proved enduring. Jackson's work
continues to influence numerous hip hop, rock, pop and R&B artists. BET
described Jackson "as quite simply the greatest entertainer of all
time" and someone who "revolutionized the music video and brought
dances like the moonwalk to the world. Jackson's sound, style, movement and
legacy continues to inspire artists of all genres."
Allmusic's Steve Huey describes Jackson as "an
unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the skills to dominate the charts
seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves,
stunning musical versatility and loads of sheer star power". In the
mid-1980s, Time magazine's pop music critic, Jay Cocks, noted "Jackson is
the biggest thing since The Beatles. He is the hottest single phenomenon since
Elvis Presley. He just may be the most popular black singer ever". In
1990, Vanity Fair cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of
show business. In 2007, Jackson said, "Music has been my outlet, my gift
to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I know I will live
forever."
Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Indiana, showing floral
tributes after his death
Shortly after Jackson's death, on June 25, 2009, MTV briefly
returned to its original music video format to celebrate and pay tribute to his
work. The channel aired many hours of Jackson's music videos, accompanied by
live news specials featuring reactions from MTV personalities and other
celebrities. The temporary shift in MTV's programming culminated the following
week in the channel's live coverage of Jackson's memorial service. At the
memorial service on July 7, 2009, founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy
proclaimed Jackson as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived".
In 2010, two university librarians found that Jackson's
influence extended into academia, and has been mentioned in scholarly
literature pertaining to a range of subject matter. The two researchers combed
through various scholars' writings, and compiled an annotated bibliography of
those writings. The bibliography located references to Jackson in research
reports concerning music, popular culture, chemistry and an array of other
topics.
Reference Wikipedia
