A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
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So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
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Saturday, September 5, 2015
MICHAEL JACKSON (1958-2009): Legendary, iconic, and innovative singer, songwriter, composer, musician, arranger, dancer, producer, and ensemble leader
SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER/FALL, 2015
VOLUME ONE NUMBER FOUR
BILLIE HOLIDAY
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
ERIC DOLPHY July 18-24
MARVIN GAYE July 25-31
ABBEY LINCOLN August 1-7 RAY CHARLES August 8-14
SADE August 15-21
BETTY CARTER August 22-28
CHARLIE PARKER August 29-September 4
MICHAEL JACKSON September 5-11
CHAKA KHAN September 12-18
JOHN COLTRANE September 19-25
SARAH VAUGHAN September 26-October 2
THELONIOUS MONK October 3-9
"Jackson confided in Branca that he wanted to be the biggest star in show business and "the wealthiest."The singer was upset about what he perceived to be the under-performance of Off the Wall, stating, "It was totally unfair that it didn't get Record of the Year and it can never happen again." He also felt undervalued by the music industry; in 1980 when Jackson asked the publicist of Rolling Stone if they would be interested in doing a cover story on him, the publicist declined, to which Jackson responded, "I've been told over and over that black people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell copies ... Just wait. Someday those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one, and maybe I won't."
The Misunderstood Power of Michael Jackson's Music by Joseph Vogel February 8, 2012 The Atlantic
His influence today proves him to be one of the greatest creators of all time, but Jackson's art--like that of many black artists--still doesn't get the full respect it deserves.
AP Images
More than two and a half years after his untimely death, Michael Jackson continues to entertain. Cirque du Soleil's crowd-pleasing Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour is currently crisscrossing North America, while a recent Jackson-themed episode of Glee earned the show a 16 percent jump in ratings and its highest music sales of the season. Even Madonna's halftime Super Bowl spectacle harkened back to a trend first initiated by Jackson.
But there is another crucial part of Jackson's legacy that deserves attention: his pioneering role as an African-American artist working in an industry still plagued by segregation, stereotypical representations, or little representation at all.
Jackson never made any qualms about his aspirations. He wanted to be the best. When his highly successful Off the Wall album (in 1981, the best-selling album ever by a black artist) was slighted at the Grammy Awards, it only fueled Jackson's resolve to create something better. His next album, Thriller, became the best-selling album by any artist of any race in the history of the music industry. It also won a record-setting seven Grammy awards, broke down color barriers on radio and TV, and redefined the possibilities of popular music on a global scale. Yet among critics (predominantly white), skepticism and suspicion only grew. "He will not swiftly be forgiven for having turned so many tables," predicted James Baldwin in 1985, "for he damn sure grabbed the brass ring, and the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo has nothing on Michael."
Baldwin proved prophetic. In addition to a flood of ridicule regarding his intelligence, race, sexuality, appearance, and behavior, even his success and ambition were used by critics as evidence that he lacked artistic seriousness. Reviews frequently described his work as "calculating," "slick," and "shallow." Establishment rock critics such as Dave Marsh and Greil Marcus notoriously dismissed Jackson as the first major popular music phenomenon whose impact was more commercial than cultural. Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Bruce Springsteen, they claimed, challenged and re-shaped society. Jackson simply sold records and entertained.
The point of his ambition wasn't money and fame; it was respect. It shouldn't be much of a strain to hear the racial undertones in such an assertion. Historically, this dismissal of black artists (and black styles) as somehow lacking substance, depth and import is as old as America. It was the lie that constituted minstrelsy. It was a common criticism of spirituals (in relation to traditional hymns), of jazz in the '20s and '30s, of R&B in the '50s and '60s, of funk and disco in the '70s, and of hip-hop in the '80s and '90s (and still today). The cultural gatekeepers not only failed to initially recognize the legitimacy of these new musical styles and forms, they also tended to overlook or reduce the achievements of the African-American men and women who pioneered them. The King of Jazz, for white critics, wasn't Louis Armstrong, it was Paul Whiteman; the King of Swing wasn't Duke Ellington, it was Benny Goodman; the King of Rock wasn't Chuck Berry or Little Richard, it was Elvis Presley.
Given this history of white coronation, it is worth considering why the media took such issue with referring to Michael Jackson as the King of Pop. Certainly his achievements merited such a title. Yet up until his death in 2009, many journalists insisted on referring to him as the "self-proclaimed King of Pop." Indeed, in 2003, Rolling Stone went so far as to ridiculously re-assign the title to Justin Timberlake. (To keep with the historical pattern, just last year the magazine devised a formula that coronated Eminem--over Run DMC, Public Enemy, Tupac, Jay-Z, or Kanye West--as the King of Hip Hop).
Jackson was well-aware of this history and consistently pushed against it. In 1979, Rolling Stone passed on a cover story about the singer, saying that it didn't feel Jackson merited front cover status. "I've been told over and over again that black people on the covers of magazines don't sell copies," an exasperated Jackson told confidantes. "Just wait. Some day those magazines will come begging for an interview."Jackson, of course, was right (Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner actually sent a self-deprecatory letter acknowledging the oversight in 1984). And during the 1980s, at least, Jackson's image seemed ubiquitous. Yet over the long haul, Jackson's initial concern seems legitimate. As shown in the breakdown below, his appearances on the front cover of Rolling Stone, the United States' most visible music publication, are far fewer than those of white artists: John Lennon: 30 Mick Jagger: 29 Paul McCartney: 26 Bob Dylan: 22 Bono: 22 Bruce Springsteen: 22 Madonna: 20 Britney Spears: 13 Michael Jackson: 8 (two came after he died; one featured Paul McCartney as well)
Is it really possible that Michael Jackson, arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century, merited less than half the coverage of Bono, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna?Of course, this disregard wasn't limited to magazine covers. It extended into all realms of print media. In a 2002 speech in Harlem, Jackson not only protested his own slights, but also articulated how he fit into a lineage of African-American artists struggling for respect:
All the forms of popular music from jazz to hip-hop, to bebop, to soul [come from black innovation]. You talk about different dances from the catwalk, to the jitterbug, to the charleston, to break dancing -- all these are forms of black dancing...What would [life] be without a song, without a dance, and joy and laughter, and music. These things are very important but if you go to the bookstore down the corner, you will not see one black person on the cover. You'll see Elvis Presley, you'll see the Rolling Stones...But we're the real pioneers who started these [forms]."
While there was certainly some rhetorical flourish to his "not one black person on the cover" claim, his broader point of severely disproportionate representation in print was unquestionably accurate. Books on Elvis Presley alone outnumber titles on Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Michael Jackson combined.
When I began my book, Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, in 2005, there wasn't one serious book focused on Jackson's creative output. Indeed, at my local Barnes & Noble, I could find only two books about him, period. Both dealt with the scandals and controversies of his personal life.
It seemed the only way Michael Jackson could get covered was if he was presented as a freak, a curiosity, a spectacle. Even reviews of his albums, post-Thriller, focused on the sensational and were overwhelmingly condescending, when not outright hostile.
Of course, this poor coverage wasn't only about race. Biases were often more subtle, veiled and coded. They were wrapped together with his overall otherness and conflated with the "Wacko Jacko" media construct. In addition, as Baldwin astutely noted, there were not entirely unrelated apprehensions about his wealth and fame, anxieties about his eccentricities and sexuality, confusion about his changing appearance, contempt for his childlike behavior, and fears about his power.
But the bottom line is this: Somehow, in the midst of the circus that surrounded him, Jackson managed to leave behind one of the most impressive catalogs in the history of music. Rarely has an artist been so adept at communicating the vitality and vulnerability of the human condition: the exhilaration, yearning, despair, and transcendence. Indeed, in Jackson's case he literally embodied the music. It charged through him like an electric current. He mediated it through every means at his disposal--his voice, his body, his dances, films, words, technology and performances. His work was multi-media in a way never before experienced.
This is why the tendency of many critics to judge his work against circumscribed, often white, Euro-American musical standards is such a mistake. Jackson never fit neatly into categories and defied many of the expectations of rock/alternative enthusiasts. He was rooted deeply in the African-American tradition, which is crucial to understanding his work. But the hallmark of his art is fusion, the ability to stitch together disparate styles, genres and mediums to create something entirely new.
If critics simply hold Jackson's lyrics on a sheet of paper next to those of Bob Dylan, then, they will likely find Jackson on the short end. It's not that Jackson's lyrics aren't substantive (on the HIStory album alone, he tackles racism, materialism, fame, corruption, media distortion, ecological destruction, abuse, and alienation). But his greatness is in his ability to augment his words vocally, visually, physically, and sonically, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Listen, for example, to his non-verbal vocalizations--the cries, exclamations, grunts, gasps, and improvisatory vernacular--in which Jackson communicates beyond the strictures of language. Listen to his beat boxing and scatting; how he stretches or accents words; his James Brown-like staccato facility; the way his voice moves from gravelly to smooth to sublime; the passionate calls and responses; the way he soars just as naturally with gospel choirs and electric guitars.
Listen to his virtuosic rhythms and rich harmonies; the nuanced syncopation and signature bass lines; the layers of detail and archive of unusual sounds. Go beyond the usual classics, and play songs like "Stranger in Moscow," "I Can't Help It ," "Liberian Girl ," "Who Is It," and "In the Back." Note the range of subject matter, the spectrum of moods and textures, the astounding variety (and synthesis) of styles. On the Dangerous album alone, Jackson moves from New Jack Swing to classical, hip hop to gospel, R&B to industrial, funk to rock. It was music without borders or barriers, and it resonated across the globe.
However, it wasn't until Jackson's death in 2009 that he finally began to engender more respect and appreciation from the intelligentsia. It is one of humanity's strange habits to only truly appreciate genius once it's gone. Still, in spite of the renewed interest, the easy dismissals and disparity in serious print coverage remains.
As a competitor on par with the legendary Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson wouldn't be satisfied. His goal was to prove that a black artist could do everything a white artist could (and more). He wanted to move beyond every boundary, earn every recognition, break every record, and achieve artistic immortality ("That is why to escape death," he said, "I bind my soul to my work"). The point of his ambition wasn't money and fame; it was respect.
As he boldly proclaimed in his 1991 hit, "Black or White," "I had to tell them I ain't second to none."About the Author
Joseph Vogel is the author of Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson. His work has appeared in Slate, The Huffington Post, and PopMatters. He holds a Ph.D. in American literature and culture from the University of Rochester.
This essay was originally published at passedthecurve.blogspot.com on Saturday June 27 2009. That blog has long been inactive. I’m reposting it here as a more permanent home. This essay has since been republished in the anthology Best Music Writing 2010, published by Da Capo Press.
Anyone who has reason to doubt Michael Jackson’s cultural importance in the wake of his untimely death from cardiac arrest on June 25th, take note: entertainment website TMZ.com reported that so many people around the world logged online Friday afternoon to get updates about the pop superstar’s status that the Internet itself nearly buckled.
Indiana-born Jackson had his first #1 hit in 1969 at eleven years old. No young singer ever sang, or has ever sung to this day, the way Michael Jackson sang on record. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was the most advanced popular singer of his age in the history of recorded music. His untrained tenor was uncanny. By all rights, he shouldn’t have had as much vocal authority as he did at such a young age. Had Jackson sounded mature by simply being gruff or husky, he would have remained a precocious novelty. But his tones were full-bodied clarion calls; his pitch was immaculate, and his phrasing impeccable. He had a fluid lyricism and plenty of range, and he could find emotional nuance in challenging pop-soul material. Listen, for instance, to the way he skillfully maneuvers those tricky, Bacharach-esque harmonics on 1971’s “Got to Be There.”
Though he was capable of gritty soul, Jackson was more Diana than Gladys, more Dionne than Aretha. His muted, contained fervor, honed on the amateur night circuit rather than in the Pentecostal church, allowed him to handle precious ballads like 1970’s “I’ll Be There” with equal parts aplomb and sensitivity. It’s challenging for any singer to deliver authentic emotion without resorting to melisma or other vocal crutches. Singing the original melody as written while also conveying the emotional subtext behind a lyric requires great interpretive skill. Moving between tenor and falsetto, Jackson was a fantastic song essayist. Saccharine “Ben” and “Maybe Tomorrow” became sentimental opuses under Jackson’s feathery touch. Achingly slow jams like 1979’s “I Can’t Help It” and 1982’s “The Lady in My Life” were templates for 1990s neo-soul. It’s easy to forget how minimalist a balladeer Jackson was until you hear other singers – even skilled ones - attempt to cover his songs and fall flat: Cassandra Wilson’s live cover of 1993 weeper “Gone Too Soon” comes to mind.
Jackson preserved his lithe tenor into adulthood. Critics claim he was trying to sound younger as he got older. But Jackson’s voice became more feminine as he got older. He and Patti Austin were often mistaken for each other on the crediting of Quincy Jones tracks. And it took me months before I realized that Jackson had a female duet partner, Siedah Garrett, on 1987’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” given their indistinguishable vocal registers and timbres. If Jackson deliberately cultivated vocal femininity, he could also sound aggressive, and even carnal, as on the opening of 1982’s explosive “P.Y.T.”
Jackson often draws comparison to Sammy Davis Jr.: both were preternaturally gifted pre-teens hawking song-and-dance routines. Other influences included Jackie Wilson and James Brown, dynamos for whom singing and dancing emerge from the same bodily impulse. Jackson’s trademark theatrical dancing bore traces of Jack Cole’s modernist angularity, The Nicholas Brothers’ sinewy virtuosity, Gene Kelly’s balletic grace and Fred Astaire’s rhythmic flow. By the early 70s Jackson had incorporated into his repertoire West Coast popping and locking; I wonder if he witnessed those moves firsthand when the family migrated to Los Angeles after signing with Motown.
But Jackson didn’t simply model his dancing after others. He somehow emulsified all his his influences and created his own idiosyncratic movement vocabulary. Latter-day song and dance stars like Justin Timberlake, Usher, Chris Brown and Ne-Yo have skillfully followed in Jackson’s footsteps. But they often do so too literally. While I always felt Jackson had to dance out of the necessity of sheer ecstatic release, his younger counterparts, happy to imitate their idol, have yet to find their own original moves. Nor have any of them found a real sense of personal abandon in dance. It’s been said that Jackson did not pick up choreography easily (nor did Gene Kelly for that matter). But when he danced, he did so with fierceness, with creative risk. It was as if his life depended on it.
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By the end of 1969, The Supremes had unraveled. Diana Ross’s solo career was set to launch. Motown CEO Berry Gordy identified his next entrepreneurial fixation in Jackson and his four talented brothers. To begin the artist development process, Gordy ratcheted up the funk missing from the brothers’ 1967 efforts on local Gary record label Steeltown. He concocted a production & songwriting dream team he cheekily called The Corporation (Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, Deke Richards and Gordy himself). Their job, drawing heavily on Frankie Lymon and probably The Cowsills, was to handcraft for The Jackson Five G-rated pop tunes like “I Want You Back”. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson Five, their 1969 debut, was released a week before Christmas and only 12 days after the Stones’ ill-fated Altamont concert put a bottlecap on ‘60s optimism. The Jackson Five’s day-glo ditties were miles away from the darker, socially conscious soul of producers like Norman Whitfield and Curtis Mayfield. But they were still more sophisticated than they’re given credit for under the misleading banner “bubblegum soul”. I can’t recall the Osmonds ever attempting anything half as transcendent or effervescent as “The Love You Save”.
Matriarch Katherine sewed gaudy costumes for her sons, drawing liberally from the look of Sly’s pre-Riot Bay Area boho hippie couture. Stage Dad Joe, projecting his failed musical ambitions on his boys, forced them to rehearse using methods that probably contravened child labor and human rights laws. And over at the label, Gordy had set in motion an unstoppable juggernaut of early branding, licensing the J5 image to anyone who would shell out green bucks. These collective efforts resulted in mass female hysteria not seen since Beatlemania. In 1970, unassuming “A.B.C” was so immensely popular that it knocked the Beatles’ epochal “Let it Be” off the top chart spot. The Jackson Five scored three number one singles before they ever even made a live appearance. And in 1971, when Cynthia Horner jumpstarted her black teen magazine Right On!, it’s been reported that every single cover for the first two years was devoted to a Jackson.
The Jacksons marketed themselves as pop culture’s ultimate functional nuclear family. Their seemingly unimpeachable vision of black kinship as upwardly mobility flew in the face of The Moynihan Report and inner city turmoil that defined the 1970s. The Jacksons helped spawn TV’s insufferable white Partridge Family and, years later, TV’s black middle-class Huxtables. Around 1987, a new cynicism crept in, and dysfunctional families became the representational norm. Satires like The Simpsons and Married with Children ruled. By the time 1989 album 2300 Jackson Street flopped, The Jacksons had already begun rebranding themselves as the ultimate dysfunctional family. In 1991, brother Jermaine enlisted L.A. and Babyface to produce “Word to the Badd!,” a vitriolic criticism of Michael that he refused to retract; eighteen years later, it would be Jermaine who would give the first live press conference to confirm his brother’s death.
Michael Jackson’s talents as a songwriter and producer wouldn’t come to light until he left Motown in 1975. He found a degree of artistic freedom several records into his tenure with CBS Records: “This Place Hotel” from The Jacksons’ 1980 Triumph remains a personal favorite. But Jackson truly reached creative nirvana on 1979’s Off the Wall, his fifth studio album, by collaborating with musical journeyman Quincy Jones. Jones’s production contributions to Jackson’s albums were sometimes exaggerated. But he did help Jackson develop the musical DNA that would define each of his successive albums. Deep-pocket grooves with polyrhythmic percussion (“Workin’ Day and Night”.) Wistful ballads (“She’s Out of My Life.”) Pop hooks that sear into your cerebellum (“Off the Wall)”). Jazzy chord progressions (“I Can’t Help It”). Swirling strings (Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”). State-of-the-art synthesizers (“Get on the Floor”). Michael’s vocal ticks, squeals, and yelps (inserted wherever possible). Savvy songwriters like Heatwave’s Rod Temperton (“Rock with You”) brought their A-game, and genius sidemen from George Duke to Greg Phillingaines delivered brilliant rhythm tracks. With Off the Wall, Jackson finally found a way to capture the visceral thrill of his live concerts on record.
Then, the game seriously changed.
Drawing on the monumental success of the 1979 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, 1982’s Thriller redefined the pop album as a blockbuster mega-spectacle. It did for music what Jaws and Star Wars did for film, turning an art form into an event. Throughout his career Michael Jackson had an aesthetic affinity for all things spectacular. I’d call him a spectacularist, if that were a legitimate word. He was the thriller he sang about; he wanted to leave you constantly enthralled by every aspect of the artistic experience. The music was no exception. Each song on Thriller was a self-contained, high concept deliberately directed toward to a desired demographic. Rockers like Paul McCartney and Eddie Van Halen made cameos; Jackson embraced Quiet Storm on “The Lady in My Life;” and the Toto-esque “Human Nature” delivered MOR soft rock. Record label Epic, under Walter Yetnikoff’s maniacal direction (or lack thereof), poured money into getting the word out about the album, leaving no marketing or promotional tool untried, including the then emerging music video format.
Jackson always harbored film star ambitions but they would never materialize (save for his featured performance in Sidney Lumet’s 1978 The Wiz and years later, a passing cameo in Men in Black II.) But Jackson transferred his celluloid ambitions into the music video arena, grabbing the baton from UK innovators Godley and Crème and completely revolutionizing the artform. With Thriller he turned video into mega-spectacle. At first, MTV refused to play Jackson’s videos, but as his popularity became undeniable the network ultimately had to swallow crow, as it were. Video directors Jon Landis and Bob Giraldi and others deserve a good deal of the credit for the artistic successes of these works, but one of the unsung heroes in Jackson’s meteoric rise was Michael Peters, the late Dreamgirls choreographer, whose iconic moves in videos like “Beat It” and “Thriller” became a definitive part of Jackson’s iconography. In 2007, when the surreal YouTube clip of orange-cloaked inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Phillipines restaging Peters’ moves from the “Thriller” video became one of the top pass-around Internet videos, it served as a reminder of how deep Jackson’s presence had permeated global culture in the last 30 years.
In the mid 80s, as Thriller’s sales skyrocketed and Grammys piled up, Jackson emerged as the most famous person on earth, instantly recognizable through his eccentric iconography: aviator sunglasses, royal jackets with epaulets, bleached white socks, and a single jewel-encrusted glove. Thriller exploded the concept of pop stardom, what was possible in the construction and maintenance of global celebrity. It also exploded the concept of racial crossover. In the edited collection Freakery, David Yuan mentions how Jackson surpassing Elvis’ sales records was as seminal a moment in black American history as previous breakthroughs by Joe Louis in boxing and Jackie Robinson in baseball. Long before Obama, Jackson raised the bar for black exceptionalism. He transformed how people around the world perceived blacks, and just as importantly, how black people began to perceive themselves.
I can vividly recall seeing Jackson perform the moonwalk on Motown’s 25th Anniversary TV Special when it first aired in 1983. Though Jackson did not invent the move, that breathtaking moment, in the context of his larger performance, started to change my entire sense of self. Back in the day, we did not just want to be like Michael, we wanted to be Michael. We practiced moonwalking and kick-pushing our legs in our bedrooms. We tried to jheri-curl our hair or at least make it look as slick and wet as his had become. We cut the fingers off our gloves in the effort to look cool. Moving and singing with total energy, total freedom, absolute strength, and aesthetic openness, Michael Jackson seemed to be a divine revelation made manifest here on Earth. Though it now seems impossible to believe, Jackson seemed, in that cultural moment, to become the instantiation of total artistic and human perfection. It was an impossible standard to uphold.
Off the Wall and Thriller remain the greatest pop soul albums ever released. Some find Thriller too calculated and too shlocky, and it is. But I’ve always looked at it as a lovingly crafted, detail-obsessed, musically-rich work of authentic rhythm and blues. Not to mention, there are few albums more wildly fun and eminently danceable (“Wanna Be Startin’ Something” still electrifies.)
In pop music, nobody has ever duplicated the commercial or artistic success of those two successive albums. For this reason, Jackson’s death might be a symbol of the end of the recorded music era as we know it. At a time in which the Internet and peer-to-peer sharing programs have made it difficult for music aspirants to sustain careers selling records, it is unlikely that anyone will ever again top Thriller’s enormous fifty million plus sales feat. …..
As the 1980s wore on, Jackson could not compete with hip-hop’s street cred demands. But he found ways to match its machismo by amplifying his own sexual aggression. He began incessant crotch-grabbing and Tourette’s-like yelps, directed, it seems, at no one but himself. Bad, the 1988 follow-up to Thriller, introduced persecution and paranoia themes, like on guitar-heavy “Dirty Diana” and CD-only track “Leave Me Alone”. Critics like to say that Jackson’s career precipitously declined after Thriller, but I wonder if they remember Bad was some serious mega-spectacle itself. Plus, it had five number one singles and sold more than thirty million copies – hardly a paltry sum by any standard. Except, perhaps, Jackson’s own.
I get the sense when some critics bemoan Michael’s post-Thriller work, they really haven’t listened to much of it very closely. I always considered Bad, as well as 1991 Dangerous and even 1995 greatest-hits-plus-more double album HIStory to be superb albums, characterized by the same care and attention to musical detail as Michael Jackson’s earlier solo efforts. Maybe you couldn’t stomach Bad’s silly title track, but you could certainly acknowledge the synth jazz-funk of “Another Part of Me” (Anita Baker even covered it in her live shows). Maybe you couldn’t stomach Dangerous’ sentimental “Will You Be There,” but you could certainly acknowledge sinuous groove masterpieces like “Remember the Time,” “Jam,” and “Keep it in the Closet.” Jackson’s last studio release, 2001’s Invincible could summon neither the mega-spectacle, nor the artistic brilliance, of earlier releases. But it still has its share of prizes, like sleek lead single “You Rock My World and tremblingly romantic “Butterflies.”
At the time of his death, Jackson had spent nearly 42 years making records; that’s a staggering sum considering he was only 50 years old. Jackson made plenty of artistic missteps on the way (especially 1997’s “Blood on the Dancefloor;” the remixes are off the hook, though) and he was clearly unable to reinvent his brand in ways that would keep him fresh in the commercial marketplace. But Jackson at his worst is still in better shape than much of what is currently on the radio. Propulsive “Sunset Driver,” an unreleased track originally recorded for 1979’s Off the Wall and available on 2004 box set Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection, stands superior to much of the musicianship in pop today. And gorgeous Babyface-penned ballad, “On the Line,” little known as the opening credit track from Spike Lee’s 1996 Get on the Bus, stands among Jackson’s best work.
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If Michael Jackson redefined pop music as mega-spectacle, he also redefined the surreal weirdness of celebrity culture. What started off as simple eccentricity in the early 80s – plastic surgery touch-ups, carrying Bubbles the chimp on his arm to events, carrying Emmanuel Lewis on his arm as if he were Bubbles! – soon devolved into full-blown horror. Jackson began to transform in ways that you could neither turn away from nor condone. He drastically lightened his complexion and surgically altered his facial features in ways that looked grotesque, not to mention racially problematic. He seemed to become the kind of monster he had once pretended to be in videos.
The reasons he effected this transmogrification are complex, psychological, and psychosocial. Jackson spent his life in abject fear of being perceived as normal and ordinary. He was, according to reports, by turns humble and megalomaniacal. He surrounded himself with aging legendary celebrity friends like Elizabeth Taylor and Gregory Peck and claimed in interviews that the only artist he wanted to collaborate with was Debussy, who died in 1918. Jackson wanted to be among the greatest of all legends, and he wanted you to know of his elite status. Like a black Willy Loman, he also lived in fear of becoming irrelevant. He had never known a life in which he wasn’t universally relevant. By publicizing his abnormality, whether real or manufactured, Jackson could kill two birds with one stone: he could remain both talked about, and aloof, different than the everyman.
During his tenure at Motown, Jackson witnessed how to manufacture buzz through falsehood. To launch the Jackson Five in 1969, Berry Gordy had cooked up the white lie that label superstar Diana Ross (rather than Gladys Knight or Bobby Taylor or Suzanne dePasse) had discovered the Jackson Five. Even though the public largely knew it was not true, Jackson was forced to repeat this blatant lie over and over in interviews, until he himself probably believed it, or at least saw its effectiveness, particularly when the group’s success did materialize. The lies and manufactured shams continued in the 80s and beyond as his solo career exploded. Jackson soon realized he could become a tabloid fixture by leaking manufactured stories to the press. We learned that he liked to sleep in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber - but who exactly took that picture? We learned that he wanted to buy The Elephant Man’s bones – for what purpose, exactly? Jackson managed to turn himself into the tabloid junkie fodder he purported to despise on songs like “Leave Me Alone” and “Tabloid Junkie”. Eventually the public could no longer tell what was real and false. Even Jackson’s short-lived marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, which possibly might have had a genuine impulse in it, appeared to be nothing more than a desperate publicity stunt to prove his heterosexuality in the face of child molestation allegations.
Jackson also feared, to his core, being abjectly lonely. His self-esteem had long evaporated, likely the result of years of verbal and physical abuse from his father and rumored sexual abuse from older men. Jackson desperately wanted to be liked and understood. But being understood meant being accessible. Being accessible in turn meant being seen as normal, so that was not an option. Jackson had entrepreneurial talent: he bought the lucrative Beatles catalog in the 1980s and launched MJJ Records in the 1990s, a Sony imprint in which he made some bold creative choices. But Jackson wanted people to perceive him as an eccentric, tragic billionaire like Howard Hughes (with whom he was fascinated), so he lived beyond his means and ended up in a mountain of bad business decisions and staggering debt.
Over time, physical ailment, prescription drug use, endless court cases and a revolving cast of shady characters compounded Jackson’s neuroses and self-destructive behavior. He found friends, and possibly lovers, in children, since he claimed they came to him with no agenda - but he was a fool to think their parents wouldn’t. To stave off depression, Jackson surrounded himself with the most expensive of spiritual advisors, like Deepak Chopra. He desperately searched for the spiritual life that he had once known as Jehovah’s Witness, even reportedly joining Islam in his last years. But Jackson never again found his center.
Jon Pareles notes in his New York Times obit that Jackson had internalized Motown’s crossover aesthetic and upward mobility imperatives. It was clear that Jackson feared the idea of being pigeonholed - not just in music, but in life. He wanted to appeal to everyone but to also remain elusive. So, throughout his career, he wedged himself in spaces of ambivalence. He did not want to look black or white. He did not want to look male or female. Though he was twice married, it was hard to tell if he was straight or queer or something else altogether. Jackson had become freakishly androgynous, and yet, he continued to crave mainstream success and public acceptance.
In 1985, in a prophetic essay in Playboy, James Baldwin discussed the ‘problem’ of androgynous singers like Boy George and Michael Jackson. Baldwin predicted that Jackson’s bold pursuit of mainstream androgyny would be his undoing. He said: “The Michael Jackson cacophony is fascinating in that it is not about Jackson at all. I hope he has the good sense to know it and the good fortune to snatch his life out of the jaws of a carnivorous success. He will not swiftly be forgiven for having turned so many tables, for he damn sure grabbed the brass ring, and the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo has nothing on Michael.”
Because of the way Jackson destabilized our understanding of race, gender, and sexuality as fixed categories, he became the figure that many of us academics cut our teeth on as cultural critics. I published academic articles about him, I taught his albums in my classes at NYU, and I spoke about him on panels, including a Yale conference on Jackson’s life and work in 2004. Jackson emerged as a major figure in cultural studies because at the end of the day he was a frustrating, fascinating contradiction of a human being. Like the famous 1988 Jeff Koons sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles, in which the star and his chimp are rendered in cold white ceramic, the superstar became a frozen vessel onto which you could project your hopes, fears, desires, your anger and your delight.
Jackson’s racial and sexual androgyny project might have succeeded had he aimed at becoming either/or. Operating in a trans third space, Jackson might have strategically challenged our ideas about stereotypes as he did on 1991’s trite but heartfelt “Black or White” from Dangerous. Jackson could have ridiculed the notion of false opposites, without becoming ripped apart by them. But Jackson didn’t want to be either/or. He wanted to be neither/nor, which is a very different thing. Jackson didn’t want to be black or white; he wanted to be some other thing that nobody could recognize, some other category that kept him unique and totally different from everyone else – and he had the money and the wherewithal to effect those changes on his body to make it a reality.
In the end, wanting to be neither/nor means you can end up being nothing to anybody, and that is the recipe for an alienated, lonely life. No pop star in history, with the exception of Madonna, has ever been so open or willing to completely reinvent themselves over the course of their career in the public eye. But Madonna managed to commit to her identity reinventions without ever fully inhabiting any one for any length of time. She also seemed to understand that at the end of the day, some semblance of normalcy is desirable. Jackson did not. That Jackson used his body, not always his art, as a canvas to effect his transformation is what is ultimately so disturbing and fascinating about his career.
Still, it’s comforting that someone as lonely as Michael Jackson brought together so many people through his work. One aspect that is often overlooked in American television coverage of his death but frequently mentioned in other countries where Jackson’s stardom never dropped off the radar is his long legacy of humanitarian and charitable work. Perhaps only Bono has bested Michael Jackson’s charitable contributions in pop. I can recall in 1991 being revolted by Jackson’s “Heal the World,” an inspirational treaclefest that seemed wildly out of step with gangsta, grunge and bleak chic aesthetics that dominated the airwaves. Jackson’s earnesty borded on serious naiveté.
But in retrospect, it’s clear that throughout his career Michael Jackson held steadfast to a vision of one love-planetary humanism on par with the most heartfelt sentimentalists our time. Like Princess Diana (she was also a controversial figure,) Jackson really did inspire people to believe that they could change the world, and that is not something to scoff at nor take lightly. Michael Jackson used art to teach many of us how to care very deeply for other people. As a child, I can recall crying in my room as a child listening to 1987’s “Man in the Mirror,” so powerful was his performance of Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett’s vision for personal transformation and global communion. I can recall how moved I was by the music video in which Jackson takes a backseat to scenes of world conflict, not even appearing until a brief glimpse at the end. I was struck by his ability to take himself out of the equation in the service of a greater social cause. I suspect there are people all over the world who could share their stories of how that particular song moved them.
One Michael Jackson song stands out for me. 1993’s “Gone Too Soon,” produced by Jackson and written by Larry Grossman and Buzz Kohan, was dedicated to late Indiana AIDS patient Ryan White, a young student who had been kicked of his school because he carried the virus. One can never choose to forget how much vitriolic hate was spewed against AIDS patients at the height of the virus’ transmission. Jackson released his tribute at a time in the 1990s when I can’t recall many if any hip-hop artists willing to talk about or discuss AIDS publicly. “Gone Too Soon” may have been schmaltzy, but it was authentic, it was tender and terribly moving, a genuine expression of Jackson’s passion and care for a young person who had been victimized. As Carl Wilson discusses in his superb book on Celine Dion: Let’s Talk About Love, we need to rethink the politics of schmaltz, particularly in the way it generates community through emotional expression. …..
If the punditry on CNN in the wake of his death is any indication, controversy is how many will remember Michael Jackson. He left this earth with numerous legal and financial entanglements that will keep his name in the press for some time. He may have also left us with more questions than answers.
I often wonder if the three children he raised, none of whom seem to look anything like him, are his real biological children. And yet, by all accounts to date, he was an excellent father.
I have always wondered about his skin lightening, which he chalked up on his 1993 Oprah appearance to the disease vitiligo, which can leave the skin with patches of depleted melanin. Many did not and do not believe that he had the disease, given this country’s racist history in which black people have used bleaching creams to change their complexions. It is possible that Jackson did have vitiligo and used bleaching creams on his skin to create a more uniform complexion. But, I have always wondered why he did he not darken his skin to create a uniform complexion, rather than lighten it. In the end, I’m more likely to believe that Jackson really did have vitiligo and he also decided to bleach his skin out of self-hatred. He was just that complicated. Unless a tell-all diary emerges, the contradictions with which Jackson lived may keep us guessing about him for years.
In the past few days, I have been questioning if the passing of any other public figure alive could elicit the seismic global response that we have seen in the aftermath of Jackson’s death. A president, a worldwide spiritual leader, perhaps? In the past few days, I have been questioning if the passing of any other public figure alive could elicit the seismic global response that we have seen in the aftermath of Jackson’s death. A president, a worldwide spiritual leader, perhaps? Wherever he is, Jackson must be smiling to think that he ended up in such rarified company.
Michael Jackson was a singer, songwriter, dancer and celebrity icon with a huge catalog of hit records and countless awards to his credit. Beyond that, he transfixed the world like few entertainers before or since. As a solo performer, he enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known only to Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra.
Jackson became an instant star at age 11 as the cherubic frontman in Motown’s phenomenally successful sibling group, the Jackson 5. But that band of brothers, who kicked off their Motown tenure with the unprecedented feat of four consecutive Number One singles in 1970, was just a prelude to the heights that Michael Jackson would scale as a solo artist in the Eighties with the success of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Those three albums – all produced by Quincy Jones - and their accompanying videos, launched Jackson into a high celebrity orbit. It was a trajectory he would maintain well into the Nineties with such multiplatinum releases as Dangerous and HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book 1. He remains an object of adoration, fascination and speculation even after his death in 2009.
Indeed, Jackson surpassed all previous notions of fame to attain a level of iconic attention that was not only awe-inspiring but also daunting and, on some levels, damaging. He has been proclaimed “the biggest-selling artist of all time,” “the single most awarded entertainer the world has ever known,” “the most popular artist in the history of show business,” and “the world’s most famous man.” He was also, by his own reckoning, the “King of Pop.”
Michael Jackson was groomed as a solo star while still a member of the Jackson 5. In October 1971, having barely turned thirteen, Jackson released the first in a successful string of solo singles over the next year that included “Got to Be There,” “Rockin’ Robin” and “Ben.” The last of these was a Number One ballad sung to a rat, hinting at a love of animals that would manifest itself in the menagerie he would accumulate at his Neverland Valley Ranch in ensuring decades.
In 1978, he appeared in the film version of The Wiz, where he met musical director Quincy Jones. The veteran Jones, whose credits in the jazz and pop worlds extended back to the Fifties, would become the producer of Jackson’s best-known albums. The first of these, Off the Wall (1979) introduced Michael Jackson to the world as a vibrant, poised young man bursting with talent and ideas. It was his first solo album in four years, and he turned 21 the month it was released. Off the Wall yielded chart-toppers in “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You.”
However, it was Thriller that broke all records, achieving nothing short of revitalizing and revolutionizing the entire music business. Released in November 1982, Thriller yielded a staggering seven hits: “The Girl Is Mine” (#2) “Billie Jean” (#1), “Beat It” (#1), “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” (#5), “Human Nature” (#7), “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” (#10) and “Thriller” (#4). The album received sales boosts following Jackson’s electrifying performance on the Motown 25th Anniversary Special, aired in May 1983. After a medley of hits from the Jackson 5, Michael sang “Billie Jean” by himself, debuting his gravity-defying “Moonwalk” dance move. By this point, it was clear that he had outgrown the Jackson 5, and only 1984’s Victory album and tour remained as a final collaboration with his brothers.
Jackson shrewdly recognized the convergence of music and video media in the Eighties. His videos became fixtures on MTV, which was only a year old at the time of Thriller’s release. In particular, the popularity of “Beat It,” with its hard-rocking guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen, helped break down what had been perceived as a color line on MTV. The debut of a 14-minute extended clip based on the song “Thriller,” considered the most important video in music history, further heightened Jackson’s celebrity.
“It is impossible to reflect on the music of 1983 without thinking of a Michael Jackson song, his music so dominated the charts that year,” wrote Billboard magazine.
Thriller topped the charts for nine months (37 weeks) and remained in Billboard’s album chart for more than two years (122 weeks). The album won Jackson eight Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards. In 1985, it was proclaimed the Best Selling Album of All Time by the Guinness Book of Records. Thriller has sold more than 29 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it the best-selling album in history. It’s been claimed that Jackson sold more than 110 million records during the Eighties. Beyond the numbers, how important were Jackson’s record-shattering feats?
As producer Quincy Jones told Time magazine, “Black music had to play second fiddle for a long time, but its spirit is the whole motor of pop. Michael has connected with every soul in the world.”
In 1985, Jackson helped topple another sales record. As coauthor of and performer on “We Are the World” - a benefit single for the USA for Africa famine-relief charity, recorded with a cast of music stars - Jackson had a big hand in what became the top-selling single up to that point in history. That same year, he also bought publishing rights to ATV Music – 4,000 songs in all, including about 250 Beatles songs - outbidding his friend and collaborator, Paul McCartney. In 1986, Jackson appeared in Caption Eo, a 15-minute 3D film made for the Disney theme parks by Jackson with renowned producers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.
Surprisingly, Michael Jackson never toured as a solo artist until after the release of Bad, when he undertook a fifteen-nation juggernaut that occupied much of 1988. Bad stayed at Number One for eight weeks and launched seven hits, including five that topped the charts: “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Dirty Diana.” Bad’s canny use of urban beats, smooth jazz-funk and rock guitar in the service of sharp, stylish production reaffirmed Jackson’s genius and star quality. But some of its songs also hinted at the mounting pressures that lay beneath the surface of superstardom.
Jackson continued to make arresting music in the Nineties, working with cutting-edge artist-producers from the hip-hop arena, such as Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Dangerous appeared late in 1991 and was preceded by a controversial extended video for its leadoff single, “Black or White.” Topping the charts for seven weeks, “Black or White” became Jackson’s biggest hit since “Billie Jean.” Dangerous, like Thriller and Bad, was the source of seven more hit singles. In addition to “Black or White,” they included “Remember the Time” (#3), “In the Closet” (#6) and “Will You Be There” (#7).
In 1995, Jackson issued HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Book I, a double-disc set that paired 15 new songs with a greatest-hits set. Its first single, “Scream,” was a duet with sister Janet Jackson set to a high-tech groove. He scored his 13th (and final) Number One single in 1995 with “You Are Not Alone,” written and produced by R&B star R. Kelly. The album debuted at Number One and sold 7 million copies (15 million worldwide), maintaining the multi-platinum standard set by Bad (8 million U.S., 25 million worldwide) and Dangerous (7 million U.S., 27 million worldwide) - awesome numbers all, paling only next to Thriller’s unbeatable record.
From the moment that Thriller made him a phenomenon in 1983, Jackson’s every move was reported and analyzed by the media, and his quirks – including the reported purchase of the Elephant Man’s bones and an infatuation with his animal companion Bubbles, a chimpanzee - made headlines. So did his apparent predilection for plastic surgery. Later in his career, some of his alleged behaviors engendered serious controversy, driving him to exile abroad or behind the walls of the fantasy-filled Los Olivos, California, estate and theme park he called “Neverland.”
In September 1993, lawyers for a 13-year-old boy filed a civil suit against Jackson for seduction and sexual abuse. On December 22, he responded to the allegations via satellite from his Neverland compound: “I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.” On January 25, 1994, he settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, claimed to be as high as $22 million.
In November 2003 Jackson was booked on suspicion of child molestation. Prosecutors filed charges a month later, and in April 2004 a grand jury indicted him on four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14 and other charges. In June 2005 he was found not guilty after a three-and-a-half-month trial.
These controversies took their toll on Jackson’s reputation, health and sales figures. Blood on the Dance Floor, a 1997 set of remixes from HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, plus five new songs, sold barely one million copies – a flop, by Jackson’s standards. Jackson’s first album of the new millennium, Invincible, was released in September 2001. It became his fifth Number One album, selling 2 million copies, yet yielded only two minor singles and fell far short of sales a Michael Jackson album typically generated. Choosing to spend much of his time abroad, where he remained a revered superstar, he toured and attended to his charitable foundation, Heal the World.
In July 2008, after several years living out of the spotlight in the country of Bahrain, Jackson announced a series of concerts at London’s O2 Arena. Seven hundred fifty thousand tickets sold in four hours after going on sale in March 2009. Some of the shows, initially scheduled to begin in July, were postponed until 2010. Ultimately, Jackson’s “This Is It” tour never materialized.
Any
way you look at it the death of Michael Jackson at such an early age is a
tremendous loss to world music, to entertainment, to popular culture,
and to society in general. Obviously the man was a flatout musical
GENIUS (like Stevie, like Marvin, like Jimi, like Sly, like Miles, like
John Coltrane, like Charlie Parker, like Sam Cooke, like James Brown,
like Bob Marley, like Nat King Cole, etc. etc. etc.).On
the other hand what's absolutely NOT surprising, given the truly fucked
up society and world we live in is that Michael suffered such a
tragically early death.
It's clearly no coincidence that
black men like Michael are in many ways doomed by the objective
political, economic, cultural, and spiritual deformities of a rancid,
greedy, and often clueless society and culture that simultaneously
despises and envies us and our talent and reduces ALL to mere commercial
commodities and psychological cannon fodder for its pathetic and
lethally neurotic fears, hatreds, anxieties, and insecurities
masquerading as "superiority", "innocence" and "strength".
All
we can do now for Michael is to fiercely uphold and extend his
tremendously liberating legacy as a great ARTIST (one of the most misunderstood and despised words in the English language)and
continue to spread the profound meaning of the word(s) and music that
our brother fought so hard to enlighten us with in Life. I'm not afraid
to admit that I shed a tear or two for Michael when I heard the news
and sat back to reflect on what he was so generously able and willing to give us
all. We can never repay the debt we owe for the Joy, Insight, Style, Knowledge, Energy,
Understanding, and Light he brought to this world...REST IN PEACE BROTHER. WE LOVE YOU...
By BROOKS BARNES Published: June 25, 2009 New York Times
Michael Jackson performed during the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in 1993 in Pasadena, Calif. Credit
Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press
LOS
ANGELES — For his legions of fans, he was the Peter Pan of pop music:
the little boy who refused to grow up. But on the verge of another
attempted comeback, he is suddenly gone, this time for good.
Michael
Jackson, whose quintessentially American tale of celebrity and excess
took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure
haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and failed plastic surgery, was
pronounced dead on Thursday afternoon at U.C.L.A. Medical Center after
arriving in a coma, a city official said. Mr. Jackson was 50, having
spent 40 of those years in the public eye he loved.
The singer
was rushed to the hospital, a six-minute drive from the rented Holmby
Hills home in which he was living, shortly after noon by paramedics for
the Los Angeles Fire Department. A hospital spokesman would not confirm
reports of cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm.
As
with Elvis Presley or the Beatles, it is impossible to calculate the
full effect Mr. Jackson had on the world of music. At the height of his
career, he was indisputably the biggest star in the world; he has sold
more than 750 million albums. Radio stations across the country reacted
to his death with marathon sessions of his songs. MTV, which grew
successful in part as a result of Mr. Jackson’s groundbreaking videos,
reprised its early days as a music channel by showing his biggest hits.
From
his days as the youngest brother in the Jackson 5 to his solo career in
the 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Jackson was responsible for a string of
hits like “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get
Enough” “Billie Jean” and “Black or White” that exploited his high
voice, infectious energy and ear for irresistible hooks.
As a
solo performer, Mr. Jackson ushered in the age of pop as a global
product — not to mention an age of spectacle and pop culture celebrity.
He became more character than singer: his sequined glove, his whitened
face, his moonwalk dance move became embedded in the cultural firmament.
His
entertainment career hit high-water marks with the release of
“Thriller,” from 1982, which has been certified 28 times platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America, and with the “Victory” world
tour that reunited him with his brothers in 1984.
But soon
afterward, his career started a bizarre disintegration. His darkest
moment undoubtedly came in 2003, when he was indicted on child molesting
charges. A young cancer patient claimed the singer had befriended him
and then groped him at his Neverland estate near Santa Barbara, Calif.,
but Mr. Jackson was acquitted on all charges.
Reaction to his death started trickling in from the entertainment community late Thursday.
“I
am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news,” the music
producer Quincy Jones said in a statement. “I’ve lost my little brother
today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”
Berry Gordy, the
Motown founder who helped develop the Jackson 5, told CNN that Mr.
Jackson, as a boy, “always wanted to be the best, and he was willing to
work as hard as it took to be that. And we could all see that he was a
winner at that age.
Tommy Mottola, a former head of Sony Music, called Mr. Jackson “the cornerstone to the entire music business.”
“He
bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and pop music and made it into
a global culture,” said Mr. Mottola, who worked with Mr. Jackson until
the singer cut his ties with Sony in 2001.
Impromptu vigils broke
out around the world, from Portland, Ore., where fans organized a
one-gloved bike ride (“glittery costumes strongly encouraged”) to Hong
Kong, where fans gathered with candles and sang his songs.
In Los
Angeles, hundreds of fans — some chanting Mr. Jackson’s name, some
doing the “Thriller” dance — descended on the hospital and on the
hillside house where he was staying.
Jeremy Vargas, 38, hoisted
his wife, Erica Renaud, 38, on his shoulders and they danced and bopped
to “Man in the Mirror” playing from an onlooker’s iPod connected to
external speakers — the boom boxes of Mr. Jackson’s heyday long past
their day.
“I am in shock and awe,” said Ms. Renaud, who was
visiting from Red Hook, Brooklyn, with her family. “He was like a family
member to me.”
Dreams of a Comeback
Mr. Jackson was an
object of fascination for the news media since the Jackson 5’s first
hit, “I Want You Back,” in 1969. His public image wavered between that
of the musical naif, who wanted only to recapture his youth by riding on
roller-coasters and having sleepovers with his friends, to the
calculated mogul who carefully constructed his persona around his
often-baffling public behavior.
Mr. Jackson had been scheduled to
perform 50 concerts at the O2 arena in London beginning next month and
continuing into 2010. The shows, which quickly sold out, were positioned
as a comeback, with the potential to earn him up to $50 million,
according to some reports.
But there had also been worry and
speculation that Mr. Jackson was not physically ready for such an
arduous run of concerts, and his postponement of the first of those
shows to July 13 from July 8 fueled new rounds of gossip about his
health. Nevertheless, he was rehearsing Wednesday night at the Staples
Center in downtown Los Angeles. “The primary reason for the concerts
wasn’t so much that he was wanting to generate money as much as it was
that he wanted to perform for his kids,” said J. Randy Taraborrelli,
whose biography, “Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness,” was first
published by Citadel in 1991. “They had never seen him perform before.”
Mr.
Jackson’s brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy, have all
had performing careers, with varying success, since they stopped
performing together. (Randy, the youngest, replaced Jermaine when the
Jackson 5 left Motown.) His sisters, Rebbie, La Toya and Janet, are also
singers, and Janet Jackson has been a major star in her own right for
two decades. They all survive him, as do his parents, Joseph and
Katherine Jackson, of Las Vegas, and three children: Michael Joseph
Jackson Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, born to Mr. Jackson’s
second wife, Deborah Jeanne Rowe, and Prince Michael Jackson II, the son
of a surrogate mother. Mr. Jackson was also briefly married to Lisa
Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley.
A spokesman for the
Los Angeles Police Department said the department assigned its robbery
and homicide division to investigate the death, but the spokesman said
that was because of Mr. Jackson’s celebrity.
“Don’t read into
anything,” the spokesman told reporters gathered outside the Bel-Air
house. He said the coroner had taken possession of the body and would
conduct an investigation.
At a news conference at the hospital,
Jermaine Jackson spoke to reporters about his brother. “It is believed
he suffered cardiac arrest at his home,” he said softly. A personal
physician first tried to resuscitate Michael Jackson at his home before
paramedics arrived. A team of doctors then tried to resuscitate him for
more than an hour, his brother said.
“May Allah be with you always,” Jermaine Jackson concluded, his gaze aloft.
In
Gary, Ind., hundreds of people descended upon the squat clapboard house
were Mr. Jackson spent his earliest years. There were tears, loud
wails, and quiet prayers as old neighbors joined hands with people who
had driven in from Chicago and other nearby towns to pay their respects.
“Just
continue to glorify the man, Lord,” said Ida Boyd-King, a local pastor
who led the crowd in prayer. “Let’s give God praise for Michael.”
Shelletta
Hinton, 40, drove to Gary from Chicago with her two young children. She
said they had met Mr. Jackson in Gary a couple of years ago when he
received a key to the city. “We felt like we were close to Michael,” she
said. “This is a sad day.”
As dusk set in, mourners lighted
candles and placed them on the concrete doorstep. Some left teddy bears
and personal notes. Doris Darrington, 77, said she remembered seeing the
Jackson 5 so many times around Gary that she got sick of them. But she,
too, was feeling hurt by the sudden news of Mr. Jackson’s death.
“He
has always been a source of pride for Gary, even though he wasn’t
around much,” she said. “The older person, that’s not the Michael we
knew. We knew the little bitty boy with the big Afro and the brown skin.
That’s how I’ll always remember Michael.”
Michael Joseph Jackson
was born in Gary on Aug. 29, 1958. The second youngest of six brothers,
he began performing professionally with four of them at the age of 5 in
a group that their father, Joe, a steelworker, had organized the
previous year. In 1968, the group, originally called the Jackson
Brothers, was signed by Motown Records. The Jackson 5 was an instant
phenomenon. The group’s first four singles — “I Want You Back,” “ABC,”
“The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” — all reached No. 1 on the pop
charts in 1970, a feat no group had accomplished before. And young
Michael was the center of attention: he handled virtually all the lead
vocals, danced with energy and finesse, and displayed a degree of
showmanship rare in a performer of any age.
In 1971, Mr. Jackson
began recording under his own name, while continuing to perform with his
brothers. His recording of “Ben,” the title song from a movie about a
boy and his homicidal pet rat, was a No. 1 hit in 1972.
The
brothers (minus Michael’s older brother Jermaine, who was married to the
daughter of Berry Gordy, Motown’s founder and chief executive) left
Motown in 1975 and, rechristened the Jacksons, signed to Epic, a unit of
CBS Records. Three years later, Michael made his movie debut as the
Scarecrow in the screen version of the hit Broadway musical “The Wiz.”
But movie stardom proved not to be his destiny.
A Solo Sensation Music
stardom on an unprecedented level, however, was. Mr. Jackson’s first
solo album for Epic, “Off the Wall,” released in 1979, yielded two No. 1
singles and sold seven million copies, but it was a mere prologue to
what came next. His follow-up, “Thriller,” released in 1982, became the
best-selling album of all time and helped usher in the music video age.
The video for title track, directed by John Landis, was an elaborate
horror-movie pastiche that was more of a mini-movie than a promotional
clip.
Seven of the nine tracks on “Thriller” were released as
singles and reached the Top 10. The album spent two years on the
Billboard album chart and sold an estimated 100 million copies
worldwide. It also won eight Grammy Awards.
The choreographer and
director Vincent Paterson, who directed Mr. Jackson in several videos,
recalled watching him rehearse a dance sequence for four hours in front
of a mirror until it felt like second nature.
“That’s how he
developed the moonwalk, working on it for days if not weeks until it was
organic,” he said. “He took an idea that he had seen some street kids
doing and perfected it.”
Mr. Jackson’s next album, “Bad,”
released in 1987, sold eight million copies and produced five No. 1
singles and another state-of-the-art video, this one directed by Martin
Scorsese. It was a huge hit by almost anyone else’s standards, but an
inevitable letdown after “Thriller.”
It was at this point that
Mr. Jackson’s bizarre private life began to overshadow his music. He
would go on to release several more albums and, from time to time, to
stage elaborate concert tours. And he would never be too far from the
public eye. But it would never again be his music that kept him there.
Even
with the millions Mr. Jackson earned, his eccentric lifestyle took a
severe financial toll. In 1988 Mr. Jackson paid about $17 million for a
2,600-acre ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., 125 miles northwest of Los
Angeles. Calling it Neverland after the mythical island of Peter Pan, he
outfitted the property with amusement-park rides, a zoo and a 50-seat
theater, at a cost of $35 million, according to reports, and the ranch
became his sanctum.
But Neverland, and Mr. Jackson’s lifestyle,
were expensive to maintain. A forensic accountant who testified at Mr.
Jackson’s molesting trial in 2005 said Mr. Jackson’s annual budget in
1999 included $7.5 million for personal expenses and $5 million to
maintain Neverland. By at least the late 1990s, he began to take out
huge loans to support himself and pay debts. In 1998, he took out a loan
for $140 million from Bank of America, which two years later was
increased to $200 million. Further loans of hundreds of millions
followed.
The collateral for the loans was Mr. Jackson’s 50
percent share in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a portfolio of thousands of
songs, including rights to 259 songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
considered some of the most valuable properties in music.
In
1985, Mr. Jackson paid $47.5 million for ATV, which included the Beatles
songs — a move that estranged him from Mr. McCartney, who had advised
him to invest in music rights — and 10 years later, Mr. Jackson sold 50
percent of his interest to Sony for $90 million, creating a joint
venture, Sony/ATV. Estimates of the catalog’s value exceed $1 billion.
Last
year, Neverland narrowly escaped foreclosure after Mr. Jackson
defaulted on $24.5 million he owed on the property. A Los Angeles real
estate investment company, Colony Capital L.L.C., bought the note, and
put the title for the property into a joint venture with Mr. Jackson.
A Scandal’s Heavy Toll In
many ways, Mr. Jackson never recovered from the child molesting trial, a
lurid affair that attracted media from around the world to watch as Mr.
Jackson, wearing a different costume each day, appeared in a small
courtroom in Santa Maria, Calif., to listen as a parade of witnesses
spun a sometimes-incredible tale.
The case ultimately turned on
the credibility of Mr. Jackson’s accuser, a 15-year-old cancer survivor
who said the defendant had gotten him drunk and molested him several
times. The boy’s younger brother testified that he had seen Mr. Jackson
groping his brother on two other occasions.
After 14 weeks of
such testimony and seven days of deliberations, the jury returned
not-guilty verdicts on all 14 counts against Mr. Jackson: four charges
of child molesting, one charge of attempted child molesting, one
conspiracy charge and eight possible counts of providing alcohol to
minors. Conviction could have brought Mr. Jackson 20 years in prison.
Instead, he walked away a free man to try to reclaim a career that at
the time had already been in decline for years.
After his trial,
Mr. Jackson largely left the United States for Bahrain, the island
nation in the Persian Gulf, where he was the guest of Sheik Abdullah, a
son of the ruler of the country, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. Mr.
Jackson would never return to live at his ranch. Instead he remained in
Bahrain, Dubai and Ireland for the next several years, managing his
increasingly unstable finances. He remained an avid shopper, however,
and was spotted at shopping malls in the black robes and veils
traditionally worn by Bahraini women.
Despite the public
relations blow of his trial, Mr. Jackson and his ever-changing retinue
of managers, lawyers and advisers never stopped plotting his return.
By
early this year, Mr. Jackson was living in a $100,000-a-month mansion
in Bel-Air, to be closer to “where all the action is” in the
entertainment business, his manager at the time, Tohme Tohme, told The
Los Angeles Times. He was also preparing for his upcoming London shows.
”He was just so excited about having an opportunity to come back,” said Mr. Paterson, the director and choreographer.
Despite
his troubles, the press and the public never abandoned the star. A
crowd of paparazzi and onlookers lined the street outside Mr. Jackson’s
home as the ambulance took him to the hospital.
Reporting was
contributed by John M. Broder from Washington; Randal C. Archibold from
Los Angeles; Susan Saulny from Gary, Ind.; and Melena Ryzik, Ben
Sisario, Brian Stelter and Peter Keepnews from New York.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 27, 2009 An
article on Friday about the death of Michael Jackson misstated the
number of songs from his album “Off the Wall” that became No. 1 singles.
There were two, not four. The article also misstated part of a comment
that Mr. Jackson’s brother Jermaine offered for Mr. Jackson after
speaking with reporters. He said, “May Allah be with you always,” not
“May our love be with you always.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 30, 2009 An
obituary on Friday about Michael Jackson misidentified the area of Los
Angeles where he was renting a home. It is Holmby Hills, not the
adjacent Bel Air.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 3, 2009 Because
of an editing error, an obituary last Friday about Michael Jackson
misstated the title of one of his hit songs. It is “Black or White,” not
“Black and White.”
One
of my favorite MJ lyrics alltime (and I personally have many favorites
because the man was also an absolutely brilliant lyricist in addition to
his many other talents.) are the words of the stunning song "They Don't Care About Us" from his extraordinary 2 CD collection entitled HIStory: Past, Present, & Future, Book One recorded in 1995. Listen and Learn...RIP Michael...
Kofi "They Don't Care About Us"
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, aggravation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food Bang bang, shot dead Everybody's gone mad
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Beat me, hate me You can never break me Will me, thrill me You can never kill me Jew me, sue me Everybody do me Kick me, kike me Don't you black or white me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my life I have a wife and two children who love me I am the victim of police brutality, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate You're rapin' me of my pride Oh, for God's sake I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy... Set me free
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad trepidation, speculation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food black man, black mail Throw your brother in jail
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my rights Am I invisible because you ignore me? Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame They're throwing me in a class with a bad name I can't believe this is the land from which I came You know I do really hate to say it The government don't wanna see But if Roosevelt was livin' He wouldn't let this be, no, no
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, speculation Everybody litigation Beat me, bash me You can never trash me Hit me, kick me You can never get me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
Some things in life they just don't wanna see But if Martin Luther was livin' He wouldn't let this be
Skin head, dead head Everybody gone bad Situation, segregation Everybody allegation In the suite, on the news Everybody dog food Kick me, strike me Don't you wrong or right me
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us
The King of Pop, a genius, a phenomenon, a legend, an icon of his time…these are just some of the countless names that adorn the unsurpassed Michael Jackson. The value of his legacy in music and popular culture is priceless. There are few musicians who have created so many big hits that are constantly listened to in all parts of the world. He has set new standards and permanently enriched popular music and culture. According to many, Jackson is the greatest musician of all time and certainly one of the world’s most famous personalities.
He started working with music at an early age, under the watchful supervision of his father Joseph, who often abused him under the guise of the fact that he was always seeking more and better. He was only 5 years old when he joined the family group “The Jackson Brothers,” which later changed its name to “The Jackson 5.” Jackson was only 8 when he became one of the two leading singers. The band was extremely popular, but Michael attracted the most attention with his singing and dancing, and was becoming a real superstar.
When he was 14 he began to perform independently and released his first albums: “Got To Be There” and “Ben.” In the next three years, he released another two new albums. He was still a member of the band, but it was already clear that his future lay in his solo career. “Off the Wall” from 1979 is his fifth album and the first one on which he worked with Quincy Jones. The album sold 20 million copies, which placed it among the best-selling of all time. For the first single, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” he was awarded with a Grammy, as well as with numerous other music awards.
He was extremely ambitious in creating music. His ambition was most evident during the work on the album of all albums, and this is of course, “Thriller” from 1982. His coworkers did not expect to repeat the success of the previous album, but Michael was convinced that success would be even greater. It soon turned out that he was right. The album broke all records and became more than just an album, as it is still known as the best selling album of all time. It is believed it sold over 65 million copies, although some estimates speak of more than 100 million. The album has won eight Grammy Awards and hundreds of others throughout the world, as well as staying on top of the charts. The songs “Billie Jean,” “Thriller,” “Wanna Be Startin ‘Somethin” and “Beat It” became a part of the general popular culture.
After enjoying huge glory, Jackson released the album “Bad” in 1987. Five singles from the album became number one on Billboard, which was a record. “Bad” old over 30 million copies. That same year, Jackson started the “Bad World Tour,” the first of his three major tours. As expected, the tour also set records, especially in attendance and earnings. The successes of the famous singer continued with the albums “Dangerous” from 1991 and “History” from 1995, with which he also broke various records. These albums were accompanied by big tours with huge production, great opening bands and never before seen performances.
His tenth, and as it turned out, last album, was released in 2001. After criticism and poor reception by audiences he withdrew for a long time. He did not reappear until 2009, when he announced a series of comeback concerts, called “This Is It.” Unfortunately, there were no concerts, because he died on June 25, 2009.
Michael Jackson is not only an icon in music. He also left his mark in fashion. The clothing the King of Pop wore during his tours and appearances remain marked by honor and pride. Among the countless possible combinations, the most famous pieces are: the hat, gloves and a red and black jacket Jackson wore in the music video for “Thriller.”
Michael Jackson has sold almost 1 billion records worldwide and released 13 No.1 songs. He became one of the few artist to be twice introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His album “Thriller” is the biggest selling album of all time and Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time. He received 17 Grammy Awards, including the “Grammy Legend Award” and the “Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award” and 26 American Awards, including the “Artist of the Century Award.”
Although the singer has been dead for almost five years, his legacy lives on. To the great joy of his fans, he has left behind enough unfinished material and very soon there will be a fresh album. The upcoming release of Michael Jackson’s posthumous album Xscape in May has only confirmed that he is truly an icon of his time. He may be dead, but his songs will continue to bring joy to many fans around the world.
“We all live, dance and cry in Michael Jackson’s shadow.”
ARMOND WHITE
(b. 1953)
About a year ago, I happened to find a
small, soft-cover, self-published book, by New York music and film
critic, Armond White, Moving On: The Chronicles of Michael Jackson.
Then, as now, it was virtually impossible to find literary material
that examined Michael’s life-work, or the person he was in a fair and
non-sensationalistic manner. After researching who Mr. White was, and
what his book addressed, I decided this release may be something
special. Mr. White began critiquing Michael’s music and short films in
the mid-eighties and continued to do so through the late nineties. I
find his insight and analysis of Michael’s artistry to be compelling and
rich in understanding, as he delves deep into the thought processes and
powerful messages that Michael incorporated in his work. Mr. White
examines Black or White in depth and relays stunning interpretations of the" Panther Dance", or coda that closes the short film. He also discusses Scream, Jam,
and many other important releases with regard to the music, lyrics, and
visual representation. I enjoyed following Mr. White’s increasing
appreciation for Michael’s courage and determination to express his
creativity in the face of powerful and fierce opposition.
Armond White has graciously agreed to
this interview, and I want to personally thank him for his time and
expertise, as we all strive to understand the profound influence that
Michael’s artistic genius has and will continue to have on future
generations. As he so eloquently states, “We all live, dance, and cry in
Michael Jackson’s shadow".
Lauren: Mr. White, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Could you tell us about your background?
Armond:
I was born and raised in Motown (Detroit, Michigan); received my
Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and a Masters in Film History, Theory
and Criticism from Columbia University; was Critic and Arts Editor at
New York’s The City Sun (1984-1996); won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award
for Music Criticism; Chief Film Critic at New York Press (1997 to
present); three times Chairman of New York Film Critics Circle. Books: The
Resistance: Ten Years of Pop Culture That Shook the World, Rebel for
the Hell of It: The Art Life of Tupac Shakur, and Keep Moving: The
Michael Jackson Chronicles.
Lauren: What attracted you to writing as a career, and how did you come to be a film critic?
Armond: Reading Pauline Kael’s review collection, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
showed me that criticism could be a literary form, and a way of
understanding ones response to popular culture and what it means to
society.
Lauren: Did you have particular mentors, or those you admired who prompted you to pursue your own work? Armond: My family has always been my primary mentors, and various examples of good thinking and writing.
Lauren: What outlets do you work with for now? Do you find it enjoyable?
Armond:
Working for the politically-conscious, black-owned The City Sun was an
inspiration, as its motto, "Speaking Truth to Power", suggests. Writing
now for New York Press is a great opportunity to speak Truth to Power. I
feel fortunate to be there.
Lauren: I imagine you spend a lot of time viewing film, and doing research. Can you speak to that a little?
Armond: Everything
in life contributes to how you respond to art. I see, read, and listen
to a lot of movies, books, and music; one form influences another, it
all helps.
Lauren: What do you find most challenging about your work?
Armond: Trying
to keep up with what’s new, and discovering new and old artists. Also,
bringing honesty to a culture corrupted by greed and dishonesty, and
racism.
Lauren: Could you tell us a little about the two books you published before Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles?
Armond: The Resistance
collects writing from 1984 to 1994 when pop culture underwent major
changes, due to the advent of Hip-Hop and the impact of artists like MJ,
Public Enemy, Morrissey, Steven Spielberg, Pedro Almodovar, and August
Wilson. Rebel for the Hell of It was a chance to assess Tupac’s cultural significance -- a theme I will also pursue in an upcoming monograph on MJ titled, Souvenirs. Look for it soon.
Lauren: What
prompted you to write about Michael Jackson's art? Did you listen,
and appreciate it as a young person, like so many people did?
Armond: MJ
was a phenomenal artist. I knew it from the moment the Jackson 5
appeared on the Hollywood Palace in 1969. Since then, his career has
been one astonishment after another. He has been the foremost challenge
to art and politics for more than the past quarter century. Since Thriller, he’s also been the greatest musical and music video inspiration.
Lauren: Your review of Michael's short film, Black or White, written in 1991, The Gloved One is Not aChump,
won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for Movie Criticism in 1992. Your
discussion, particularly regarding the final coda dance, is very
educational, thought-provoking, and revealing. Would you speak about how
important this film was, and continues to be?
Armond: I hope the essay itself does justice to Black or White,
and lays out its importance as an artistic watershed and a great
political proposition. It’s full of history, anger, beauty, and faith in
humanity’s potential.
Lauren: Would
you comment on the courage it took for Michael to express himself in
the way he did, and how he managed to have the world watching and
experience it collectively?
Armond: Black or White
is a great example of what a principled artist can accomplish. MJ had
the world’s attention, and used the moment to its fullest. But then, he
did that again and again -- with "Bad", "Scream", and This Is It.
Lauren: Do
you think he was aware of the potential backlash, especially to the
coda, but did it anyway to get his message to as great an audience as
possible?
Armond: An artist is moved to express himself, and can’t be concerned about backlash. Black or White
was MJ’s brilliant and fearless message to the world. He always
recoiled from backlash, but then would comeback stronger every time.
"Scream" carries forward the courage and anger and vision of Black or White’s coda.
Lauren: You
write in depth about “Jam,” and “They Don't Really Care About Us.” The
firestorm started by certain writers after TDRCAU was released, was
profound. As time passes, and fair, non-skewed studies are published and
released on this work, do you think more people will understand the
genius and powerful social statements involved?
Armond: Of
course! But, since MJ was also concerned to speak Truth to Power, his
vision will always need to be protected by his admirers, from the
assault and denial perpetrated by powerful media folk who want to
maintain the status quo.
Lauren: You
write about the media's superficial reviews of Michael's work, seen
through the prism of racism, judgment of his person, lifestyle, personal
choices, etc..Why do you think Michael was singled out for the
treatment he received?
Armond: Again, MJ spoke Truth to Power in a voice that could not, would not be ignored, and the media fought back -- viciously.
Lauren: Do
you have an opinion on why the media continues to marginalize Michael's
work, even after death? Why the efforts to "...stop the beat, as well
as celebrations of Jackson"?
Armond:
The simple and profound answer is racism. There are few folks in the
mainstream today who will admit it, but James Brown, James Baldwin, Dr.
King, Malcolm X, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Marlon Brando, Elizabeth
Taylor, and Ralph Ellison knew it. MJ is in that lineage. We’re dealing
with an artist, but we’re also talking about politics. A black artist
in America always faces an uphill battle from a still-prejudiced power
structure that operates from deeply instilled biases. This goes
unspoken, and is often disguised as “morality” and “taste”, but in the
end it’s simply white supremacy.
Lauren: In the history of modern music and film, where would you place Michael Jackson in importance and cultural influence?
Armond: MJ’s
musical and cinematic (music video) achievements place him in the rare
company of artists who have mastered various media. He should be ranked
with the greatest multi-taskers: Charles Chaplin, Jean Cocteau, Laurence
Olivier, Orson Welles, and Marlon Brando.
Lauren: What are your thoughts about Michael as social activist?
Armond:
The political content -- the messages -- of MJ’s work remain to be
discovered and appreciated, but it’s a crucial aspect of his artistic
project. I hope Keep Moving will help to illustrate the development of his political voice and vision.
Lauren: What do you think will be his lasting impact, his legacy?
Armond:
MJ created music that many, many people lived their lives to. He made
some of the most unifying songs ever. That impact can’t be stopped, no
matter how many so-called experts wish to deny it.
Lauren: Do you personally have a particular favorite song or short film and why?
Armond: No
single personal favorite. MJ’s music and videos enrich so many
different moods. “The Love You Save”, “Ben”, “Billie Jean”, “Bad”,
“Jam”, “You Are Not Alone”, the Tony Moran mix of History.” It depends
on what you feel at any moment -- although I feel that the Black or White film is a towering achievement.
Lauren: How have your many years of reviewing Michael's work affected you personally?
Armond: It’s been inspiring to go back over those songs and videos I had at first taken for granted; to feel revived by them.
Lauren: And lastly, what do you see as the primary messages that ordinary people can learn and take away from his body of work?
Armond: What Jesus Christ commanded, “Love One Another'. Plus, “You Are Not Alone'.
Lauren is a native New Yorker who has
lived in California for 30 years, where she has practiced medicine for
several years. Lauren loves a good book, horses, her two special boys
and three beautiful daughters. Lauren is a fierce advocate for Michael
and is committed to healing his legacy through the love he always
modeled for us.
Armond White on Michael Jackson's Legacy (Part 1):
Armond White on Michael Jackson's Legacy (Part 1)
www.self-stardomblueprint.com PRESENTS
Dance On Camera Program
"Pop Video Artists and Hollywood Influence" Presentation
JANUARY 18, 2008
Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
Music
"Jam" by Michael Jackson In
this presentation, critic Armond White dedicated an entire evening to
the work of Michael Jackson in the music video genre. Armond White
takes an in-depth look at some of Michael Jackson's early music videos
and examined the influence of Hollywood Choreographers and Hollywood
Dance Icons. Many classic scenes from Hollywood musicals were shown.
In this excerpt, Critic Armond White talks about Michael Jackson's artistry.
After
introductory remarks by Dance on Camera Program at Lincoln Center
president, Joanna Ney, Armond White explains what he hopes to accomplish
with this program/presentation. After his opening remarks, a popular
Michael Jackson music video is played.
Michael
Jackson’s 1983 “Thriller” remains the most popular music video of all
time: a 14-minute horror spoof that changed the business. Behind the
scenes it gave its star a temporary home with director John Landis,
sparked a near romance with actress Ola Ray, and revealed how damaged
the young pop idol already was. Plus: Read more about the King of Pop in our Michael Jackson archive, and see more music coverage.
On a chilly autumn night, gaffers rig motion-picture lights around the entrance to the Palace Theatre, which bears the title “Thriller” on its marquee. A cascade of shrieks—“Michael! Michael!”—drifts on the breeze from a few blocks away, where hundreds of fans strain against police barricades for a glimpse of their idol. Although everyone involved in the production has been sworn to secrecy, word of tonight’s shoot has leaked and been broadcast on local radio. Security guards patrol the set.
Michael Jackson, a shy pixie in a red leather jacket and jeans, stands in shadow in the theater’s entryway, talking with actress Ola Ray and director John Landis. The camera crew is making final preparations for a crane shot that will pan down from the marquee as Jackson and Ray, playing a couple on a date, emerge from the theater. Judging from the saucy looks she is sending his way, Ray is clearly besotted by her leading man, who responds by casually throwing an arm around her shoulders.
I am on set covering the shoot for Life magazine. Landis says that he needs a “ticket girl” in the background and orders me to sit in the booth—a prime spot from which to watch the performances.
Just before calling “Action,” Landis fortifies his actors with boisterous encouragement.
“How are you going to be in this shot?” he shouts.
“Wonderful,” Jackson chirps, barely audibly.
Seconds later Jackson steps into his nimbus of light, and it is as if he flips on an internal switch: he smiles, he glows, he mesmerizes. Landis executes the long crane shot, then moves in for close-ups and dialogue. “It’s only a movie,” Jackson reassures his date. “You were scared, weren’t you?”
Landis calls for another take and coaxes: “Make it sexy this time.”
“How?” asks Jackson.
“You know, as if you want to fuck her.”
The star flinches and licks his lips uncomfortably, then gazes earnestly into Ray’s eyes. Landis gets the shot he wants and calls for the next setup, satisfied. He whispers to me, “I bet it will be sexy.”
The world certainly thought so, and apparently still does. The campy horror-fest with dancing zombies that is “Michael Jackson’s Thriller,” originally conceived as a 14-minute short film, is the most popular and influential music video of all time. In January of this year it was designated a national treasure by the Library of Congress, the first music video to be inducted into the National Film Registry.
Slide show: Michael Jackson in his own words.
Unlike forgotten favorites from MTV’s heyday (Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf,” anyone?), “Thriller” is thriving on YouTube, where one can view, along with the original, scores of “Thriller” dance tutorials and re-enactments by Bollywood actors and Bar Mitzvah celebrants. The dance has become an annual tribal ritual in major cities around the world, with initiates in ghoul makeup aping Michael’s moves en masse; the current record for largest dance of the undead is 12,937, held by Mexico City. A YouTube 41-million-hit sensation features more than 1,500 inmates in a Philippines prison yard executing the funky footwork as part of a rehab program designed to “turn dregs into human beings”; the prison, in the city of Cebu, has become a T-shirt-selling tourist attraction.
None of this was imaginable back at the Palace Theatre 27 years ago. Jackson then was a naïve, preternaturally gifted 25-year-old “who wanted to be turned into a monster, just for fun,” as Landis recently told me—and had the money to make it happen. “Thriller” marked the most incandescent moment in Jackson’s life, his apex creatively as well as commercially. He would spend the rest of his career trying to surpass it. “In the Off the Wall/Thriller era, Michael was in a constant state of becoming,” says Glen Brunman, then Jackson’s publicist at his record company Epic. “It was all about the music, until it also became about the sales and the awards, and something changed forever.”
It was the “Thriller” video that pushed Jackson over the top, consolidating his position as the King of Pop, a royal title he encouraged and Elizabeth Taylor helped popularize. “Thriller” was the seventh and last single and third video (after “Billie Jean” and “Beat It”) to be released from the album of the same name, which had already been on the charts for almost a year since its release, in November 1982. The video’s frenzied reception, whipped up by round-the-clock showings on MTV, would more than double album sales, driving Thriller into the record books as the No. 1 LP of all time, a distinction it maintains today. But, for anyone paying close attention during the making of the “Thriller” video—and Jackson’s collaborators were—the outlines of subsequent tragedies were already painfully visible. Read more about the King of Pop in VF.com’s Michael Jackson archive.
Jackson would dominate pop culture for the remainder of the decade, owning the 80s as Elvis had owned the 50s and the Beatles the 60s. To rule the entertainment universe had been his dream since he belted out “I Want You Back” on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 as the precocious lead singer of the Jackson 5. Under the strict, physically and psychologically abusive tutelage of his father, Joseph, he had sacrificed his childhood to make money for the family and Motown Records. He would later describe his boyhood as a blur of tour buses and tutors, and rehearsals that his father supervised with a belt in his hand, ready to whip any son who stepped out of line. Joe reserved especially harsh treatment for his most gifted and defiant son; although extremely sensitive by nature, Michael was also quietly stubborn and frequently clashed with his father. The brief moments Michael spent onstage were when he felt happiest. “I remember singing at the top of my voice and dancing with real joy and working too hard for a child,” he recalled in his autobiography, Moonwalk.
His mother, Katherine, whom he adored, called him “the special one.” A musical savant, young Michael hungrily devoured show-business knowledge and studied favorite entertainers from Fred Astaire to James Brown to the Beatles. Ron Weisner, hired by Joe Jackson in ’76 to co-manage the Jacksons, recalls that on tour Michael—exhibiting the insomnia that plagued him throughout his life (and would be a factor in the drug overdose that killed him)—stayed up late after each show. “We’d be on the bus and we had a little TV and VHS player. He would watch tapes of James Brown and Jackie Wilson over and over until his brothers were screaming and cursing him and throwing things at the TV. The next day they would hide the tape, and Michael would be crying. He would never, never, never stop.”
Obsessive about tracking his sales figures, Jackson compared them constantly with those of Prince and Madonna.
As he grew older he pulled away from his family to venture into solo projects, notably the 1979 funk-disco smash Off the Wall, which he layered with lush grooves and falsetto vocals with the help of producing partner Quincy Jones. The pair teamed up again three years later for Thriller. This time Jackson’s aim was nothing less than a Beatles-like domination of the charts that would lay waste to the divisions between rock, soul, and pop. The strategy was to compile a succession of hit singles that would offer something for everyone: the first release was the ballad “The Girl Is Mine,” a duet with Paul McCartney. Second up was the funky anthem “Billie Jean.” Third was the rocker “Beat It,” which featured a blistering Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. Executives at Epic pushed the LP tirelessly, pressuring a range of radio formats to play it and marketing it as a mainstream disc.
Most serendipitously, Jackson was the ideal video star. Not only did he radiate an epicene glamour that was at once innocent and intensely erotic, but he was also conceptually inventive, a great dancer, and a sartorial trendsetter. He judged the quality of what the fledgling rock network MTV was airing to be poor, and felt he could do better. He hired the best directors and choreographers and applied everything he had soaked up from watching Gene Kelly and Astaire movies. In a black jacket and pink shirt he slid and spun his way down a surreal city street in the “Billie Jean” video—an electrifying, transformative performance. Although the song’s thumping bass line and synthesizers excluded it from MTV’s definition of a rock song, the network knew a hit when it saw one and put the clip into heavy rotation. The “Beat It” video was grittier, an homage to West Side Story, with Jackson strutting and spinning in a red-orange leather jacket in the midst of 20 dancers and genuine recruited gang members.
More than any other artist, Jackson ushered in the heyday of the music video, demonstrating its promotional power, raising the bar creatively, and paving the way for greater acceptance of black musicians on MTV. But the Thriller campaign, concocted by the album’s brain trust—Jackson; his lawyer and closest adviser, John Branca; CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff; and Epic head of promotion Frank DiLeo—did not include plans for a third video, and certainly not a video of the title track, which wasn’t even going to be released as a single. “Who wants a single about monsters?” says Yetnikoff, summing up how the group felt at the time about the song’s potential.
But in June of 1983 the album, after four months as No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, was bumped from the top slot by the Flashdance soundtrack. It briefly regained the top position in July, then was toppled again, this time by Synchronicity, by the Police. The three remaining planned singles—“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” just released in May, “Human Nature,” scheduled for July, and “P.Y.T.” for September—were not expected to drive album sales as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” had, nor were they suitable for videos.
Jackson was upset. Obsessive about tracking his sales figures, he compared them constantly with those of his competitors in the top echelon, including Prince and Madonna. “He enjoyed being on top,” says Larry Stessel, Epic’s West Coast marketing executive, who worked closely with the star. “He reveled in it. He didn’t like it when it ended.” With his own album making history, Jackson yearned to shatter records held by the Fab Four. “It was all about the Beatles,” says Stessel. “He knew in his heart of hearts that he would never be bigger than the Beatles, but he had such tremendous respect for them, and he certainly wanted to come as close as he could.”
In the summer of ’83, Yetnikoff and Stessel answered calls at all hours of the night from Jackson. “Walter, the record isn’t No. 1 anymore,” Yetnikoff remembers Jackson saying. “What are we going to do about it?” “We’re going to go to sleep and deal with it tomorrow,” Yetnikoff told him. It was DiLeo who first mentioned the idea of making a third video, and pressed Jackson to consider the album’s title track. “It’s simple—all you’ve got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary,” DiLeo recalls telling Jackson.
Jackson had known episodes of real-life terror. His father once put on a fright mask and crawled into Michael’s bedroom, screaming.
In some ways “Thriller,” written by Rod Temperton, is the album’s sore thumb, a semi-novelty song with sound effects of creaking doors and eerie footsteps and bwah-ha-ha narration by Vincent Price. Horror was a genre with which Jackson had an ambivalent relationship. As a child, he had known episodes of real-life terror. Michael’s biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli recounted that Joe Jackson had once put on a fright mask and crawled into Michael’s bedroom through a window at night, screaming; Joe Jackson said his purpose was to teach his son to keep the window closed when he slept. For years afterward Michael suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his room, and said that whenever he saw his father he felt nauseated.
Jackson had reason to be fascinated by scary disguises and things that go bump in the night, but he didn’t want them to seem too real. His tastes generally ran to benign Disney-esque fantasies where people were nice and children were safe. “I never was a horror fan,” he said. “I was too scared.” He would make sure that the tone of his “Thriller” film was creepy-comical, not genuinely terrifying.
In early August, John Landis, whose most successful films had been National Lampoon’s Animal House and Trading Places, picked up the phone and heard Jackson’s wee voice on the line. The star told Landis how much he had enjoyed the director’s horror spoof An American Werewolf in London. Would he be willing to direct Jackson in a music video with a spooky story line that had him transform into a werewolf? At the time, making music videos was not something feature directors did. But Landis was intrigued enough by Jackson’s entreaty to take a meeting.
On the afternoon of August 20, Landis and his producing partner, George Folsey Jr., drove through the gates of Hayvenhurst, the high-walled mock-Tudor estate in Encino where the family had moved when Jackson was 13, and where he still lived with his parents and sisters LaToya and Janet. In 1981, Jackson had purchased the house from his parents and rebuilt it, installing such diversions as an exotic-animal farm stocked with llamas, a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs diorama, and a 32-seat screening room with a popcorn machine. In the corner of his second-story bedroom suite stood his “friends,” five life-size, fully dressed female mannequins.
At the time, Jackson was a practicing Jehovah’s Witness who obeyed his religion’s mandate to spread the faith by knocking on doors in his neighborhood, wearing a crude disguise of mustache and glasses. He attended services at the local Kingdom Hall and abstained from drinking, swearing, sex before marriage, and, supposedly, R-rated movies. The gregarious Landis teased Jackson about having watched the R-rated An American Werewolf in London. “I said, ‘Michael, what about the sex?’ He said, ‘I closed my eyes.’”
Landis told Jackson that he would not direct “Thriller” as a music video, proposing instead that they collaborate on a short narrative film that could be released in theaters—reviving that endangered species, the short subject—before it went to video. Landis would write a story line, inspired by the song, about a cute young guy on a date who turns into a monster. The short would be shot on 35-mm. film with feature-film production values, including great locations and an impressive dance number. Landis would call in a favor from Rick Baker, the Oscar-winning makeup wizard who had created the title creature for An American Werewolf in London, and get him to design Jackson’s transformation makeup. Jackson was enthusiastic about Landis’s vision and immediately said, “Let’s do it.”
Although CBS/Epic had ponied up $250,000 for the “Billie Jean” video, Yetnikoff had refused to underwrite “Beat It,” so Jackson had paid $150,000 out of his own pocket. When Folsey and Landis worked up the budget for “Thriller,” they put it at an estimated $900,000. Landis and Jackson placed a call to “Uncle Walter,” as Jackson referred to him, to explain the “Thriller” concept and what it would cost. Landis says that Yetnikoff screamed so loudly that the director had to hold the phone away from his ear. “I’ve only heard three or four people swear like that in my life,” he says. When Landis hung up the phone, Jackson said calmly, “It’s O.K. I’ll pay for it.” Eventually Yetnikoff agreed that the record company would contribute $100,000 to pay for the video, but that left a long way to go and Jackson’s collaborators didn’t want the star to be on the hook.
It was Folsey and John Branca, Jackson’s lawyer, who put their heads together to solve the budget shortfall. Although cable TV was a new phenomenon and the home-video market had yet to explode, they decided to film behind the scenes on 16-mm. for a nearly 45-minute documentary, Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which, bundled with the “Thriller” video, could be sold to cable. MTV agreed to pay $250,000 and Showtime $300,000 for the one-hour package; Jackson would cover some up-front production costs and be reimbursed. Then Vestron came in and offered to distribute Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller as a $29.95 “sell-through” video on VHS and Betamax, a pioneering deal of its kind. (Most videos were then sold for far higher prices to rental stores, rather than directly to consumers.) “You have to remember, back in those days none of us realized quite what home video was going to become,” says Folsey. “The studios treated it pretty much the way they treated television in the 50s and 60s, with total disdain. They had no idea that the home-video business was going to save Hollywood—it never crossed their minds.”
Landis had the opposite of “I won’t grow up” in mind: he wanted Jackson to satisfy his female fans by showing some virility.
With the financing in place and only six weeks before the first shooting day, October 11, the team moved swiftly into an accelerated pre-production. Landis hired his director of photography from Trading Places, Robert Paynter, and drafted his own wife, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, best known for putting Harrison Ford in a fedora and leather jacket for Raiders of the Lost Ark, as costume designer. “Beat It” choreographer Michael Peters was brought in and began auditioning dancers and developing street-hip dance phrases for the zombie choreography. Folsey crewed up, securing locations and equipment.
Jackson was driven by the pop star’s occupational affliction: the desire to be a movie star. He had met and befriended Steven Spielberg when he narrated the soundtrack album and audiobook for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. (Jackson cried when recording the part where E.T. dies.) He and Spielberg were in discussions about Jackson’s playing the lead in a filmed musical version of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.
But Landis had precisely the opposite of “I won’t grow up” in mind: he wanted Jackson to satisfy his young female fans by showing some virility. He wrote a script that loosely spoofed I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Michael would go on a date with a sexy girl in two separate time periods, the 50s and 80s. There would be dialogue interspersed with music. As the 50s guy, Michael would ask his girl to go steady, tell her, “I’m not like other guys,” then transform into a werewolf and terrorize her. As the 80s guy, he would woo her with seductive dance moves before turning into a ghoul. “The big thing was to give him a girl,” says Landis, pointing out that Jackson hadn’t interacted with females in the videos for “Billie Jean” or “Beat It.” “That was the big breakthrough.”
After Jennifer Beals of Flashdance turned down an offer to co-star, Landis cast an unknown 23-year-old former Playboy Playmate named Ola Ray. “I auditioned a lot of girls and this girl Ola Ray—first of all, she was crazy for Michael,” Landis says. “She had such a great smile. I didn’t know she was a Playmate.” Jackson signed off on Ray, then reconsidered the seemliness of cavorting with an ex-Playmate and came close to derailing the casting. According to Landis, “I said, ‘Michael, she’s a Playmate, but so what? She’s not a Playmate in this.’ He went, ‘O.K., whatever you want.’ I have to tell you, I got along great with Michael.”
It was Deborah Landis’s job to play up Jackson’s masculinity while dressing him in hip, casual clothes that were comfortable for dancing. Since the video would be shot at night in a mostly somber palette, she says, “I felt that red would really pop in front of the ghouls.” She chose the same color for both his jacket and jeans to emphasize a vertical line, making his five-foot-seven-inch, 100-pound frame appear taller. “The socks and the shoes were his own,” she says. “He took that directly from Fred Astaire, who always wore soft leather loafers to dance in, and socks. And Michael was elegant. I worked with David Bowie, who was also that same body frame, again very, very slim. Fred Astaire was a 36 regular; Michael was a 36 regular. David and Michael and Fred Astaire—you could literally put them in anything, and they would carry themselves with a distinction and with confidence and with sexuality.”
OCTOBER 13, 1983; 10:30 p.m. Downtown Los Angeles. On a desolate city street, Jackson lipsynchs to a playback of “Thriller” as he dances and skitters playfully around Ray. Landis has barely rehearsed the scene because he is hoping for some spontaneous sexual energy between his actors and has asked Jackson to improvise. Ray, who looks deliriously smitten, is supposed to keep the beat with each footstep. Landis puts his hand over his eyes and quietly shakes his head as she repeatedly messes up the tempo, necessitating many takes. Jackson remains charmingly frisky in every one, hugging her as he sings, “Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together … ”
Ray has made it clear to Jackson and everyone else that she wants the cuddling to continue after the “Cut!” “Michael is very special, not like any other guy I’ve met,” she says, kicking off her high heels and settling into her set chair after the scene wraps. “Since we’ve been working together we’ve been getting closer. He was a very shy person, but he’s opened up. I think he’s lived a sheltered life. He knows a lot of entertainers, but he needs friends that he can go out and relax and enjoy himself with, instead of talking to his mannequins in his room.”
The congenial atmosphere on “Thriller” seemed to have a salutary effect on Jackson. He delighted the crew by hanging out on the set between shots, and although he didn’t say much, he responded graciously to anyone who approached. Landis frequently got him giggling with horseplay, once lifting him up by the ankles and shaking him upside down while Jackson shrieked, “Put me down, you punk!”
He would also enjoy a secret interlude with Ola Ray. The actress had her makeup done each day at a studio where Jane Fonda happened to be shooting a workout video. Ray engaged in girl talk with Fonda, a friend of Jackson’s, and solicited tips on how to pique Jackson’s romantic interest. As Ray remembers, “Miss Fonda said, ‘Be yourself—just be sweet and talk to him about things he might be interested in or like to do. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness, so you should talk to him about religion. Maybe he will want you to go to church with him one day.’”
Arriving at the set, Ray would sit outside her trailer and finish touching up her makeup. “Every day Michael came and sat and watched me,” she says. “He was in awe of me. He was always in my face trying to learn to do things with makeup like I did.” When he asked her to come give pointers to his own makeup person, saying, “I have a shine on my nose that I can’t get off,” she agreed. “So I’m seriously talking to his makeup artist, trying to explain what to do, and she looked at me and said, ‘Girl, don’t you know that no matter how much powder I put on his nose it’s going to shine? Do you know how many nose jobs he’s had?’ Then Michael started laughing, because I didn’t know he had had nose jobs! I guess the whole world knew.”
“I dealt with Michael as I would have a really gifted child,” says Landis. “He was emotionally damaged, but so sweet and so talented.”
The flirtation progressed. “I had some intimate moments with him in his trailer,” says Ray. How intimate? “Let me see how I can say this without, you know, being too …” She pauses. “I won’t say that I have seen him in his birthday suit but close enough,” she says, laughing. Because he was shy, she tried not to scare him by coming on too strong. “What we had was such like a little kindergarten thing going on. I thought it was important for him to be around someone who would make him feel comfortable, and that was my main objective.” Did they make out? “Kissing and puppy-love make-out sessions,” she confirms, “and a little more than that.” That is all she cares to divulge. “I’ve already told you more than I’ve ever told anyone!”
Ray watched Jackson switch seamlessly from silly to sober for business meetings. When Jacqueline Onassis’s white limousine pulled up, he greeted the Doubleday Books editor, who had flown out from New York to discuss publishing Jackson’s memoir (which eventually became Moonwalk), with courtly professionalism. Landis says that he barged unknowingly into Jackson’s trailer, and the star coolly said, “John, have you met Mrs. Onassis?”
An eclectic assortment of luminaries appeared on the set to see Jackson. Fred Astaire and Rock Hudson both dropped by. Quincy Jones, watching the filming of the zombie dance, mused about Jackson’s ability to maintain his child-like quality: “It takes a lot of maturity to control all that innocence.” Perhaps the most unlikely visitor to appear was Marlon Brando, who, Landis learned, was slipping acting advice to Jackson. One day when Landis admonished him for not knowing his lines, Jackson said, “Marlon told me to always go for the truth, not the words.” When MTV executive Les Garland arrived for a scheduled visit, he waited in the living room of Jackson’s trailer, chatting with a couple of female assistants. Then “a pair of socks came bouncing out from the bedroom and landed by me,” says Garland. “One of the ladies said, ‘That means Michael is up and ready to see you now.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s unique.’”
If his spirit on the set seemed carefree, behind the scenes Jackson was emotionally stressed by long-simmering family and business pressures. As he grew to trust some of his “Thriller” collaborators, including Landis, Baker, and Stessel, he opened up about his loneliness, his perception that he had been robbed of his childhood, and his troubled relationship with his father.
Jackson faced a critical moment in his personal development: would his new mega-success and wealth spur him to grow, becoming more confident and independent, or to withdraw further into his gilded fantasy world? His “Thriller” friends marveled at his paradoxical qualities: simultaneously sophisticated as an artist, canny to the point of ruthlessness in business dealings, and breathtakingly immature about relationships. “I dealt with Michael as I would have a really gifted child,” says Landis, “because that’s what he was at that moment. He was emotionally damaged, but so sweet and so talented.”
More than once Landis found himself caught up in the twisted dynamics of the Jackson family. One night when Joseph and Katherine Jackson visited the set, the director recalls, “Michael asked me to have Joe removed. He said, ‘Would you please ask my father to leave?’ So I go over to Mr. Jackson. ‘Mr. Jackson, I’m sorry, but can you please … ?’ ‘Who are you?’ ‘I’m John Landis. I’m directing this.’ ‘Well, I’m Joe Jackson. I do what I please.’ I said, ‘I’ll have to ask security to remove you if you don’t leave now.’ ” Landis says he had a policeman escort Joe Jackson off the set, which Jackson, through his lawyer, denies.
Distancing himself from his father was a theme in Michael Jackson’s life. He had to approve the reams of promotional materials that Epic generated to support “Thriller,” and one day he called the record label’s art department and asked an art director if she could retouch his nose on a famous photo of him as a child. “I want you to slim the wings of my nose,” Jackson told her. “O.K., but why, Michael?” she asked, and tried to reassure him that his face looked fine just the way it was. “I don’t want to look like my father,” Jackson replied. “Every time I look at that photograph I think I look like my father.”
Although he was no longer Michael’s manager, Joe Jackson remained an intimidating and powerful presence in his life. In the summer of ’83, Jackson relied on his close adviser John Branca to communicate with his father about business matters, avoiding direct confrontation with Joe whenever possible. “Michael was scared to death of Joseph,” says Larry Stessel, who vividly recalls an evening when Joe walked into the room at the Encino house and Michael literally moved behind Stessel to hide, cowering. (Not until a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey would Michael publicly acknowledge how his father had brutalized him as a child.)
Michael was the Jackson family’s golden goose, and ever since he emancipated himself, at the age of 21, Joe had been hostile to his solo endeavors. Now, with millions of Thriller dollars flowing in Michael’s direction, Joe and Katherine and the brothers—all of whom needed money, thanks partly to extravagant spending habits—felt entitled to cash in. They set about organizing a Jacksons “Victory” reunion tour to take place the following summer, railroading Michael into serving as the star attraction. Joseph sent his secret weapon, Katherine, to implore her “special one” to do right by the family, knowing that Michael could not say no to his mother. “Michael did not want to tour,” says Stessel. “He said to them, ‘I will do this for you this once, but don’t come and ask me for money again. After this I have to do my own projects.’ ”
At Hayvenhurst, Jackson led a strange, cocooned existence. A round-the-clock security team kept the ever increasing swarms of fans outside from breaching the walls. Inside, the family’s interactions were gothic and tense. While Katherine had filed for divorce the previous year following revelations of her husband’s infidelity (he had fathered an out-of-wedlock daughter, Joh’Vonnie, whom he visited regularly), Joe had simply moved into a bedroom down the hall rather than move out. Michael tried to make his mother’s life more pleasant and avoid colliding with his father. “Michael would lock his bedroom door,” remembers Branca, “and Joe would threaten to bang it in.” (Joe Jackson, through his lawyer, denies this account.)
Michael transcended the oppressive atmosphere with bursts of musical creativity. He once described his songwriting process as “a gestation, almost like a pregnancy or something. It’s an explosion of something so beautiful, you go, Wow!” When a song was ready to be birthed, he drafted siblings to help him record demos in his home studio; Janet sang backup on the first version of “Billie Jean.” The night before his now legendary appearance on the Motown 25th-anniversary TV special on NBC, where he introduced the Moonwalk, he had choreographed and rehearsed his performance in the kitchen.
On Sundays, Jackson observed the Sabbath with fasting and hours of cathartic ritual dancing. “It was the most sacred way I could spend my time: developing the talents that God gave me,” he later said. Sometimes he invited young street dancers to come show him the latest moves; that was how he learned the Moonwalk.
Jackson would ask startlingly ignorant questions about sex—“simple, biological, stupid 12-year-old questions.”
Jackson also reveled in the company of children at Hayvenhurst, which was like a warm-up for Neverland, a kids’ paradise, which he loved sharing. He had struck up a friendship with the four-foot-three-inch television star Emmanuel Lewis, 12, with whom he would invent games and roll around on the grass, laughing. When George Folsey’s son, Ryan, 13, accompanied his father to meetings at the Jackson home, Michael behaved like a kid who was bored hanging out with the adults, jumping up to show Ryan around. They would feed the llamas, play the video game Frogger, and drive toy Model T’s around the grounds. “Michael was 25, but I’d say that he was 13,” says Ryan. “Mentally, he was 12 to 15 years behind. He could relate to me because he was my age.”
Ryan hung out with Michael in his bedroom, which had a mattress on the floor, toys everywhere, and illustrations of Peter Pan on the walls. They talked about music—“I was amazed that Michael didn’t know who U2 was”—and the girls they had crushes on. Jackson revealed how discombobulated he had been by Ola Ray’s sexual allure after a dance rehearsal with her. “He started getting all nervous and stuff,” says Ryan. “He said, ‘She’s adorable, she’s adorable. She’s so hot!’ It was just so funny seeing him that way.”
No one knew if Jackson, who told Landis he was a virgin, was practicing abstinence for religious reasons, or because he had gotten spooked about women by the obsessed fan who accused him of fathering her child (inspiring “Billie Jean,” according to some reports), or because he was simply too shy to date. Vince Paterson, who helped with the choreography in “Thriller,” says that Jackson would ask him startlingly ignorant questions about sex—“simple, biological, stupid 12-year-old questions.” He adds, “I never saw Michael as a sexual creature. He was always sort of asexual to me—some people are like that. I never had one vibe, as dynamic and electric and powerful as he was. He was like nobody I had ever met in my life. On the one hand he was so socially retarded, and on the other hand he was a creative genius.”
Paterson remembers Jackson asked him once after a dance rehearsal, “ ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘I’m just going to a party with some friends. Do you want to come?’ ‘No, I’ve never been to a party. If I ever went to a party I would just want to go stand behind the curtain and be able to peek out and watch what people do.’ ”
“Friendship is a thing I am just beginning to learn about,” Jackson told Ebony magazine in 1982. “I was raised on the stage and that is where I am comfortable. And everything else is, like, foreign to me.” Jackson had high-profile showbiz buddies such as Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, and Diana Ross, whom he could gossip with on the phone or invite to be his date for a public function. But when “Thriller” colleagues invited him for dinner and suggested that he bring a friend, he showed up alone. He frequently hung out at John and Deborah Landis’s house. “I liked Mike,” says John. “He used to come over to our house all the time and just stay there. I think he was so lonely. He and I got along fine, watching television until three or four in the morning, or looking at books. Deborah [called me into] the kitchen once, and she said to me, ‘John, the most famous human being on the planet is in the library, and I want you to get him the fuck out. Tell him he has to go home!’ ” OCTOBER 23, 1983; 9:45 a.m. Rick Baker’s studio, North Hollywood. ‘He’s completely unreliable,” sputters Landis, fuming and pacing as Baker, the makeup creator, arranges werewolf ears, paws, and teeth on his worktable. (Actually, given Jackson’s delicate features, Baker has created a look that is more along the lines of a werecat.) Jackson was scheduled to arrive 45 minutes ago to be made up for his grisly metamorphosis sequence. Finally the star’s black Rolls pulls up outside. Jackson trots in and plunks himself down in the chair. He is wearing a yellow T-shirt, black pants short enough to show his argyle socks, and black loafers with one sole flapping loose. He is carrying the book How to Be a Jewish Mother with a copy of the Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine, The Watchtower, inside.
As Baker hovers over him, working meticulously, Jackson sits silently with his hands folded in his lap. An assistant arrives carrying a yellow pillowcase with something lumpy inside and puts it down in the outer room. “Say Say Say” comes on the radio, the latest Jackson hit single, another duet with Paul McCartney, this one appearing on McCartney’s album Pipes of Peace. Jackson yawns. “I have to tinkle,” he says, and gets up for a bathroom break.
He returns carrying an eight-foot boa constrictor—retrieved from that yellow pillowcase—which he has named Muscles. He wraps the snake around my neck. “Don’t be afraid—Muscles won’t hurt you,” he says in a feathery voice.
When shooting was finished, Landis and Folsey worked every night in an editing room on the Universal Studios lot; after the original editor departed for another project, Folsey took over cutting. Jackson liked to hang out with Landis and Folsey while they worked, driving himself and arriving in the editing room at about nine P.M. They’d bring in his preferred dinner of salad and brown rice and vegetables. “We’d look at cut footage and talk about things, and it was always fun,” says Folsey. “He was very appreciative and had good ideas.” All three were pleased with the way the short film was shaping up, and looked forward to the premiere at the Crest Theatre, in Westwood, on November 14. When Jackson departed at one or two in the morning, he’d find mash notes on the windshield of his Rolls.
About two weeks before the premiere, Jackson called Branca and, hyperventilating and speaking in a halting voice, ordered him to destroy the negative of “Thriller.” After much cajoling he revealed the reason for his decision. “He said the Jehovah’s Witnesses heard he was doing a werewolf video,” Branca recalls. “They told him that it promoted demonology and they were going to excommunicate him.” Branca conferred with Folsey and Landis, and all agreed that the “Thriller” negative had to be safeguarded. Landis immediately removed the film canisters from the lab and delivered them to Branca’s office, where they were locked up.
Next, according to Landis, he got a call from Jackson’s security chief, Bill Bray, who reported that the singer had been in his room with the door locked for three days, refusing to come out. Landis drove to the Encino estate. “Bill and I kicked in the door, knocked it down, and Michael was lying there. He said, ‘I feel so bad.’ I said, ‘Michael, have you eaten?’ He hadn’t eaten. It was weird. I just said, ‘Look, I want you to see a doctor right now.’ ”
Landis returned to see Jackson the next day and found him at Frank DiLeo’s house, a few blocks from the Encino estate, in a more cheerful state. He apologized for issuing the order to destroy “Thriller”: “I’m sorry, John. I’m embarrassed.” Landis then informed the star that his directive had been ignored. “I said, ‘Michael, I wouldn’t let it be destroyed.’ He went, ‘Really? Because I think it’s really good.’ I go, ‘Michael, it’s great and you’re great.’ ”
Still, Jackson was concerned about the video’s content. Branca, desperate to mollify his client, invented a ruse. “I said, ‘Mike, did you ever watch Bela Lugosi in Dracula?’ He goes, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Do you know that he was a devout Christian?’ I was just making it up. And I said, ‘Did you ever notice there were, like, disclaimers on those movies?’ He goes, ‘No.’ ‘So, Michael, before we destroy this film, let’s put a disclaimer on it saying that this does not reflect the personal convictions of Michael Jackson.’ ‘Oh!’ He liked it.” Problem solved. Says Landis, “You know, what’s wonderful about Michael—this is where genius comes in. No matter how wacky something was, it always had some amazing benefit. That disclaimer caused a lot of talk, and it generated a lot of interest.”
The A-list turned out for the premiere at the 500-seat historic Crest Theatre: Diana Ross, Warren Beatty, Prince, Eddie Murphy. “I’ve been to the Oscars, the BAFTAs, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes, and I had never seen anything like this,” remembers Landis. Ola Ray looked for Jackson before the lights went down and found him in the projection booth. He told her that she looked beautiful, but refused her entreaty to come sit in the audience. “This is your night,” he told her. “You go enjoy yourself.” Landis warmed up the audience with a new print of the Mickey Mouse cartoon “The Band Concert.” Then came “Thriller,” with its sound mix cranked up to top volume. Fourteen minutes later the crowd was on its feet, applauding and crying, “Encore! Encore!” Eddie Murphy shouted, “Show the goddamn thing again!” And they did.
As the December 2 MTV debut of “Thriller” approached, there was massive audience anticipation. Former MTV executive Les Garland says the network settled on a saturation strategy he describes as “ ‘Every time we play “Thriller,” let’s tell them when we are going to play it again.’ We played it three to five times a day. We were getting audience ratings 10 times the usual when we popped ‘Thriller.’ ”
Showtime aired Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller six times in February. Within months the Vestron release had sold a million copies, making it at the time the biggest-selling home-video release ever.
Landis’s dream for “Thriller” to have an international theatrical run, like the short films from Hollywood’s golden age, would not be fulfilled. In a sense, he became a victim of his own success: Yetnikoff and DiLeo killed any chance of that when they realized that the video was a spectacular marketing tool. “Epic gave away the video free all over the world, to every television station that wanted it,” says Landis. “There was a month when you couldn’t turn the television on and not see ‘Thriller.’ ” Since Landis and Folsey together owned 50 percent of both “Thriller” and Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller, they had the legal right to be consulted. “I don’t think it was very kosher,” says Landis, “but it was the right thing for CBS Records to do.”
Having transformed a fun but marginal song into a heroic and historic video, Michael Jackson rode “Thriller” to the mountaintop. The video sent the album’s sales back into the stratosphere, with Epic shipping a million copies a week; by the end of 1984, the album had sold 33 million copies in the U.S. Since then, Thriller has remained unchallenged as the No. 1 album of all time (current sales worldwide: an estimated 110 million).
Jackson grew accustomed to shattering records, collecting spoils and statuettes. On February 28, 1984, he dressed like American royalty in a spangled military jacket to escort Brooke Shields to the Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, where he picked up an unprecedented eight trophies for Thriller. By this time he was a fabulously wealthy man, thanks to the industry’s highest royalty rate, more than $2 per record, which Branca had negotiated for him.
Thriller had profound consequences on Jackson’s life and subsequent career: it was both a source of his greatest pride, and his curse. Like most entertainers, he was happiest during the heady days of the upward trajectory, and hated the downward journey; his story became uniquely tragic because he viewed everything that came afterward as a failure, and the satisfactions of his private life were not sufficient to compensate. “Michael didn’t see Thriller as a phenomenon,” says Brunman. “He saw it as a stepping-stone to even greater things. We were ecstatic when [his next album] Bad shot past the 20 million mark. Michael was disappointed.”
“To me what happened with Michael is he felt like he needed to top himself,” says Branca, who represented Jackson on and off for the rest of the star’s life and has been named a co-executor of his estate. “That was a lot of pressure. I remember we were in Hong Kong on vacation after Thriller, and I said to him, ‘Mike, you should think about doing an album of the songs that inspired you.’ He said, ‘Why would I do that?’ ‘Well, it would take the pressure off you. Nobody would expect you to have to top Thriller.’ And he looked at me like I was from Mars. And he said, ‘Branca, the next album is going to sell 100 million.’ ”
In January 2009, six months before the star’s death, John Landis and George Folsey filed suit against Michael Jackson and his company Optimum Productions for breach of contract, alleging that they had not been paid their 50 percent of royalties in many years, and accusing Jackson of “fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct.” Landis says that over the years he had spoken with Jackson many times to complain that he, Landis, was not receiving the royalties due him, and that Jackson promised to correct the matter. But the entertainer’s financial affairs were chaotic for the last decade of his life as he continually shuffled his business managers. Branca and his own attorney Howard Weitzman report that the “Thriller” video’s accounting records are currently being audited as part of the executor’s obligation to settle the Jackson estate’s debts. “From our perspective Landis and Folsey are priorities,” says Weitzman. “They will definitely get paid what they are owed.”
Ola Ray also sued Jackson, on May 5, 2009, for nonpayment of royalties. “I got the fame” from “Thriller,” she says, “but I didn’t get the fortune.” (The suit is ongoing.) In 1998 she fled Los Angeles and the casting-couch syndrome she says plagued her during the years following “Thriller.” “There were so many big-name directors who told me that if I wanted to do films I had to sleep with them,” she says. She moved to Sacramento to be closer to her family, and is today a stay-at-home mom to her 15-year-old daughter. Ray enjoys hearing from Michael Jackson fans on Facebook and Twitter. “I can’t walk down the street without people recognizing me,” she says.
Ray thinks about Jackson every day, with considerable regret. “I just wish I would have had the opportunity to be a little bit more in his life. I bet he would have been happy with me. It would have taken someone like me who would not put pressure on him or play him for his money or anything other than that I wanted to be with him for who he was,” she says. “I had no other agenda than that.”
Ola Ray and I strongly agree on one thing: we both like to remember Michael Jackson the way he was on the night of October 13, 1983. I can’t forget the way he looked as I peered at him through the glass of the ticket booth at the Palace Theatre: elfin, radiant, ascendant. To me, Thriller seems like the last time that everyone on the planet got excited at the same time by the same thing: no matter where you went in the world, they were playing those songs, and you could dance to them. Since then, the fragmentation of pop culture has destroyed our sense of collective exhilaration, and I miss that.
For Ray, the scene with Jackson later that evening, as he scampered adoringly around her, was a defining experience. “That walk with Michael, when he was dancing around me and singing, I felt like I was the most, I don’t know, blessed girl in the world. Being able to do that and being able to play with Michael, and having him play around me. I felt so in love that night. You can see it in my eyes. You can see it for sure.”
THE MUSIC OF MICHAEL JACKSON: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MR. JACKSON:
Michael
Jackson--"I Can't Help It" (words and music composed for Michael by
Stevie Wonder and Susanye Greene)--From the groundbreaking "Off the Wall" album
(1979):
"I Can't Help It" (lyrics and music by Stevie Wonder and Susanye Greene):
[1st Verse] Looking In My Mirror Took Me By Surprise I Can't Help But See You Running Often Through My Mind
[2nd Verse] Helpless Like A Baby Sensual Disguise I Can't Help But Love You It's Getting Better All The Time
[Chorus] I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It Even If I Could I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It, No
[Chorus] I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It Even If I Could I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It, No
[3rd Verse] Love To Run My Fingers Softly While You Sigh Love Came And Possessed You Bringing Sparkles To Your Eyes
[4th Verse] Like A Trip To Heaven Heaven Is The Prize And I'm So Glad I Found You Girl You're An Angel In Disguise
[Chorus] I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It Even If I Could I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It, No
And I'm So Glad I Found You Girl You're An Angel In Disguise
[Chorus] I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It Even If I Could I Can't Help It If I Wanted To I Wouldn't Help It, No
Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records, as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, R&B, rock, post-disco, funk, and adult contemporary music.[1][2][3] Recording sessions took place between April and November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones. Of the album's nine tracks, four were written by Jackson. Seven
singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 10 on
the Billboard Hot 100. Three of the singles had music videos released. "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life" were the only tracks that were not released as singles. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 65 million copies worldwide according to various sources.[4][5][6]T In the United States, it also tied with the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) as the best-selling album at 29 million units shipped.[7] The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including for Album of the Year.
Thriller enabled Jackson to break down racial barriers in pop music via his appearances on MTV and meeting with President of the United StatesRonald Reagan at the White House. The album was one of the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools—the videos for "Thriller", "Billie Jean", and "Beat It"
all received regular rotation on MTV. In 2001, a special edition issue
of the album was released, which contains additional audio interviews,
demo recordings and the song "Someone in the Dark", which was a
Grammy-winning track from the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrialstorybook.[8] In 2008, the album was reissued again as Thriller 25,
containing re-mixes that feature contemporary artists, a previously
unreleased song, and a DVD, which features the short films from the
album and the Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean". That same year the
album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame along with Jackson's Off The Wall LP.
Jackson's previous album Off the Wall (1979) received strong critical acclaim[11][12] and was also a commercial success, eventually selling over 20 million copies worldwide.[13] The years between Off the Wall and Thriller were a transitional period for the singer, a time of increasing independence.[14]
The period saw the singer become deeply unhappy; Jackson explained,
"Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so
hard to make friends ... I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at
night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming
home."[15] When Jackson turned 21 in August 1979, he hired John Branca as his manager.[16]
Jackson confided in Branca that he wanted to be the biggest star in
show business and "the wealthiest". The singer was upset about what he
perceived to be the under-performance of Off the Wall, stating, "It was totally unfair that it didn't get Record of the Year and it can never happen again."[17] He also felt undervalued by the music industry; in 1980 when Jackson asked the publicist of Rolling Stone
if they would be interested in doing a cover story on him, the
publicist declined, to which Jackson responded, "I've been told over and
over that black people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell
copies ... Just wait. Someday those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one, and maybe I won't."[17]
Recording
Quincy Jones continued his collaboration with Jackson by producing Thriller
Jackson reunited with Off the Wall producer Quincy Jones to record his sixth studio album. The pair worked together on 30 songs, nine of which were eventually included.[18]Thriller was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000. The recording for Thriller commenced on April 14, 1982 at 12:00 noon with Jackson and Paul McCartney recording "The Girl Is Mine", and the album was completed with the final day of mixing on November 8, 1982.[19] Several members of the band Toto were also involved in the album's recording and production.[18] Jackson wrote four songs for the record: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "The Girl Is Mine", "Beat It", and "Billie Jean".[20]
Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write these songs on paper.
Instead, he would dictate into a sound recorder; when recording he would
sing from memory.[21][22]
The relationship between Jackson and Jones became strained during the
album's recording. Jackson spent much of his time rehearsing dance
steps alone.[22]
When the album's nine songs were completed, both Jones and Jackson were
unhappy with the result and remixed every song, spending a week on
each.[22]
Jackson was inspired to create an album where "every song was a killer", and developed Thriller with that in mind.[23][24] Jones and songwriter Rod Temperton
gave detailed accounts of what occurred for the 2001 reissue of the
album. Jones discussed "Billie Jean" and why it was so personal to
Jackson, who struggled to deal with a number of obsessed fans. Jones
wanted the long introduction on the song to be shortened; however,
Jackson insisted that it remain because it made him want to dance.[20] The ongoing backlash against disco made it necessary to move in a different musical direction from the disco-heavy Off the Wall.[24]
Jones and Jackson were determined to make a rock song that would appeal
to all tastes and spent weeks looking for a suitable guitarist for the
song "Beat It". Eventually, they found Steve Lukather of Toto to play
the rhythm-guitar parts and Eddie Van Halen of the rock band Van Halen to play the solo.[20][22]
When Rod Temperton wrote the song "Thriller",
he originally wanted to call it "Starlight" or "Midnight Man", but
settled on "Thriller" because he felt the name had merchandising
potential.[22] Always wanting a notable person to recite the closing lyrics, Jones brought in actor Vincent Price
who was an acquaintance of Jones' wife, who completed his part in just
two takes. Temperton wrote the spoken portion in a taxi on the way to
the recording studio. Jones and Temperton said that some recordings were
left off the final cut because they did not have the "edginess" of
other album tracks.[20]
Songs recorded by Jackson for consideration included "Carousel" (written by Michael Sembello), "Nite Line" (written by Glen Ballard), "Trouble" (aka "She's Trouble", written by Terry Britten, Bill Livsey and Sue Shifrin), and "Hot Street" (written by Rod Temperton,
and aka "Slapstick"). Jackson also cut a version of "Starlight". Demos
of all these songs exist and have leaked onto the internet. "Carousel"
and "Hot Street" were completed, but left off the final version of the
album. A short clip of "Carousel" appeared as a bonus track on the 2001
reissue of the album; the full version was later released on iTunes in
2013 as part of The Ultimate Fan Extras Collection.
Excerpt of the
album's title track, and one of Jackson's signature pieces, "Thriller",
released as a single in 1984. Jackson uses cinematic sound effects,
horror film motifs and vocal trickery to convey a sense of danger.[25]
"Billie Jean", a
number one hit single in many countries. The song was written and
co-produced by Jackson. The track mixed uptempo funk and disco with the
somber themes of paranoia and obsession.[26]
Thriller is a post-disco album.[27] According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, it refined the strengths of Jackson's previous album Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.[28] The album includes the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature", and "The Girl Is Mine"; the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"[1][26][28][29] and has a similar sound to the material on Off the Wall.
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is accompanied by a bass and percussion
background and the song's centerpiece, a climaxing African-inspired
chant (often misidentified as Swahili, but actually syllables based on Duala),[30] gave the song an international flavor.[31] "The Girl Is Mine" tells of two friends' fight over a woman, arguing over who loves her more and concludes with a spoken rap.[22][31] The album's songs have a tempo ranging from 80 beats per minute on "The Girl is Mine", to 138 on "Beat It".[32]
Despite the light pop flavor of these two records, Thriller, more so than Off the Wall, displayed foreshadowings of the contradictory thematic elements that would come to characterize Jackson's subsequent works.[33] With Thriller, Jackson would begin his association with the subliminal motif of paranoia and darker themes, including supernatural imagery in the album's title track.[26] This is evident on the songs "Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Thriller".[1]
In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he
has fathered a child of hers; in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues
against gossips and the media.[26][28]
In the former song, Jones had Jackson sing vocal overdubs through a
six-foot-long cardboard tube, and brought in jazz saxophonist Tom Scott
to play a rare instrument, the lyricon,
a wind-controlled analog synthesizer. Bassist Louis Johnson ran through
his part on a Yamaha bass guitar. The song opens with a long
bass-and-drums introduction.[34]
In the song "Thriller", sound effects such as creaking door, thunder,
feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling dogs can be heard.[22] The anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became a homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece.[28][35]
Jackson later said of "Beat It", "the point is no one has to be the
tough guy, you can walk away from a fight and still be a man. You don't
have to die to prove you're a man".[31] "Human Nature", co-written by Steve Porcaro of the band Toto,[36]
is moody and introspective, as conveyed in lyrics such as, "Looking
out, across the morning, the City's heart begins to beat, reaching out, I
touch her shoulder, I'm dreaming of the street".[31]
By the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well
regarded; Allmusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist".[11]Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder.
Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is
extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly".[12] With the release of Thriller,
Jackson could sing low—down to a basso low C—but he preferred to sing
higher because pop tenors have more range to create style.[37]Rolling Stone was of the opinion that Jackson was now singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".[38] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", credited to James Ingram and Quincy Jones, and "The Lady in My Life" by Rod Temperton, both gave the album a stronger R&B direction; the latter song was described as "the closest Jackson has come to crooning a sexy, soulful ballad after his Motown years" by Taraborrelli.[31] The singer had already adopted a "vocal hiccup" which he continued to implement in Thriller.
The purpose of the hiccup—somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping—is
to help promote a certain emotion, be it excitement, sadness or fear.[39]
Release and reissue
Thriller was released on November 30, 1982, and sold one million copies worldwide per week at its peak.[37]
Seven singles were released from the album, including "The Girl Is
Mine"—which was seen as a poor choice for the lead release and led some
to believe that the album would be a disappointment, and to suggestions
that Jackson was bowing to a white audience.[31] "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made Thriller a chart-topper.[40][41] Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather.[42] The album's title track was released as a single and also became a hit internationally.[31] Thriller was reissued on October 16, 2001, in an expanded set titled Thriller: Special Edition.
The original tracks were remastered, and the album included a new
booklet and bonus material, including the songs "Someone in the Dark",
"Carousel", and Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo, as well as audio
interviews with Jones and Temperton discussing the recording of the
album.[20][43] Sony also hired sound engineer and mixer Mick Guzauski[44][45] to work with Jackson on creating 5.1-channel surround sound mixes of Thriller, as well as all his other albums, for release on the then-new Super Audio CD format. Despite numerous retries, the artist never approved any of the mixes.[46] Consequently, Thriller was issued on SACD only in a stereo version.[47]
On August 21, 2009 Thriller was certified 29× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 29 million copies in the US.[52][48] The album topped the charts in many countries, sold 4.2 million copies in the UK,[53] 2.5 million in Japan,[54] and was certified 15× Platinum in Australia.[55] Still popular today, Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the US per year; it reached number two in the US Catalog charts in February 2003 and number 39 in the UK in March 2007.[56] Outside the US, the album has sold over 20 million copies.[57] After Jackson's death in June 2009, Thriller set additional records. It sold more than 100,000 copies, placing it at number two on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Songs from Thriller also helped Jackson become the first artist to sell more than one million song downloads in a week.[58] According to Nielsen Soundscan, Thriller was the 14th best selling album of 2009 in the United States with 1.27 million copies sold.[59]
Thriller 25 was a commercial success and did particularly well
as a reissue. It peaked at number one in eight countries and Europe. It
peaked at number two in the US, number three in the UK and reached the
top 10 in over 30 national charts. It was certified Gold in 11 countries
including the UK, received a 2× Gold certification in France and
received platinum certification in Poland.[60][61][62] In the United States, Thriller 25
was the second best-selling album of its release week, selling one
hundred and sixty six thousand copies, just fourteen thousand short of
reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for ten non-consecutive weeks),[63] with the best sales on that chart since December 1996.[64][65][66] With the arrival of Halloween that November, Thriller 25
spent an eleventh non-consecutive week atop the US catalog chart. This
brought US sales of the album to 688,000 copies, making it the best selling catalog album of 2008.[67] This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001, selling three million copies worldwide in 12 weeks.[68]
Critical reception
Thriller was well received by most critics. Christopher Connelly in a January 1983 review in Rolling Stone gave it four out of five stars and described it as "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message".[26] Comparing the songs on the album with the life challenges that the 24-year-old Jackson had faced since Off the Wall,
Connelly remarks that he has "dropped the boyish falsetto" and is
facing his "challenges head-on" with "a feisty determination" and "a
full, adult voice".[26]John Rockwell in a December 1982 review in The New York Times
also commented on Jackson's age, comparing his youth with his
experience as an entertainer, feeling that perhaps he is a "sometimes
too practiced ... performer", and that at times Quincy Jones may
"depersonalize his individuality" with his "slightly anonymous
production", and that Jackson may be hiding his true emotions behind
"layers of impenetrable, gauzy veils".[69]
The bulk of Rockwell's review concentrated on how he felt that the
album was helping breach "the destructive barriers that spring up
regularly between white and black music", especially as "white
publications and radio stations that normally avoid black music seem willing to pretend he isn't black after all".[69] He feels that Thriller
is "a wonderful pop record, the latest statement by one of the great
singers in popular music today", and that there are "hits here, too,
lots of them".[69]
In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau
gave the album an A– rating and commented that "this is virtually a
hits-plus-filler job, but at such a high level it's almost classic
anyway".[70] He later revised it to an A,[70]
and commented in retrospect, "what we couldn't know is how brilliantly
every hit but 'P.Y.T.' would thrive on mass exposure and public
pleasure."[71] A year after the album's release, Time
summed up the three main singles from the album, saying, "The pulse of
America and much of the rest of the world moves irregularly, beating in
time to the tough strut of "Billie Jean", the asphalt aria of "Beat It",
the supremely cool chills of "Thriller".[37]
Accolades
The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards
in 1984, including Album of the Year. Jackson won seven of the Grammys
for the album while the eighth Grammy went to Bruce Swedien.[72][73] That same year, Jackson won eight American Music Awards, the Special Award of Merit and three MTV Video Music Awards.[56]Thriller was recognized as the world's best-selling album on February 7, 1984, when it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records.[74] It is one of four albums to be the best-seller of two years (1983–1984) in the US.[75]
Influence and legacy
Music industry
Thriller platinum record on display at the Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood in Universal City, California.
Blender described Jackson as the "late twentieth century pre-eminent pop icon", while The New York Times
gave the opinion that he was a "musical phenomenon", and that "in the
world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody
else".[34][76]
Jackson changed the way the industry functioned: both as an artistic
persona, and as a financial, profitable entity. His attorney John Branca
observed that Jackson achieved the highest royalty rate in the music
industry to that point: approximately $2 for each album sold. As a
result, Jackson earned record-breaking profits from compact disc sales,
and from the sale of copies of the documentary, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the film sold over 350,000 copies in its first few months. In a market then driven by singles, Thriller
raised the significance of albums, yet its multiple hit singles changed
perceived notions as to the number of successful singles that could be
taken from an individual album.[77] The era saw the arrival of novelties like the Michael Jackson doll, that appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.[37]Thriller retains a position in American culture; biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli explains, "At some point, Thriller
stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a
hit movie—and started selling like a household staple".[78]
At the time of the album's release, a press statement from Gil Friesen, the then President of A&M Records, read that, "The whole industry has a stake in this success".[37]Time magazine speculated that "the fallout from Thriller
has given the [music] business its best years since the heady days of
1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion".[37]Time summed up Thriller's
impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering on
"the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop". The
publication described Jackson's influence at that point as, "Star of
records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music
business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the
fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of
taste and style and color too".[37]
When Thriller and "Billie Jean" were searching to reach their
market demographic, MTV and cable TV had a smaller market share than the
much larger reach of broadcast television stations in the United
States. A national broadcast TV audience on ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliate
stations, as well as major independent TV stations, was desired by
CBS/Epic Records to promote Thriller. The national broadcast TV premiere of the Thriller album's first video, "Billie Jean", was during the week of Halloween in October 1984 and was the idea of Video Concert Hall executive producers Charles Henderson and Jerry Crowe.[79][80]
Video Concert Hall, the first nationwide music video TV network, taped
the one-hour special in Hollywood and Atlanta, where the TV studios of
Video Concert Hall were located.[81][82][83][84] The Thriller TV special was hosted by Thriller video co-star Vincent Price,
distributed by Henderson-Crowe Syndications, Inc., and aired in the top
20 TV markets and much of the United States, including TV stations WNEW
(New York), WFLD (Chicago), KTTV (Los Angeles), WPLG (Miami), WQTV
(Boston), and WXIA (Atlanta), for a total of 150 TV stations.[79][80]
From the moment "Thriller" was released, it set the standard for
everybody in the music industry. Artists, record labels, producers,
marketers, and even choreographers. The music video was way before its
time and is considered a monumental video in not only Michaels career,
but also in the history of pop music. Epic records approach to creating a
song and video that would appeal to the mass market of the world was a
major stepping stone in the way that professionals market and release
their songs.[85]
The "Thriller" music video set the bar much higher for directors and
producers once they saw that John Landis was producing miniature movies
rather then short videos to go with the respective song.[86]
Music videos and racial equality
Thriller 's music videos, and singles—including the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine"—are credited with helping promote racial equality in the United States
Before the success of Thriller, many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black.[87] In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff
pressured MTV and declared, "I'm not going to give you any more videos
and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you
don't want to play music by a black guy."[34]
His position persuaded MTV to begin airing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", which led to a long partnership and later helped other black music artists to gain mainstream recognition.[88] MTV denies claims of racism in their broadcasting.[89]
The popularity of his videos, such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean",
helped to place the young channel "on the map", and MTV's focus shifted
in favor of pop and R&B.[88][90] Jackson transformed the medium of music video
into an art form and promotional tool through the use of complex story
lines, dance routines, special effects and cameo appearances by well
known personalities.[28] When the 14-minute-long Thriller video aired, MTV ran it twice an hour to meet demand.[91] The short film marked an increase in scale for music videos and has been routinely named the best music video ever.[77]
The popularity of the video sent the album back to number one in the
album chart, but Jackson's label did not support the release of the
third music video from the album. They were already pleased with its
success, so Jackson convinced MTV to fund the project.[22][91] Author, music critic and journalist Nelson George wrote in 2004, "It's difficult to hear the songs from Thriller
and disengage them from the videos. For most of us the images define
the songs. In fact it could be argued that Michael is the first artist
of the MTV age to have an entire album so intimately connected in the
public imagination with its imagery".[25] Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated.[20] The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Bollywood to prisons in the Philippines.[92][93]
For a black artist in the 1980s to that point, Jackson's success was unprecedented. According to The Washington Post, Thriller paved the way for other African-American artists to achieve mainstream recognition, such as Prince.[94] "The Girl Is Mine" was credited for getting interracial love on the radio.[95]Time 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".[37]
Contemporary appeal
Today, Thriller is still viewed in a positive light by critics some three decades later. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic
gave the album the maximum five stars and wrote that the record had
something to interest everyone. He believed it showcased harder funk and
hard rock while remaining "undeniably fun". He went on to compliment
"Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and said, "The record's
two best songs: 'Billie Jean, ...and the delirious 'Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin' ', the freshest funk on the album [but] the most
claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded." Erlewine gave the
opinion that it was an improvement on the artist's previous album,
although Allmusic was critical of the title track, describing it as
"ridiculous" and as having the effect of "arriving in the middle of the
record and sucking out its momentum".[1]Slant Magazine gave the album five stars and, like the Allmusic review and the original Rolling Stone review, paid compliment to the lyrics of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[29] Giving it five stars in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Jon Pareles commented that Jackson "doubled his ambitions and multiplied his audience" with the album and wrote of its legacy, "Thriller
had extramusical help in becoming the best-selling noncompilation album
of all time: Jackson's dancing feet and dazzling stage presence,
amplified by the newfound promotional reach of music video and the Reagan era's
embrace of glossy celebrity. But especially in the album's seven hit
singles (out of nine songs), the music stands on its own."[96]
Culture critic Nelson George wrote that Jackson "has educated R. Kelly, Usher, Justin Timberlake and countless others with Thriller as a textbook".[97] As a sign of the album's longevity, in 2003 Thriller was ranked at number 20 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number three of the "Definitive 200" albums of all time.[98][99] In 2008, 25 years after its release, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and, a few weeks later, was among 25 recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant".[100][101] In 2009, music critics for MTV Base and VH1 both listed Thriller as the best album released since 1981.[102]Thriller, along with other critic favorites were then polled by the public. 40,000 people found Thriller to be the Best Album of all time by MTV Generation, gaining a third of all votes.[102][103]
Thriller was one of the best-selling albums in many countries during 1983 to 1984, topping the charts in United States,[104] United Kingdom, Germany,[105] Japan,[106] France,[107] Canada,[108] Australia,[109] Sweden,[110] New Zealand,[111] and the Netherlands.[112]
TAlthough sales estimates for Thriller have been as high as 110 million copies,[161] these sales figures are unreliable.[162][163][164][165]
References
Erlewine, Stephen (February 19, 2007). "Thriller Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
Heyliger, M., Music - Help - Web - Review[dead link] - A State-of-the-Art Pop Album
(Thriller by Michael Jackson): "Not many artists could pull off such a
variety of styles (funk, post-disco, rock, easy listening, ballads) back
then...". Retrieved on March 12, 2011
Ben Zimmer (June 26, 2009). "Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa". Language Log. The
story behind these seemingly nonsensical syllables is a fascinating
one, originating in the Cameroonian language Duala...Jackson apparently
claimed his version was Swahili, but he eventually acknowledged his debt
to [Cameroonian singer Manu] Dibango...
Taraborrelli, pp. 223–225
The Complete Michael Jackson, International Music Publications Ltd, 1997, ISBN 1859094473
Vincent Price's Halloween Thriller, Fact Sheet, Henderson-Crowe Syndications, Inc., Atlanta, September 24, 1984
Vincent Price Hosts His First American Halloween Special, News Release, September 24, 1984, Henderson-Crowe Syndications, Inc., Atlanta
McCullaugh, Jim. "Atlanta Firm Claims First Ever Nationwide Cable Music Show". Billboard Magazine. March 3, 1980 p. 1, p. 38
King, Bill, "Atlantans Pioneering Cable Video Music Show", The Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1980, p. 1-B, p. 10-B
Werts, Dianne, "Din of Modern Hit Parade Invades Cable Homes", The Dallas Morning News, May 23, 1980
Denisoff, Serge R. Tarnished Gold: The record industry revisited. Oxford, UK: Transaction books, 1986. p. 369
Mitchell,
G. (2009, Jul 11). King of pop: How "thriller" changed the music
business. Billboard - the International Newsweekly of Music, Video and
Home Entertainment, 121, 22-25.
Ben-Yehuda,
A. (2009, Jul 11). King of pop: Video thrilled the radio star.
Billboard - the International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home
Entertainment, 121, 26-27.
"Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
Note: User needs to enter "Michael Jackson" in the "Search" field,
"Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Go" button. Select
"More info" next to the relevant entry to see full certification
history.
Jackson performing in 1988, during the Bad World Tour
Born Michael Joseph Jackson August 29, 1958 Gary, Indiana, U.S. Died June 25, 2009 (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S. Cause of death Cardiac arrest induced by propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication Resting place Glendale, California, U.S. Residence Los Olivos, California, U.S. Occupation Singer songwriter dancer actor record producer businessman philanthropist Net worth Increase U.S. $1.178 billion (2009 estimate)[1] Religion Jehovah's Witness (1965–1987) Christianity (1987–2009) Spouse(s) Lisa Marie Presley (m. 1994–1996; divorced) Deborah Jeanne Rowe (m. 1996–1999; divorced) Children Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson Prince Michael Jackson II Parent(s) Joseph Walter Jackson Katherine Esther Scruse Relatives See Jackson family Musical career Genres Pop soul rhythm and blues funk rock disco post-disco dance-pop new jack swing Instruments Vocals Years active 1964–2009 Labels Steeltown Motown Epic Legacy Sony MJJ Productions Associated acts The Jackson 5 Signature Michael Jackson's signature
Michael Joseph Jackson[2][3] (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called the King of Pop,[4][5][6] 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 artists of various music genres.
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), and 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. His other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records, 13 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award, 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 during his solo career,—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and estimated sales of over 400 million records worldwide.[Note 1] Jackson has won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music.[7] He 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.[8] 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.[9]
Aspects of Michael 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.[10] 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. 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.[11] Forbes currently ranks Jackson as the top-earning dead celebrity, a title held for a fifth consecutive year, with $140 million in earnings.[12]
Contents
1 Life and career 1.1 1958–75: Early life and the Jackson 5 1.2 1975–81: Move to Epic and Off the Wall 1.3 1982–83: Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever 1.4 1984–85: Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career 1.5 1986–90: Appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography, and Neverland 1.6 1991–93: Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII 1.7 1993–94: First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage 1.8 1995–99: HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood 1.9 2000–03: Label dispute and Invincible 1.10 2003–05: Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal 1.11 2006–09: Closure of Neverland, final years, and This Is It 2 Death and memorial 2.1 Aftermath 3 Artistry 3.1 Influences 3.2 Musical themes and genres 3.3 Vocal style 3.4 Music videos and choreography 4 Legacy and influence 5 Honors and awards 6 Earnings and wealth 6.1 U.S. Federal estate tax problems 7 Discography 8 Filmography 9 Tours 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 12.1 Bibliography 13 External links Life and career
1958–75: Early life and the Jackson 5
The single-storey house has white walls, two windows, a central white door with a black door frame, and a black roof. In front of the house there is a walk way and multiple colored flowers and memorabilia.
Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children in an African-American working-class family who lived in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana, an industrial city and a part of the Chicago metropolitan area.[13][14] His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness. She once aspired to be a country-and-western performer who played clarinet and piano, but worked part-time at Sears to help support the family.[15] His father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U.S. Steel. Joe also performed on guitar with a local rhythm and blues band called the Falcons to supplement the family's household income.[16] Michael grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy).[17] A sixth brother, Marlon's elder twin Brandon, died shortly after birth.[18]
Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe.[19][20] In 2003, Joe acknowledged that he regularly whipped Jackson as a boy.[21] Joe was also said to have verbally abused his son, often saying that he had a "fat nose".[22] Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success.[19] Speaking openly about his childhood in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993, Jackson acknowledged that his youth had been lonely and isolating.[23] Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant, especially with his father, and to remain childlike throughout his adult life, are consistent with the effects of the maltreatment he endured as a young child.[24]
In an interview with Martin Bashir, later included in the 2003 broadcast of Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him when he was a child, recalling that Joseph often sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you."[25][26] Both of Jackson's parents have disagreed with the longstanding allegations of abuse, with Katherine stating that while the whippings are considered abuse today, such action was a common way to discipline children back then.[27][28][29] Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon have also said that their father is not abusive, but rather misunderstood.[30]
Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972. In 1965, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by their father and which included brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine.[31] In 1966, Jackson began sharing lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to the Jackson 5.[17] That following year, the group won a major local talent show with Jackson performing the dance to Robert Parker's 1965 hit "Barefootin'".[32] From 1966 to 1968 the band toured the Midwest, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit" as the opening act for artists such as Sam & Dave, the O'Jays, Gladys Knight, and Etta James. The Jackson 5 also performed at clubs and cocktail lounges, where striptease shows and other adult acts were featured, and at local auditoriums and high school dances.[33][34] In August 1967, while touring the East coast, the group won a weekly amateur night concert at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.[35]
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy" (1968), their first single, for Steeltown Records, a Gary, Indiana, record label,[36] before signing with Motown in 1969.[17] The Jackson 5 left Gary in 1969 and relocated to the Los Angeles area, where they continued to record music for Motown.[37] The magazine Rolling Stone later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."[38] The group set a chart record when its first four singles—"I Want You Back" (1969), "ABC" (1970), "The Love You Save" (1970), and "I'll Be There" (1970)—peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[17] In May 1971, the Jackson family moved into a large home on two-acre estate in Encino, California,[39] where Michael evolved from child performer into a teen idol.[40] As Jackson began to emerge as a solo performer in the early 1970s, he continued to maintain ties to the Jackson 5 and Motown. Between 1972, when his solo career began, and 1975, Michael released four solo studio albums with Motown: Got to Be There (1972), Ben (1972), Music & Me (1973), and Forever, Michael (1975).[41] "Got to Be There" and "Ben", the title tracks from his first two solo albums, both became successful singles, as did a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin".[42]
The Jackson 5 were later described as "a cutting-edge example of black crossover artists."[43] Although the group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's refusal to allow them creative control or input, they continued to score several top 40 hits, including the top five single "Dancing Machine" (1974), before the group left Motown in 1975.[44]
1975–81: Move to Epic and Off the Wall
In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records,[44] and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine chose to stay with Motown and pursue a solo career.[45] The Jacksons continued to tour internationally, and released six more albums between 1976 and 1984. Michael, the group's lead songwriter during this time, wrote hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), "This Place Hotel" (1980), and "Can You Feel It" (1980).[31] Jackson's work in film began in 1978, when he starred as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, a musical directed by Sidney Lumet that also starred Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross.[46] The film was a box-office disaster.[47] While working on the film Jackson met Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score, and Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.[48] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.[49]
Off the Wall (1979), which Jones and Jackson co-produced, established Jackson as a solo performer. The album helped Jackson transition from the "bubblegum pop" of his youth to the more complex sounds he would create as an adult.[40] Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Off the Wall was the first solo album to generate four top 10 hits in the United States: "Off the Wall", "She’s Out of My Life", and the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".[50][51] The album reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[52] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[53][54] He also won Billboard Year-End awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album, and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 1979 with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[55] In 1981 Jackson was the American Music Awards winner for Favorite Soul/R&B Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist.[56] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.[57] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.[58]
1982–83: Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever In 1982, Jackson combined his interests in songwriting and film when he contributed the song "Someone in the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The song, with Quincy Jones as its producer, won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children for 1983.[59] Even more success came after the release of Thriller in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys[59] and eight American Music Awards, including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it.[60]
Thriller was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983.[61][62] It became the best-selling album of all time in the United States,[63] and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies.[64] The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[65] In March 2009 Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA,[66] giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. Thriller won Jackson and Quincy Jones the Grammy award for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) for 1983. It also won Album of the Year, with Jackson as the album's artist and Jones as its co-producer, and a Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Beat It" won Record of the Year, with Jackson as artist and Jones as co-producer, and a Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male, award for Jackson. "Billie Jean" won Jackson two Grammy awards, Best R&B Song, with Jackson as its songwriter, and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, as its artist.[59] Thriller also won another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work on the album.[67] The AMA Awards for 1984 provided Jackson with an Award of Merit and AMAs for Favorite Male Artist, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Male Artist, Pop/Rock. "Beat It" won Jackson AMAs for Favorite Video, Soul/R&B, Favorite Video, Pop/Rock, and Favorite Single, Pop/Rock. Thriller won him AMAs for Favorite Album, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Album, Pop/Rock.[60][68]
In addition to the award-winning album, Jackson released "Thriller", a fourteen-minute music video short directed by John Landis, in 1983.[69] It "defined music videos and broke racial barriers" on the Music Television Channel (MTV), a fledgling entertainment television channel at the time.[40] In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the music video for "Thriller" for inclusion in the National Film Registry. It was one of twenty-five films named that year as "works of enduring importance to American culture" that would be "preserved for all time."[70][71] The zombie-themed "Thriller" is the first and, as of 2009, the only music video to be inducted into the registry.[69][71][72]
Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.[73] Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple."[74] In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.[59] Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".[73] The New York Times wrote that, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".[75]
A defining point in Jackson's career took place on March 25, 1983, when he reunited with his brothers for a legendary live performance, which was taped at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special. The show aired on May 16, 1983, to an estimated audience of 47 million viewers, and featured the Jacksons and other Motown stars.[76] The show is best remembered for Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean", which earned Jackson his first Emmy nomination.[77] Wearing a distinctive black-sequined jacket and a golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his signature dance move, the moonwalk, which former Soul Train dancer and Shalamar member Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years earlier.[78] Jackson originally turned down the invitation to perform at the show, believing he had been doing too much television at the time; however at the request of Berry Gordy, Jackson relented and agreed to perform at the show in exchange for time to do a solo performance.[79] According to Rolling Stone reporter Mikal Gilmore, "There are times when you know you are hearing or seeing something extraordinary...that came that night."[40] Jackson's performance drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and the Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.[80] Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times later wrote, "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How does he do it? As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."[81] Berry Gordy said of the performance, "from the first beat of Billie Jean, I was mesmerized, and when he did his iconic moonwalk, I was shocked, it was magic, Michael Jackson went into orbit, and never came down."[82]
1984–85: Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career By the mid-1980s, Jackson's award-winning musical career contributed to his commercial appeal, which proved to be substantial. In November 1983 he, along with his brothers, partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke advertising industry records for a celebrity endorsement. The first Pepsi campaign, which ran in the United States from 1983 to 1984 and launched its "New Generation" theme, included advertising, tour sponsorship, public relations events, and in-store displays. Jackson, who was actively involved in creating the iconic Pepsi advertisement, suggested using his song, "Billie Jean", as its musical jingle with a revised chorus.[83] According a Billboard report in 2009, Brian J. Murphy, executive VP of branded management at TBA Global, commented, "You couldn't separate the tour from the endorsement from the licensing of the music, and then the integration of the music into the Pepsi fabric."[83]
On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi Cola commercial that was overseen by executive Phil Dusenberry,[84] a BBDO ad agency executive, and Alan Pottasch, Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In front of a full house of fans during a simulated concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson's hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson underwent treatment to hide the scars on his scalp, and had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter.[49] Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California. Its Michael Jackson Burn Center is named in his honor.[85] Dusenberry later recounted the episode in his memoir, Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career in Advertising. Jackson signed a second agreement with Pepsi in the late 1980s for a reported $10 million. The second campaign had a global reach to more than twenty countries and provided financial support for Jackson's Bad album and his world tour in 1987–88.[83] Although Jackson had endorsements and advertising deals with other companies, such as LA Gear, Suzuki, and Sony, none were as significant as his deals with Pepsi, which later signed other music stars such as Britney Spears and Beyoncé to promote its products.[83][83][86]
President Reagan wearing a suit and tie stands at a podium and turns to smile at Mrs Reagan, who is wearing a white outfit, and Jackson, who is wearing a white shirt with a blue jacket and a yellow strap across his chest.
Jackson at the White House being presented with an award by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1984.
Jackson's humanitarian work was recognized on May 14, 1984, when he was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse,[87] and in recognition of his support for the Ad Council's and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Drunk Driving Prevention campaign. Jackson donated the use of "Beat It" for the campaign's public service announcements.[88]
Unlike later albums, Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the Victory Tour of 1984 headlined the Jacksons and showcased much of Jackson's new solo material to more than two million Americans. It was the last tour he would do with his brothers.[89] Following a controversy over the concert's ticket sales, Jackson held a press conference and announced that he would donate his share of the proceeds from the Victory Tour, an estimated $3 to 5 million, to charity.[90][91] Jackson's charitable work and humanitarian awards continued with the release of "We Are the World" (1985), which he co-wrote with Lionel Richie.[92] The song was recorded on January 28, 1985[93] and was released worldwide in March 1985 to aid the poor in the United States and Africa.[94] The song earned $63 million for famine relief,[94] and became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with 20 million copies sold.[95] "We Are the World" won four Grammys for 1985, including Song of the Year going to Jackson and Richie as its co-songwriters.[92] Although the American Music Award directors removed the charity song from the competition because they felt it would be inappropriate, the AMA show in 1986 concluded with a tribute to the song in honor of its first anniversary. The project's creators received two special AMA honors: one for the creation of the song and another for the USA for Africa idea. Jackson, Quincy Jones, and entertainment promoter Ken Kragan received special awards for their roles in creation of the song.[92][93][96][97]
Jackson's financial interests in the music publishing business expanded after Jackson collaborated with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s. He subsequently learned that McCartney was making approximately $40 million a year from other people's songs.[94] By 1983, Jackson had begun investing in publishing rights to songs that others had written, but he was careful with his acquisitions, only bidding on a few of the dozens that were offered to him. Jackson's early acquisitions of music catalogs and song copyrights such as the Sly Stone collection included "Everyday People" (1968), Len Barry's "1-2-3" (1965), and Dion DiMucci's "The Wanderer" (1961) and "Runaround Sue" (1961); however, Jackson's most significant purchase came in 1985, when he acquired the publishing rights to ATV Music Publishing after months of negotiation.[94] ATV had acquired the publishing rights to nearly 4000 songs, including the Northern Songs catalog that contained the majority of the Lennon–McCartney compositions recorded by the Beatles.[98]
In 1984 Robert Holmes à Court, the wealthy Australian investor who owned ATV Music Publishing, announced he was putting the ATV catalog up for sale.[98] In 1981, McCartney was offered the ATV music catalog for £20 million ($40 million).[94][99][100] According to McCartney, he contacted Yoko Ono about making a joint purchase by splitting the cost at £10 million each, but Ono thought they could buy it for £5 million each.[94][100] When they were unable to make a joint purchase, McCartney, who did not want to be the sole owner of the Beatles' songs, did not pursue an offer on his own.[99][100] According to a negotiator for Holmes à Court in the 1984 sale, "We had given Paul McCartney first right of refusal but Paul didn't want it at that time."[101]
Jackson was first informed about the sale by his attorney, John Branca, in September 1984.[98] An attorney for McCartney also assured Branca that McCartney was not interested in bidding. McCartney reportedly said "It's too pricey",[94][99] but several other companies and investors were interested in bidding. Jackson submitted a bid of $46 million on November 20, 1984.[98] His agents thought they had a deal several times, but encountered new bidders or new areas of debate. In May 1985, Jackson's team walked away from talks after having spent more than $1 million and four months of due diligence work on the negotiations.[98] In June 1985, Jackson and Branca learned that Charles Koppelman's and Marty Bandier's The Entertainment Company had made a tentative agreement with Holmes à Court to buy ATV Music for $50 million; however, in early August, Holmes à Court's team contacted Jackson and talks resumed. Jackson raised his bid to $47.5 million, which was accepted because he could close the deal more quickly, having already completed due diligence of ATV Music.[98] Jackson also agreed to visit Holmes à Court in Australia, where he would appear on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon.[101] Jackson's purchase of ATV Music was finalized on August 10, 1985.[98]
1986–90: Appearance, tabloids, Bad, films, autobiography, and Neverland
See also: Michael Jackson's health and appearance Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color for the duration of his youth, but starting in the mid-1980s it gradually grew paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that he might have been bleaching his skin.[102] According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1986 Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo, which Taraborrelli noted may be a consequence of skin bleaching. He claimed Jackson was diagnosed with lupus. The vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission. Both illnesses made his skin sensitive to sunlight. The treatments Jackson used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches he could appear very pale.[103] Jackson was also diagnosed with vitiligo in his autopsy, though not lupus.[104]
Jackson claimed he had only two rhinoplasties and no other surgery on his face, although at one point he mentioned having a dimple created in his chin. He lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire for "a dancer's body".[105] Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy, and speculated he was suffering from anorexia nervosa. Periods of weight loss would become a recurring problem later in life.[106]
During the course of his treatment, Jackson made two close friends: his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, and Klein's nurse Debbie Rowe. Rowe eventually became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two eldest children. He also relied heavily on Klein for medical and business advice.[107]
Jackson became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box. Although the claim was untrue, according to tabloid reports that are widely cited, Jackson had disseminated the fabricated story himself.[108] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called Bubbles from a laboratory, he was reported to be increasingly detached from reality.[109] It was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "Elephant Man") and, although untrue, Jackson did not deny the story.[110] Although he initially saw these stories as opportunities for publicity, he stopped leaking untruths to the press as they became more sensational. Consequently, the media began making up their own stories.[108][111][112] These reports became embedded in the public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson came to despise.[3][113] Responding to the gossip, Jackson remarked to Taraborrelli:
"Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars? Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight," people would say, "Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth."[114]
A black jacket with five round golden medals on its left and right shoulders, a gold band on its left arm sleeve, and two belt straps on the right bottom sleeve. Underneath the jacket is a golden belt, with a round ornament in its center. Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt during the Bad era.
Jackson collaborated with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 17-minute 3D film Captain EO, which debuted in September 1986 at both the original Disneyland and at Epcot in Florida, and in March 1987 at Tokyo Disneyland. The $30 million movie was a popular attraction at all three parks. A Captain EO attraction was later featured at Euro Disneyland after that park opened in 1992. All four parks' Captain EO installations stayed open well into the 1990s: the Paris installation was the last one to close, in 1998.[115] The attraction would later return to Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.[116]
In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the Thriller video.[117][118] With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated.[119]
Jackson performing in 1988.
The album spawned seven hit singles in the U.S., five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana") reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This was a record for most number one Hot 100 singles from any one album, including Thriller.[120] As of 2012, the album sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide.[121][122][123][124] Thanks to the Bad album, Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1989.[59][67] In the same year, Jackson won an Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards because Bad is the first album ever to generate five number one singles in the U.S., the first album to top in 25 countries, and the best-selling album worldwide in 1987 and 1988.[125][126][127][128] In 1988, "Bad" won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single.[129]
The Bad World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989.[130] In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.[131] Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium.[132] He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people.[133]
In 1988, Jackson released his only autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies.[134] Jackson wrote about his childhood, the Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered.[135] He also wrote about his facial appearance.[105] He attributed much of the change in the structure of his face to puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style, and stage lighting.[105] Moonwalk reached the top position on The New York Times best sellers' list.[136] The musician then released a film called Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films that starred Jackson and Joe Pesci. The film was originally intended to be released to theaters, but due to financial issues, the film was released direct-to-video. It saw a theatrical release in Germany, though. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues.[137]
In March 1988, Jackson purchased land near Santa Ynez, California, to build Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million.[138] He installed several carnival rides on the 2,700-acre (11 km2) property, including a Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a menagerie, as well as a movie theater and a zoo.[138][139][140] A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds.[139] In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.[141] In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts were estimated at $125 million for that year alone.[142] Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television ad in the Soviet Union.[137]
His success resulted in him being dubbed the "King of Pop".[4][5][6] The nickname was popularized by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul."[143] President George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade".[144] From 1985 to 1990, he donated $455,000 to the United Negro College Fund,[145] and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.[146] Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration allowed Jackson to receive his second Emmy nomination.[77][137]
1991–93: Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal at the time,[147] displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records.[148] In 1991, he released his eighth album, Dangerous, co-produced with Teddy Riley.[149] Dangerous was certified seven times platinum in the U.S., and, as of 2008, has approximately sold 30 million copies worldwide.[150][151] In the United States, the album's first single "Black or White" was its biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide.[152] The album's second single "Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[153] At the end of 1992, Dangerous was awarded the best-selling album of the year worldwide and "Black or White" was awarded best-selling single of the year worldwide at the Billboard Music Awards. Additionally, he won an award as best-selling artist of the 1980s.[154] In 1993, Jackson performed the song at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in rehearsals.[155] In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.[153]
Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war, poverty, and disease. In the same year, Jackson published his second book, the bestselling collection of poetry, Dancing the Dream. While it was a commercial success, and revealed a more intimate side to Jackson's nature, the collection was mostly critically unacclaimed at the time of its release. In 2009, the book was republished by Doubleday and was more positively received by some critics in the wake of Jackson's untimely death. The Dangerous World Tour grossed $100 million. The tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 70 concerts.[153][156] He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.[157]
Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.[158][159] In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them Gabon and Egypt.[160] His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable and enthusiastic reception of more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home Michael."[160] In his trip to Ivory Coast, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief.[160] He then thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed official documents formalizing his kingship, and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.[160]
In January 1993, Jackson made an appearance at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in Pasadena, California. Because of dwindling interest during halftime in the years before, the NFL decided to seek big-name talent that would keep viewers and ratings high, with Jackson being selected because of his popularity and universal appeal.[161] It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during the half-time show to more than the game itself. The performance began with Jackson catapulting onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvas, he maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for a minute and a half while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and sang four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White", and "Heal the World". Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90 places up the album chart soon after.[102]
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey on February 10, 1993, his second television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he had vitiligo. Dangerous re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after its original release.[26][102][153]
In February 1993, Jackson was given the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. "Black or White" was Grammy-nominated for best vocal performance. "Jam" gained two nominations: Best R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.[153] The Dangerous album won a Grammy for Best Engineered – Non Classical, awarding the work of Bruce Swedien and Teddy Riley.[67] In the same year, Michael Jackson won three American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Dangerous), Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Remember the Time"), and was the first to win the International Artist Award, for his global performances and humanitarian concerns. This award will bear his name in the future.[162][163]
Also during this time, Jackson signed on to produce the soundtrack for Sega's 1994 video game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Jackson brought collaborators Brad Buxer, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby, and Cirocco Jones with him to help.[164][165][166] However, Jackson left the project before completion and was never officially credited with his work, with the official reason being given as him disliking the low quality synthesized audio chips inside the Sega Genesis, the console on which the game was played.[167][168][169]
1993–94: First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage
Main article: 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson
In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler and his father, Evan Chandler, a dentist.[170][171][172] The Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer initially refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that Jackson had sexually abused him.[110][173] Evan Chandler was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue charges, saying, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever..... Michael's career will be over". Jordan's mother was, however, adamant at the time that there had been no wrongdoing on Jackson's part.[172] Jackson later used the recording to argue that he was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to extort money from the singer.[172] In January 1994, however, after investigation on allegations of extortion against the singer by Chandler, deputy Los Angeles County district attorney Michael J. Montagna stated that Chandler would not be charged due to lack of cooperation from Jackson's camp and its willingness to negotiate with Chandler for several weeks among other reasons.[174]
In August 1993, Jackson's home was raided by the police who, according to court documents, found books and photographs in his bedroom featuring young boys with little or no clothing.[175] Since the books were legal to purchase and own, the jury decided not to indict Jackson.[176] In December 1993, Jackson was strip searched.[177] Jordan Chandler had reportedly given police a description of Jackson's intimate parts, and the strip search revealed that Jordan had correctly claimed Jackson had patchy-colored buttocks, short pubic hair, and pink and brown marked testicles.[177] Reportedly, Jordan had also previously drawn accurate pictures of a dark spot on Jackson's penis only visible when his penis was lifted.[178] Despite differing initial internal reports from prosecutors and investigators[179] and later, with reports of jurors feeling otherwise that the photos did not match the description,[180] the DA stated his belief in a sworn affidavit that the description was accurate,[181] along with the sheriff's photographer stating the description was accurate.[182] A 2004 motion filed by Jackson's defense asserted that Jackson was never criminally indicted by any grand jury and that his settlement admitted no wrongdoing and contained no evidence of criminal misconduct.[183]
The investigation was inconclusive and no charges were ever filed.[180] Jackson described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence.[170][177][184] On January 1, 1994, Jackson settled with the Chandlers out of court for $22 million. A Santa Barbara County grand jury and a Los Angeles County grand jury disbanded on May 2, 1994, without indicting Jackson,[185] and the Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994.[183][186][187] The out-of-court settlement's documentation specifically stated Jackson admitted no wrongdoing and no liability; the Chandlers and their family lawyer Larry Feldman signed it without contest.[188]
Feldman also explicitly stated "nobody bought anybody's silence".[189] A decade after the fact, during the second round of child abuse allegations, Jackson's lawyers would file a memo stating that the 1994 settlement was done without his consent.[183] A later disclosure by the FBI of investigation documents compiled over nearly 20 years led Jackson's attorney to suggest that no evidence of molestation or sexual impropriety from Jackson toward minors existed.[190] According to reports the DCFS had investigated Jackson beginning in 1993 with the Chandler allegation and again in 2003. Reports show the LAPD and DCFS did not find credible evidence of abuse or sexual misconduct.[191][192][193]
In May 1994, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. They had first met in 1975, when a seven-year-old Presley attended one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and were reconnected through a mutual friend.[194] According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A."[195] They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As the child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Presley for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.[196] Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it."[197] She eventually persuaded him to settle the civil case out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover.[196]
Jackson proposed to Presley over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?"[196] They married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy, denying it for nearly two months afterwards.[198] The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life..... that was sexually active".[199] At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image.[198] The marriage lasted less than two years and ended with an amicable divorce settlement.[200] In a 2010 interview with Oprah, Presley admitted that they had spent four more years after the divorce "getting back together and breaking up", until she decided to stop.[201]
1995–99: HIStory, second marriage, and fatherhood
In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million upfront as well as the rights to even more songs.[202][203] He then released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first disc, HIStory Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later reissued as Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001, while the second disc, HIStory Continues, contained 13 new songs and 2 cover versions. The album debuted at number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in the US.[204] It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.[152][205] HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.[206]
The first single released from the album was "Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet, performed with Jackson's youngest sister Janet. The song fights against the media, mainly for what the media made him out to be during his 1993 child abuse allegations. The single had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".[206] "You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from HIStory; it holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[142] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".[206]
Close-up of a pale skinned Jackson with black hair. He is wearing a black jacket with white designs on it. Michael Jackson at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for the Ghosts music video premiere. In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance; the incident was caused by a stress-related panic attack.[207] "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.[206] The track "They Don't Care About Us" became controversial when the Anti-Defamation League and other groups criticized its allegedly antisemitic lyrics. Jackson quickly put out a revised version of the song without the offending lyrics.[208] In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.[59][209]
The album was promoted with the successful HIStory World Tour. The tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, and grossed a total of $165 million. The show, which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures.[130] During the tour, Jackson married his longtime friend Deborah Jeanne Rowe, a dermatology nurse, in an impromptu ceremony in Sydney, Australia. Rowe was approximately six months pregnant with the couple's first child at the time. Originally, Rowe and Jackson had no plans to marry, but Jackson's mother Katherine persuaded them to do so.[210] Michael Joseph Jackson Jr (commonly known as Prince) was born on February 13, 1997; his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born a year later on April 3, 1998.[200][211] The couple divorced in 1999, and Jackson got full custody of the children. The divorce was relatively amicable, but a subsequent custody suit was not settled until 2006.[212][213]
In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies, it is the best selling remix album ever released.[214] It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track.[214][215] In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.[150][206] Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.[141] Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of charitable events. He joined Luciano Pavarotti for a benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the nonprofit organization War Child, and raised a million dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia, as well as additional funds for the children of Guatemala.[216] Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana, Andrea Bocelli, and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Red Cross and UNESCO.[217] From August 1999 through 2000, he lived in New York City at 4 East 74th Street.[218]
2000–03: Label dispute and Invincible
At the turn of the century, Jackson won an American Music Award as Artist of the 1980s.[219] Throughout 2000 and 2001, Jackson worked in the studio with Teddy Riley and Rodney Jerkins, as well as other collaborators. These sessions would result in the album Invincible, released in October 2001. Invincible was Jackson's first full-length album in six years, and it would be the last album of new material he released while still alive. The release of the album was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him sometime in the early 2000s. Once he had the licenses, he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and keep all the profits; however, clauses in the contract set the revert date years into the future. Jackson discovered that the attorney who had represented him in the deal had also been representing Sony.[215] Jackson was also concerned about the fact that for years, Sony had been pressuring him to sell his share in its music catalog venture. Jackson feared that Sony might have a conflict of interest, since if Jackson's career failed, he would have to sell his share of the catalog at a low price.[220] Jackson sought an early exit from his contract.[215]
In September 2001, two 30th Anniversary concerts were held at Madison Square Garden to mark the singer's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared onstage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also featured performances by Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, NSYNC, Destiny's Child, Monica, Luther Vandross, and Slash, among other artists.[221] The second of the two shows took place the night before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.[222] After 9/11, Jackson helped organize the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert took place on October 21, 2001, and included performances from dozens of major artists, including Jackson, who performed his song "What More Can I Give" as the finale.[220] Jackson's solo performances were omitted from the televised version of the benefit concert, although he could still be seen singing background vocals. This omission happened because of contractual issues related to the earlier 30th Anniversary concerts: those concerts were boiled down into a two-hour TV special titled Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration which debuted in November 2001.
In spite of the events preceding its release, Invincible came out in October 2001 to much anticipation. Invincible proved to be a hit, debuting atop the charts in 13 countries and going on to sell approximately 13 million copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in the U.S.[150][152] However, the sales for Invincible were lower than those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came out at a bad time for the music industry in general.[220] The album cost $30 million to record, not including promotional expenditures.[223] Invincible spawned three singles, "You Rock My World", "Cry", and "Butterflies", the latter without a music video. Jackson alleged in July 2002 that the-then Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and a "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own personal gain.[220] He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger".[224] Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $25 million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.[223]
In 2002, Michael Jackson won his 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century.[225] In the same year, Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born.[226] The mother's identity was not announced, but Jackson has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm.[212] On November 20 of that year, Jackson brought his infant son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, as fans stood below, holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face. The baby was briefly extended over a railing, four stories above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake".[227] Sony released Number Ones, a compilation of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the U.S., the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was certified six times platinum for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.[150][228]
2003–05: Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal
Further information: Living with Michael Jackson and Trial of Michael Jackson
Jackson in Las Vegas, 2003. Beginning in May 2002, Jackson allowed a documentary film crew, led by British TV personality Martin Bashir, to follow him around nearly everywhere he went. Bashir's film crew was with Jackson during the "baby-dangling incident" in Berlin. The program was broadcast in March 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson.
In a particularly controversial scene, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with a young boy.[229] As soon as the documentary aired, the Santa Barbara county attorney's office began a criminal investigation. After an initial probe from the LAPD and DCFS was conducted in February 2003, they had initially concluded that molestation allegations were "unfounded" at the time.[193] After the young boy involved in the documentary and his mother had told investigators that Jackson had behaved improperly with the boy, Jackson was arrested in November 2003, and was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the 13-year-old boy shown in the film.[229] Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature. The People v. Jackson trial began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria, California, and lasted five months, until the end of May. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted on all counts.[230][231][232] After the trial, in a highly publicized relocation he moved to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.[233] Bahrain was also where the family intended to send Jackson if he was convicted (though Jackson did not know about the plan), according to a statement by Jermaine Jackson printed in The Times of London in September 2011.[234]
2006–09: Closure of Neverland, final years, and This Is It
Jackson and his son Blanket in Disneyland Paris, 2006. In March 2006, the main house at the Neverland Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure.[235] There were numerous reports around that time that Jackson was having financial problems. Jackson had been delinquent on his repayments of a $270 million loan secured against his music-publishing holdings, even though those holdings were reportedly making him as much as $75 million a year.[236] Bank of America sold the debt to Fortress Investments. Sony reportedly proposed a restructuring deal which would give them a future option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly owned publishing company (leaving Jackson with a 25% stake).[203] Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed refinancing deal in April 2006, although the exact details were not made public.[237] Jackson did not have a recording contract in place with Sony or any other major record label at the time.
In early 2006, there was an announcement that Jackson had signed a contract with a Bahrain-based startup called Two Seas Records. However, nothing ever came of that deal, and the CEO of Two Seas, Guy Holmes, later stated that the deal had never been finalized.[238][239] Throughout 2006, Sony repackaged 20 singles from the 1980s and 1990s as the Michael Jackson: Visionary series, which subsequently became a box set. Most of those singles returned to the charts as a result. In September 2006, Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe confirmed reports that they had settled their long-running child custody suit. The terms were never made public. Jackson continued to be the custodial parent of the couple's two children.[213] In October 2006, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman said that Jackson had been recording at a studio in rural Westmeath, Ireland. It was not known at the time what Jackson might be working on, or who might be paying for the sessions, since his publicist had recently issued a statement claiming that he had left Two Seas.[239][240]
In November 2006, Jackson invited an Access Hollywood camera crew into the studio in Westmeath, and MSNBC broke the story that he was working on a new album, produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.[152] Jackson performed at the World Music Awards, in London on November 15, 2006, and accepted a Diamond Award for selling over 100 million records.[152][241] Jackson returned to the United States after Christmas 2006 to attend James Brown's funeral in Augusta, Georgia. He gave one of the eulogies, saying that "James Brown is my greatest inspiration."[242] In the spring of 2007, Jackson and Sony teamed up to buy yet another music publishing company: Famous Music LLC, formerly owned by Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.[243] Jackson recorded extensively during this period in New York with songwriter and producer will.i.am and also in Las Vegas with producers Akon and RedOne.[244][245] In March 2007, Jackson gave a brief interview to the Associated Press in Tokyo, where he said, "I've been in the entertainment industry since I was 6 years old, and as Charles Dickens would say, 'It's been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not change my career..... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."[246]
In March 2007, Jackson visited a U.S. Army post in Japan named Camp Zama to greet 3,000 plus U.S. troops and their families. The hosts presented Jackson with a Certificate of Appreciation for his devotion to U.S. Military troops and their families.[247]
In September 2007, Jackson was reportedly still working with will.i.am, but the album was apparently never completed.[248] However, in 2008, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the original Thriller. This album featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time" (an outtake from the original sessions) as well as remixes, where Jackson collaborated with younger artists who had been inspired by his work.[249] Two of the remixes were released as singles with only modest success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" (with will.i.am) and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" (with Akon). The first single was based on an early demo version, without Paul McCartney. The album itself was a hit, however.[249][250][251][252] In anticipation of Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of greatest-hits albums called King of Pop. Slightly different versions were released in various countries, based on polls of local fans.[253] King of Pop reached the top 10 in most countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in other countries (such as the United States).[254][255]
An aerial view of part of Jackson's 2,800-acre (11 km2) Neverland Valley Ranch near Los Olivos, California, showing the many rides. In late 2008, Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as collateral for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress opted to sell Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, which was a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. This deal cleared Jackson's debt, and he reportedly even gained an extra $35 million from the venture. At the time of his death, Jackson still owned a stake in Neverland/Sycamore Valley, but it was not announced how large that stake was.[256][257] In September 2008, Jackson entered negotiations with Julien's Auction House to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia amounting to approximately 1,390 lots. The auction was scheduled to take place between April 22 and 25.[258] An exhibition of the lots opened as scheduled on April 14, but the actual auction was eventually cancelled at Jackson's request.[259]
In March 2009, Jackson held a press conference at London's O2 Arena and announced a series of comeback concerts titled This Is It. The shows would be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson suggested possible retirement after the shows; he said it would be his "final curtain call". The initial plan was for 10 concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone would earn the singer approximately £50 million.[260] The London residency was increased to 50 dates after record breaking ticket sales: over one million were sold in less than two hours.[261] Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place at the Staples Center, which was owned by AEG.[262] The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009, and finished on March 6, 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest.[263] Some time before his death, it was reported that he was starting a clothing line with Christian Audigier.[264][265]
Jackson's first posthumous song released entirely by his Estate was titled "This Is It" which Jackson co-wrote in the 1980s with Paul Anka. It was not on the set lists for the concerts, and the recording was based on an old demo tape. The surviving brothers reunited in the studio for the first time since 1989 to record backing vocals. On October 28, 2009, a documentary film about the rehearsals titled Michael Jackson's This Is It was released.[266] Even though it ran for a limited two-week engagement, it became the highest grossing documentary or concert movie of all time, with earnings of more than $260 million worldwide.[267] Jackson's estate received 90% of the profits.[268] The film was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name. Two versions of the new song appear on the album, which also featured original masters of Jackson's hits in the order in which they appear in the movie, along with a bonus disc with previously unreleased versions of more Jackson hits as well as a spoken-word poem titled "Planet Earth".[269] At the 2009 American Music Awards, Jackson won four posthumous awards, two for him and two for his album Number Ones, bringing his total American Music Awards to 26.[270][271]
Death and memorial
Main articles: Death of Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson memorial service Jackson's Star with flowers and notes on it Fans flocked to Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, adorning it with flowers and notes on the day of his death. On June 25, 2009, Jackson died while lying in his bed at his rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by Conrad Murray, his personal physician, were unsuccessful.[272] Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 pm (PDT, 19:22 UTC), arriving three minutes later at Jackson's location.[273][274] He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed.[275] Resuscitation efforts continued en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after arriving there at 1:13 pm (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm local time (21:26 UTC).[276][277] Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief.[272]
The news spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user overload. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times suffered outages.[278] Google initially believed that the input from millions of people searching for Michael Jackson meant that the search engine was under DDoS attack, and blocked searches related to Michael Jackson for 30 minutes. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia at 3:15 pm PDT (22:15 UTC).[279] The Wikimedia Foundation reported nearly a million visitors to Jackson's biography within one hour, probably the most visitors in a one-hour period to any article in Wikipedia's history.[280] AOL Instant Messenger collapsed for 40 minutes. AOL called it a "seminal moment in Internet history", adding, "We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."[281]
Around 15% of Twitter posts (5,000 tweets per minute) reportedly mentioned Jackson after the news broke,[282][283] compared to the 5% recalled as having mentioned the Iranian elections or the flu pandemic that had made headlines earlier in the year.[283] Overall, web traffic ranged from 11% to at least 20% higher than normal.[282][284] MTV and BET aired marathons of Jackson's music videos.[285] Jackson specials aired on multiple television stations around the world. The British soap opera EastEnders added a last-minute scene, in which one character tells another about the news, to the June 26 episode.[286]
Jackson's tomb in the Holly Terrace of the Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale. Jackson's memorial was held on July 7, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Because of the high demand, organizers of the service fashioned a lottery style distribution method to give out tickets to members of the public. Applications were submitted by 1.6 million fans for tickets to the service over the two-day period that registration was open. A total of 8,750 names were drawn at random to decide who to distribute tickets to, with each recipient receiving two tickets each.[287] Jackson's casket was present during the memorial but no information was released about the final disposition of the body. The memorial service was one of the most watched events in online streaming history.[288] The U.S. audience was estimated by Nielsen to be 31.1 million, an amount comparable to the estimated 35.1 million that watched the 2004 burial of former president Ronald Reagan, and the estimated 33.1 million Americans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess Diana.[289]
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the event. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read "We had him", a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.[290] The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."[291] The memorial is best remembered for when Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, speaking publicly for the first time cried as she told the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine..... I just wanted to say I love him..... so much."[292][293] Reverend Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer.[294] On August 24, several news outlets quoted anonymous sources as stating that the Los Angeles coroner had decided to treat Jackson's death as a homicide; this was later confirmed by the coroner on August 28.[295][296] At the time of death, Jackson had been administered propofol, lorazepam, and midazolam.[297] Law enforcement officials conducted a manslaughter investigation of his personal physician Conrad Murray, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles on February 8, 2010.[298] Jackson's body was entombed on September 3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[299]
Portrait and other tributes, including mural and messages from 650 Spanish fans, letters, pictures, teddy bears, and flowers. Tribute of fans from all over the world in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park on the first anniversary of his death. On June 25, 2010, the first anniversary of Jackson's death, fans traveled to Los Angeles to pay their tribute to him. They visited Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his family's home, as well as Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Many of the fans were carrying sunflowers and other tribute items to drop off at the sites. Members of the Jackson family and close friends arrived to pay their respects.[300][301] Katherine returned to Gary, Indiana to unveil a granite monument constructed in the front yard of the family home. The memorial continued with a candlelight vigil and a special performance of "We Are the World".[302][303] On June 26, there was a protest march in front of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division at the old Parker Center building and a petition with thousands of signatures demanding justice was delivered.[304][305] The Jackson Family Foundation in conjunction with Voiceplate presented "Forever Michael", an event bringing together Jackson family members, celebrities, fans, supporters and the community to celebrate and honor his legacy. A portion of the proceeds were presented to some of Jackson's favorite charities. Katherine also introduced her new book "Never Can Say Goodbye".[306][307][308]
Aftermath
After his death, Jackson became the best-selling albums artist of 2009. He sold more than 8.2 million albums in the United States, and a total of 35 million albums worldwide, in the 12 months that followed his death.[309][310] Jackson became the first artist to sell one million downloads in a week in download history, with a record-breaking 2.6 million downloads of his songs. After his death, three of his albums sold more than any new album, which was the first time a catalog album has ever scanned more sales than any new album.[311] Jackson also became the first artist in history to have four of the top 20 best selling albums in a single year in the United States.[309] Following this surge in sales, Sony announced that they had extended their relationship with his material. The distribution rights held by Sony Music were due to expire in 2015.[312] On March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment, in a move spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label Group division, signed a new deal with the Jackson estate to extend their distribution rights to his back catalogue until at least 2017, as well as to obtain permission to release ten new albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work.[313]
On November 4, 2010, Sony announced the release of Michael, the first posthumous album set to be released on December 14, with the promotional single released to the radios on November 8, titled "Breaking News".[314] The deal was unprecedented in the music industry as it is the most expensive music contract pertaining to a single artist in history; it reportedly involved Sony Music paying $250 million for the deal, with the Jackson estate getting the full sum as well as its share of royalties for all works released.[312][315] Video game developer Ubisoft announced it would release a new dancing-and-singing game featuring Michael Jackson for the 2010 holiday season. The game titled Michael Jackson: The Experience was among the first to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the respective motion-detecting camera systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.[316]
On November 3, 2010, the theatrical performing company Cirque du Soleil announced that it would launch Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour in October 2011 in Montreal, while a permanent show will reside in Las Vegas.[317] The 90-minute $57-million production will combine Jackson's iconic musical oeuvre and choreography with the Cirque's signature artistry, dance and aerial displays involving 65 artists.[318] The tour was written and directed by Jamie King[319] and centers on Jackson's "inspirational Giving Tree – the wellspring of creativity where his love of music and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature are unlocked."[320] On October 3, 2011, the accompanying compilation soundtrack album Immortal was announced to have over 40 Jackson's original recordings re-produced by Kevin Antunes.[321] A second, larger and more theatrical Cirque show entitled Michael Jackson: One designed for residency at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas was announced on February 21, 2013. This show, whose production was written and directed by Jamie King who produced the Immortal show, began its run on May 23, 2013 in a newly renovated theater to both critical and commercial success.[322][323][324][325]
In 2011, it was revealed that Jackson had recorded in 1981–1983 with Freddie Mercury, including a demo of "State of Shock," "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This."[326] These recordings were originally intended for a full-length album of duets but, according to Queen's then-manager, Jim Beach, the relationship between the two singers soured when Jackson insisted on bringing a llama into the recording studio.[327] None of these collaborations were officially released, although bootleg recordings exist. Jackson went on to record the single "State of Shock" with Mick Jagger for the Jacksons' album Victory.[328] Mercury included the solo version of "There Must Be More To Life Than This" on his Mr. Bad Guy album.[329] In November 2011, Brian May announced that a series of duets that Mercury recorded with Jackson were to be released in 2012.[330] He later updated the release date to autumn of 2013 and then to 2014.[331]
In April 2011, Jackson's longtime friend and billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, chairman of Fulham Football Club, unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage.[332] Fulham fans were bemused by the statue and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club.[333] Al Fayed defended the statue and told the fans to "go to hell" if they did not appreciate it.[332] The statue was removed in September 2013.[334]
In 2012, in an attempt to end family public feuding, Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson retracted his signature on a letter made public criticizing executors of Michael Jackson's estate and his mother's advisers concerning the legitimacy of his brother's will.[335] T.J. Jackson, son of Tito Jackson, was given co-guardianship of Michael Jackson's children after false reports surfaced of Katherine Jackson going missing.[336]
On May 16, 2013, choreographer Wade Robson alleged on The Today Show that Jackson "performed sexual acts on me and forced me to perform sexual acts on him" for 7 years, beginning when Robson was 7 years old.[337] Robson had previously testified in defence of Jackson at the singer's 2005 child molestation trial.[338] The attorney for Jackson's estate described Robson's claim as "outrageous and pathetic".[339] The date for the hearing which will determine whether Robson can sue Jackson's estate was scheduled for June 2, 2014.[340] In February 2014, the Internal Revenue Service reported that Jackson's estate owed them $702 million, including $505 million in taxes and $197 million in penalties after they claimed the estate undervalued Jackson's fortune.[341]
On March 31, 2014, Epic Records announced that an album of eight songs of unreleased material culled from past recording sessions would be issued under the title, Xscape.[342] It was released on May 13, 2014.[343] On May 12, 2014, another young man, Jimmy Safechuck, sued Jackson's estate, claiming Jackson sexually abused him "from the age of 10 to about 14 or 15" in the 1980s.[344] During the 2014 Billboard Music Awards on May 18, a "Pepper's ghost" likeness of Jackson appeared, dancing to "Slave to the Rhythm", one of the tracks from Xscape.[345]
Jackson's earnings have exponentially increased following his sudden death in comparison to his final years alive. According to Forbes, he is the top-earning dead celebrity each year since his death, with triple-digit millions per annum ($140 million in 2014).[12]
Artistry
Influences
Silver-colored statue of Jackson standing up with his arms bent inward and both legs spaced apart. One of many identical statues, based on Diana Walczak's original HIStory statue, positioned throughout Europe to promote HIStory. Jackson had been influenced by the work of musicians such as Little Richard, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, Fred Astaire,[346] Sammy Davis Jr.,[346] Gene Kelly,[347] David Ruffin,[348] the Isley Brothers, the Bee Gees, and the West Side Story dancers, to whom he made a tribute in "Beat It" and in the "Bad" video.[349] According to David Winters, who met and befriended Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana Ross TV special Diana!, Jackson watched West Side Story almost every week, and it was his favorite film.[350][351][352] While Little Richard had a substantial influence on Jackson,[353] James Brown was Jackson's greatest inspiration. In reference to Brown, Jackson declared: "Ever since I was a small child, no more than like six years old, my mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work. And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I had never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right then and there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown."[354]
The young Michael Jackson owed his vocal technique in large part to Diana Ross. Not only a mother figure to him, she was often observed in rehearsal as an accomplished performer. He later expressed: "I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way she moved, the way she sang – just the way she was." He told her: "I want to be just like you, Diana." She said: "You just be yourself."[355] But Jackson owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of the oooh interjection—to Ross. From a young age, Jackson often punctuated his verses with a sudden exclamation of oooh. Diana Ross had used this effect on many of the songs recorded with the Supremes.[356]
Musical themes and genres
Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper. Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder, and when recording he would sing the lyrics from memory.[357] In most of his songs, such as "Billie Jean", "Who Is It", and "Tabloid Junkie", he would beatbox and imitate the instruments using his voice instead of playing the actual instruments, along with other sounds. Jackson noted that it is easier to sing a drum line, or sing a bass, instead of playing a drum line or a bass with an instrument. Several critics have said that Jackson's distinct voice was able to replace any instrument convincingly. Steve Huey of AllMusic said that, throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to experiment with various themes and genres.[3] As a musician, he explored a variety of music genres, including pop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, rock, disco, post-disco, dance-pop and new jack swing.[3][139][358][359][360][361]
Black and white photo of Jackson holding a microphone and singing. Jackson in 1988, in Vienna, Austria, during his Bad World Tour. According to Huey, Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.[3] Notable tracks included the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature" and "The Girl Is Mine"; the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[3][362][363][364] With Thriller, Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone commented that Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery.[364] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[362] In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers.[3] In "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media.[364] "Beat It" decried gang violence in an homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey.[3][38] He also observed that the title track "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent years.[3] In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona.[3]
"Thriller"
Menu 0:00 One of Jackson's signature pieces, "Thriller", released as a single in 1984, utilizes cinematic sound effects, horror film motifs and vocal trickery to convey a sense of danger.[48] "Smooth Criminal"
Menu 0:00 A single from the album Bad, released 1988, "Smooth Criminal" features digital drum sounds, keyboard-created bass lines and other percussion elements designed to give the impression of a pulsing heart.[365] "Black or White"
Menu 0:00 The lead single from Dangerous, "Black or White" is a danceable rock song with hard rock elements. It was one of Jackson's most successful recordings.[366][367] Problems playing these files? See media help. In Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover can be seen on the rock song "Dirty Diana".[368] The lead single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "Man in the Mirror" is an anthemic ballad of confession and resolution. "Smooth Criminal" was an evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely murder.[119] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that Dangerous presents Jackson as a very paradoxical individual.[369] He comments the album is more diverse than his previous Bad, as it appeals to an urban audience while also attracting the middle class with anthems like "Heal the World".[369] The first half of the record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like "Jam" and "Remember the Time".[370] The album is Jackson's first where social ills become a primary theme; "Why You Wanna Trip on Me", for example, protests against world hunger, AIDS, homelessness and drugs.[370] Dangerous contains sexually charged efforts such as the multifaceted love song, "In the Closet".[370] The title track continues the theme of the predatory lover and compulsive desire.[370] The second half includes introspective, pop-gospel anthems such as "Will You Be There", "Heal the World" and "Keep the Faith"; these songs show Jackson opening up about various personal struggles and worries.[370] In the ballad "Gone Too Soon", Jackson gives tribute to his friend Ryan White and the plight of those with AIDS.[371]
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia.[372] Its content focuses on the hardships and public struggles Jackson went through just prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk-rock efforts "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", along with the R&B ballad "You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs much of his anger at the media.[373] In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments over his "fall from grace", while songs like "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little Susie" and "Smile" are all operatic pop pieces.[372][373] In the track "D.S.", Jackson launched a verbal attack against Tom Sneddon. He describes Sneddon as an antisocial, white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Of the song, Sneddon said, "I have not—shall we say—done him the honor of listening to it, but I've been told that it ends with the sound of a gunshot".[374] Invincible found Jackson working heavily with producer Rodney Jerkins.[3] It is a record made up of urban soul like "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn", and "Butterflies" and mixes hip hop, pop, and R&B in "2000 Watts", "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible".[375][376]
Vocal style
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed noticeably. Between 1971 and 1975, Jackson's voice descended from boy soprano to high tenor.[377] His vocal range as an adult was F2-E♭6. Jackson first used a technique called the "vocal hiccup" in 1973, starting with the song "It's Too Late to Change the Time" from the Jackson 5's G.I.T.: Get It Together album.[378] Jackson did not use the hiccup technique—somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping—fully until the recording of Off the Wall: it can be seen in full force in the "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" promotional video.[44] With the arrival of Off the Wall in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded. At the time, Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder. Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly".[358][379] 1982 saw the release of Thriller, and Rolling Stone was of the opinion that Jackson was then singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".[364]
A distinctive deliberate mispronunciation of "come on", used frequently by Jackson, occasionally spelled "c'mon", "cha'mone", or "shamone", is also a staple in impressions and caricatures of him.[380] The turn of the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album Dangerous. The New York Times noted that on some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone".[370] When singing of brotherhood or self-esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals.[370] When commenting on Invincible, Rolling Stone were of the opinion that—at the age of 43—Jackson still performed "exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies".[381] Nelson George summed up Jackson's vocals by stating "The grace, the aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the falsetto, the smoothness—that combination of elements mark him as a major vocalist".[365]
Very concerned about a transparent rendition of this identity, the sound engineer Bruce Swedien opted for some technical approaches and studio strategies aiming at keeping as truly as possible the singer's intimate and natural expressions: mikes, analogic recordings, special techniques elaborated to design vocal prisms, creation of natural acoustic spaces, conversion of stereophonic fields in tri-dimensional sound spaces playing with early reflections, plywood, Monstercable or Tubetraps.[382]
Music videos and choreography
Jackson has been called the King of Music Videos.[383] Steve Huey of AllMusic observed how Jackson transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances, simultaneously breaking down racial barriers.[3] Before Thriller, Jackson struggled to receive coverage on MTV, allegedly because he was African American.[384] Pressure from CBS Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, also helping other black music artists gain recognition.[385] MTV employees deny any racism in their coverage, or pressure to change their stance. MTV maintains that they played rock music, regardless of race.[386] The popularity of his videos on MTV helped to put the relatively young channel "on the map"; MTV's focus shifted in favor of pop and R&B.[385][387] His performance on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever changed the scope of live stage show; "That Jackson lip-synced 'Billie Jean' is, in itself, not extraordinary, but the fact that it did not change the impact of the performance is extraordinary; whether the performance was live or lip-synced made no difference to the audience" thus creating an era in which artists re-create the spectacle of music video imagery on stage.[388] Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has frequently been imitated.[389] The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Indian films to prisons in the Philippines.[390] The Thriller short film marked an increase in scale for music videos, and has been named the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records.[142]
In the 19-minute music video for "Bad"—directed by Martin Scorsese—Jackson began using sexual imagery and choreography not previously seen in his work. He occasionally grabbed or touched his chest, torso and crotch. When asked by Oprah in the 1993 interview about why he grabbed his crotch, he replied, "I think it happens subliminally" and he described it as something that was not planned, but rather, as something that was compelled by the music. "Bad" garnered a mixed reception from both fans and critics; Time magazine described it as "infamous". The video also featured Wesley Snipes; in the future Jackson's videos would often feature famous cameo roles.[111][391] For the "Smooth Criminal" video, Jackson experimented with an anti-gravity lean where the performer leans forward at a 45 degree angle, beyond the performer's center of gravity. To accomplish this move live, Jackson and designers developed a special shoe that locks the performer's feet to the stage, allowing them to lean forward. They were granted U.S. Patent 5,255,452 for the device.[392] Although the music video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released in the US, in 1989 it was nominated for three Billboard Music Video Awards;[393] the same year it won a Golden Lion Award for the quality of the special effects used in its production. In 1990, "Leave Me Alone" won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.[137]
He received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1988 and the MTV Video Vanguard Artist of the Decade Award in 1990 to celebrate his accomplishments in the art form in the 1980s; in 1991 the first award was renamed in his honor.[153] "Black or White" was accompanied by a controversial music video, which, on November 14, 1991, simultaneously premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million people, the largest viewing ever for a music video at that time.[152] It featured scenes construed as having a sexual nature as well as depictions of violence. The offending scenes in the final half of the 14-minute version were edited out to prevent the video from being banned, and Jackson apologized.[394] Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton, and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as an important technology in music videos.[395]
"Remember the Time" was an elaborate production, and became one of his longest videos at over nine minutes. Set in ancient Egypt, it featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, and Magic Johnson, along with a distinct complex dance routine.[396] The video for "In the Closet" was Jackson's most sexually provocative piece. It featured supermodel Naomi Campbell in a courtship dance with Jackson. The video was banned in South Africa because of its imagery.[153]
The music video for "Scream", directed by Mark Romanek and production designer Tom Foden, is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed. In 1995, it gained eleven MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won "Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction".[397] The song and its accompanying video are a response to the backlash Jackson received from the media after being accused of child molestation in 1993.[398] A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterwards Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made at a cost of $7 million.[206][399]
"Earth Song" was accompanied by an expensive and well-received music video, which gained a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The video had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, wars end, and the forests re-grow.[206][400] Released in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Michael Jackson's Ghosts was a short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston. The video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness World Record as the world's longest music video.[206][215][401][402]
Legacy and influence
See also: Records and achievements of Michael Jackson and List of artists influenced by Michael Jackson Pink star with a gold colored rim and the writing "Michael Jackson" in its center. The star is indented into the ground and is surrounded by a marble-colored floor.
Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, set in 1984. 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".[403] For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian contributions.[208] 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 artists of various music genres. 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."[404]
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".[3] 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".[73] In 1990, Vanity Fair cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of show business.[137] 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."[405]
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.[406] 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.[407] At the memorial service on July 7, 2009, founder of Motown Berry Gordy proclaimed Jackson as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived".[408][409][410]
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.[411][412] 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.[411][413]
Honors and awards
See also: List of awards and nominations received by Michael Jackson
Thriller platinum record on display at the Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood in Universal City, California. Michael Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980 as member of the Jacksons and in 1984 as solo artist. Throughout his career he received numerous honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium, the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award.[221][414] He was a double-inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997 and later as a solo artist in 2001. Jackson was also inducted in several other halls of fame, including Vocal Group Hall of Fame (as a Jackson 5 member) in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.[221] In 2010, Jackson was inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll.[415] In 2014, Jackson was inducted into the second class of inductees to the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame; his father Joe Jackson accepted on his behalf.[416]
His awards include many Guinness World Records (eight in 2006 alone),[417] 13 Grammy Awards[418] (as well as the Grammy Legend Award[419] and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award),[420] 26 American Music Awards (including the "Artist of the Century" and "Artist of the 1980s"),[219][421]—more than any artist—13 number-one singles in the US in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era[422]—and estimated sales of over 400 million records worldwide,[423][424][Note 1] which makes him one of the best-selling artists of all time. On December 29, 2009, the American Film Institute recognized Jackson's death as a "moment of significance" saying, "Michael Jackson's sudden death in June at age 50 was notable for the worldwide outpouring of grief and the unprecedented global eulogy of his posthumous concert rehearsal movie This Is It."[425] Michael Jackson also received a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the United Negro College Fund[426] and also an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fisk University.[427]
Earnings and wealth
It is estimated that Michael Jackson earned about $750 million in his lifetime.[428] Sales of his recordings through Sony's music unit earned him an estimated $300 million in royalties. He may have also earned an additional $400 million from concerts, music publishing (including his share of the Beatles catalog) endorsements, merchandising and music videos. Estimating how much of these earnings Jackson was able to personally pocket is difficult because one has to account for taxes, recording costs and production costs.[429] In 2014, Forbes estimated Jackson's total gross earnings (including posthumous takings) at $3 billion when accounting for inflation.[430]
There have also been several detailed estimates of Jackson's net worth and these range from negative $285 million to positive $350 million for the years 2002, 2003 and 2007.
Michael Jackson's estimated net-worth over the years Year Assets Debt Net worth Source 2002 $130 million $415 million -$285 million
Forensic accountant in 2005 recalling Jackson's 2002 balance sheet under oath[431] 2003 $550 million ($100 million in properties including Neverland ranch; Encino and Las Vegas homes and other properties and $450 million in music holdings including 50% stake in Sony ATV and other music publishing) $200 million $350 million Forbes, November 21, 2003[432] 2007 $567.6 million (includes 50% share of the Sony/ATV catalog valued at $390.6 million, Neverland valued at $33 million, cars, antiques, collectibles and other property valued at $20 million, and $668,215 in cash) $331 million $236 million Michael Jackson's March 2007 statement of financial condition prepared by Washington-based accounting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates; described by CBS News as the clearest account yet of Jackson's finances.[433] U.S. Federal estate tax problems
On July 26, 2013, the executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson filed a petition in the United States Tax Court as a result of a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over U.S. federal estate taxes imposed on the value of Jackson's Estate at the time of his death. The executors of the Estate claim that the Estate was worth about $7 million. The IRS asserts that the Estate was worth over $1.1 billion, and that over $700 million in federal estate taxes (including penalties) are due.[341] The parties have been ordered to submit a status report to the Court on settlement negotiations by November 2, 2015.[434]
Discography Main articles: Michael Jackson albums discography and Michael Jackson singles discography See also: Jackson 5 discography Got to Be There (1972) Ben (1972) Music & Me (1973) Forever, Michael (1975) Off the Wall (1979) Thriller (1982) Bad (1987) Dangerous (1991) HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995) Invincible (2001) Filmography
See also: Michael Jackson videography The Wiz (1978) Captain EO (1986) Moonwalker (1988) Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997) Men in Black II (2002) Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls (2004) Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) Bad 25 (2012) Michael Jackson: The Last Photo Shoot (2014) Tours
Main article: List of concert tours by Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 Bad (1987–89) Dangerous World Tour (1992–93) HIStory World Tour (1996–97) MJ & Friends (1999) This Is It (2009–10; cancelled) See also
Portal icon Michael Jackson portal Portal icon The Jackson Family portal Portal icon African American portal Book icon Book: Michael Jackson Honorific nicknames in popular music List of cover versions of Michael Jackson songs List of songs recorded by Michael Jackson List of unreleased songs recorded by Michael Jackson Michael Jackson-related games Personal relationships of Michael Jackson Notes
Note 1^
According to The Wall Street Journal and diverse news sites, the 750 million units sold by Michael Jackson is an inflated figure that was initially claimed by Raymone Bain (2006),[435][436] who was the singer's publicist at that time, without any factual evidence and probably in an effort to promote album sales.[437][438] From 2006 until present time, several sources such as MTV, Reuters, and Billboard have claimed that Michael Jackson has sold 750 million units, however, Adrian Strain, a representative from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has said that this figure is unreal. References
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Find more about Michael Jackson at Wikipedia's sister projects Search Commons Media from Commons Search Wikinews News stories from Wikinews Search Wikiquote Quotations from Wikiquote Search Wikidata Data from Wikidata Official website Michael Jackson at DMOZ Michael Jackson at the Internet Movie Database Michael Jackson at MTV FBI file on Michael Jackson Michael Jackson at Find a Grave
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
