Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, to Katherine and Joseph Jackson. He began performing as a child with his brothers in the Jackson 5, a group managed by his father. Motown signed the group in 1968; its first four singles, “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There,” reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100. Jackson launched a solo career while still in the group, scoring with “Got to Be There” and “Ben.” In 1978, he played the Scarecrow in the film musical The Wiz, alongside Diana Ross. The production connected him with Quincy Jones, who produced Off the Wall in 1979. The album yielded the hit singles “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” “Rock with You,” “Off the Wall,” and “She’s Out of My Life.” Thriller, released in 1982, became the best-selling album in history according to Guinness World Records. Its videos expanded Jackson’s visual profile: “Billie Jean” was central to his Motown 25 performance, where he first publicly performed the moonwalk; “Beat It” featured Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo; and the 14-minute “Thriller” video was directed by John Landis. In 1984, Thriller won eight Grammy Awards. Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote “We Are the World” for USA for Africa; the 1985 recording raised funds for famine relief in Africa. His albums Bad, Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, and Invincible produced international hits, including “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Black or White,” and “You Are Not Alone.” The latter debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the first song to do so. His 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, described his childhood and career. The accompanying Moonwalker film included the “Smooth Criminal” segment and its antigravity lean. Jackson opened the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County in 1988, naming it after the setting of Peter Pan. His concert tours included Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory, and he performed at the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. In 1994, he married Lisa Marie Presley; they divorced in 1996. That year he married Debbie Rowe, with whom he had two children; the marriage ended in 1999. His third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, was born in 2002. Jackson died on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, at age 50. His death was officially ruled a homicide caused by propofol intoxication.