Michael Joseph Jackson ( English Michael Joseph Jackson ; August 29, 1958 , Gary , Indiana – June 25, 2009 , Los Angeles , California ) – American singer , songwriter , music producer , arranger , dancer , choreographer , actor , screenwriter , philanthropist and businessman. One of the most successful performers in the history of pop music, known as the “King of Pop”, winner of 15 Grammy Awards [ 7] [8] [9] and hundreds of other awards. The number of Jackson records ( albums , singles , compilations , etc.) sold in the world is 1 billion copies [10] [11] [12] [13] . Michael Jackson has made a significant contribution to the development of popular music, music videos , dance and fashion.
Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in the town of Gary , Indiana , he became the seventh of nine children in the family of Joseph and Katherine Jackson [14] [15] [16] [17] . Michael grew up with three sisters and five brothers. My father worked as a crane operator at a steel plant, the whole family lived in a small house [18] . In his spare time, Joseph performed at small local venues with his band Falcons, played the electric guitar [19] . The family lived in a musical atmosphere, Katherine recalled singing songs such as “Cotton Fields”, “She Would Coming ‘Round the Mountain” and “Wabash Cannonball” with her children .. Members of the Jackson family were adherents of the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses . Katherine began attending their church and was baptized in 1960 when Michael was 2 years old. The Jacksons took religious traditions very seriously, studied the Bible , attended Witness meetings, and did not celebrate Christmas or birthdays [21] . Despite this, Michael was the only one in the family who was baptized after his mother [22] . In the 60s. Joseph began to think about how to create a team consisting of his eldest sons [23] . The Jackson Brothers originally included Jackie , Jermaine and Tito. Michael was still too young and only from the side watched how the older brothers rehearsed. In 1963, he began studying at Garnett Elementary School in Gary and performed at one of the school holidays with the song “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” ru en , then, noticing his talent, Katherine convinced Joseph to include a five-year-old boy in the composition [24] [ 19] . Marlon also joined the group at the same time , and the group of five brothers was renamed The Jackson 5 [19] . The father raised the children with strict discipline, and used force in cases where something did not suit him [25]. Jackson grew up spending a lot of time in the studio, rehearsing and on stage, with little opportunity to go outside and play with the other kids in the park [19] . Despite Joseph’s harsh and domineering methods of upbringing, Michael always thanked his father for instilling in him the determination, teaching him to speak in front of the public and accustomed him to strict discipline, which played a big role in Jackson’s future success [23] [19] [26] . At the age of 8, the boy became one of two soloists in the team [25] .
At first, the brothers performed in local clubs, their first single was released on Gary ‘s label Steeltown Records ru en , then the band showed itself at local talent shows. The scale began to grow, and soon The Jackson 5 got the opportunity to act as an opening act for such artists as James Brown , Sam & Dave and Gladys Knight [23] . Standing backstage, Michael gained stage experience: “I carefully watched the stars, because I wanted to learn everything I could from them. I stared at their feet, watched how they hold their hands and how they grab the microphone, trying to understand why and why they do it this way” [15] . Gladys Knight introduced the Jacksons to the founderMotown Records Berry Gordy and the band were invited to audition [23] [27] . Gordy was impressed by the performance of the brothers, especially the youngest member of the group, Michael Jackson, and soon The Jackson 5 was signed to a record label, while Joseph continued to be the manager of his sons [28] . Motown musicians and producers called little Michael “an adult in the body of a child”, noting his childish professionalism on stage and in the studio [28] [29] . As their popularity grew, it became more and more difficult for the Jacksons to attend classes at school, teachers began to teach them at home [15] . From 1969 to 1970 The Jackson 5 released three albums on the label, these are:Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 , ABC and Third Album . The songs “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There”, which became singles from these records, topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Black Singles charts . “I don’t know of any band before or after The Jackson 5 whose debut four singles would have achieved such success,” said Berry Gordy, recalling these events [28] . The group became more and more successful, but Michael attracted the most attention for his singing and choreography [25] . As soon as the team gained recognition, the family moved from Indiana to Los Angeles , where they first lived in Gordy’s house and apartments.Diana Ross . In 1971, the Jacksons purchased the Havenhurst estate in Encino and moved there [30] .
In January 1972, thirteen-year-old Michael Jackson released his first album titled Got to Be There . The singer became the first Motown label artist to embark on a solo career without leaving the band . [31] In the same year, Michael’s second album Ben was released , the title track of the album became the soundtrack to the film of the same name, the song received the Golden Globe [ 32] . In 1973, Jackson performed this composition at the 45th Academy Awards : “Ben” was nominated for an American Film Academy statuette as ” Best Song for a Film ” [33]. It also became Jackson’s first hit to top the US Billboard Hot 100 [34] [35] . The same year, the singer entered Montclair ru en High School in Los Angeles and graduated two years later [36] . Between 1973 and 1977 the singer released two more solo albums: Music & Me in 1973 and Forever, Michael in 1975 [37] , the last record was not very successful [38] . Critics noted Jackson’s vocals changing with age and wrote that the singer was already ready for changes in musical style, but the album Forever, Michaeldemonstrated all the same mid-tempo compositions as before [39] [40] . The Jackson 5’s relationship with Motown Records was becoming strained [38] . The Jacksons wanted to be able to record and release songs of their own authorship, but Gordy did not see this as a good prospect, the compositions for the brothers were written by a group of authors and producers specially created in Motown called “The Corporation” [17] [41] . In the end, the Jackson family announced that they were leaving the label and signing a contract with Epic Records , the group received a new name – The Jacksons [42] .
In early 1978, Jackson landed a role in the New York musical Wiz . On the set, the twenty-year-old singer met producer Quincy Jones , who was creating the soundtrack for the film [43] . Jackson asked him for help in finding someone who could produce his next solo album, and Jones offered his candidacy [44] . The producer said in an interview that several reasons forced him to do this: he saw a 12-year-old boy performing at the Oscars and an already matured singer in an acting role. Then he noticed the increased potential of Jackson as a vocalist. Finally, working with the musician in the studio, Jones realized that he had grown a lot professionally.[45] .
In December 1978, work began on the singer’s new solo record, Off the Wall [46] . Jackson wrote two songs for the album: ” Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough ” and “Working Day and Night” [47] . The list of songwriters also includes Stevie Wonder , Paul McCartney and Rod Temperton [47] . Released on August 10, 1979 by Epic Records, 5 singles were released from the record: “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”, ” Rock With You “, ” Off the Wall “, ” She’s Out of My Life ” and “Girlfriend”, video clips were shot for three of them [48] . In the early 80s.Off the Wall became the best-selling album by a black artist at the time [49] . The record was critically acclaimed, with most reviewers agreeing that it showed Jackson as a grown-up, mature artist .[50] [51] [52] . The compositions in the album were sustained in the genres of rhythm and blues , funk , soul and disco [50] [52] . The first single from Off the Wall , “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”, earned the singer his first Grammy and two American Music Awards . [53] [24]. At the end of August 1979, Jackson turned 21, the contract between him and his father as a manager ended, and the singer became independent from Joseph [15] . Despite this, Michael continued to be the lead singer of The Jacksons, recording, producing the group’s albums and going on concert tours in support of them [54] [55] .
Immediately after the release of Off The Wall , the singer began to prepare material for the next record [56] . In April 1982, recording began on Jackson’s new album, later called Thriller . It was released on November 30, 1982, the first time CBS Records executives campaigned for a worldwide simultaneous release of the album, rather than the usual serial release . In just one year, Thriller became the best-selling album of all time and remains so to this day [58] . According to various sources, global sales of Thriller range from 65 to 110 million copies.[59] [60] [61] [62] .
The first single from the album, ” The Girl Is Mine ” in a duet with Paul McCartney, was released more than a month before the release of Thriller and received very low reviews from critics: some of them felt that Jackson’s entire new record would be a failure [63] . The opinions of reviewers changed after its release, then journalists began to write that the new album has all the strengths of the previous one, and the differences between them are that the dance tracks and rock songs on Thriller became more aggressive, while pop melodies sounded softer and more soulful [64] . In early January 1983, the second single, ” Billie Jean”, and in March , the video clip for this song premiered on MTV channel [65] . The video became the first music video by an African-American artist to get into the channel’s hot rotation; up to this point, MTV executives had virtually never aired commercials for black artists [57] [66] . On March 25, 1983, the concert ” Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever ru en ” was held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the record company Motown Records. Jackson performed “Billie Jean” and for the first time demonstrated the ” moonwalk ” – a dance technique that later became one of the main calling cards of the singer [57] . ” Beat It “”, which was a crossover of rhythm and blues and rock music, was released as the third single from the album, guitarist Eddie Van Halen took part in its recording . The music video for “Beat It” followed “Billie Jean” on MTV, and eventually the channel’s format was refocused on pop and rhythm and blues, editors began to include videos from artists such as Prince in hot rotation. and Whitney Houston [67] . Later, 4 more tracks from the album were released as singles: ” Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ “, ” Human Nature “, ” PYT (Pretty Young Thing) ” and ” Thriller”. All seven singles released from the album reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, with two of them, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It”, topping the charts [35] . The album’s title track was accompanied by a 14-minute short horror film called Michael Jackson’s Thriller [ 68] . Jehovah’s Witnesses, in whose organization the musician was still a member, connected the plot of the video with a belief in the occult . As evidence to the contrary, Jackson placed a disclaimer at the beginning of the video clip [69] . Despite this, the elders were dissatisfied with the video, and soon the singer was constantly followed by observers from the House of Prayer [70] .
In November 1983, together with his brothers, the singer signed a contract for 5 million dollars with PepsiCo , The Jacksons starred in a series of commercials [71] . During the filming of one of them in early 1984, the musician received a scalp burn from the sparks of early fireworks , the singer needed a long recovery. The injury led to painful scars – keloids , and the situation was aggravated by discoid lupus erythematosus ru en [72] . Subsequently, Jackson suffered from excruciating pain for about 20 years [72] [73] [74]. Pepsi paid the musician compensation in the amount of $ 1.5 million, the singer donated all the money to open a burn center [75] .
In 1984, Jackson received seven Grammy statuettes for Thriller [53] . In parallel with the preparation of the record, the musician worked on another project – an audiobook and soundtrack for Steven Spielberg’s film ” Alien “, ET the Extra-Terrestrial [76] . The song from the audiobook, “Someone in the Dark”, was the eighth award for Jackson at the 1984 ceremony, setting the record for the most Grammys won in a single night .
A few months later, The Jacksons released the album Victory ru en , and the singer and his brothers went on their last joint tour of the United States and Canada [78] . In November, the musician received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and became the first artist in history to have two stars on Vine Street – he received the first in 1980 as part of The Jacksons [24] [79] [80] . At the final show of the Victory tour in early December 1984, Michael announced that he was leaving the band .
When, in 1981, Paul McCartney explained to Jackson how to profit from buying the publishing rights to songs, Paul McCartney became very interested in this idea and almost immediately began acquiring the rights to various compositions [82] [83] . The catalog, containing about 200 songs by The Beatles and approximately 4,000 compositions by other authors, was then owned by ATV Music Publishing ru en [83] . In 1981 McCartney and Yoko Onomade an attempt to buy The Beatles songs from there, but the then owner of ATV, Lew Grade, agreed to sell only the entire catalog at once for $ 30 million. As a result, the deal fell through as Ono and McCartney pulled out of the deal [84] [82] . The news that the ATV catalog was up for sale did not reach Jackson until September 1984. The musician expressed a desire to purchase it, and in order to avoid conflicts, the singer’s lawyers contacted representatives of McCartney and Yoko Ono and received an answer that the purchase of the catalog was not planned in the near future [85] . Before starting negotiations with the singer, the owners of the catalog also gave McCartney the first right to buy the rights, but he once again refused [86]. Jackson’s lawyers began a 10-month campaign to acquire the publishing rights, and bypassing competitors, Jackson became the owner in mid-August 1985 for $47.5 million [87] .
In 1985, at the initiative of the American singer and public figure Harry Belafonte , the USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa ) charity project was founded . It was planned to bring together famous American artists to record a joint song [88] . ” We Are the World ” was written specifically for the project by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and featured 45 performers . By the end of 1987, the USA for Africa Charitable Foundation received $91 million , 54 of which came from the sale of the single [90]. In 1986, the composition received four Grammy awards [91] .
At the same time, at Disney Studios, Jackson began work on the futuristic musical film Captain Io with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola . The premiere of the 17-minute tape, the budget of which amounted to about 30 million dollars, took place on September 13, 1986 [92] . Captain EO was the first so-called 4D movie with the illusion of total immersion, and was launched at California Disneyland and several other amusement parks around the world [92] [93] .
In May 1986, it was announced that Jackson had signed a new $15 million advertising deal with Pepsi, the most expensive ever. The company became the sponsor of the next album and concert tour of the singer [94] . At the same time, Pepsi became one of the main sponsors of the first Goodwill Games in Moscow , and according to the terms of the contract, in the summer of 1986, the singer was supposed to perform at the opening ceremony of the competition, but the arrival did not take place [95] [96] .
Since the mid 80s. Jackson began work on songs for the new record, recording his demos in his home studio in Encino in order to gain as much control as possible over the upcoming material, more creative freedom. The already far from ideal relationship between musician and producer stretched even more, and Bad became their third and last collaboration [97] [98] . It took the musician and producer 18 months to prepare the album and the promotional campaign for it, the release of the record was postponed several times [99] [100] . Finally, in July 1987, the first single was released – ” I Just Can’t Stop Loving You ” – and on August 31 the album was released [101] [102]. The record’s track list included songs in the genres of funk , rhythm and blues , gospel , pop and hard rock , jazz , swing and blues . Critics’ responses ranged from “the singer’s apparent growing confidence and autonomy as a producer and songwriter” [103] to “a total loss of Jackson’s creative independence, stifled by the influence of Quincy Jones” [104] . By that time, the Thriller record had become a kind of measure of the musician’s creativity: most critics evaluated Jackson’s subsequent albums, comparing them with it [105]. Only a few reviewers noticed that it is incorrect to draw such analogies and that each record should be considered separately [106] .