Michael Jackson is the King of Pop.
He was a controversial personality, with his own oddities and fears, but his influence on the entire show business simply cannot be denied.
It was he who brought pop music to the standards that are still used today, it was he who first began to gather audiences of thousands and organize shows, and not just concerts, it was his albums that sold the largest copies.
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zillaphoto/
In the format of interesting facts, you will learn about Michael Jackson.
The first few facts are quite standard, well-known and even boring, but then...
Biography of Michael Jackson
1. Difficult childhood
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 into a large family of Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary (Indiana, USA).
In addition to Michael, there were 9 more children in the family, and all of them suffered from abuse from their father. Joseph was a cruel man and had rather unusual views on raising children, so Michael got a lot of trouble from his father, as did his brothers and sisters.
Having already become popular, Michael repeatedly spoke about abuse from his father, about his childhood fears due to bullying and nightmares at night. The father himself later admitted to journalists that he was cruel to his children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8llLKdLGeQ
2. King
Jackson received the title of “King of Pop” from his friend, actress Elizabeth Taylor. She first called him “the king of pop” in 1989 at the Soul Train Music Award, and since then the title has stuck with him.
In 1992, during his visit to Africa, Michael was also crowned "King of Sani".
3. Pre-show ritual
To improve the sound of his voice, before a performance he drank ricol caramel dissolved in hot water.
4. Achievements
Jackson's career was full of ups and downs, and he himself was a controversial personality. But few would argue that he not only influenced the world of show business, he made it completely different.
He became the most successful pop music performer, received 15 Grammys, more than 100 other awards, and was included in the Guinness Book of Records 25 times.
In total, more than 1 billion artist albums have been sold worldwide.
He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as a solo artist and as a member of The Jackson 5.
5. Oscar
In 1999, he bought David Selznick's Oscar for $1.5 million, which he won for best picture for Gone with the Wind.
6. Egyptian sculpture
One social media user noted that one of the Egyptian sculptures in the Chicago museum is very similar to Michael.
Paris Jackson
Michael Jackson's daughter Paris is the most famous of his children. She is successfully pursuing a career in modeling. In addition, the young girl can boast about filming a movie and getting engaged. The girl is very temperamental and hot-tempered, she is used to going against the system. She has friendly relations with the “chocolate blonde” - Paris Hilton, Cara Delevingne. And her godfather is Macaulay Culkin himself. For a long time, Paris did not know who her mother was until she persuaded her father to tell about it. After a while, the girl decided to find her parent, but from the first meeting their relationship did not work out. However, after Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer, they tried to give their relationship another chance. From then until today they have kept in touch.
Paris Jackson on Jimmy Kimmel Show
But even such a stellar environment did not save the girl from attempting suicide in 2013. She had to undergo rehabilitation in one of the foster families. In total, she had three suicide attempts, since the girl could not come to terms with her father’s death for a long time. However, she was also prompted to take these steps by being raped at the age of fourteen. At the same time, Michael himself told the children about sexual harassment. When there was a wave of rumors that the singer was engaged in pedophilia, the girl and her brothers cried quietly at night, because their beloved dad was hated by the whole world because of what, according to the children, he would never do.
When Paris's father died suddenly, she was convinced that it was not an accident, and she still believes so. The girl is determined to prove this someday. After Michael's death, the girl began to be raised by her grandmother. After reaching adulthood, the girl began to live separately.
She always dreamed of being at the epicenter of the vibrant life of Hollywood. She even got a cameo role in the film "Dangerous Business." However, directors and film critics predict that she still has a lot of roles ahead, and far from minor ones.
Paris on the red carpet
In 2020, Paris married Chester Castello, a football player. However, the couple divorced very quickly, without disclosing the reasons to the public. Today the girl is engaged in modeling, filming films, participating in various events, rallies and other activist activities. She does not hide the fact that she is against the current President Donald Trump.
Paris's main dream is to buy a mansion in California that once belonged to her father. The estate is now for sale, as it was previously seized for debts.
Michael Jackson's career
7. The Jackson 5
The Jackson family was famous for its talents even before Michael began performing. The Jacksons, which included three older brothers - Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, were already known in certain circles, and in 1964 they were joined by Michael and his other brother, Marlon. The group was renamed The Jackson 5, and Michael, originally hired to play congas, first moved to backing vocals and then became the main vocalist.
Already an accomplished performer, Michael said that his voice from the time of The Jackson 5 was too much like the voice of Mini Mouse.
The Jackson 5 group experienced both ups and downs, and Michael began a parallel solo career.
8. The role of the Scarecrow in the movie “The Wiz”
The young boy was invited to play the role of a scarecrow in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Wiz”. Diana Ross and Richard Pryor also took part in the filming. It was on the set that Michael met music director Quincy Jones, his future producer.
9. Start of a solo career
While still performing in a family band, he recorded songs such as “Got to Be There,” “Rockin' Robin” and “Ben.” The last song took first place in the charts in 1972, from that moment the singer was noticed.
After recording several solo songs, the artist met producer Quincy Jones, this event became significant in Michael’s career. It was with Johnson's help that the first well-known albums, “Off the Wall” (release date August 10, 1979), were recorded with such hits as “Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You.”
10. Record-breaking “Thriller”
The album “Thriller” (released November 30, 1982) can rightfully be considered the best music album not only of that time, but in the entire history of music. This is Michael Jackson's sixth studio album with many hits:
11. "The Girl Is Mine"
The composition was recorded together with Paul McCartney. Critics called it too sweet and not deep enough, which did not prevent the composition from taking second place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the Hot Black Singles chart.
The song talks about two men arguing over one girl.
It is noteworthy that they tried to sue Jackson twice for plagiarism because of this song. First, Fred Standford in 1984 accused the artist of copying his song "Please Love Me Now", and then in 1993, Robert Smith, Reynolds Jones and Clifford Rubin accused Michael of copying their songs "Don't Let The Sunshine Catch You Crying" and "Happy Go Lucky Girl" Jackson won both trials.
12. "Billie Jean"
One of the most famous and recognizable compositions in the whole world. It's enough to hear the first couple of drum beats and you already know what the song is going to be.
The composition is dedicated to groupies - girls who constantly accompany famous groups and performers during tours. Jackson had been familiar with the groupies since the days of “The Jackson 5”; the girls repeatedly accused his older brothers of being the fathers of their children, constantly harassed the musicians and threatened them.
The performer admitted that Billie Jean is a collective image of a groupie, and he did not want to offend anyone with the composition. By the way, the song could have been called “Not My Lover” so as not to be associated with the then famous tennis player Billie Jean King.
The video for this song revolutionized the US music world. Firstly, this was one of the first videos with a clear plot, and not just a performance of a song with a lot of special effects. Secondly, this video became the first in MTV rotation with a black performer.
A little more about this...
In the early 80s, the MTV channel was just beginning to gain popularity, but the channel’s managers had a small “fad” - they did not accept clips of black performers into rotation. Then the president of CBS Records, Walter Yetnikoff, threatened MTV not to bring them any more videos, and also to tell the whole world about discrimination against the black population. On March 2, 1983, the video was put into rotation on MTV.
It was from the video for the song “Billie Jean” that the tradition began that every single release should be accompanied by a high-budget video. By the way, Jackson's video was recorded for $75,000.
13. "Beat It"
Another composition that has become known throughout the world. The song was put into rotation on MTV without any controversy, and it also became the first song by an African-American to appear regularly on American radio stations.
The song was received positively by critics, and it received numerous awards, including two Grammys and two American Music Awards.
The combination of elements of rhythm and blues and rock was unusual for that time, and the words were directed against violence and gangsterism. It is noteworthy that Eddie Van Halen, leader of the rock band Van Halen, was invited to perform the guitar solo. He recorded the musical part completely free of charge.
Another notable fact about the guitar solo...
While Eddie Van Halen was recording his 30-second part, a technician knocked on the door, unaware that he was recording. Jackson insisted that this random knocking recording be used in the final version.
$150,000 has already been allocated to record a music video for the song “Beat It”; the plot is quite simple - Michael, in his own style, stops a showdown between two warring gangster groups.
It is noteworthy that real gangster groups - Crips and Bloods - were involved in the filming. 80 bandits and 30 professional dancers took part in the filming.
In 1984, a parody of the video from "Weird Al" Yankovic called "Eat It" was released. The director of the original video, Bob Giraldi, said that he hated the parody because it made fun of everything that was important and dear to him in the video. But Jackson, who had a good sense of humor, allowed the use of music to create a parody. It was this parody that made Yankovic famous.
The red jacket with 27 zippers became a real cult for many years. Paired with loafers, white socks and cropped trousers, the jacket created Jackson's most striking look yet.
14. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
The lyrics of the song are directed against the media and gossip. There was no official video for this song, but in 2012, a concert recording from the Bad World Tour appeared on the singer’s YouTube channel.
The singer was dissatisfied with the final version of the song, which was included in the album.
15. "Thriller"
The track has a 14-minute video based on 1950s horror films. The clip received several MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2009 it was included in the National Film Registry, becoming the first video to be included in the Library of Congress.
$500,000 was allocated to create the video clip, and following the video, which, of course, immediately went on MTV, a short 45-minute documentary was released about the making of the video. MTV bought the rights to the film for $250,000, Showtime paid $300,000 for the screening, and Vestron Video paid another $500,000 for the right to release the documentary on videotape.
The "Thriller" video has its own Lego version.
16. Good year
1984 can be called the peak of Jackson's career - he received 8 Grammys at once; no one has ever received so many awards in one year.
But there are also negative aspects...
17. Facial injuries
In 1984, Michael suffered a second-degree burn to his face while filming a Pepsi commercial. The accident occurred due to the explosion of pyrotechnics near the artist, and as compensation, Pepsi paid Jackson $1.5 million.
How the artist disposed of the money and whether there were any lawsuits against Pepsi, you will find out below...
It was after this incident that the guy began to be more attentive and picky about his own appearance.
At one of the rehearsals, he broke his nose while performing another trick. After this, he began to complain of difficulty breathing and doctors advised him to undergo plastic surgery to correct the deficiency.
In numerous interviews, he admitted only that he had undergone surgery on his nose to restore breathing, although his appearance changed very seriously throughout his career.
18. Diseases and appearance
There is an opinion that Michael was ashamed of his origin and tried all his life to change his image. He did have plastic surgery on his face, but the skin discoloration is mostly due to a rare disease.
Until the mid-80s, the artist’s skin was dark, but later many began to notice that Michael was becoming lighter every year. Naturally, he was immediately accused of using skin bleaching procedures.
In 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with lupus and vitiligo almost simultaneously. Strong remedies were used to combat the first disease, but vitiligo manifests itself in the form of light spots on the skin, which loses pigment. At first, the light spots were few and easy to disguise, but when the spots covered most of his body, the artist began to mask the dark areas of his face and body.
There is an opinion that the artist’s desire to change his appearance became an addiction that was superimposed on childhood psychological trauma.
To numerous diseases, skin cancer was added, information about which the producers carefully concealed.
19. Moonwalk
Jackson cannot be called the creator of the moonwalk. Something similar had already been performed in live performances and films, but it was Michael who popularized it, making it his most famous dance move.
The artist first demonstrated the unusual movement while performing the song “Billie Jean” on March 25, 1983 at the anniversary show “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” The audience really liked it, and the performance itself was later called one of the most significant on American television.
In 1988, the musical film Moonwalk was released.
20. Autobiography
In 1988, the autobiography “Moonwalk” was also published, in which the artist himself talks about his father’s bullying, plastic surgery on his nose and other personal facts.
21. Collaboration with Pepsi
On January 27, 1984, the artist received burns to his head while filming a Pepsi commercial video. This significantly influenced his attitude towards his own appearance, but revealed him even more as a person. He, along with the company itself, invested the compensation received from Pepsi into a children's burn center in his name.
Until the end of his life, Michael was involved in charity work, including with the help of this burn center.
22. Did he sleep in the pressure chamber?
The artist’s attitude towards his own appearance gave rise to a lot of rumors. To advertise his own burn center, Michael starred in a commercial in which he sleeps in a pressure chamber. Naturally, rumors began to circulate that he constantly slept in it to preserve his youth.
In fact, Michael was in a pressure chamber once in his life - at the time of recording the video.
23. Buying the rights to the Beatles
In 1985, he bought for $47.5 million, which owned the rights to most of the songs of The Beatles. Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney also wanted to buy shares. The singer even quarreled with Paul after purchasing the shares.
In 1995, he sold the rights to the Beatles' songs to Sony for $95 million.
24. Album “Bad”
The album was released on August 31, 1987. In total, 65 million copies were sold worldwide, and it became the first album in history to have five songs hit number one on Billboard.
The tour in support of the new album lasted from September 12, 1987 to January 14, 1989, and during this time the concerts were attended by 4.4 million spectators. A total of 123 concerts took place in 15 countries, which brought in $125 million.
During the Bad Tour, a record was set at a concert in London - 504 thousand spectators at one performance.
Martin Scorsese directed the album's video.
25. "Speed Demon"
The song was written after Jackson himself was fined for speeding. The lyrics of the song talk about a car chase, and the drums and synthesizer, according to the singer's idea, imitate the sound of gear shifting on a motorcycle.
26. "Liberian Girl"
One of the first compositions that simultaneously celebrates the beauty of the African woman and became popular in pop culture.
An unprecedented number of stars of that time were involved in the filming of the video: John Travolta, Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg, Olivia Newton-John, Quincy Jones, Virginia Madsen, David Copperfield, Danny Glover and Dan Ackroyd.
27. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
Barbra Streisand could have participated in the recording of the song, but she simply did not show up at the scheduled time for the recording. Michael also invited Whitney Houston, but she refused without explanation. As a result, the song was recorded with the participation of Saida Garrett.
It is noteworthy that the song was recorded not only in English, but also in Spanish and French.
28. "Dirty Diana"
Another song about a groupie girl. This time the love story follows the classic love triangle between a star, his girlfriend and a groupie girl.
29. "Smooth Criminal"
A whole series of gangster songs by Michael Jackson can be associated with this song. Back in 1985, he recorded “Chicago 1945,” which prompted the singer to record “Al Capone.” But the song about a famous gangster eventually transformed into “Smooth Criminal.”
The track begins with Jackson's own heartbeat. It was recorded by Dr. Eric Chevlin and processed on the Synclavier.
The video for the song was part of the musical film Moonwalk. Initially, the idea was to make a video in the style of the Wild West, but in the end Jackson chose the gangster style of the 1930s, especially since the history of the creation of the song contributed to this.
It was because of the filming of the video that the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses actually expelled Jackson from its ranks.
30. The story of Michael and Jehovah's Witnesses
His mother raised Michael as a Jehovah's Witness and encouraged him to study the Bible. But things didn’t work out for the artist with religion.
Until 1984, he continued to preach as a Jehovah's Witness, attended various religious meetings, and refused to celebrate Easter, Christmas, and his own birthday. But representatives of this movement were always against Jackson's lifestyle.
In 1987, Michael's sister La Toya Jackson was expelled from the organization and the family was prohibited from communicating with her on spiritual topics. Naturally, Michael himself did not like this.
In the same year, filming took place for the video “Smooth Criminal”, where the plot shows the artist holding a weapon in his hands. Representatives of the organization said that either he chooses faith or a career as an artist. Michael did not abandon the planned plot and left the organization.
31. Movie "Captain EO"
In 1986, Francis Coppola directed a short film called "Captain EO" to be shown in the Disney theme parks. The film's 17 minutes cost $23.7 million, making it the most expensive film per minute. The producer and co-writer of the story was George Lucas.
The film began showing at Disneyland in September 1986 and ran until August 17, 1998.
After the death of Michael Jackson, interest in the film increased again, and it began to be shown in Tokyo and Paris Disneyland.
32. Anti-gravity shoes
In the video for the song “Smooth Criminal,” the artist and other dancers demonstrate an unusual movement - they lean forward at an angle of 45 degrees. Jackson seems to be breaking every law of physics.
For other artists, such a movement would have remained exclusively in the video, and its performance would have been attributed to cunning editing, but not for Michael. He set himself the goal of repeating the movement during the performance, which resulted in special shoes, later patented by Jackson themselves under the number US5255452 A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0HM27eaRG8
For a long time, the artist managed to hide the secret of performing a dance movement, until one day, during a performance in Moscow, his heel fell off and he almost collapsed on the stage.
There is no special secret, the boots have a special slot into which pins are inserted, which are pulled out of the stage at a certain time. The moment of fastening the boots was always masked by extinguishing the light, and after bending over, the performers deftly removed the boots from the fastenings.
By the way, a broken shoe from a Moscow performance was given to the Moscow branch of the Hard Rock Cafe, and after the artist’s death, a pair of shoes was sold for $600,000.
33. “Diamond” glove and attention to hands
Michael Jackson amazed everyone not only with his voice, but also with the movements of his body. He loved to come up with something new, surprise and even shock the audience.
While dancing, the artist considered it very important to focus attention on his hands, since he performed rather complex movements with them. On March 25, 1983, at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever anniversary show, he not only demonstrated the moonwalk for the first time, but also wore a diamond glove to emphasize his hand movements. The effect was amazing, despite the fact that the glove was decorated with ordinary rhinestones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d17ggav1Lto
The very first glove was made by Michael himself from an ordinary golf glove. After the performance, the glove was given to a member of the Commodores music group, who put it up for auction in 2009 and received $350,000.
Another trick to draw attention to your hands is to put adhesive tape on your fingertips. When performing “Smooth Criminal”, it was impossible to use gloves embroidered with rhinestones, as they did not fit the image, but the bright white adhesive plaster attracted the attention of the audience.
There are many other versions about the adhesive plasters on the fingertips, from an attempt to stop biting nails to hiding sudden vitiligo.
34. Neverland Ranch
In 1988, the artist purchased the Sycamore Valley Ranch in California and renamed it Neverland, in honor of the land of Peter Pan. The land plot with an area of 10.83 sq. km cost Michael between 16 and 30 million dollars, and subsequently became one of the causes of financial problems.
The fact is that a small amusement park was built on the ranch and a private zoo was opened. All this required additional costs, so the monthly maintenance of the estate cost $120,000. At the peak of his popularity, Michael had no problems with money, but when money stopped flowing to him like a river, the ranch became too expensive for the artist.
In 2006, part of the ranch was closed and several employees were laid off. In 2008, the singer was forced to transfer the estate to Colony Capital LLC, a company owned by the Jacksons' close friend Thomas Barrack.
After the artist’s death, his relatives admitted that after all the litigation, Jackson hated the Neverland estate and did not want to appear there anymore.
35. Album “Dangerous”
In 1991, a new album called “Dangerous” was released with such hits as “Black or White”, “Jam”, “Who Is It”, “Remember the Time”.
Jackson's friend Macaulay Culkin starred in the video for "Black or White."
"Dangerous" became Jackson's best-selling album since "Thriller" and also won a Grammy.
Scandals
36. Jordan Chandler child molestation scandal
Children were frequent guests at the Neverland Ranch, so it is not surprising that Michael eventually received charges of child molestation.
In 1993, the parents of 13-year-old Jordan Chandler sued the singer. The singer was accused of forcing the boy to touch his genitals. The case ended with a settlement in which Jackson paid $22 million to his parents.
It is not known for certain why the artist went to war, but many years later Jordan Chandler himself admitted that he had slandered Jackson under pressure from his father.
37. The Oprah Winfrey Show
In 1993, a big show with Oprah Winfrey about Michael Jackson was released. The artist shows his house, discusses various topics and talks about his life and problems.
With this show, the artist is trying to justify himself to the tabloids, who have begun to speculate too much on the topic of eccentricity in his life.
38. Gavin Arvizo child molestation scandal
It all started with the film “Living with Michael Jackson” by journalist Martin Bashir, he gained confidence in the artist and conducted a very frank interview in which Jackson admitted that he slept with little boys. But, emphasizing that there was nothing sexual about it, they just slept together. The journalist was surprised by this, but in the end the film was released without any cuts and the whole world learned that Jackson considers it normal to sleep in the same bed as children.
After the film was released in 2003, a 13-year-old boy, Gavin Arvizo, along with his parents, accused Michael of pedophilia. The boy was indeed a frequent visitor to the ranch, the artist helped him overcome cancer, but the artist was not going to make concessions again.
The trial lasted two years, Jackson spent almost $100 million on lawyers, but in the end he proved his innocence.
It was the litigation and Gavin's betrayal that undermined Jackson's psychological and financial condition.
39. Strange things in the house
During the second scandal with accusations of pedophilia, a search was carried out at the Neverland ranch and it shocked the police a little.
Inside the house were many realistic child mannequins, some of them skimpily dressed and in unusual poses.
Also discovered was a large collection of superhero action figures and a cardboard cutout of little Shirley Temple.
The evidence became the basis for the arrest of the celebrity in 2003.
40. Friendship with Macaulay Culkin
One of Michael's frequent guests was little Macaulay Culkin, who became famous after the release of the film Home Alone. The celebrities had met before, but after the film was released, Jackson called Culkin and invited him to visit him.
They became friends, spent a lot of time together, and later Macaulay became the godfather of Michael's children.
Neither during Michael’s life nor after his death, Macaulay never accused the singer of molestation. He said that Jackson remained a child at heart, who loved helping children, playing with them, going on rides and taking care of them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E-chpzsQw8&t=
41. "Super Bowl"
In 1993, he was invited to Super Bowl XXVII with the singles "Jam" (with the beginning of "Why You Wanna Trip On Me"), "Billie Jean" and "Black or White".
For the first time in Super Bowl history, halftime ratings exceeded ratings for the game itself.
The artist received $1 million for the performance, but spent part of the money on charity.
42. Performances in Moscow
With the tour in support of “Dangerous”, the artist visited Russia for the first time and gave a concert in Moscow. On September 15, 1993, he performed at Luzhniki in the pouring rain.
The weather prompted him to write his ballad about loneliness - “Stranger in Moscow”.
It is worth noting that in Moscow the artist not only earned a fee, but also visited an orphanage, talked with children and donated money.
The second performance took place on September 17, 1996 at the Moscow Dynamo Stadium.
43. Persecution mania
In 1995, he was hospitalized with a mental disorder. Amid the legal proceedings, he had an attack of persecution mania.
44. Album “HIStory”
On June 16, 1995, a double album entitled “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I” was released: the first disc contains a collection of the best hits, the second contains 15 new songs.
It was planned to release two more of these double albums.
45. "Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix"
Another non-standard remix album for Michael was released in 1997 - he wrote several new songs, but the remixes were prepared by other performers.
The album sold 6 million copies and became the best-selling remix album in the world.
46. "Michael Jackson: Ghosts"
In 1996, the 39-minute musical film Michael Jackson: The Haunting was released, based on a script by Stephen King. The film features songs from the HIStory album, as well as the then-unreleased Blood on the Dance Floor album.
The film was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest music video.
47. "Invincible"
The next full-length album, “Invincible,” was released only on October 30, 2001. It became Jackson's tenth and final lifetime album.
Listeners liked the album, but critics tore it to smithereens. It sold 10 million copies worldwide.
The album was dedicated to 15-year-old Afro-Norwegian boy Benjamin Hermansen, who was killed by neo-Nazis in Oslo on January 26, 2001.
48. 30th anniversary
In 2001, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his solo career with a grand concert at Madison Square Garden. The concert marked the first time since 1984 that Michael appeared on stage with his brothers.
49. Concert 9/11
Also in 2001, he took part in the performance United We Stand: What More Can I Give, dedicated to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The main song of the concert is “What More Can I Give” performed by Michael.
50. "Men in Black 2"
In 2002, he appeared as a cameo in the film Men in Black 2. A celebrity asks to join the ranks of a secret organization.
51. Parody of Michael
One of the most succinct parodies of Jackson is in the film Scary Movie 3.
The parody plays on not only his “passion” for boys, but also his ability to dance well and plastic surgery on his nose.
52. Last years of career
In 2003, a collection of Jackson’s hits “Number Ones” was released, in 2004 “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection”.
In 2008, Sony launched a global campaign and, after voting by listeners, created its own collection of Michael’s hits for each country.
In 2009, a new album was planned to be released; Will.I.Am, Kanye West and R&B singer Akon took part in the recording.
A series of concerts in England was also planned for 2009, but the tour did not take place due to the death of the performer.
Personal life of Michael Jackson
53. First wife
He first married in 1994 to the daughter of the “King of Rock and Roll” Lisa Marie Presley. Since this happened immediately after the scandal with the molestation of a minor, the media immediately dubbed this marriage a cover-up and a demonstration of Michael’s “normality.”
Jackson claimed that he had true love with Lisa, but two years later the marriage broke up.
It is worth noting that the marriage was registered in the Dominican Republic, but it was “semi-fictitious”, since according to the laws of this country, a woman cannot get married if she was divorced less than three months before. Lisa had just divorced her ex-husband.
Two facts speak for true love: the newlyweds not only got married, but also held a wedding ceremony, and the very fact of the wedding was hidden for two months.
54. Second wife
In 1996, the singer married Deborah Rowe, who by that time had already given birth to two children from Michael. The children were named Prince Michael Jackson and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.
After their parents divorced in 1999, both children remained to live with their father.
55. Third child
In 2002, Michael had his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II. He was born from a surrogate mother, and after the singer’s death, his mother Katherine Jackson took custody of the children.
A scandalous situation happened with the third child when he was still very young. The media always followed Jackson, and one day he either wanted to show them a child who was being hunted by the media, or the singer lost his nerve. Michael carried the child out onto the hotel balcony and showed the child to the journalists, but it looked like he almost dropped the baby.
Naturally, photos from this incident appeared on the covers of many media outlets.
56. How did he protect his children?
The artist carefully hid his children from the public, so when they were with him, they wore masks.
57. Who were you friends with?
Michael Jackson was friends with many celebrities, even after numerous scandals, most of these people remained loyal to the singer and defended him in the media.
Culkin has already been mentioned, but other friends are also worth mentioning: Whitney Houston, Eddie Murphy, Diana Ross, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Mark Lester, Chris Tucker, Omer Bhatti.
"Leaving Neverland"
Shana, who worked as Jackson’s management company, also said that the parents of children who hung out with the star themselves pushed them to communicate with the King of Pop, and then became jealous and acted out, spreading gossip about the performer’s secret passions.
The student who became a mother was condemned. It turned out that the girl was keeping a secret about her daughter.
Russian nobles did not work, but where did they get the money and what did they spend it on?
Ksenia Katalymova said that “Peace, Friendship, Chewing Gum” is a special series for her
The woman is referring to the plot of the documentary Leaving Neverland, in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse Jackson of sexually abusing them as children. This picture caused a real explosion in Hollywood. It contains a huge amount of evidence from “victims” who all unanimously insisted that Jackson was a pervert who abused helpless children for many years.
Other facts
58. Animals around the singer
Having his own zoo, the artist always made sure that the animals in captivity felt good. After death, many animals dispersed throughout the world, since there was no one to maintain the zoo on the ranch.
One of Michael's favorite animals was the chimpanzee Bubble. He was with Jackson from 1980 to 2002, accompanied him on tour, and lived on the ranch. During this time, the primate learned to eat with a spoon and fork, went to a special toilet, and, according to Michael himself, helped clean the house.
In 2002, the primate had to be sent to a special center because it became too aggressive.
Facts about the death of Michael Jackson
59. Place and time
He died on June 25, 2009 in a rented mansion in Los Angeles.
Previously, this mansion belonged to many celebrities, including Sean Connery.
60. Cause of death
Died from an overdose of propofol. Conrad Murray, his attending physician, gave him the injection, and 2 hours later he found the artist dead.
He tried to resuscitate the patient himself and called an ambulance. Doctors tried to save Michael on the way to the University of California Medical Center and for another hour after arrival, but all attempts were unsuccessful.
Murray was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years in prison and had his medical license revoked.
61. Flurry of messages
Jackson's death became known almost immediately. Several social networks and large Internet resources reported an unprecedented increase in traffic: Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Twitter and Wikipedia.
62. Funeral
On July 7, 2009, a farewell ceremony for the singer took place in Los Angeles, which consisted of two parts. A family farewell was held at Liberty Hall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, followed by a public farewell at Staples Center.
The public farewell was broadcast on television and the Internet and was watched by more than 1 billion people. However, there was no exact information about the location of the body.
On September 3, a funeral took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
But Michael Jackson's career is not over...
After the tragedy
When the masks were finally dropped after the singer's death, gossip about paternity died down a little. If the same-age firstborns still raised questions, Michael Jackson's youngest son Blanket turned out to be practically a copy of his father, except perhaps in a lighter version. From that moment on, the children came under the scrutiny of the lenses of ubiquitous reporters. Gossip, rumors, and legal proceedings attracted public attention to the Jackson family for a long time. Their grandmother Katherine became the guardian of the heirs of the King of Pop, and it was also revealed that back in the early 2000s, Debbie Rowe was deprived of any rights to her biological children.
The family tried to hide, besides, they could not recover from grief, but they failed to attract attention. The children suffered the death of their beloved father very painfully. This was especially true for Paris, who experienced severe depression and several suicide attempts, which, of course, ended up in the press.
Posthumous albums
Sony has signed a contract with Michael's family for 10 albums; they will include both re-releases of old hits and previously unpublished songs.
63. Album “Michael”
In 2010, the first posthumous and eleventh studio album was released. Most critics, fans and musicians criticized the album, calling it too "raw".
64. Album “Immortal”
In 2011, a more successful remix album, “Immortal,” was released. Received positive reviews from critics, and a compilation of tracks in the form of a soundtrack was used in the Cirque du Soleil show tour called “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour”.
65. Album “Xscape”
The second posthumous album of previously unreleased tracks was released in 2014. Critics noted the quality of the work, but unanimously agreed that it could not be compared with the best works of Jackson's lifetime.
66. Hologram of Michael Jackson
At the televised Billboard Music Awards in 2014, Pulse Evolution gave the world another performance from the famous singer. Michael Jackson's memorable performance of "Slave to the Rhythm" shocked the whole world, and many of the guest stars cried when they saw Michael back on stage.
In fact, it was not a hologram, but a 19th century illusion technology. It consists of projecting an image onto glass or transparent plastic located at an angle of 45 degrees to the floor.
But does that make the performance any less impressive?
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