BORN
08/29/1958 in Gary, IN

YEARS ACTIVE
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s

MEMBER OF
The Jacksons (aka Jackson 5)

Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the ''80s, and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time. In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power. His 1982 blockbuster Thriller became the biggest-selling album of all time (probably his best-known accomplishment), and he was the first black artist to find stardom on MTV, breaking down innumerable boundaries both for his race and for music video as an art form. Yet as Jackson''s career began, very gradually, to descend from the dizzying heights of his peak years, most of the media''s attention focused on his increasingly bizarre eccentricities; he was often depicted as an arrested man-child, completely sheltered from adult reality by a life spent in show business. The snickering turned to scandal in 1993, when Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy; although he categorically denied the charges, his out-of-court settlement failed to restore his tarnished image. He never quite escaped the stigma of those allegations, and while he continued to sell records at superstar-like levels, he didn''t release them with enough frequency (or, many critics thought, inspiration) to once again become better known for his music than his private life. Whether as a pop icon or a tabloid caricature, Jackson always remained bigger than life.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, IN. The seventh son of steelworker Joe Jackson, Michael displayed a talent for music and dance from an extremely young age. His childhood was strictly regimented; from the start, he was to an extent sheltered from the outside world by his mother''s Jehovah''s Witness faith, and his father was by all accounts an often ill-tempered disciplinarian. Joe began to organize a family musical group around his three eldest sons in 1962, and Michael joined them the following year, quickly establishing himself as a dynamic stage performer. His dead-on mastery of James Brown''s dance moves and soulful, mature-beyond-his-years vocals made him a natural focal point, especially given his incredibly young age. Dubbed the Jackson 5, the group signed to Motown in 1968 and issued their debut single in early 1970, when Michael was just 11 years old. "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I''ll Be There" all hit number one that year, making the Jackson 5 the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts. Motown began priming Michael for a solo career in 1971, and his first single "Got to Be There" was issued toward the end of the year; it hit the Top Five, as did the follow-up, a cover of Bobby Day''s "Rockin'' Robin." Later in 1972, Jackson had his first number-one solo single, "Ben," the title song from a children''s thriller about a young boy who befriends Ben, the highly intelligent leader of a gang of homicidal rats. Given the subject matter, the song was surprisingly sincere and sentimental, and even earned an Oscar nomination. However, the momentum of Jackson''s solo career (much like that of the Jackson 5) soon stalled. He released his fourth and final album on Motown in 1975, and the following year, he and his brothers (save Jermaine) signed to Epic and became the Jacksons.

In 1977, Jackson landed a starring role alongside Diana Ross in the all-black film musical The Wiz, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz; here he met producer/composer Quincy Jones for the first time. Encouraged by the success of the Jacksons'' self-produced, mostly self-written 1978 album Destiny, Jackson elected to resume his solo career when his management contract with his father expired shortly thereafter. With Jones producing, Jackson recorded his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall. An immaculately crafted set of funky disco-pop, smooth soul, and lush, sentimental pop ballads, Off the Wall made Jackson a star all over again. It produced four Top Ten singles, including the number one hits "Don''t Stop ''Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You," and went platinum (it went on to sell over seven-million copies); even so, Jackson remained loyal to his brothers and stayed with the group.

No group could have contained Jackson''s rapidly rising star for long; however, there was still no sign (if there ever could be) that his next album would become the biggest in history. Released in 1982, the Quincy Jones-produced Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more driving, the pop tunes and ballads softer and more soulful, and all of it was recognizably Michael. Jackson brought in Paul McCartney for a duet, guitarist Eddie Van Halen for a jaw-dropping solo, and Vincent Price for a creepy recitation. It was no surprise that Thriller was a hit; what was a surprise was its staying power. Jackson''s duet with McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," was a natural single choice, and it peaked at number two; then "Billie Jean" and the Van Halen track "Beat It" both hit number one, for seven and three weeks respectively. Those latter two songs, as well as the future Top Five title track, had one important feature in common: Jackson supported them with elaborately conceived video clips that revolutionized the way music videos were made. Jackson treated them as song-length movies with structured narratives: "Billie Jean" set the song''s tale of a paternity suit in a nightmarish dream world where Jackson was a solitary, sometimes invisible presence; the anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became an homage to West Side Story; and the ten-minute-plus clip for "Thriller" (routinely selected as the best video of all time) featured Jackson leading a dance troupe of rotting zombies, with loads of horror-film makeup and effects. Having never really accepted black artists in the past, MTV played the clips to death, garnering massive publicity for Jackson and droves of viewers for the fledgling cable network. Jackson sealed his own phenomenon by debuting his signature "moonwalk" dance step at the end of 1983 on Motown''s televised 25th anniversary special; though he didn''t invent the moonwalk (as he himself was quick to point out), it became as much of a Jackson signature as his vocal hiccups or single white-sequined glove.

Showing no signs of slowing down, Thriller just kept spinning off singles, including "Wanna Be Startin'' Somethin''," the airy ballad "Human Nature," and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"; in all, seven of its nine tracks wound up in the Top Ten, obliterating conventional ideas of how many singles could be released from an album before it ran its course. Thriller stayed on the charts for over two years, spent 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one, and became the best-selling album of all time; it went on to sell 25-million copies in the U.S. alone, and around another 20 million overseas. Naturally, Jackson won a slew of awards, including a record eight Grammys in one night, and snagged the largest endorsement deal ever when he became a spokesman for Pepsi (he would later be burned in an accident while filming a commercial). At the end of 1983, Jackson was again on top of the singles charts, this time as part of a second duet with McCartney, "Say Say Say." In 1984, Jackson re-joined his brothers one last time for the album Victory, whose supporting tour was one of the biggest (and priciest) of the year. The following year, he and Lionel Richie co-wrote the anthemic "We Are the World" for the all-star famine-relief effort USA for Africa; it became one of the fastest-selling singles ever.

Even at this early stage, wild rumors about Jackson''s private life were swirling. His shyness and reluctance to grant interviews (ironically, due in part to his concerns about being misrepresented) only encouraged more speculation. Some pointed to his soft-spoken, still girlish voice as evidence that he''d undergone hormone treatments to preserve the high, flexible range of his youth; stories were told about Jackson sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber to slow the aging process, and purchasing the skeleton of John Merrick, the Elephant Man (Jackson did view the bones in the London Hospital, but did not buy them). Jackson bought a large ranch in California which he dubbed Neverland, and filled it with amusement park rides and animals (including the notorious pet chimpanzee Bubbles), which only fueled the public''s perception of him as a somewhat bizarre eccentric obsessed with recapturing his childhood. He also underwent cosmetic surgery several times, which led to accusations from the black community that his gradually lightening skin tone was the result of an intentional effort to become whiter; a few years later, Jackson revealed that he had a disorder called vitiligo, in which pigment disappears from the skin, leaving large white blotches and making direct sunlight dangerous. One of the rumors that was definitely true was that Jackson owned the rights to the Beatles'' catalog; in 1985, he acquired ATV Publishing, the firm that controlled all the Lennon-McCartney copyrights (among others), which wound up costing him his friendship with McCartney.

During his long layoff between records, Jackson indulged his interest in film and video by working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 3-D short film Captain Eo. The special-effects extravaganza was shown at the enormous wide-screen IMAX theaters in Disney''s amusement parks for 12 years, beginning in 1986. Finally, Jackson re-entered the studio with Quincy Jones to begin the near-impossible task of crafting a follow-up to Thriller. Bad was released to enormous public anticipation in 1987, and was accompanied by equally enormous publicity. It debuted at number one, and the first single "I Just Can''t Stop Loving You," with vocal accompaniment by Siedah Garrett, also shot up the charts to number one. Like Thriller, Bad continued to spin off singles for well over a year after its release, and became the first album ever to produce five number one hits; the others were "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana." Jackson supported the album with a lengthy world tour that featured a typically spectacular, elaborate stage show; it became the highest-grossing tour of all time. Although Jackson''s success was still staggering, there were faint undercurrents of disappointment, partly because of the unparalleled phenomenon of Thriller (Bad "only" sold eight million copies), and partly because the album itself didn''t seem quite as exuberant or uniformly consistent when compared to its predecessors.

Jackson took another long hiatus between albums, giving the media little to focus on besides his numerous eccentricities; by this time, the British tabloids delighted in calling him "Wacko Jacko," a name he detested. When Jackson returned in with a new album in late 1991, he''d come up with a different moniker: "the King of Pop." Dangerous found Jackson ending his collaboration with Quincy Jones in an effort to update his sound; accordingly, many of the tracks were helmed by the groundbreaking new jack swing producer Teddy Riley. As expected, the album debuted at number one, and its lead single "Black or White" shot to the top as well. Jackson courted controversy with the song''s video, however; after the song itself ended, there was a long dance sequence in which Jackson shouted, grabbed his crotch, and smashed car windows in a bizarre display that seemed at odds with the song''s harmonious message. With the video given a high-profile, prime-time network premiere, Jackson was criticized for the inappropriate violence and the message it might send to his younger fans. However, Jackson would not be the biggest story in popular music for long. In early 1992, Nirvana''s Nevermind symbolically knocked Dangerous out of the number-one spot; after the alternative rock revolution, the pop charts would never be quite the same. Jackson scored several more hits off the album, including the Top Tens "Remember the Time" and "In the Closet," but the aggressive "Jam" and the saccharine "Heal the World" both performed disappointingly.

Jackson had long preferred the company of children over other adults, and befriended quite a few, inviting them to stay at his Neverland Ranch and enjoy the massive playground he''d assembled over the years. In 1993, Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy who''d become a frequent guest at Neverland. Predictably, there was a tabloid feeding frenzy, and a mainstream media circus as well. In the court of public opinion, the charges seemed all too plausible: Jackson was near-universally perceived as a weirdo, and here was a handy explanation for his heretofore asexual persona and distaste for adult companions. Additionally, Jackson entered rehab for a short time, seeking treatment for an addiction to pain killers. Investigations were unsuccessful in turning up any other boys who echoed the allegations, and Jackson counter-sued his accusers for attempting extortion; however, in spite of the fact that no criminal charges were ever filed against Jackson, he settled the boy''s family''s suit out of court in early 1995, paying an estimated 18-20 million dollars. Many felt the settlement was tantamount to an admission of guilt, and when Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, the move was perceived as a desperate ploy to rehabilitate his image; the marriage broke up just 19 months later, seemingly lending credence to the charge.

In 1995, Jackson attempted to put the focus back on his music by preparing HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, a two-CD set featuring one disc of new material and one of his greatest hits. The album debuted at number one, but the format backfired on Jackson: his fans already owned the hits, and the new album simply wasn''t strong enough to offset the added cost of the extra disc for many more casual listeners. There were some encouraging signs -- the lead single "Scream," a duet with sister Janet, debuted at number five, setting a new American chart record that was broken when the follow-up "You Are Not Alone" became the first single ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number one. But on the whole, HIStory was something of a disappointment. Additionally, Jackson collapsed during rehearsals for an awards show later that year, and had to be rushed to the hospital; what was more, the Eagles'' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 was threatening to catch Thriller''s American sales record (it eventually did, and the two continued to run neck and neck). There were signs that Jackson was grasping at his self-proclaimed King of Pop status; the cover of HIStory depicted an enormous statue of Jackson, and he performed at the 1996 BRIT Awards dressed as a Messiah, with children and a rabbi surrounding him worshipfully (Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker stormed the stage to protest Jackson''s hubris during the middle of the song). The 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor failed to even go platinum, although remix albums historically don''t perform nearly as well as new material.

In late 1996, Jackson remarried to nurse Debbie Rowe; over the next two years, the couple had two children, son Prince Michael Jackson Jr. and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. However, Jackson and Rowe divorced in late 1999. In 2001, Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and later held a massive concert at Madison Square Garden celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first solo record. Among many other celebrity guests, the show featured the first on-stage reunion of the Jacksons since the Victory tour. In the wake of September 11, Jackson put together an all-star charity benefit single, "What More Can I Give." His new album, Invincible, was released late in the year, marking the first time he''d issued a collection of entirely new material since Dangerous; it found him working heavily with urban soul production wizard Rodney Jerkins. Invincible debuted at number one and quickly went double-platinum; however, its initial singles, "You Rock My World" and "Butterflies," had rather disappointing showings on the charts, with the latter not even reaching the Top Ten. To compound matters, the expensive "What More Can I Give" single and video were cancelled by Sony when executive producer Marc Schaffel was revealed to work in pornography. Jackson''s camp tried to distance the singer from Schaffel, and the various corporations that were attached to it (McDonalds, Sony) claimed they had minimal involvement if any with the song. Sony and Jackson began a press war in the summer of 2002, starting with Jackson''s claims that the label asked for $200 million to pay them back for marketing costs. Although they had spent $55 million on his disappointing comeback, Sony released a statement saying that no such request had ever been made. Jackson stewed for a few weeks before launching a press attack on Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola, calling him "devilish" and making claims that he used racist language and held down black artists. Many Sony artists, including Mariah Carey and Ricky Martin, defended Mottola, but Jackson and his family maintained that racism ended their professional relationship.

From that point, Jackson''s career took an extreme turn towards the bizarre, starting with MTV''s annual Video Awards. When Britney Spears presented him with a birthday cake, an offhand remark about being the artist of the millennium inspired a rambling Jackson to accept a meaningless trophy (which everyone presenting onstage received) as an actual Artist of the Millennium award. Next came accusations from a promotional company over his promises of a tour and several appearances that he then cancelled. Jackson arrived in court late, gave a drowsy testimony, and inspired gasps when he removed a surgical mask to reveal his nose had caved in from a botched cosmetic surgery. Only days later, German fans were horrified when Jackson came to the balcony of his hotel suite and briefly dangled a squirming baby over the edge with one arm. Although he apologized the next day, claiming he had gotten caught up in the moment, this only did more to cement the King of Pop''s public image as an out-of-control millionaire. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide  

In the year since Michael Jackson made his first national television appearance with his brothers at age 11, he has evolved from a singing and dancing soul music prodigy to the self-proclaimed but widely acknowledged "King of Pop" to one of the most widely ridiculed of all public figures. As a musician, he has ranged from Motown's snappy dance fare and lush ballads to techno-edged New Jack Swing to work that incorporates both funk rhythms and hard-rock guitar. At his early-1980s zenith, riding the crest of his best-selling album, Thriller, spotlit in his red zippered jacket and single white sequined glove, he was ubiquitous. Jackson has been a superb businessman, exerting unparalleled control over his career and, in effect, managing himself since he and his brothers (sans Jermaine) left Motown for Epic Records in 1975, though his spendthrift ways have, in the 20000s, come back to haunt him. But as a singer, dancer, and songwriter, Jackson's talent is unassailable.

With the passage of time, however, and especially since 1993, it is Jackson's personality that has dominated headlines formerly dedicated to his prodigious artistic accomplishments and humanitarian efforts. His charity work was enormous and focused always on his highly publicized identification with children. Infatuated with E.T. and Peter Pan, Jackson seemed a kind of childlike extraterrestrial: benign (if in an eerie way), either sexless or sexually ambiguous, neither black nor white. Secluded by his celebrity, he appeared to touch down to earth only on stage or on videotape; fanatically private, he generated endless gossip. In 1993, and a decade later in 2004, with Jackson facing allegations of child molestation, his career was rocked with scandal as gargantuan as his fame. Not since Shirley Temple had a child star so entranced the American public, and the massive public soul-searching the allegations against Jackson inspired were but one indication of the almost inestimable role he has played in shaping pop culture. Jackson returned to the tabloids in 1994 with the shocking announcement that he had wed Lisa Marie Presley, an act that led to even more speculation about his motives but which undeniably made him, until his divorce two years later, the son-in-law of the late Elvis Presley.

The Jackson 5's lead singer and focal point, Michael became more popular than the group as the 1980s began. He had a string of solo hits in the early-1970s ("Got to Be There" [Number Four, 1971]; "Rockin' Robin" [Number Two, 1972]; "Ben" [Number One, 1972]) and played the Scarecrow in the film version of The Wiz in 1978. But it was with veteran producer Quincy Jones, whom he met while filming The Wiz, that Jackson began his amazing rise. In 1979 the team's Off the Wall made him the first solo artist to release four Top 10 hits from a single album. "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" (Number One, 1979), "Rock with You" (Number One, 1979), "Off the Wall" (Number Ten, 1980), and "She's Out of My Life" (Number Ten, 1980) presented him as a mature artist whose funk rhythms and pop melodies appealed equally to blacks and whites. In the album's wake, the Jacksons' Triumph (1980) sold a million copies and prompted a $5.5 million-grossing tour. Even at this early stage, Jackson and his brothers were exploring video, and the short film that accompanied Triumph's title track was an imaginative, technically advanced effort.

In 1982 Jackson and Jones collaborated on a storytelling record of Steven Spielberg's E.T. The album, which was hastily withdrawn from the market due to a legal dispute, is now a prime Jackson collectible. That year, Diana Ross, one of Jackson's mentors, scored a Number Ten hit with the Michael-written "Muscles," named after one of his pet snakes. Jackson had also begun an alliance with Paul McCartney, who had written "Girlfriend," from Off the Wall. The two reconvened to co-write the duet "The Girl Is Mine" (Number Two, 1982), the first duet off of Thriller.

It was 1983 that marked Jackson's complete ascension. With Quincy Jones again producing, Thriller yielded, in addition to "The Girl Is Mine," two other hit singles by early 1983 — "Billie Jean" (Number One, 1983) and "Beat It" (Number One, 1983), the latter featuring a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen — and went on to become the best-selling album in history, with over 45 million copies sold worldwide. Charting at Number One in every Western country, it spent a record 37 weeks at Number One in the U.S. The first album to ever simultaneously head the singles and albums charts for both R&B and pop, it eventually generated an unprecedented seven Top 10 singles, including "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Number Ten, One983), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Number Five, 1983), "Human Nature" (Number Seven, 1983), and "Thriller" (Number Four, 1983). Of its record 12 Grammy nominations, it won eight in 1983, a historical sweep.

Thriller also broke through MTV's de facto color line; where videos by black artists had rarely been shown, Michael's "Beat It," costing $160,000, received extensive play. The "Thriller" video, with a voiceover by horror movie stalwart Vincent Price and state-of-the-art special effects, was directed by John Landis, establishing Jackson's practice of working with notable filmmakers. In May, performing solo and with his brothers on NBC's Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special, Michael popularized his distinctive "moonwalk" dance step, and in performing "Billie Jean," was the only artist on the program whose repertoire included a non-Motown song. Later in 1983, while another duet with McCartney — "Say Say Say," from Paul's Pipes of Peace — topped the charts for six weeks, Jackson announced a $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi-Cola.

In 1984, while filming a Pepsi commercial, Jackson was seriously injured when a pyrotechnic effect went awry, setting his hair on fire. The singer underwent surery for scalp burns; he later received facial laser surgery. Rumors about other reconstructive work began shortly before the release of Thriller and would build in coming years. Among the procedures he has been rumored to have undergone are facelifts, a purported six nose surgeries, and the lightening of his skin with chemical (it was also alleged that he took female hormones to maintain his falsetto).

After receiving a Presidential Award from Ronald Reagan in June 1984, Jackson joined his brothers on a supporting tour for the Jacksons' Victory (from which Michael's duet with Mick Jagger, "State of Shock," reached Number Three). The highly publicized tour, which Jackson undertook reluctantly, was plagued by mismanagement (boxing promoter Don King was in charge, much to Jackson's displeasure, and his parents were co-producers), internal strife (at one point, several parties had each retained their own lawyers), and bad PR, thanks to a method of selling tickets that underwent heavy criticism: they were available in blocks of four, at $30 apiece, and only purchasable with US Post Office money orders, among other roadblocks. This was changed after public outcry, but the damage was done; a disillusioned Jackson donated his revenues to children's charities. Nonetheless, the shows were considered spectacular, brimming with high-tech special effects. Jackson ended 1984 by receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1985 Jackson co-wrote with Lionel Richie "We Are the World," the theme song for USA for Africa. It reached Number One and embellished Michael's reputation as a humanitarian. Jackson's relationship with Paul McCartney soured later that year as, bidding against both McCartney and Yoko Ono, he secured the ATV music publishing catalogue for $47.5 million: among ATV's holdings were more than 250 Lennon/McCartney songs. (Jackson has long been known inside the industry for his almost encyclopedic command of the details of his business dealings.)

Shortly after signing a second contract with Pepsi in 1986 for $15 million, Jackson released Bad, the biggest-shipping album of all time, in 1987; its 17-minute title track video was directed by Martin Scorsese. Bad generated five #1's in 1987-88: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana." The Bad tour — over a year long — became the biggest-grossing tour in history and one of the most expensive: Jackson's entourage included 250 people.

With 1988 came Jackson's long-awaited, heavily illustrated, and brief autobiography, Moonwalk, in which he claimed that his father, Joseph Jackson, had hit him as a child. Generally, however, the book (edited by Jacqueline Onassis) was considered unrevealing. (A second volume of Jackson's writings, Dancing the Dream, was published in 1992 to less enthusiastic response.)

By the end of the 1980s, Jackson had moved from the Encino, California, family home to Neverland, an estimated $28 million, 2,700-acre California ranch complete with Ferris wheel, an exotic menagerie, a movie theater, and a security staff of 40. There Jackson — famous for clean living (he neither smoked, drank, nor used drugs, and was rarely seen in the company of a woman) — hosted an endless series of parties for children, many of them disabled, critically ill, or underprivileged.

His popularity seemingly unassailable, Jackson signed a $28 million deal with L.A. Gear sportswear to be its spokesperson, but the idea proved a failure and Jackson was dropped after one commercial. At the start of the '90s, however, Jackson's popularity was massive enough to land him the biggest contract ever awarded an entertainer. Jackson signed a $65 million deal with Sony Corporation in 1991 that promised him an unprecedented share in the profits from his next six albums, his own label, a role in developing video software products, and a chance to star in movies. Reportedly he would receive more than $120 million per album if each could match the sales of Thriller. Sony reported that it expected revenues of $1 billion from the partnership. Jackson's celebrity status by this time was unquestioned — he'd hosted Elizabeth Taylor's eighth wedding at Neverland and had been publicly praised by such Hollywood establishment figures as Fred Astaire, Jane Fonda, and Katharine Hepburn — and he seemed unstoppable.

In 1991, at a recording cost of $10 million, Dangerous was released. Co-produced by New Jack Swing creator Teddy Riley, the album featured material ("Heal the World," "Who Is It") that recalled his work with Quincy Jones, with whom he had parted ways shortly after Bad. Riley, however, toughened and updated Jackson's sound, stripping off some of the smooth studio gloss of his previous works. With the $1.2 million video for the single "Black or White," Jackson demanded that MTV and BET announce him as "the King of Pop" (a fact he would later deny in a live televised interview with Oprah Winfrey). Hoping to outdistance Bad's over $20 billion in sales, he prepared for a spectacular world tour. Also in 1992, he embarked on a five-nation African tour; however, there he was widely criticized for his aloof behavior. That same year, Jackson established, with his personal fortune of $200 million, the Heal the World Foundation to raise awareness of children-related issues, including abuse.

With 1993 came Jackson's crisis. The year began auspiciously: Jackson appeared at the NAACP Image Awards in January, and at the pre-inaugural gala for President Bill Clinton; he also reached 91 million viewers in his half-time performance at Super Bowl XXVII, the most widely viewed (and, many said, boring) entertainment event in TV history. He announced the start of a $1.25 million program to provide drug prevention and counseling services to L.A. children following that city's riots. In a February TV interview with a less than incisive Oprah Winfrey, he revealed that he suffered from vitiglio, a disease he maintained discolored his skin, and that he was a victim of abuse at the hands of his father, Joseph. He tried to dispel such long-standing tabloid rumors as the one that he once tried to buy the bones of the Elephand Man or had slept in a hyperbaric chamber. He also said that he was dating movie actress and model Brooke Shields, who had been a companion during the Thriller period. The interview was one of the most-watched television programs in history. In March he formed Michael Jackson Productions Inc., an independent film company that would give a share of its profits to the Heal the World Foundation. In June he debuted his MJJ/Epic record label, releasing the Free Willy soundtrack.

But scandal erupted on August 17 when a Beverly Hills psychiatrist approached the LAPD after a 13-year-old patient claimed that Jackson had fondled him. Later, specific charges brought by the boy's father claimed that Jackson had sexually abused the boy at his house earlier in the year. After the father obtained a ruling to deny Jackson contact with the son, the police raided Neverland, seizing videotapes and other possible evidence (nothing incriminating turned up). While traveling to Bangkok for the Dangerous tour, Jackson denied the charges, his security consultant maintaining that the boy's father had attempted to extort $20 million to start a production company (he added that Jackson received at least 25 such extortion threats a year). With Pepsi supporting him and his retinue denying a suicide attempt, Jackson turned 35 at the end of August. Shortly thereafter, Jackson canceled his second Singapore show, claiming migraine headaches.

In September, Jackson's sister La Toya reported that he used to spend the night with young boys in his room, and two former employees, who maintained that Jackson owed them $500,000 in wages, asserted that they'd witnessed Jackson's sexual involvement with several young boys. Jackson then pulled out of a deal to contribute the title track to the movie Addams Family Values. After Jackson's alleged victim filed a civil suit for seduction and sex abuse, the singer canceled the rest of the Dangerous tour, maintaining that the pressure from the charges had left him addicted to painkillers. In November five former Neverland guards sued Jackson for firing them, allegedly because they knew about his relationships with minors. Toward the end of the year, business continued, with Sony announcing that Dangerous sales had topped 20 million and Jackson signing a $70 million, five-year deal with EMI Music to administer his ATV catalogue. But in December, back in the U.S., Jackson in a four-minute cable TV broadcast confronted his accusers and decried the extensive examination of his body that the police had conducted as part of their investigation.

On January 25, 1994, lawyers for Jackson and the alleged victim announced a private settlement for the boy's case, despite the fact that Jackson resolutely continued to deny wrongdoing. While terms were not disclosed, estimates of Jackson's payment reached as high as $26 million. One day earlier, following a criminal investigation into Jackson's claims that the boy's father was part of an extortion plot against him, the D.A. declined to file charges. The L.A. district attorney also investigated the claims of a second boy that Jackson had shared a bed with him, even while the boy alleged no impropriety on the singer's part. The district attorney, also finding no evidence of wrongdoing, concluded the investigation. In August, a statement issued by MJJ Productions verified two months of rumors that Jackson had married 26-year-old Lisa Marie Presley, who had been estranged from her husband, with whom she had two children.

Jackson and his bride appeared on television with Diane Sawyer to discuss the marriage; it would be a short-lived one, as the couple divorced in 1996. Jackson later married Debbie Rowe, a nurse he'd met in the early 1980s when undergoing treatment for vitiglio. A boy, Prince, and a girl, Paris, resulted from the union.

In 1995, ushered in with a $30 million marketing campaign, the largest in history, Jackson's HIStory, a double-CD split between hits and new material, was released. Featuring "Scream," a duet with his sister Janet, the album dropped out of the Top 10 after only a few weeks. The song "They Don't Care About Us" included the lyric "Jew me/Sue me," provoking charges of anti-Semitism even from such stalwart Jackson supporters as Steven Spielberg. In 1997 a follow-up, Blood on the Dancefloor: HIStory in the Mix (Number 24), also fared poorly by Jackson's prior standards.

On September 7th and 10th, 2001, Jackson celebrated 30 years as a solo artist with a pair of shows at Madison Square Garden, featuring Whitney Houston, the Jacksons, Slash, Usher, 'NSync, and others; Jackson also organized a benefit concert for September 11 victims at Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium. That October saw the release of Invincible (Number One), featuring the singles "Butterflies" (Number 14, 2001), "You Rock My World" (Number Ten, 2001), and "Cry." The album sold close to eight million copies worldwide, but its maker once again found himself embroiled in controversy when Jackson decided not to renew his contract with Sony. The corporation's leader, Tommy Mottola, canceled all promotional efforts for Invincible in 2002. Jackson responded by publicly branding Mottola racist and "a devil." That November, Jackson was photographed holding his baby over the railing of his hotel room balcony in Berlin, with many media and fans wondering about the singer's ability to care for his own children. Also in 2002, the State of California cut the Heal the World Foundation from its tax-exempt status for not filing annual statements.

November 2003 saw the release of Number Ones, separately sold CD and DVD collections with one new song, "One More Chance" (Number 83, 2003). The day the album came out, with Jackson in Las Vegas shooting the "One More Chance" video, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department produced a warrant and searched Neverland in relation to a new set of child-molestation allegations. The following month, on December 18, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two of intoxicating a minor who was 14 at the time. Jackson steadfastly denied the charges. The case went to trial January 31, 2005 and ended that May; Jackson was acquitted on all counts in June 2005, after which the singer moved from Southern California to Bahrain, a Persian Gulf island. In May 2006, the State of California closed Neverland Ranch and fined Jackson $69,000 for not offering his employees insurance.

In February 2008, Jackson released Thriller 25, an expanded version of the best-selling album, including five remixes featuring contemporary musicians (Akon, Fergie, will.i.am, Kanye West) and other bonus material. The reissue sold well, spending seven weeks at Number One on Billboard's Pop Catalog Charts (it was disqualified from the pop chart, consisting of previously issued material). 

from RS