Troubled Life of Michael Jackson: From the Jackson 5 to Wacko Jacko

Controversy came early in the life of Michael Jackson. The pop star, who made his debut on the international music scene, aged 11, told Martin Bashir in a 2003 documentary that during his childhood he was abused and bullied by his father. The father, who managed the band, would ­beat him and his brothers with a belt if they made mistakes in their dance routines, he said.

Much of Jackson's adult life was plagued by rumors that he had extensive plastic surgery, as his skin became noticeably lighter over the years, a fact the singer attributed to the medical condition vitiligo.

As Jackson became increasingly detached from reality there were stories of excessive shopping sprees and rumors that he slept in an oxygen tent, resulting in the moniker "Wacko Jacko".

In 1993, he was accused of child abuse by the father of 13-year-old Jordie Chander, who claimed the singer had performed sex acts with the child. Detectives are believed to have interviewed the boy and other youngsters, including the then 12-year-old actor Macaulay Caulkin, star of the Home Alone films, who had visited Jackson's Neverland ranch.

Jackson denied the accusations and was never charged; a civil case was settled out of court in early 1994, when he reportedly paid the child $20m (£14m).

n the wake of the Bashir interview, Jackson was arrested in November 2003, after admitting that he had shared his bed with children. After a four-month trial, he was cleared of all charges in June 2005.

His two marriages, He had three children: Prince Michael, born in 1997, a daughter, Paris, in 1998, and Prince Michael II, who came from an unnamed surrogate in 2002. Jackson courted further controversy after dangling the child over a third-floor Berlin hotel balcony.