Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was the King of Entertainment. No other individual has ever matched his showmanship and the power to pull crowds wherever he went. In short, he was a legend.

Childhood
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was born in Gary, Indiana to Joseph Jackson and Katherine Scruse. He was the seventh child out of nine children in his family. Michael was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness, which was due to his mother. He was often physically abused by his father, beaten up and also verbally abused. But Michael also credited his father's strict disciplinary actions to his success ahead in life.

Michael was always an entertainer. Even when he just joined school, he would perform in front of friends and classmates. Michael started his professional music career at the tender age of 11, as a member of The Jackson Five. The group had hits like I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, and I'll Be There. In 1971 he went solo, but still remained a member of The Jackson Five.

Music Career
He is credited with increasing the popularity of MTV by leaps and bounds through his music videos. Before this, music videos were made just to promote the albums. But Michael's videos managed to transform that in videos being made as an art, and for big business. Some of the music videos that are good examples of this fact are Beat It, Billie Jean, and Thriller. Through these works of his, the world got caught onto the idea of music videos and dedicated music video channels. The 1990s witnessed his ever so successful videos - Black or White and Scream.

Michael's Someone in the Dark for the movie "Extra Terrestrial", won him a Grammy. His album Thriller (1982) is the best selling album in the world till date. This album was in the top 10 of the Billboard Charts for 80 weeks in a row. Out of these, for 37 weeks it was at #1. Seven singles from this album hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. His other albums that were best-sellers include - Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995).

Michael enthralled his fans and audiences with his style of singing, attire, and his complicated dance moves, especially the "Moonwalk". The moonwalk is something that people from every part of the globe loved and try to imitate. People have also done mass moonwalks all around to show their love and affection towards him.

Charity
Michael Jackson supported 39 charities. Through his work and various foundations, he raised and donated millions toward charity, much more than any other showman. He had great love for children, especially the underprivileged ones, and he felt that children were the next best thing after God.

Personal Life
Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley in May 1994. They got divorced in December 1995. On 14th November 1996, he got married to his dermatologist's nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe in Sydney. With her he had 2 children, a boy called Prince Michael, and a daughter called Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson. Macaulay Culkin and Elizabeth Taylor were their Godparents. Michael and Deborah were divorced in 1999. In February 2002, Michael had another son called Prince Michael II, which was with a surrogate mother whose identity was never disclosed. Michael always maintained that he would love to take his children on stage with him, so that all his fans could see them. He owned this ranch in California called Neverland, a place which he turned into playland.

A 13-year-old child, Jordan Chandler and his father Evan Chandler accused Michael of child sexual abuse. Though, Jordan's mother always stuck to her story that Michael never did anything wrong. Jackson was accused of being a pedophile, but none of the charges were proven and Michael was given a clean chit. Michael always maintained his innocence.

End
Michael Jackson was addicted to painkillers. He used to consume a cocktail of around 8 different medicines. Some reports even suggested that many times these cocktails had to be pumped out of his stomach. Lawsuits had left him broke. He was staying at a rented place - 100 North Carolwood Drive, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Michael was scheduled to start a 50-concert tour in July 2009. Sadly, on 25th June, 2009, Michael collapsed at home. He had a low pulse and was slightly warm. Attempts to resuscitate him by his personal doctor were futile. The Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were called in and they arrived in a matter of hardly 3 minutes. At this time Michael was not breathing and CPR had to be performed. He was taken to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center which was nearly an hour away. Jackson was pronounced dead an hour later at around 2:25 pm local time, reason being cardiac arrest.

Michael Jackson was a great performer, showman and entertainer, besides the good human and charitable person that he was. People like this come once in a lifetime. His fan following was unbelievable. It's very unlikely that there will ever be another entertainer like Michael Jackson ever again.

R.I.P. M.J.