Michael Jackson was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and businessman.
Called the King of Pop he was a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.
Michael's 1982 album 'Thriller' is the best-selling album of all time. His other albums, including
'Off the Wal'l (1979), 'Bad' (1987), 'Dangerous' (1991), and 'HIStory' (1995), also rank among
the world's best-selling.
Michael is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
He was also inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first and only dancer from pop and rock music.
Jackson has won hundreds of awards, making him the most-awarded recording artist in the history
of popular music. He has sold over 400 million records worldwide.
-Wikipedia
Birth Name: Michael Joseph Jackson
Born: August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Died: June 25, 2009 (at the age of 50) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. (Cause of death listed as cardiac arrest) The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personalphysician Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Parents: Joseph Walter Jackson
Katherine Esther Scruse
Spouse(s): Lisa Marie Presley (m. 1994; div. 1996)
Deborah Jeanne Rowe (m. 1996; div. 1999)
Children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr.
Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson
Prince Michael Jackson II
Genre(s):
Pop,
rock,
soul,
R&B,
funk,
disco,
new jack swing
Instrument(s):
Vocals
Active From: 1968-2009
Associated Acts:
The Jackson 5
Awards:
Image Awards: Outstanding Performance in a Variety Series/Special, Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration (2002)
MTV Movie Award: Best Movie Song, FREE WILLY (1994)
Image Awards: Special Award - Entertainer of the Year (1994)
8 Grammy Awards: 7 for his album THRILLER and 1 for E.T.-The Storybook.
Quotes:
"In the end, the most important thing is to be true to yourself and those you love and work hard. Work like there's no tomorrow. Train. Strive. Really train and cultivate your talent to the highest degree. Be the best at what you do. Get to know more about your field than anybody alive. Use the tools of your trade, if it's books or a floor to dance on or a body of water to swim in. Whatever it is, it's yours. That's what I've always tried to remember."
In a statement following the British broadcast of Living with Michael Jackson: "Today I feel more betrayed than perhaps ever before; that someone, who had got to know my children, my staff and me, whom I let into my heart and told the truth, could then sacrifice the trust I placed in him and produce this terrible and unfair program."
His denial against any allegations of bad behavior: "Everyone who knows me will know the truth which is that my children come first in my life and that I would never harm any child."
When reminded he's 44 years old, Jackon disagrees, insisting he feels like 4: "I am Peter Pan. He represents youth, childhood, never growing up, magic, flying." (In an interview in British TV documentary "Living with Michael Jackson")
When asked how he selected the surrogate mother for his third child: "It didn't matter to me as long as she was healthy. I didn't care what race as long as she is healthy. I used a surrogate mother, and she doesn't know me." (In an interview in British TV documentary "Living with Michael Jackson")
Commenting the hubbub over his infamous baby-dangling incident: "I love my children. I was holding my son tight and strong. Why would I throw a baby off a balcony? That's the dumbest, stupidest story I've ever heard."
When honored Thursday as "pop artist of the millennium" at a gala in Berlin : "We are Christians, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu, we are black, we are white, we are a community of some many differences, so complex and yet so simple. We do not need to have war."
"My life is very complicated. I have a lot of things going on. I am juggling a lot of responsibilities. There is so much going on that it is astounding, it really is."
"I'd rather slit my wrists then abuse a child."
"I don't say it if I don't mean it."
"Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his Moccasins!"
"I must endure for the world, for the children."
"I believe in perfection, and I try to create that in everything we do. We never seem to totally get there, but I believe in perfect execution. And when we don't get at least 99.9%, I get really upset..."
"When I was a little boy growing up in Indiana, if someone told me I'd be getting the artist of the millennium award', I'd never have believed it."
"I'm just like anyone. I cut and I bleed. And I embarass easily."
In a war of words against the music industry: "The minute I surpassed Elvis and the Beatles, they called me a freak, a homosexual, a child molester. They said I bleached my skin. Everything to turn the public against me. It was a complete conspiracy . . . I know my race. I just look in the mirror. I know I'm black."