Michael Jackson (1958-2009), American singer, dancer, and songwriter. Jackson was one of the bestselling popular music artists in history, but beginning in the 1990s he became better known for his eccentric behavior and strange personal life.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born in gary, Indiana. At the age of five he joined his brothers’ singing group, which was dubbed the Jackson 5 (later renamed the Jacksons). Michael’s dancing ability as well as his singing skills quickly made him the group’s leader. Under the guidance of music producer Berry Gordy, founder of the Motown Records label, the group became very successful. Among the Jackson 5’s most popular songs were “I Want You Back” (1969), “ABC” (1970), and “I’ll Be There” (1970).
Jackson’s first solo album, Got to Be There (1971), established him as an independent performer. Leaving the family group, Jackson played the Scarecrow in the musical film The Wiz (1978) and recorded the hit album Off the Wall (1979), which included a number of songs he had written. His 1982 album Thriller, produced by Quincy jones, earned an unprecedented eightGrammy Awards, and would remain on the top of the Billboard charts for 9 months, eventually selling over 27 million copies in the United States alone. The music videos of the singles “Beat It” (for which he received a Grammy), “Thriller,” and “Billie Jean” from this album made Jackson a popular performer on MTV . The videos popularized one of Jackson’s singular dance moves, known as the moonwalk.
Jackson rejoined his brothers for the album Victory (1984) and a subsequent six-month tour. He also cowrote the song “We Are the World” (1985), which was performed by a group of more than 40 famous musicians. All profits from the single and video of this song were donated to programs targeting world hunger. Jackson’s album Bad (1987) produced a number of hit singles—including the title song and “Man in the Mirror”—and his 1991 album Dangerous and its single “Remember the Time” were also bestsellers.
