Schneider Michael Jackson Melissa Schneider

Schneider Michael Jackson Melissa Schneider Michael Jackson Bibliography Referred to as King of Pop, Michael Jackson was recognized as singer and song writer, dancer, actor, choreographer, businessman, philanthropist and record producer. He is the most recognized by the Guinness World Records as one of the most successful entertainer of all times as well as being regarded as the most influential.

Early Life Michael Jackson was born on 29 August, 1958 to Katherine Esther Scruse and Joseph Walter Jackson who was a steel mill worker who also performed with the Falcons, an R&B band. He was the eighth of ten children among them three sisters, Rebbie, La Toya and Janet and six brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy as well as Brandon, Marlon's twin brother who died shortly after birth.

He and his father shared a troubled relationship with Jackson speaking of childhood abuse which was physical, verbal and emotional, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. He also said that his father's strictness played a major part in his success. His talent was evident at an early age and he and Marlon joined a band that had been formed by his brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine called the Jackson Brothers in 1964.

They were backup musicians playing congas and tambourine and Michael later graduated to performing backup vocals as well as dancing (Jones and Brown 17). Music Career Michael Jackson began his professional career performing with his brothers in 1966 where they were known as Jackson5. They recorded several songs for Steeltown, a local record label, in 1967 and were later signed on to Motown Records in 1968. They set chart records with their first four chart records which included the popular "ABC," "I Want You Back" among others.

Michael quickly became the group's lead singer as well as the main attraction due to his overwhelming musical gifts. He later on recorded four albums for Motown Records which included "Got to be There" as well as "Ben" in the period between 1972 and 1975. These were released as a part of the Jackson 5 franchise. The Jackson 5 sales began declining in 1973 and the members were not allowed creative control or input by their record label.

As a result of this, the Jackson 5 left Motown records in 1975 moving to Epic Records which was a subsidiary of CBS Records and were renamed the Jacksons. Randy Jackson, the youngest Jackson brother joined the group at this time as Jermaine Jackson left the group in pursuit of a solo music career. The group toured internationally between 1976 and 1984 as well as releasing six new albums, all this with Michael as the lead song writer.

Among the hit singles that were credited to him included "Shake your body (down to the ground)," "this place hotel" and "can you feel it." Silverman said that his next project was the part of a scarecrow in the box office disaster musical called "Wiz" alongside Diana Ross. During the production of the musical, he met with Quincy Jones who agreed to produce Off the Wall, Michael's next solo album. The album's song writers included Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Rob Temperton and Michael Jackson himself.

The album was able to generate four American top 10 hits with chart topping singles like "rock with you" and "don't stop till you get enough." The album was number three in the Billboard top 200 and sold 20 million copies worldwide. His solo effort earned him three American Music Awards in 1980 (Taraborrelli 62). His second album with Epic Records was Thriller which was released later in 1982, which was the best selling album of all time, both nationally and internationally.

The album sold 110 million copies while topping the Billboard 200 chart for a record 37 weeks and being in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 weeks consecutively. It had seven singles in the top 10 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. The videocassettes of the documentary of the making of the video of Thriller also sold approximately 350,000 copies in just a few months while the video itself defined the music video genre. He apparently had the highest rate of royalty in the music industry at the time with 2 dollars per album sold.

Jackson performed his single "Billie Jean" live on the Motown 25 TV special dubbed Yesterday, Today, Forever. It was at this performance that he debut his signature move, the moonwalk. 1984 saw the release of dolls modeled after Michael Jackson as well as the shooting of a Pepsi-Cola commercial along with the other members of the Jackson 5 at the Shrine Auditorium. He unfortunately suffered second degree burns to his scalp when his hair was accidently set on fire using pyrotechnics during a simulated concert.

He underwent plastic surgery to hide the scars on his scalp and had his third rhinoplasty with the first being after breaking his nose while performing a complex dance routine in 1979 and therefore he required another one to repair the botched one that had made it difficult for him to breathe and in turn affected his career.

He never completely recovered from his injury and Pepsi received an out of court settlement from the company worth 1.5 million dollars which he donated the Brotman Medical Center that set up a "Michael Jackson Burn Center" to honor his donation (Silverman 37). His final tour with the Jacksons in support of the album Victory was in 1984. "State of Shock" which was recorded with Mick Jagger was the one major hit from the recording.

The tour showcased more of his solo material and the funds raised from the tour were donated to charity, approximately $8 million. His next single was co-written with Lionel Ritchie and was for charity. "We are the World" was released worldwide and was used to raise awareness and aid the poor people living in America and Africa. 30 million copies of it were sold worldwide and the funds donated to famine relief. It was one of the best-selling singles of all times.

Jackson sang alongside Lionel Ritchie, Willie Nelson, Tina Turner and nearly every pop star known at the time. 1987 saw the release of his first album in five years, titled Bad. Though not as commercially or artistically successful as Thriller, Bad was still substantially successfully in its own right. It had seven hit singles in America with five topping the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The chat topping singles included "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," and "Dirty Diana" among others. The album has sold approximately over 30 million copies worldwide.

The Bad World Tour began 12 September,.