Born in 1958 in Indiana, the seventh of nine children of the Jackson family, Michael Joseph Jackson started his career with the band ‘Jackson 5’, founded by his father Joseph Jackson, who had a passion for music when he was only 6 years old. In this way, Michael, with his voice and his talent for dancing, was recognized in a short time and took the first steps of his future successes in these years.
Until 1968, Jackson 5 continued its amateur work in nightclubs and bars. In a competition held at the Apollo Theater in New York, Jackson 5 become the winner and attracted the attention of Berry Gordy, the founder of the most famous record label of the time, Motown. Michael, the band's star who moved to California after the contract was signed in 1968, quickly began to shine.
Motown's 4 singles, I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save and I'll be There , were number one on the charts in those years, following in the footsteps of soul music leaders such as the O-Jays band and James Brown, and by the early 1970s had become the number one representative of black pop and soul vocal groups worldwide. From that day on, Michael would blend this new style of music with his dance, transforming it into an original style, running alone in his own track.
After this rapid rise of the band, Jackson distinguished with his strong voice and different dance, and released his first solo albums from Motown, Got to be There, Music and me, Ben and Forever Michael, still attached to the Jackson 5 between 1971 and 1976. With that, Michael's individual career was largely paved the way. In 1972, the band started to perform internationally and sold-out concerts everywhere they went.
Michael Jackson, who continued to rise in his music career from 1976-1984 by mainly turning to his own tracks, made strides towards the top.
After a turbulent process, the band released six new albums from their new company, almost booming with 1978's Destiny work, which was among the Jackson Brothers' most successful albums. The album, which also features songs composed by Michael himself, received worldwide acclaim. Thus, Michael's’ compositional ' talent was revealed. The album sold more than two million, making the band and especially Michael more popular.
In 1979, the famous singer's first independent solo album, Off the Wall, was produced by Jones on Epic Records. This album which contains many hit songs such as Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, She's Out Of My Life, Off The Wall and Rock With You reached incredible sales numbers by making Michael pop music and entertainment world’s idol and the artist won his first major awards. In 1980, the American Music Awards awarded three categories in the album (Best Soul / R&B Album - Off the Wall, Best Soul / R&B Male Singer, Best Soul / R&B Song - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough) won many awards in the lists. In February of the same year, Michael again won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal with Don't Stop ‘Til you Get enough. In 1987, Jackson came across music lovers with his album Bad and in 1991, he changed his music company to an astronomical price, signing a contract with Sony. The economic return from the contract, signed for 15 years and covering 6 albums and a film, provided to Jackson had long been in memory.
In 1995, Michael released the History album, which he would break the records again, and dedicated this album to Elton John, whom he had great help with. A 35-minute clip was filmed for the songs Is it Scary and Ghosts , which he co-wrote with Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston. This clip, which still holds the distinction of being the longest music video in the world, was also an international success.
In 2001, Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop', which brought Invincible to number 1 on the pop music list of 13 countries and numerous successes to life with many other projects, was frequently brought up by scandals and suffered from health problems in the years before his death. The artist, who fell into a coma as a result of a disorder in his home in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, died in the hospital where he was taken to despite all the interventions.
Footage of Jackson dying during rehearsals for This Is It Tour recorded during rehearsals has been sold by AEG Live to Sony Music for $ 60 million, Michael Jackson's This Is It documentary, which was produced by Kenny Ortega and his team, the director of the rehearsals, was only shown in cinemas for 2 weeks starting October 27, 2009, but it grossed $ 101 million in its first week.
In this blog post, as musiconline , we searched for the life and musical career of the legendary artist Michael Jackson, who has left behind everlasting works and has a place in mind with his unique style. If you like our article you can share on the following buttons, if you want to be notified of new blog posts, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter.