Through The Years With Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. Little did he know, he would become one of the world’s biggest stars! Being one of 10 children, Jackson grew up in a religious family in Gary, Indiana. It was due to his father that Michael and his four brothers joined forces to create the Jackson 5! The quartet was immediately successful, and at just 5 years old, Jackson became the lead vocalist!

In 1969, the Jackson 5 made their world debut at a special event opening up for The Supremes, another R&B group. When they moved to Los Angeles to begin their career, the 5 Jackson boys moved in with none other than Diana Ross herself! On Billboard 100, their album Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 had one single that made it to No.1! "I Want You Back” and "ABC" garnered them a ton of attention in the music world

Behind the scenes, there was some tension between the father, Joseph Jackson, and one of the music producers, Barry Gordy of Motown Records. The two found coming to terms with how they wanted the creative flow of the Jackson 5 difficult to say the least, and Joseph was frustrated he didn’t have the same creative control that he wanted.

Along with challenges with record companies, it was no secret that Joseph was hard on his children, and at times physically abusive. Michael decided it was time to move on.

Michael Jackson was equally over the creative control. In the ‘70s, he released 4 solo albums, although none of them garnered the massive response he was hoping for. It wasn't until 1982 when he released Thriller did his career launch into extreme superstardom. 

Generating seven Top 10 hits, the album stayed on the charts for 80 weeks, holding the No. 1 spot for 37 weeks. A huge record-breaking moment! Thriller garnered 12 Grammy Award nominations and received eight wins. Not only did the album break musical records, but the video for the song of the same name was such a massive success that it has been regarded as the best music video of all time.

In 1983 during a televised special, Michael Jackson performed "Billie Jean" which was No.1 at the time. During this special, he served the dance move he created that would soon be his staple - the moonwalk! This move was a huge leap for choreographers everywhere and being such a seasoned performer, Jackson was undoubtedly one of the best in the world.

After spending a year on the road, Jackson kept making music and released Bad. Although it didn’t have the same success as "Thriller", it was still regarded as a huge hit. It didn’t matter for Jackson, though, he was still raking in the dough! He bought a massive 2,700-acre property in California and created the now-infamous Neverland Ranch. His estate featured rides, exotic animals like his famous pet chimpanzee Bubbles, a 4-acre lake, and so much more! It wasn’t uncommon for Jackson to host children’s events - which would be used against him in the future.

In the late 1980s, things began to change for Jackson. Rumours circulated that he was changing the colour of his skin, doing odd plastic surgeries and rituals to prolong his life, and it was a stressful time for the King of Pop.

So, he decided to sit down with Oprah Winfrey in a tell-all interview in 1993 to put all nasty rumours to rest. It was during this interview that he revealed he was suffering from a rare skin condition, vitiligo, and revealed troubling details of his abusive past.

It was this same year that Jackson had even more controversy. Following his "Black or White" single and music video with Macauley Culkin, Jackson was the brunt of some nasty rumours of child molestation.

While he vehemently denied all allegations, after a 13-year-old boy came out and claimed Jackson had fondled him, he settled with the boy’s family. It wasn’t a secret that he frequently had children over for sleepovers, and this fact created a huge media frenzy.

Despite all of this, Jackson met a nurse, Debbie Rowe, and in 1994 they wed. Despite it only lasting 5 years, the couple had two children together. Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, or "Prince", and Paris Jackson. He then went on to have a third child following the divorce with an unknown surrogate, Prince Michael Jackson II, or "Blanket".