Jacko: 50 and almost forgotten
2008-08-13 19:07
Los Angeles - Pop icons Madonna and Michael Jackson turn 50 later this month, but the contrasting fortunes of the two music legends could not be more stark as they usher in their respective birthdays.
Madonna, who celebrates her birthday on August 16, will bring up the half century with her career in health, less than one year into a groundbreaking R900m, 10-year deal, and with a recent No1 album.
But "King of Pop" Jackson, who is 50 on August 29, will mark his birthday still struggling to rebuild his career following a 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges, and with his finances the subject of intense speculation.
In the 1980s, the duo ruled the music world, with Jackson riding high thanks to the phenomenal success of his 1983 Thriller, which with more than 50 million copies sold remains the best-selling album of all-time.
Madonna enjoyed similar success, exploding on to the scene with 1983's Madonna, and following it up with the multi-platinum Like a Virgin a year later, which has sold 21 million copies worldwide.
Yet while Madonna consolidated her success in the 25 years since her debut, Jackson's star has waned, an outcome that few would have predicted in 1983.
Jackson part of cultural history
"It's interesting, you know, they're both the same age, they're both monster superstars, cultural myths almost, from the 1980s into the 1990s, but in so many ways they're hard to compare," said Robert Thompson, professor of television at the University of Syracuse.
"One could argue that as a musician, a dancer and an entertainer, Michael Jackson has it all over Madonna by a factor of 10," Thompson said.
"He's the guy who's up there with Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, one of the top musical performers in our cultural history."
Yet Madonna, Thompson said, has prospered from her extraordinary ability to reinvent herself, a skill that allows her to remain relevant despite the march of time and changing music tastes.
According to Geoff Mayfield, chart director of Billboard, Madonna achieved solid success with her latest album Hard Candy, which topped the charts earlier this year.
Madonna stays relevant
"It didn't sell as well as her music did a few years ago, but it was a number one album, and if anyone has ever proven that she's able of reinventing herself, that's Madonna," Mayfield said.
Jerry Del Colliano, a professor and music industry expert at the University of Southern California, also cited Madonna's chameleon-like ability to adapt.
"Madonna has managed to stay creative, and to stay relevant. I think she still is in the popular music scene," Del Colliano said. "I don't know what she'll be like at 60, but Mick Jagger is there and he's rocking and rolling.
"There's no shrewder businesswoman. She could probably run a music studio."
Analysts were less optimistic about Jackson's ability to pull his career out of its prolonged nosedive of the last decade.
According to Thompson, Jackson's problems can be traced back to the astounding success of Thriller and the fame it earned him.
Jackson withdrew from reality
"He got to the point that he was so rich, so powerful and so famous, that he was allowed to kind of withdraw from any kind of reality," Thompson opined.
"Michael Jackson is the example of someone who was truly spoiled - and by spoiled I mean ruined - by the level of fame that he achieved.
"He accidentally turned himself into a parody of himself, and then it's kind of hard to re-emerge as a serious performer," Thompson said.
Both Thompson and Del Colliano expressed doubt that a Jackson comeback was feasible, saying the stigma of sex abuse allegations would continue to haunt the singer despite his acquittal.
Child abuse trial made people uncomfortable
"I don't think it's impossible, I think he's still got talent, but then you tie that in with the trial, and that made an awful lot of people terribly uncomfortable," Thompson said.
Del Colliano added: "Jackson withstood a trial, which was very ugly, and was vindicated. The idea that he could be a paedophile, having that in the news is not going to make your career any good."
A spokesperson for Jackson did not respond to questions about how or where the singer would be celebrating his birthday.
Madonna, however, was reported to have postponed a star-studded party set for Saturday at the English country home she shares with husband Guy Ritchie after twisting an ankle during rehearsals for her forthcoming world tour.