All about Jackson
2005-06-14 09:17
Los Angeles - He was a child prodigy, a musical genius and one of the most idolised artists on earth, but Michael Jackson is now more likely to be remembered as an eccentric who was accused of paedophilia.
While Jackson reigned over the 1980s as the "King of Pop," his once-stellar career has been overshadowed by his increasingly colourful public behaviour and his startling physical transformation.
After a two-decade slide into a bizarre world of make believe, Jackson, 46, was acquitted on Monday of charges including child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser.
Jackson's drama-filled and graphic trial on charges he allegedly sexually abused a teenage boy in 2003 marks the latest in a litany of blows to hit the 46-year-old, who began his singing career at the age of four.
Four decades later, he is still famous and loved by a legion of fans for revolutionising music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success.
The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on his apparent repeated cosmetic surgeries - which he denies - his penchant for swathing his young children in veils, his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations.
Early life
Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label.
The Jacksons produced seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS's Epic Records in 1976.
Despite the early success, Jackson was to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act broke up, as Jackson moved out on his own.
In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson's first solo album for Epic, "Off the Wall," a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.
They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson's breakthrough album as a composer and co-producer, "Thriller," which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.
Rise to fame
"Thriller" was followed by "Bad" in 1987 (20 million sold) and "Dangerous" in 1991 (21 million sold) with videos whose auto-erotic dance contrasted with Jackson's sweet, childlike personality offstage.
A pop culture icon with enormous wealth, Jackson in 1991 signed a deal with Sony Music described as the most lucrative contract ever for a recording artist. Although Jackson's share was not disclosed, Sony estimated the potential in sales at a billion dollars.
But in 1993, a 13-year-old boy made sex abuse allegations against his former pal Jackson and prosecutors and police launched an investigation.
A year later, Jackson struck an out-of-court agreement with the family under which he paid out a total 23.3 million dollars, a deal which Jackson has said he now regrets.
The deal halted the criminal case, which was being pursued by Tom Sneddon, the chief prosecutor in Jackson's trial.
As Jackson's life was complicated by his meteoric rise to fame, he also started undergoing a dramatic physical transformation.
Over the years, his skin has become much lighter and he appears to have had extensive plastic surgery on his face. Vanity Fair magazine reported in 2003 that the tip of his nose is actually a prosthesis.
Marriage to Lisa Marie
In 1994, he stunned the public by marrying Lisa Marie Presley, the 26-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley.
The marriage lasted less than two years and was a hot topic for the tabloids. However, the renewed interest in Jackson's love life did not spark interest in his music.
In June 1995, he released the double album "HIStory, Past, Present and Future - Book I" to negative reviews and weak sales - despite Sony Music's $40m investment. And Jackson's next album, "Invincible," flopped.
Jackson then married Debbie Rowe, a 37-year-old nurse he met while undergoing plastic surgery in 1997. They had two children, Prince Michael and Paris Michael Katherine, before divorcing in 1999.
The dangling baby
Jackson had custody of the two children and of a third, Prince Michael II, born to an unknown woman, when in November 2002 he came under fierce public criticism for dangling his youngest child from a fourth-floor hotel balcony in Berlin for photographers.
Adding to his woes Jackson has been hit by a flurry of lawsuits in the past two years from former aides and promoters and from a slew of people suing over alleged unpaid bills.
Prosecutors alleged at Jackson's trial that the star was an out-of-control spendaholic who is buckling under a crippling $224m mountain of debt, including $10.5m in unpaid bills.