Musical genius tarnished by scandal

MICHAEL JACKSON saw his musical versatility and head-turning dance moves propel him from child prodigy to solo superstar before child sex abuse scandals tarnished his reputation and his career.

News of Jackson’s death, which media reports said was caused by cardiac arrest, broke as the 50-year-old singer was poised for a come-back with a string of 50 concerts scheduled to start in London on July 13.

They were to be his first concert series for 12 years and were expected to earn Jackson more than $400 million (€285m) according to concert promoters AEG Live.

Jackson’s fame reached a climax in 1982 with the iconic album and music video Thriller. He sold an estimated 750 million records overall and won 13 Grammys in a career that spanned four decades.

But the moon-walking, sequin-gloved performer was beset by eccentricities that in 2008 had turned him into a virtual recluse with a mountain of financial woes.

Concerns about his health had been rampant during his 2005 trial in California on charges of child sex abuse – at which he was acquitted – and in 2008 when he was photographed in Las Vegas in a wheelchair for reasons that were never explained.

AEG Live said Jackson had passed a lengthy physical exam in early 2009, before the London concerts were announced.

Jackson was credited as the first black entertainer to gain a strong crossover following on music channel MTV.

Music videos such as Thriller and Beat It pushed the boundaries of the fledgling art of music videos, while his spectacular stage performances created armies of devoted fans around the world.

After the release of Thriller, Time magazine described him as “the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley”.

But Jackson’s belief that “I am Peter Pan in my heart”, his preference for the company of children, his friendship with a chimp called Bubbles, his high-pitched voice and numerous plastic surgeries earned him the name “Wacko Jacko”.

The gradual change in his skin colour to a pale white – which he said was caused by the skin pigmentation condition vitiligo – and his penchant for wearing surgical masks and shrouding his children with veils in public, added to his reputation as an eccentric.

After two, ultimately unproved, allegations in 1993 and 2003 of sexually abusing young boys during sleepovers at his Neverland Ranch in California, Jackson never recovered the exuberance and musical creativity that marked his youth.

After his acquittal in 2005 on charges of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy, Jackson shut the gates of Neverland and began a nomadic lifestyle in Bahrain, Dubai, Ireland and Las Vegas while battling lawsuits over his dwindling finances.

Jackson said repeatedly he loved children and would never harm them but he was often forced to defend his views on sharing his bed with children. “Children love me. I love children ... They want to be with me. But anybody can come in my bed. A child can come in my bed if they want,” he said in a 1996 US television interview.

Born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, Jackson started singing as the youngest member of brother group the Jackson 5, which clinched its first record deal in 1968.

Hits like ABC and I’ll Be There helped the brothers become the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the US pop charts, and by 1972 Jackson released his first solo album.

Those early years, under a strict father, took their toll. Jackson said later he built his home Neverland, with a zoo, train rides, movie theatre and carousel, because he “wanted to have a place that I could create everything I never had as a child”.

He teamed up with producer Quincy Jones to make Off the Wall (1979) which yielded four hit singles and then Thriller with its dance, rock and pop tunes that produced seven Top Ten singles and stayed on US charts for over two years. By 2009 it had sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.

In 1985, he wrote the famine relief charity single We Are The World with Lionel Richie, which became one of the fastest selling singles of the era.

The hit albums Bad and Dangerous followed and Jackson began calling himself the “King of Pop” as rumours mounted about his odd private life. In 1994, he made an out-of-court payment to settle accusations that he molested a boy in California.

A few months later, he stunned the world by marrying Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley, but the couple divorced in 1996. The same year, he married former nurse Debbie Rowe and had two children – Prince Michael Jackson I and Paris Michael Katherine. They split up in 1999. Four years later he had another son, Prince Michael Jackson II with an unidentified surrogate mother.

Jacko facts

EARLY LIFE:

* Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. Five Jackson boys – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael – first performed together at a talent show when Michael was six. They walked off with first prize.

* Their group later became The Jackson Five, and when it was signed by Motown Records in the late 1960s it underwent its final metamorphosis to become The Jackson 5. Jackson made his first solo album in 1972.

SUCCESS:

* Jackson released Thriller in 1982, which became a smash hit that yielded seven top 10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million worldwide.

* The next year, he unveiled his signature “moonwalk” dance move while performing “Billie Jean” during an NBC special.

* Jackson’s lifetime record sales tally is believed to be about 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he has received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time.

ACCUSATIONS:

* In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, and police raided his California ranch.

* The same year, Jackson announced he had become addicted to painkillers and abruptly cancelled a world tour to promote his album, Dangerous.

* He reached a settlement in 1994, later reported to be $23 million, with the family of the boy he was accused of abusing.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY:

* In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999. The couple never lived together.

* Jackson has three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism.

MORE CONTROVERSY:

* A television documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, was aired in 2003, saying that Jackson still had sleepovers with young boys and had his third child with a surrogate mother. Jackson aired his own rebuttal.

* Jackson went on trial in 2005 on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003, as well as conspiring to abduct the boy. The singer faced nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.

* The four-month trial ended in June 2005 with his being acquitted of all charges. Jackson has spent time in Bahrain, Ireland and France since the case ended.

COMEBACK?

* After several false dawns, Jackson and music promoter AEG Live announced he would perform 50 concerts at London’s O2 Arena. Jackson had been due to start the concerts on July 13. Jackson had been rehearsing in the LA area for the London shows, which sold out within hours of within hours of going on sale in March.