Michael Jackson, the record-breaking, sensationally gifted "King of Pop" who emerged from childhoodsuperstardom to become the entertainment world's most influential singer and dancer, and the tabloid world's most disturbing celebrity, has died.
He was 50.
A person with knowledge of the situation says Jackson died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
His death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.
Michael Jackson, AKA the King of Pop, died Thursday, June 25th after going into cardiac arrest.
Michael was married to nurse Debbie Rowe and had two children, son Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.
Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary Indiana. He was the seventh of nine children. His musical career began at age five when he became the lead singer of the Jackson 5 in 1964. In 1968 The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records and moved to California. The group’s first four singles all made US No. 1 hits. They recorded 14 albums with Motown before signing with Epic. With Epic Michael recorded his first solo album, “Off The Wall.” The album became the first album ever to release four No.1 singles in the US.
His musical career continued to grow when he released the world’s largest selling album, “Thriller,” which produced 7 hit singles and sold 50 million copies.
Michael can’t be mentioned without speaking of his legendary moonwalk which he performed for the first time in 1983 on the “Motown 25 years” anniversary show, shooting him into the superstar genre.
Michael continued his success, winning eight Grammies in one night.
He officially went solo in 1984 and was named “Artist of the Decade” at the end of the 1980’s.
Michael performed all over the world, being the first to perform in countries that had never been visited by a pop/rock artist.
Through the years Jackson’s legacy remained but his reputation wavered.
In the late 1980’s Jackson created Neverland, a ranch in California where he housed exotic pets and had his own amusement rides. In 1993 Jackson was charged with child molestation after a 13-year-old boy claimed the star had fondled him.
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994 and later divorced her in 1996, only to marry Debbie Rowe that same year.
Criticism of Jackson continued throughout the years, including criticism of his many facial surgeries and his skin lightening due to what he said was because of the disease vitiligo. In 2002 he received enormous criticism for dangling his son over a balcony while greeting fans in Germany which he claimed was, “out of innocence.”
Michael Jackson was set to perform in a comeback tour with 50 shows to begin July 13th. Tickets sold out in only four hours.
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