Michael Jackson

As part of the Jackson 5, a group made up of his brothers, Michael Jackson was among the
most popular singing stars of the '70s. On his own, he was the biggest pop star of the '80s.
Jackson was always the visual and vocal focus of the Jackson 5, who broke through to national
success on the Motown label in 1970 when he was 11, with the first of four straight number one
hits, "I Want You Back." Jackson was also promoted as a solo artist, and he scored his first hit,
"Got to Be There," in 1971. Subsequent hits included his remake of "Rockin' Robin" and "Ben"
in 1972.
Jackson's and the Jackson 5's fortunes declined somewhat after the early '70s, and the group
moved to Epic at mid-decade, with Jackson temporarily abandoning his solo career and
subsuming his group leadership to other members of what was now called the Jacksons. The
group gradually built back their popularity by writing their own material. Jackson returned to
solo work in 1979 with Off the Wall, a mature combination of driving dance songs ("Don't Stop
'til You Get Enough") and feelingly sung ballads ("She's Out of My Life") that out-sold any
previous group or solo efforts and spawned four Top Ten hits. Jackson again recorded and
toured with the Jacksons, but his next album, Thriller (1982), became a musical phenomenon.
It was the biggest-selling album of all time, moving 20 million copies in the U.S. alone and
including seven Top Ten hits. Clearly Jackson had grown beyond his brothers, but he stayed
with them for one more album and tour in 1984. His follow-up album, Bad (1987), accompanied
by a solo world tour, sold six million copies domestically. Only six of its seven singles hit the
Top Ten, but five in a row hit number one.
In late 1991, Jackson returned with Dangerous, which by mid-1992, had sold four million copies
and spawned the hits "Black or White," "Remember the Time," "In the Closet," and "Jam."
Jackson's second world tour, launched in Europe in June 1992, continued into 1993.
Although numerous rumors had circled around Jackson throughout his career, his reputation
remained clean until 1993 when he suffered serious damage to his image. Jackson was accused
of child abuse by a teenage friend, sparking a major media frenzy. Through it all, Jackson
vehemently denied the accusations; the civil case was settled out of court in early 1994. Jackson
began working on HIStory soon after the settlement. HIStory contained one disc of Jackson's
greatest hits and one disc of new material; it was released on June 20, 1995.
Two years later, another collection was issued, Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix,
which collected dance remixes of several of the new compositions on HIStory, as well as a few
brand new tracks. In March of 2001, Jackson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,
but a broken foot prevented the self-proclaimed King of Pop from performing at the ceremony.
Later in the year, a star-studded Michael Jackson tribute concert was booked for Madison
Square Garden in New York City, including performances by Whitney Houston, Britney Spears,
and Destiny's Child, among others, as well as appearances by such celebrities as Marlon Brando,
Elizabeth Taylor, and Shaquille O'Neal. But the concert's biggest draw for many fans was when
a full Jackson 5 reunion set was announced to be part of the show. Still, the show created some
controversy when Jackson brother Jermaine criticized Michael for the concert's bloated ticket
prices (top seats were $2,500). A month before the show, a new Michael Jackson single was
released to radio, "You Rock My World," with an all-new studio album, Invincible, followed in
October.