EARLY CAREER
The seventh of nine children of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958, and began his career performing with his brothers. His professional debut with the Jackson 5 came at age 11. In 1963, after several years of training, The Jackson 5 begin to perform in public. On December 14, 1969, The Jackson 5 appeared on theThe Ed Sullivan Show, but it was only in 1970 that their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 hit the No. 1 spot.
GOING SOLO
In 1972, while still singing with the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson put out his first solo album, Got to Be There, but it was in 1979 that his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall, was released. He became the first solo artist to place four singles from the same record in the top 10.
ELECTRIFYING VIEWERS
In 1982, his album Thriller won a record eight Grammys and became the world's biggest selling record of all time. Alongwith the title track, it included the songs Billie Jean and Beat It, which became worldwide hits. A year later, Jackson electrified the 50 million viewers of the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, a television special, by singing and dancing to Billie Jean while wearing a black fedora, one white glove, and pants that ended above his ankles.
HAIR-RAISING EXPERIENCE
The following year, the singer was filming a Pepsi-Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles when he suffered second-degree burns after pyrotechnics set his hair on fire before a full house. The singer settled out of court and established the Michael Jackson Burn Center with his $1.5 million award.
VICTORY WAS HIS
In 1984, the pop king performed his final tour with the Jackson 5 to support the album Victory. The one major hit from the recording was Michael's duet with Mick Jagger, State of Shock. In 1985, he co-wrote and sang - along with nearly every pop star known at the time - We Are the World, on behalf of USA for Africa.
THE BAD ERA
Even as his popularity graph began to decline, Michael did his magic again and 1987 saw the release of the album Bad. The album produced five No. 1 singles and sold at least 22 million copies worldwide. At around the same time, work had started on the construction of Neverland, a ranch for children - to give them the kind of childhood he never had.
BLACK OR WHITE?
Around this time, a considerable difference had started showing in his skin colour and it was then that he made an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show claiming that he was suffereing from a condition called vitiligo and not - as opposed to popular rumour - bleaching his skin a shade lighter. On the show, he also claimed that he was abused by his father as a child.
FINDING NEVERLAND
Soon after, in 1991, the album Dangerous hit the stands, skyrocketing to No.1 position and selling more than 20 million copies worldwide. In 1993, the allegations of the pop star abusing 13-year-old Jordy Chandler at Neverland were brought forward by the Chandler family. No evidence was ever found against him and the case was settled by an "incredulous" Jackson for $22 million.
MARRIAGE, RELATIONSHIPS
In 2001, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. In August 1994, he married Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley but the marriage didn't last long. In 1996 they split and Michael Jackson married a nurse, Debbie Rowe. They had two children - son Prince Michael Jackson in 1997, and daughter Paris Michael Jackson, in 1998. The marriage ended in 1999.
ECCENTRIC AND ERRATIC
The star lost some of his sheen and the reception to his 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I was mixed. In 2001, when Invincible hit the stands, he was fast becoming known for his eccentric and erratic behaviour. In 2002 he dangled his third child, Prince Michael II - who he had via a surrogate mother - from a third-floor hotel balcony in Berlin.
THE SCANDALS THAT RUINED HIM
In 2005, he found himself in the dock again with allegations of abusing a boy named Gavin Arvizo. His downfall came when the police - then investigating Jordy Chandler's reports of genital blotches - photographed his private parts. The scandals effectively destroyed the pop legend even though he was found not guilty on 10 counts of child molestation on June 13, 2005
FINAL CURTAIN CALL
In 2009, in a bid to resurrect his career, he announced a 50-date residency at O2 which were to be his first live shows for 12 years. The concert was never to be as the King of Pop breathed his last on June 26, 2009 following a cardiac arrest.
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