Michael Jackson: Demise of music mega star

The story of the world acclaimed King of Pop, Michael Jackson will not be complete without tracing the genesis of the Jackson Five, the teen musical group that brought him into the limelight. Michael passed away on Thursday at the UCLA Medical Center in New York after being hit by cardiac arrest. He was 50.

The kind of family that produced Michael had been responsible for his success. Michael’s father, Joseph Jackson was a man of musical ambitions. Back in the days, through a band called The Falcons where he was an electric guitarist, he had struggled without success to have a big break in show business. But what Joe could not get himself he tried to have through his children.

Married to Katherine Corse in 1949, Joe worked in the steel mills in Chicago to support his nine children. And as his older sons began to show interest in music, he organized them into a group and made them appear in local talent shows.

At the beginning, the musical Jackson brothers were three including Sigmund Esco aka Jackie, Toriano Adaryl aka Tito and Jermaine La Jaune, who was called by his first name. Marlon David soon joined the group when he was old enough to do so. For Michael, who had shown a talent for singing in kindergarten, he had to wait till he was five years old before teaming up with his older brothers to complete the Jackson Five. Even though, Michael was the youngest of them, he emerged the leader of the group.

Lost childhood
While other children spent their free time hanging out with friends or romping at the playground, Michael was busy rehearsing music with his brothers. But the hard work paid off not long before Jackson Five swept all the talent contests in the community. Indeed, Michael was on his way to stardom. Two albums came in quick succession but made little impact. Soon, Joe packed his talented children in a Volkswagen bus and hit the road playing in nightclubs and other places. This routine of performing at night and going to school the next day took a heavy toll on the boys but they trudged on until they caught the attention of Motown mogul, Berry Gordy, who invited them for a performance at his mansion in Detroit. Since then, there was no looking back for the Jackson Five with Michael as the leader.

Debut album
The Jackson Five’s debut album on Motown label was released in 1969. Michael’s voice in the album was distinct as he sings I Want You Back, which became No. 1 on the music chart. Other hits released on Motown label included ABC, The Love You Saved, I’ll Be There, Mama’s Pearl and Never Can Say Goodbye, which climbed to No. 2 spot on the chart in 1971.
The enthusiasm generated by the Jackson Five was huge as police had hectic time controlling the crowd that trooped out to watch their shows while young girls had their posters pinned on the wall. It was amazing how a young child like Michael could command such followership.

Going solo
During his days with the Jackson Five, Michael dropped two singles, Got To Be There and Ben, which topped the chart in 1972. But it was not until 1979 that he parted ways with his siblings to fully explore a solo career. Before then, in 1976, the Jackson Five had left Motown to sign a recording contract with Epic Records, a part of CBS recording group, but leaving behind Jermaine, who was married to Berry Gordy’s daughter. Due to a new contractual agreement at Epic, the group changed its name to The Jacksons and released some albums.

For Michael, however, it was time to put his future in proper focus. He started writing songs in preparation for his solo career. In 1979, he launched out with his debut album, Off the Wall, which sold over eight million copies. Three years later, in 1982, Michael rocked the world with Thriller, which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller", and set a record of having top 10 single hits in one album. Thriller went along to sell 104 million copies thus becoming the best selling album in the world till date. With more than two dozens solo efforts (both singles and albums including Bad -1987, Dangerous-1991, HIStory-1995,), 13 Grammys and more that 750 million records sold worldwide till he passed away on Thursday, Michael’s place in music history is most assured. As long as his music lives, he lives. Apart from music, Michael also starred in movies. He got the plum Scarecrow role in the 1978 movie musical "The Wiz," a pop-R&B version of "The Wizard of Oz," that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy

Immortal
In an interview granted Ebony magazine in 2007 to mark 25th anniversary of Thriller, Michael had craved immortality: “I always want to do music that influences and inspires each generation. Let’s face it, who wants mortality? You want what you create to live, and I give my all in my work because I want it to live.”

The Wacko Jacko
Even at 50, Michael refused to grow up. Tucked away behind the gates of his Neverland ranch in California, the Wacko Jacko rarely ventures out. He’s lonely in the 2,700 acre ranch with animals, toys, miniature railroad and of course, little children. A once boyishly handsome dude, the pop icon used surgery and cosmetics to redefine his face in a most bizarre manner. He once acquired an oxygen bed, and as years went by became an increasingly freakish figure - a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He often wore a germ mask while travelling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions, and surrounded himself with children at his ranch, which made the tabloids dub him "Wacko Jacko."
Behaving true to type, Michael's scalp sustained burns when an explosion set his hair on fire during the production of a 1984 Pepsi commercial. In 2002, Michael caused a furore when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin, Germany while a throng of fans watched from below.

But in spite of his weirdness, the pop legend was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his ever changing, surgically altered appearance.

Marriage and family life
Michael did not enjoy a stable family life. He married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, now 12; and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999. Michael also had a third child, Prince Michael II. Now 7, Jackson said the boy nicknamed “Blanket” as a baby was his biological child born from a surrogate mother.

Scandals and financial calamities
In 1993, Michael’s eccentricities hit the peak when he was alleged to have sexually abused a 13 year-old cancer survivor at Neverland. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children. In a TV documentary Michael, however, acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual. The accusation nearly brought down the music star. He escaped being jailed but paid his accuser a huge ransom to get off the case. But the damage has been done as the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on Michael’s career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Aborted comeback
Death has aborted the great comeback show planned by Michael Jackson. He was to perform a series of concerts in London this summer in a bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. At the time of his death, Jackson was rehearsing for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. But before death did the fatal blow, it was rumoured that Michael was unfit healthwise to handle the concert which were rather too many. In the rehearsals he was to attend, he succeeded in attending just one, and the organizers who has sold tickets in advance found out rather later after the tickets have gone on sale that he was not fit. For three times – May and July this year and nex year the concerts were postponed. At last it would no longer hold as Jackson is dead.

Tragic end
Ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time, Michael's death on Thursday has 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.