Michael Jackson years. On the way to a solo career
Michael Joseph Jackson
On August 29, 1958, a boy was born into a poor and unremarkable African-American family of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, in the town of Gary, lost in the state of Indiana. He was the seventh child in a family that lived in a small house, so small it looked like a garage. The boy was named Michael. Thus, the greatest and most unsolved artist of the late twentieth century, Michael Jackson, was born.
Hundreds of biographies, books, studies have been written about the phenomenon of Michael Jackson, and not one has yet been able to capture his image in its entirety. In this short biography, we will not be able to do this all the more. But still let's try, for those who are just entering Magic world artist, write a short biographical article. Based on it, it will be easier to understand the autobiography of Michael Jackson "Moonwalk", and other books, interviews, stories of people who were friends and worked with him over the years.
Childhood in Gary, Indiana
The town of Gary, in which Michael was born, is a small settlement in Indiana, in the East Chicago area. 80% of the town's inhabitants are African Americans - simple workers living in poor houses and working at a local steel plant. And Michael's father, Joseph Jackson, worked at that time in the foundry at this plant. After Michael, two more children were born in the family, and six boys had to sleep in a tiny bedroom on three-story beds. The family barely made ends meet, but thanks to Michael's mother Catherine, a zealous Jehovah's Witness, the children grew up in an environment of strict rules, and the house was kept as clean as possible. Children from infancy were taught to clean up on their own and take care of themselves.
Michael's house in GaryIn addition, music was constantly played in the house. “We sang a lot at home, mostly popular blues songs like ‘Mustang Sally’. Katherine and I loved to sing with the kids and she also played the piano and sometimes the clarinet. I could play some songs on my guitar too, and every spare minute we had, we played R&B records, singers such as Little Richard, Chi-lites, Chuck Berry, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, Joe Tex, Big Maybell, The Impressions and Major Lance,” the father of the family, Joseph, later wrote in his book. It was he, according to Michael himself, who played a decisive role in his development as an artist - despite the fact that the relationship between father and son could hardly be called harmonious.
Joseph was not a timid man, with a strong temper and great ambitions. In his youth, he had to change many occupations - he visited, including the boxing ring, worked as a sleeper stacker, and picked cotton on the plantations of the South. "Someday I'll be at the top too, I promised myself," Joe later wrote in his autobiography. But it is unlikely that in his youth he could have imagined who would take him to this peak, although show business clearly occupied his thoughts very much: the Falcons (Falcons) group he created with his friends played all over the city, and also performed in clubs and colleges of northern Indiana and Chicago.
The first memories of Michael's childhood do not describe his temperament in infancy in too much detail. Everyone agrees only that the baby has always been full of inextinguishable energy. Mother recalls how, at the age of two, he famously danced to the sound of washing machine; older brother Jermaine - about how agile he was before he even learned to walk - so that it was impossible to change his diapers; father said that it was impossible to take his eyes off him for a second, otherwise he would disappear, and then he would be found under the table or under the bed.
Katherine Esther Skruse-JacksonThe film "The Jacksons - American Dream", based on the history of the creation of the Jackson 5, describes the legend of its origin. According to her, it all started with the fact that one of the eldest sons, Tito, quietly took his father's guitar to learn how to play. One day, the father found that his son was taking his instrument without asking. Tito was punished, and severely punished: Joseph did not differ in humanity in raising children. However, at the same time, he was surprised to see that Tito learned to play very well. According to his own version, Tito broke a string on the guitar. “What did you do?” I asked him calmly. Tito looked at me incredulously. He thought I would be angry now. “Well, show me what you can do,” I said. I could hardly hide my joy. And he really knew how to play. He taught himself the blues songs that I always played on the guitar. Like me, he played by ear. I didn’t show Tito right away how proud I was of him, but after a couple of days I came home and brought him a gift: a new red guitar!” Joe recalls.
From that moment on, the fate of the children was decided. The Falcons group gradually disappeared from the sight of its creator. Joseph created a musical group from older boys, with whom he rehearsed every day - for three hours or more. Michael was one of younger brothers, at the time of the creation of the group he was about 5 years old. This little tomboy was not noticed for some time: at first he just played the bongos, which, according to his father and brothers, he really liked. It is curious that even as an adult, Michael remained an excellent percussionist, and also performed excellent beatboxing. But one day during the rehearsal, according to legend, Catherine's mother heard Michael sing. “Listen to how he sings,” she told her husband. And Joe heard.
Frontman of The Jackson Five
Little MichaelEveryone who remembers little Michael unanimously says that his talent was immediately visible. In his book Moonwalk, he talked about his first performance at a school concert: he sang the song "Climb every mountain" ("I will climb any mountain") from the musical "The Sound of Music". “The reaction of the audience when I finished singing shocked me. The hall burst into applause, people smiled, some stood up. The teachers were crying. I just couldn't believe my eyes. I gave them all happiness. It was such a wonderful feeling. But at the same time, I was a little embarrassed: I didn’t do anything special. I just sang like I used to sing at home every night,” Michael recalled. Life has confirmed: “I will climb any mountain” - this is really his motto.
Joseph was astute: once convinced of how great the gift of his young son was, he made Michael the frontman of the group. Thus was the beginning of the artistic career of Michael Jackson. At the age of five, he became one of the most gifted child artists of the twentieth century. But the same talent that made Michael the most famous artist on Earth began to limit his freedom from childhood.
From the age of five, the boy's life was subject to the most severe schedule of rehearsals and concerts. Over time, he, like his brothers, had to leave school: a teacher, Rose Fine, was specially hired to teach the boys, who traveled with the Jackson 5 group around the world. And there was simply no time left for things like socializing and playing with peers. So the theme of "lost childhood" has become one of the main "red lines" in the work, and in the whole life of the artist.
Motown ArtistIn Moonwalk, he wrote: “I used to come home from school and, as soon as I left my books, I rushed to the studio. There I sang until late at night, in fact, when it was high time for me to sleep. Across the street from the studio<...>there was a park, and, I remember, I looked at the guys playing there. I looked at them and wondered - I simply could not imagine such freedom, such a carefree life - and more than anything in the world I wanted to be so free that I could go out into the street and behave like them. So I had sad moments as a child. But this happens with all children who have become "stars". Elizabeth Taylor told me she felt the same way. When you work at a very young age, the world can seem terribly unfair. No one forced me to be little Michael the soloist - I chose it myself, and I loved it - but the work was hard. When we were recording for an album, for example, we would go into the studio right after school, and sometimes I would get a bite to eat and sometimes I wouldn't. There just wasn't time. I returned home exhausted, at eleven, or even at twelve at night, when it was long overdue to sleep.
All this was complicated by the steep and cruel temper the main mentor, and then the producer of the Jackson brothers - Joseph. The rudeness and rigidity of his father, his tendency to solve problems with a belt and shouting, affected the boys in different ways, but for Michael, a gifted child with a fine mental organization, it was especially difficult to endure. The father drilled his children “excellently”, he instilled in Michael for life the concept of the importance of discipline and hard work, without which no talent can be realized; however, a vulnerable child with a wild imagination needed not only a strict coach, but also a loving person. “He trained me as a showman, and under his guidance, I could not take a single wrong step. But what I really wanted was for him to be a dad. I wanted a father who would show me his love, ”Michael later said.
In adulthood, he managed to overcome childhood and youthful grievances, and Joe himself became softer over time, but nevertheless, the traumas experienced in childhood were never completely forgotten, and relations with his father remained tense until Michael's death. In many ways, this childhood tragedy of the artist-wunderkind repeated the fate of such geniuses as Paganini or Mozart, who were the same "star children" led by strict fathers. As an adult, Michael quickly found a common language with people with a similar fate - this is how his friendship with Elizabeth Taylor and tender attachment to the "girl star" of old Hollywood Shirley Temple began.
Jackson 5In the meantime, the "Jackson Five" gained recognition in their city and surrounding areas in three or four years. Children performed wherever the opportunity arose - in schools, at various talent competitions that invariably won, in nightclubs and strip bars, where little Michael got acquainted with the whole "wrong side" of show business at the age of seven or eight. It was not uncommon for a band to open up for strippers and then stay in the gym or come home in the dead of night, rehearsing and playing again the next day.
The next step was the conquest of Chicago. Everywhere the boys were successful - primarily thanks to the amazing baby soloist, who masterfully performed covers of songs by Motown artists - the first "black" music label in the United States, which brought to light a whole galaxy of brilliant soloists and R&B groups. After some time, the group was invited to the oldest "black" Musical Theatre in the USA - to the famous New York Apollo Theater in the heart of Harlem, the cradle of such world-famous talents as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Jackie Wilson, Nina Simone, James Brown. The exacting and capricious New York audience was literally subdued: the triumph of the Jackson five was deafening. After that, the brothers were invited to television, to the David Frost show - but suddenly, at the very last moment, Joseph refused the invitation. The boys couldn't believe their ears when they heard about it, but the father explained, "They called from Motown."
Growing up. Motown and Epic
Jackson 5 on the cover of Life magazineThe Jackson Five were invited to audition for a famous label, and for many years this audition determined their fate. They joined the group of studio stars on an equal footing at the very zenith of its history, when artists such as The Supremes (with Diana Ross), The Temptations, The Four Tops, singers Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson shone on stage and young child prodigy Stevie Wonder.
The main idols of young Michael were the famous black stars James Brown and Jackie Wilson. Sitting backstage for hours, Michael looked and looked at them while his brothers rested nonchalantly, and learned from these masters the art of holding the audience's attention, absorbing their expression, assimilating dance techniques. Michael was a master at imitating his idols, and this touched the audience, but Michael's vocal talent was not just an object of affection. The boy, who had never studied music or vocals, sang his parts in the purest voice, easily memorizing any melody, one had only to sing it to him. Throughout his career, Michael Jackson remained "musically illiterate", that is, self-taught in everything. However, ignorance of the notes did not prevent him from composing music, and ignorance of vocal techniques did not prevent him from recording songs from the first take.
In the US, there are fans of Michael Jackson who are older than himself. These are the ones who saw the resounding success of the Jackson Five. All of America fell in love with these boys. In terms of attendance at the concerts, the Jackson Five beat the records of The Beatles. They were the idols of a young audience, and the paparazzi began to hunt for them.
Michael, age 12 Michael's life has changed dramatically and forever. He became a superstar at the age of 11 and at the same time grew into the only artist in the history of music who, having matured, not only did not lose the love of the audience, but also multiplied the success of his childhood years.
In the early 1970s, thanks to the talent of the Jackson brothers and the tenacity of Joe, the whole family moved to live in California, where the Motown label also moved. The Jacksons collaborated with Motown for several more years, but then they parted ways, mainly because the brothers wanted to write their own songs, which Motown did not allow them to do. Michael, at the age of 16, discussed the termination of the contract with the management of the label. It should be noted that even in such young age When it came to business, Michael was determined and uncompromising. As a result, the group moved to another label - Epic - and changed their name to The Jacksons. And little Michael, imperceptibly for everyone, has grown a lot.
17 years Describing his growing up in his autobiography, Michael recalls that it became a great stress for him. When you grow before your eyes whole country and you don't leave the covers of magazines, people want to see you the way they initially liked you, he said. A cute little boy with an Afro hairstyle, bright perky eyes and dimples on his cheeks was the favorite of millions. And as it turned out, no one recognized the thin teenager with youthful acne on his face. Sometimes in search of "little Michael" people passed him, and when they realized that Michael was standing next to them, they did not hide their annoyance.
Joseph also added fuel to the fire, pointing out to his son his huge wide nose, insisting that this feature was inherited from his mother. Both brothers and cousins teased Michael - no one missed the opportunity to humiliate the favorite of the public. Perhaps the stress experienced in adolescence and youth was not the last factor that influenced the subsequent artificial changes in Michael's appearance. However, these changes are explained by many other things - both the state of his health, and his understanding of art as, among other things, the art of sculpting oneself and one's life to one's own taste.
Off The Wall. Thriller. Conquest of the summit
Michael, 21 Michael started his official solo career when he was 21 years old. He refused his father's services as a manager, terminated the contract with him and took control of his creative destiny in his own hands. His first solo album off the wall, which consisted of songs in the then popular disco style, was released in 1979 and was a phenomenal success - much more than the work of Michael and his brothers, released shortly before. This disc was recognized at that time as the most successful album by a black artist. in history. Many music critics, especially in America, still consider him the pinnacle of Michael Jackson's work.
However, Michael himself was not satisfied. The album received a string of awards but failed to win the music industry's most influential award, the Grammy Album of the Year Award. “I felt that my colleagues ignored me, and it was painful,” Michael later recalled. “This experience lit a fire in my soul,” he wrote in his autobiography. - I was only thinking about the next album and how I would create it. I wanted him to be truly great."
And he fully realized his idea. It is customary to talk about Michael's next album as the greatest achievement in the history of modern recording. Album Thriller received such a success that it is virtually impossible to repeat. The best-selling album, the Guinness book record holder, the peak, which was climbed by only one person and only once. The album won seven Grammy awards at the 1984 ceremony, including the Album of the Year award - Michael's revenge was resounding.
In his cult film "Thriller" It was from this album that the triumphant march through the world of Michael Jackson's video clips began. To work on your musical films Michael decided to invite filmmakers. He himself did not call his videos "video clips" - he called them "short films". And in general, he was right, because the video clip genre neither before Michael nor after him reached such perfection and sophistication.
In addition, Michael completely reinvented his own image. Moonwalk. Shiny glove. The famous black fedora hat ... All these very recognizable features the appearance of Michael Jackson entered the world popular music precisely in the era Thriller.
Michael invested his profits from record sales of the album in a strategically important acquisition. On the advice of his colleague Paul McCartney, he bought the ATV music catalog, which contained the rights to songs by many famous artists (including, ironically, the songs of The Beatles themselves). Buying the catalog turned out to be a wise investment: Michael had control over where and how songs from the catalog were used, and throughout his later life received royalties every time those songs generated commercial revenue.
Michael is taken to the hospital with a burnA succession of successes, however, was overshadowed by an accident. In 1984, on the set of a commercial for PepsiCo, sparks hit Michael's head as a result of an explosion of pyrotechnics, and his hair caught fire. Michael's bodyguard, Miko Brando, extinguished the flames with his hands, Michael was immediately taken to the hospital. He had severe burns on his skin. It took several operations to restore the scalp. The procedures were long and painful. Recovery dragged on for several years and was complicated by the appearance of keloid scars that grew and prevented normal hair growth. As the nurse later said, future wife Michael, Debbie Rowe, he had to deal with this problem for decades. It was from that time that Michael began to wear a black hat so often - at first it performed a cosmetic function, and then became an integral part of the image.
bad. "Crazy Jacko" neverland
25 years after resounding success Thriller Michael again plunged into work: he rarely gave interviews, spoke little about his hobbies outside of music, and even more so about his private life. He carefully guarded his personal space. In addition, this was his PR strategy: he believed that in order to succeed, you need to intrigue the public and give it time to miss the “star”, and not bother, an eyesore on television screens and secular parties. He carefully created a persona that made people guess and discuss him.
Thus, he soon became known as a strange "hermit", leading a reclusive life in the company of his animals (Michael had a small zoo at home). Rumors spread. Michael sometimes appeared in public in the company of singer and actress Diana Ross, then accompanied by film actress Brooke Shields, then with Elizabeth Taylor. But in these appearances, romance could not be discerned, and Michael began to be accused of hiding his true sexual orientation. Some said he was gay. And when people noticed that Michael changed the shape of his nose and began to use makeup off the stage, the conviction that there was “something wrong” with him only grew.
Michael with Diana Ross, American Music Awards, 1980However, many rumors were fueled by Michael and his manager Frank Dileo intentionally. They seemed to be playing with the press and public opinion - believing that they had the situation under control. So, rumors that Michael "sleeps in a pressure chamber" and that he bathes only in Evian water were deliberately spread. “It all depends on the rhythm and the right choice of moment,” Michael once explained his tactics of working with the public, as if talking about a real stage performance. - You need to clearly know what you are doing ... It's like a fever: people are waiting, waiting. It is very important to wait. Preserve, cherish this feeling... If you remain mysterious, people's interest will grow.
However, the game has gone too far. “Suddenly, in an instant, all of Jackson’s eccentricity, which just a few months ago was considered intriguing or completely insignificant, began to be called strange, wonderful and amazing,” writes Joseph Vogel in his book “Man in Music”. - It became difficult for the artist to withstand ruthless attacks, interference in his life, annoying questions and attention.<…>He was isolated from the world more than ever. As soon as he left the house, a crowd of fans and paparazzi immediately attacked him.<…>Every aspect of an artist's life was viewed under a microscope. People wanted to know everything about him. Why does he have such a high voice? Did he take hormones? Did he have sex reassignment surgery? Is he homosexual? Is he asexual? Why does he live in seclusion and fairy tale surroundings? Why obsessed with animals and children? Why does he wear masks and costumes? Is he out of touch with reality? Is he even human?"
The already shy and isolated Michael almost completely stopped appearing in public. In the vacuum created by the artist's absence, gossip spread and multiplied. Soon, the label "Crazy Jacko" firmly stuck to him, and streams of fabrications poured out of the floodgates of human slander. Some of the stories sounded harmless if strange: rumors of an alleged "sanctuary" he had built in honor of Elizabeth Taylor, of Bubbles the chimpanzee, and even that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man.
Bad-period “By 1987, for the public, the Jackson-man seemed to have ceased to exist,” writes Vogel. “He transformed into the creature they were trying to mold from him. Even those to whom he seemed perfectly normal noticed the effects. “One day in the studio I saw Michael sitting on the bathroom vanity, behind the control room,” says assistant engineer Russ Ragsdale. “He was sitting with his feet on the tabletop, his shoulder against the mirror, and he was almost in a trance, like an animal in a cage.”
The opinion of the public about the artist has changed so much that his new album Bad, despite very strong material, a number of hits and strong worldwide sales, was voted by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the "worst album". Later that year, during the Bad world tour, Jackson wrote a desperate letter to the press from his hotel room. It said, “As the old Native American saying goes, don't judge a man until he's walked two moons in his moccasins. Many people don't know me, so they write things like this, most of which are not true. I often cry because it hurts… Animals attack not out of anger, but because they want to live. And the same goes for those who criticize: they need our blood, not our pain ... But show mercy, because I have been bleeding for a very long time.
Michael in "Chaplin" imageIn fact, Michael most gave time to hard work. Unprecedented album success Thriller set an unattainable bar for him, which the artist, nevertheless, tried to surpass with each subsequent album. He carefully studied the weekly charts, tracked the latest and trends in modern music to know what resonates with the audience the most. He attracted the most talented producers and musicians to cooperate. When preparing the albums, Michael worked on dozens of songs, the best of which were then selected for the final tracklist. And he was constantly learning.
Michael Jackson was an avid reader and collected his own library, which eventually grew to 20,000 volumes. His collection included books on world art, history, biology and psychology. He was deeply interested in the biographies of the great people of the past and drew life lessons from their destinies. He was fond of auto-training techniques and developed programs for mentally targeting the result. In addition, he not only, like any American, loved movies and cartoons, but seriously studied cinema, admired Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin.
Rich Gateway to Neverland During this period, Michael also purchased a new home, a picturesque 2,800-acre ranch two and a half hours from Los Angeles. He named the ranch "Neverland" - in honor of the fairy-tale land from his favorite story about Peter Pan. After moving from his parents' home to Neverland, Michael refurbished the ranch to his liking and turned it into a truly magical, fabulous place for guests - especially for children. “I wanted to create a place where there would be everything that I lacked in my childhood,” Michael said about Neverland. There appeared a zoo with exotic animals, an amusement park, a cinema, an arcade with video games and Railway with a real steam locomotive. Having equipped the ranch, Michael opened it to visitors. He invited friends, admirers and children from the surrounding schools to visit. Every few weeks, sick and needy children were brought in by bus to the ranch so they could spend the day in "fairytale land." The rural idyll of Neverland also gave Michael solitude and a sense of harmony with nature - the necessary components of creative inspiration.
Dangerous. Accusations and international scandal
Although the commercial success of the album Thriller Michael (like no one else to this day) failed to surpass, all his subsequent albums invariably ended up at the top of the charts. With the release of the album Dangerous and the world tour of the same name in 1992-93, Jackson expanded the geography of his performances, including countries of Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. This elevated him to an already great global popularity to an unprecedented level. In the countries of the "third world" hysteria according to Michael Jackson was not inferior to the American and British. He won the title of famous person in the world - even in perestroika Russia. His arrival in Moscow with a Dangerous concert in September 1993 became one of the landmark events of the era of change for Russians.
But such fame, like a snowball, "wound" more and more rumors on the artist's reputation. It seemed that people were restless with curiosity, burning with the desire to find out what he eats, what he sleeps in, with whom he dine, what color are his socks, why is he wearing a hat, why is he white, why is there makeup on his face, why is there a bandage on his sleeve Who is his girlfriend, why are there children around him.
Michael and Oprah, 1993 In February 1993, Michael decided to go big for the first time in ten years. The interview was intended to dispel the rumors around the star and lift the veil of mystery that hid his true life. The world saw a light-skinned man with a high voice, long black hair and makeup on his face, who sat in the living room of his luxurious mansion on the territory of a huge ranch with the magical name "Neverland" and answered questions that excited the public for almost an hour. Much of this interview was a revelation to the public. In particular, it was then that Michael first spoke about the fact that he suffers from a skin disease (vitiligo), as a result of which his skin loses its natural pigment and becomes light. The interview received a record high rating, with 85 million Americans watching it live, according to the network. It caused new wave interest in the artist's work and had a positive effect on Michael's image in the eyes of the townsfolk.
Unfortunately, the effect of the interview was short-lived. In the same 1993, the madness around the name of Michael Jackson reached a "boiling point". All the misunderstanding that accumulated around his image, everything that attracted attention to Michael, all his resounding success and mega-popularity turned out to be a breeding ground for the most terrible accusation that he himself could only think of. In August, Evan Chandler, the father of the family with whom Michael became friends, filed a civil lawsuit accusing the artist of "inappropriate behavior" towards his minor son. The news that the King of Pop is a pedophile spread around the world in a matter of days.
It is difficult to imagine what Michael himself experienced during that period. According to his relatives and friends, the accusation was a terrible blow for him. After all, exactly what Michael considered his mission, the meaning of his life - helping children - was distorted and turned against him. His best aspirations and most important life principles misinterpreted. When the global scandal broke out, Michael was on tour. Every evening he had to go on stage in different countries and cities, not knowing how the new audience would meet him and what the thousands of people who had gathered for the concert really thought about him. During a short visit to Russia, he wrote a poignant song about loneliness "Stranger In Moscow": "I wandered in the rain, hiding behind the mask of life, feeling like I was going crazy ..." Strong stress, coupled with an exhausting performance schedule, jet lag and pain from the operation transferred before the start of the tour, they made themselves felt - Michael's insomnia worsened, and he was forced to turn to painkillers and sleeping pills in order to maintain efficiency.
By November, his condition had become critical: the remaining dates of the Dangerous tour had to be canceled and Michael's girlfriend, Elizabeth Taylor, took him to a rehab clinic in London. Michael spent about a month there, restoring his health and strength.
Was there anything rational about the charges leveled against Michael? This was discussed a lot by both the singer's fans and his ill-wishers, but it is worth looking first of all at the facts. Evan Chandler, a dentist divorced from his wife and very modestly involved in his son's life, was a man of great ambition and dreamed of a career in Hollywood. When his son Jordan met superstar Michael Jackson, Evan was initially sympathetic to the friendship and even tried to form a friendship with Michael. However, Jordan began to spend more and more time with Michael, clearly seeing him as a father figure, and Evan, by his own admission, got jealous and felt that he was losing his son. Yes, and the boy's mother, June, sympathized with Michael more than her ex-husband. In the summer of 1993, Evan, allegedly having received a confession from Geordie, first turned to Michael demanding money and threatening to start a public scandal. In a published private telephone conversation, Evan admits that he has conceived a plan and his goal is to get his own or ruin Michael's career. He also says his son's interests in the case "do not matter." This probably explains why Evan did not file a police report, as a truly angry parent would, but instead tried to extort material compensation from Jackson. When Jackson refused to meet his terms, Chandler put his threats into action and filed a civil suit.
Michael proclaims his innocence on TV Michael Jackson has always vehemently defended his innocence. At first, he intended to fight for his honor to the end and did not agree to make concessions. However, the scandal undermined his health and jeopardized his career. The legal proceedings threatened to drag on for several years, which would have had a detrimental effect on music sales and the artist's public image. In addition, despite the fact that the Chandlers never went to the police, the Santa Barbara County Attorney, on his own initiative, opened an investigation with the intention of filing criminal charges against Michael. If he succeeded, Jackson would have to defend himself "on two fronts" at once. The situation was extremely stressful for Michael.
The last straw was the humiliating body search to which Michael was subjected: he, a shy man who was extremely scrupulous about his public image, was forced to strip naked in the presence of investigators and doctors and photographed his genitals to compare with the description given by the boy. Soon after this traumatic event, Michael, succumbing to the persuasion of his advisers and the insurance company, agreed to a peace agreement with the Chandlers. "We wanted to put that horror behind us," he later explained in a TV interview. The amount his insurer paid out to Evan Chandler was $15 million.
Prime Time interview, 1995 The peace agreement with the Chandlers in a civil suit did not affect the investigation led by the prosecutor's office - and the investigation continued for several more months. However, the police did not find any evidence or reliable evidence that would point to Michael's criminal behavior. The description given earlier by Jordan was not confirmed by the photographs, and Jordan himself did not want to testify against Michael. The two grand juries assembled on the matter ultimately declined to indict Jackson for lack of evidence.
Michael was left alone, but this scandal and the cash payment extremely negatively affected his reputation. PepsiCo, which sponsored his world tour, decided not to renew his contract. Many former friends suddenly disappeared from his life. And the question forever remained in the minds of the public: “If he was innocent, then why did he pay?”
HIStory. King of Pop and Princess of Rock. Second marriage and children
Michael himself publicly commented on these events only twice - in a statement of his innocence on TV and later in. However, personal experiences poured abundantly into his work: most of the new, released in 1995, became his response to the accusations. So, for example, in the song "This Time Around" Michael throws to unnamed offenders: "This time I will not let myself be stung, although you really want to get to me!" In the song “Money”, he accuses the enemy of self-interest: “You will do anything for money ...”, and in the song “D.S.” openly convicts the district attorney who started hunting him: "Tom Sneddon is a heartless person."
Michael and Lisa Marie Just a few months after the scandal subsided, the world was shocked by another unexpected news: Michael Jackson got married. Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis' daughter and heiress, has announced to the world that she is the legal wife of the King of Pop. "I am truly in love with Michael and want to dedicate my life to him," she said in a statement to the press.
At that moment, the general public did not know anything about the history of the relationship between Michael and Lisa Marie, so this news was received with skepticism by many. The young people were quick to accuse that the marriage was fictitious, that its purpose was to help Michael restore his reputation after the accusations and demonstrate his heterosexuality. Over time, however, it became increasingly clear that this was not the case.
Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley The first joint photo shoot Michael and Lisa met in 1992 through a mutual friend: Lisa wanted to offer Michael to produce her debut album. Later, she admitted that at the first meeting she was fascinated by Michael: he denied the rumors about himself and turned out to be completely different from what the press portrayed him. “I forgot that he was a superstar after 20 minutes - he was so open and simple with me,” she said. Michael and Lisa began to communicate often, and an affair began between them. At that time, Lisa was still married to her previous husband, Danny Keu, but this did not stop Michael from continuing courtship, and Lisa from accepting them.
Michael and Lisa Marie, February 1998 At first, the couple seemed really happy, but the marriage lasted only a year and a half - in early 1996, Lisa Marie filed for divorce. According to her, she could not live "in the ivory tower" built around Michael. She, like any woman, wanted attention and marital understanding - Michael was used to existing in the mode of public performance, played out by himself. The dissolution of the marriage was an impulsive decision (“a stupid move,” as Lisa Marie later called it). The couple's relationship continued for several more years after the divorce. Lisa did not hide the fact that she loved Michael for many years, and although the separation left her with bitterness and doubts about the reciprocity of these feelings, after Michael's death she admitted: "And he loved me as much as he could."
For Michael, a serious disappointment in marriage was the fact that Lisa Marie did not give birth to a child for him. Having grown up in a large family and seeing a source of inspiration in children, Michael really wanted to become a father, but Lisa, who already had two small children from her first marriage, was in no hurry to conceive, and the marriage ended up being childless.
Michael and Debbie A year and a half after the divorce of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, it was reported that Debbie Rowe, a nurse and an old acquaintance of Michael, was expecting a child from him. Soon - in Australia during the HIStory world tour - Michael and Debbie got married. The news was met with even more criticism than Jackson's first marriage. Most people heard the name Debbie Rowe for the first time and knew nothing about her friendship with Jackson. “An unknown nurse of ordinary appearance is not a couple for a world-famous superstar,” the public reasoned. The marriage was again called fictitious, and this time it seemed that even Michael himself did not try to deny it.
Perhaps this relationship really was not built on romance, but Debbie Rowe was far from a random person in Michael's life. Michael met Debbie back in the early 80s at a dermatologist's appointment, where he underwent medical and cosmetic procedures to improve his skin condition. For more than a decade, Debbie has helped Michael cope with vitiligo, a disease that caused his skin to lose its natural pigment, as well as the effects of a burn received on the set of commercials. In the early 90s, when Michael underwent painful scalp surgery, Debbie lived with him for several weeks, helping him through the post-surgery period.
Michael with his first child, Prince MichaelMichael saw in Debbie a devoted friend, but she truly loved him and did not hide it. After noticing how Michael was worried about his failed marriage to Lisa Marie, Debbie offered to help him fulfill his most cherished dream - to become a father. And Michael gratefully accepted her offer. February 13, 1997 Debbie gave Michael, probably the most precious gift in his life - she gave birth to his son Prince, and a year later - daughter Paris.
Shortly thereafter, the couple filed for divorce. The children stayed with Michael and Debbie saw them only occasionally. Many condemned the couple for this decision and blamed Debbie for abandoning her children. But according to her, this was the plan from the very beginning: she did not want to become a mother, but only wanted to give children to Michael, to make him happy. She gave birth to children for him.
Michael with his three children According to Michael himself, the appearance of children radically changed his life. The children gave it a new meaning, became inspiration and support for him. From now on, they were more important to him than anything in the world, and even music faded into the background. According to all acquaintances, friends and colleagues of Michael without exception, he was an exemplary parent. He himself took care of his children from infancy: he changed their diapers, washed them, cleaned up after them, cooked for them, taught them good manners and engaged in their diversification. He studied parenting books and aspired to be the best father in the world. “My biggest dream is that one day Prince and Paris would say about me:“ He was the best dad! ”Michael admitted to his friend in a private conversation published later. Wherever he traveled, on whatever projects he worked, he always took care of the needs of his little ones and always found time for them.
In February 2002, Michael had a third child - a son, Prince Michael Jackson II. The kid received from his father the affectionate nickname "Blanket", which stuck to him as the main name. Nothing was publicly reported about the boy's mother (as Michael's personal assistant later said in his memoirs, Blanket was born from a surrogate mother).
Invincible. Bashir film. New charges and trial
Action against Sony In the fall of 2001, the long-awaited new album of Michael Jackson was released Invincible. The release was accompanied by two shows in New York; there were rumors that Michael would go on tour again. However, the promotional campaign for the album was abruptly cut short when Sony Music stopped releasing music videos and media promotion of the album. Sony executives explained this by the fact that huge funds had already been invested in the album (only $ 30 million was spent on recording and mixing the songs), and sales did not pay off further costs. Michael, who had devoted several years of hard work to this project, was hurt and angry. He believed that Sony had sabotaged the promotion of the album and began to suspect that the label's management was plotting to leave him in debt and force him to sell his stake in the Sony/ATV catalog, a joint venture that Michael by this time owned half-and-half with Sony. Michael broke off relations with the head of the label, Tommy Mottola, and began to openly oppose Sony. Many fans of the singer supported him with protests. The album ultimately failed to live up to commercial expectations, and although Michael has since worked with Sony on several more releases, he has never forgiven the label for this betrayal.
Unfortunately, this betrayal was not the last and not the most difficult in the life of Michael Jackson. In 2003, Michael made another attempt to overcome the image imposed on him by the yellow press and find understanding among the general public. He invited British journalist Martin Bashir to make a documentary about his private life off stage. Relying on recommendations from friends, Michael trusted Bashir and agreed to give him unlimited access to his home and his life for eight months.
Michael in Bashir's film Bashir spent almost a year next to Michael. He communicated with his children, lived in Neverland, accompanied him on his travels. However, the film that ended up on the screens turned out to be not at all what Michael expected. Out of eight months of filming, Bashir carefully selected moments to illustrate the most controversial topics. Michael's lines were skillfully edited to add sensationalism to the film, the most innocent scenes being provided with ambiguous voiceovers. Michael was portrayed as an asocial, deranged individual with megalomania and paranoia, and a threat to his own and others' children. Relatives and friends did not recognize him in this film.
Many viewers and even celebrities criticized Bashir's film. Michael released a rebuttal program exposing the duplicity of the journalist. However, the damage has already been done. by the most terrible consequence The film was a new attempt to accuse the artist of inappropriate communication with a child. The film showed a teenager from a poor Hispanic family, whom Michael helped to cope with a severe cancer. The negative presentation of this story and Bashir's insinuations led to the fact that Michael's relationship with the boy's family deteriorated, and the boy's mother contributed to the initiation of a criminal case against Michael.
In the days of judgment. 2005 Santa Maria This time District Attorney Tom Sneddon (who failed to indict Jackson in 1993) got a formal charge filed. Michael was arrested and in front of the camera lenses was escorted in handcuffs to the police station. His Neverland Ranch was raided without ceremony by 70 police officers. All his plans for the implementation of new projects (including the creation of a designer clothing brand and producing films) were crossed out.
The investigation into the case lasted two years, after which the trial took place, which turned into a global media spectacle. Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom, and they, like a flock of vultures, surrounded the courthouse, filming Michael's daily arrival to and exit from the hearings. There were fans at the courthouse who supported the artist, and haters who shouted threats to him. Michael Jackson went through this three-month public ordeal with quiet dignity. According to the stories of his close associates, these were the hardest months of his life for him, a period of despair, during which he drew strength only from his children, the support of his fans and faith in God. On June 13, 2005, Michael was unanimously acquitted by a jury of fourteen counts.
Last years. This Is It
Although the jury found the artist innocent, this trial itself had a strong impact on his state of mind. According to relatives, Michael became more withdrawn, stopped trusting people, and preferred to avoid public appearances. Immediately after the end of the process, he left Neverland, saying that he could never live there again, and left the country. For the next year and a half, he and his children wandered around the world: for some time he visited the Prince of Bahrain, then he moved to a quiet estate in Ireland. And only in December 2006, he finally found the strength to return to his homeland.
By this time, his financial situation had become critical. Jackson hadn't released any new music or performed for seven years, and his career seemed to have fallen into oblivion. With no new sources of income, he increasingly lived in debt. By 2008, the size of his loans reached the value of the mortgaged property: Michael almost lost the Neverland Ranch and was on the verge of bankruptcy. The only way out of the situation was to return to the stage.
Announcement of concerts This Is It And in January 2009 a contract was signed with one of the largest concert promoters AEG Live for 10 concerts at the O2 arena in London. The concerts were called This Is It - "That's it." Michael announced them as his " last bow". According to eyewitnesses, he was forced to accept this contract. It was psychologically difficult for him to return to the stage - Bashir's film, the accusations and the trial had an extremely negative effect on his image: many people by that time considered Michael Jackson crazy, if not a criminal. He didn't know how the public would take him. However, contrary to fears, the demand for tickets was unheard of: within a day after the announcement, applications were received from almost a million people. The number of concerts hastened to increase to fifty.
The upcoming "marathon" of fifty performances and intensive preparation for it turned out to be a great stress for Michael. He was afraid that at the age of 50 he would not be able to withstand such a load, he was worried that he would disappoint the fans, that the show would fail. Too much was at stake. The insomnia that usually accompanied him on tour worsened. Michael was forced to resort to potent drugs to get enough sleep before rehearsals. His health deteriorated sharply, he lost weight - the team members who worked on the preparation of the show, and even the fans sounded the alarm. But the tragedy could not be prevented.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, a week before flying to London and three weeks before the start of the concerts, Michael Jackson died from an overdose of an anesthetic administered to him by his attending physician. Dr. Conrad Murray was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter of the artist and sentenced to four years in prison.
Fans see Michael off at the Apollo Theatre, New York Michael Jackson's death was an event that caused even more public outcry than his failed grandiose return to the stage. On June 25, 2009, the news of his death brought down the servers of Twitter and a number of news sites, unable to cope with the explosion of traffic as a result of this news. Google reacted to millions of search queries about Michael Jackson as a cyberattack. Wikipedia has registered a record number of visitors to a single article for the entire existence of the service. The artist's Facebook page gained 10 million subscribers in a matter of hours. The leaders of the Internet corporation America Online called the death of Michael Jackson "a significant milestone in the history of the Internet."
Many people, who were not even ardent fans of the artist, cried when they heard about his death. Others admitted that it was difficult for them to grasp the news: Michael Jackson became such a bright and integral part of modernity for his generation that it was difficult for people to imagine a world without him. A wave of tributes swept the globe: from Stockholm to Taipei, from Mexico City to Hong Kong, young people took to the streets and danced to Michael's songs. Hundreds of obituaries, memoirs and articles appeared in the press and blogs, rethinking the personality and work of the "King of Pop". His songs, which were rarely heard on the radio during his later years, returned to heavy rotation. Documentary"This Is It", edited from rehearsal footage from canceled shows, broke box office records and received unanimous critical acclaim. Album Invincible voted by readers of the site Billboard was named the best album of the decade. A re-evaluation of Jackson's work began: people began to discover his lesser-known and commercially successful works.
Paris Jackson at the memorial service But perhaps the key event that marked the beginning of a new, eternal life for Michael Jackson was the words of his daughter Paris, uttered by her at the farewell ceremony, which was watched live by about a billion people. When Michael's family took the stage, his 11-year-old daughter suddenly, in a fit of emotion, asked for a microphone and, barely holding back tears, uttered into the hall and into the TV cameras the very words that Michael once dreamed of hearing: “From my very birth, dad was the best a father you could imagine. I love him so much…” This simple, short panegyric did what Michael had been unable to achieve for many years, as if in an instant he allowed millions of people to throw off their blinders and finally see a person in the hero of the scandalous gossip column. Death, alas, took this man away, but it also freed his personality and genius from the burden of social prejudices.
Michael Jackson died on the night of June 25-26, 2009 in Los Angeles. The news of his untimely death instantly spread throughout the world, shocking not only fans, but also envious people. The name of Jackson by that time had long become a legend, and, despite numerous reports of illnesses, no one expected such a sudden death.
Despite the years of musical silence, in the memory of bloggers, the singer remains a true legend, the king of pop music, the author of numerous hits, spectacular video clips and the famous “moonwalk”, without which few people can imagine the bygone era of the 1980s and their young years.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, Michael collapsed while in a house he was renting in Holmby Hills, west Los Angeles. Jackson's personal physician, cardiologist Conrad Murray, later reported through his lawyer that he went up to the second floor and found Jackson in bed, no longer breathing, but with a weak pulse in the femoral artery. Murray began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). After 5-10 minutes, Murray decided to do phone call, but there was no landline in the bedroom, and Murray didn't want to use his cell phone because he didn't know the address of Jackson's house. While Murray was looking for a security guard to use his phone to call emergency services, 30 minutes passed. At 12:21 p.m. local time, a 911 call was recorded. It was not Murray who called, but a home security worker. Here is a recording of that historic call.
Arriving 3 minutes and 17 seconds after the call, the doctors found Jackson no longer breathing with a cardiac arrest and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 42 minutes. According to Murray's lawyer, a UCLA doctor ordered the medical team to give a direct injection of adrenaline into Jackson's heart. The lawyer noted that all the time while Jackson was at home, he still had a pulse. Efforts to bring Jackson back to life continued along the way and for an hour after arriving at the University of California Medical Center (UCLA) at 1:14 p.m. The effect was not achieved. Death was pronounced at 14:26 local time.
Thousands of fans of the singer immediately gathered near the hospital. They literally surrounded the porch, filling it soft toys and flowers and making everything around with photographs of the singer and candles. Fans also turned out to mourn at the deserted home in Gary, Indiana, where Jackson spent his childhood, and at New York City's huge Times Square downtown.
Most people did not learn the exciting news from the newspapers. People called each other, sent messages, wrote blogs. In terms of the scale of the tragedy, Jackson's death can only be compared with the death of Princess Diana or the assassination of President Kennedy.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was the seventh of nine children in the Jackson family. At the age of four, Michael was already on stage. A little later, he began performing with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, German and Marlon in the group "The Jackson 5", which was invented by their father Joseph. And although Michael was the youngest, it was he who attracted the most attention, sang, danced best of all, knew how to charm the audience and eventually became a real star of the team.
In the late 1960s, The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records and began to release hot hits one after another throughout the next decade. Simultaneously with the work in the family band, Michael did successful solo projects.
Active Michael was always just not enough. So, in 1978, he starred with the young Diana Ross in feature film The Wizard, an African-American remake of The Wizard of Oz. The film did not become a classic of American cinema, but it was of great importance for Michael, because on the set he met the great music producer Quincy Jones, who worked on the film's score.
It was Quincy who helped Michael Jackson get his next album, 1979's Off The Wall, multi-platinum, turning a singing black handsome boy into a pop music superstar. The album included the hits Don "t Stop" Til You Get Enough and Rock With You, the disc sold 10 million copies.
In 1982, Jackson broke not only his own record, but also set an unattainable bar for subsequent generations. The Thriller album did not have time to re-release, more than 50 million copies were sold worldwide. Michael Jackson received seven Grammy Awards for this album. Another world record for Thriller is a 37-week chart lead that no one has yet surpassed.
Thriller's sensational success lay in never-before-seen, enchanting and amazingly beautiful music videos for "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller". Jackson was the first to make a small film out of a clip, to make video a means of transferring music, to spit on the laws of the genre, setting his own. Michael broke any stereotypes that got in his way. Jackson became the first black guy on American MTV.
Having passed the peak, Michael continued to hold on to a huge height of popularity. The 1987 Bad album sold 25 million copies, and in 1991 Dangerous sold 23 million copies.
In 1993, Michael became famous on the Oprah Winfrey show, which was filmed at his home - at the Land of Eternal Childhood ranch in Santa Yanez, California. The interview lasted 1.5 hours and attracted almost 100 million viewers, becoming the most watched show of the year.
In 1995, Michael released the ambitious and ingenious double album HIStory Past, Present and Future Book I, consisting of 15 greatest hits of the past years and 15 new songs, which are still considered his most touching and soulful compositions. During the year, the album became platinum six times in the United States and is still successfully sold, being the most sought-after double album in the world.
Jackson easily masters new musical genres and techniques, creating a wave ahead of time. In subsequent years, he released the albums "Blood On The Dance floor: HIStory In The Mix", "Invincible", "Number 1 "s", which includes reissued old songs and new compositions, as well as a 44-minute DVD "Michael Jackson - The One" featuring footage from the CBS archives, including his concerts, off-stage footage, and footage from the HIStory tour.
In 1996, Jackson marries nurse Debbie Rowe, who gives him two sons (born in 1997 and 2002) and a daughter (born in 1998). Jackson says that fatherhood is the main dream of his life.
From 2003 to 2005, the whole world is discussing a high-profile court case: Michael Jackson is accused of child molestation. After long meetings and trials, Michael is found not guilty on all counts, but a long tense lawsuit undermines the singer's health, so after the trial he leaves for the island of Bahrain and becomes a hermit.
In March 2009, Michael announced that he was going to play the last series of concerts in London called This is it Tour. A series of 10 concerts at The O2 arena, with a capacity of 20 thousand people, was supposed to start on July 13, 2009 and end on March 6, 2010. However, the demand for tickets exceeded all expectations, and the organizers planned additional performances.
According to the doctors who examined Jackson, the singer's health allowed him to conduct such a difficult tour ...
The day after Jackson's death, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began investigating an unusual and high-profile case. They started talking about a new version of the cause of the singer's death - murder.
On July 1, 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) joined the investigation. The DEA, having the power to investigate issues normally protected by doctor-patient privilege, could examine all of Jackson's prescription medications. California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the DEA used CURES, a prescription database containing information about all prescribed drugs, doctors, doses and patients, to investigate. On July 9, William Bratton, LAPD chief, said the investigation was focused on murder or accidental overdose, but that full toxicology reports from the coroners should be awaited.
On August 24, 2009, the conclusions of a forensic medical examination were made public - death was due to an overdose of the potent anesthetic propofol. A number of other potent substances (lorazepam, diazepam, midazolam) were also found in the blood.
On August 28, the Los Angeles coroner announced that Michael Jackson's death would be qualified as a homicide. Cardiologist Conrad Murray, Michael's personal physician, was charged with manslaughter.
The case is still gathering new details. According to the latest testimony, when the singer's heart stopped, Murray interrupted the initial resuscitation procedure he had begun in order to hide the drugs that he illegally injected celebrities.
However, what difference does it make now ... Michael Jackson still cannot be revived with new details about his death.
“In the end, the most important thing is to be honest with yourself and your loved ones and work hard. What is now will not be tomorrow. Dare. Fight. Improve and cultivate your talent. Be the best at what you do. Learn more about your occupation than anyone alive. Use the tools to present yourself - be it books, or the floor to dance, or water to swim. Wherever it is, it's yours. That's what I always try to remember."
- Michael Jackson
SHARES
The whole world mourned the death of Michael Jackson. Many did not believe in this death, suspected that Michael Jackson is not dead, a someone else died instead.
The Order of the Illuminati is involved in this worldwide deception.
Next will be presented an interview from a person who knows the whole truth about the "death" of Michael Joseph Jackson. This man is a secret society insider. In the media (media), this group is commonly referred to as the "Order of the Freemasons".
Found facts will also be provided that Jackson had a doppelgänger…
I know the truth and I will tell it!
I am a member of The Order myself and I know why the Illuminati helped Jackson deceive the world. I want as many people as possible to know the truth. After all, what Michael Jackson has already managed is a trifle compared to his far-reaching plans, which he is going to implement in this century.
Why did the Illuminati agree to Michael Jackson's plan?
Yes, because no one has ever been able to refuse him. Ask the people closest to him, and they will say: Michael always got his way.
Already 4 years ago, Michael Jackson conceived this plan. His intentions were as serious as ever. It was then, 4 years ago, that he met with a representative of our Order in Naples and offered to help him in the implementation of his plan. The price that Michael Jackson promised for this was beyond anyone's expectations. Our Order does not need money, but the huge amount received for the execution of Michael Jackson's order will allow the Order to work quietly on the solution of the Problem, which we have been solving for at least 700 years.
The Order should not be accused of being promiscuous or being too accommodating. Just for money, the Order would not agree to a grandiose deception. However, in the hand of Michael Jackson was not only a sweet gingerbread, but also an iron whip. He hinted very transparently that he would not only generously pay for our consent, but would also do everything so that we could not refuse. If the leadership of the Order still refused, Michael Jackson promised to reveal to the whole world the secret that we carefully concealed during all 700 years of the existence of the Order. This would draw the unwanted attention of the Vatican to the activities of the Order. A similar nuisance already happened in the 1940s, when representatives of the German Nazis tried to make an alliance with the Illuminati. Rumors are circulating around the world about the alleged (I emphasize the word, "alleged") Illuminati desire for world domination and the cruelty involved. Hitler's agents tried to play on these legends, attributing other people's sins to the Order.
I have already said that I intend to tell the whole truth about the secrets of the Order. I will also tell you about the whereabouts of the allegedly deceased Michael Jackson. I am aware that my confessions will be followed by revenge from both Michael Jackson and revenge from The Order. I am breaking the silence that the Illuminati have kept for centuries. And I am aware of what can be expected of me. I don't know if Michael Jackson is capable of murder, but given the circumstances that led him to mount a grand conspiracy to deceive all of humanity, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already contemplating ways to take me out. So to speak, book me a ticket for a trip to the Neverland Ranch without a refund.
Neverland - Michael Jackson Villa
Fans of M. Jackson, of course, know that his villa in California is called "Neverland". This is the name of the magical country from the fairy tale "Peter Pan". In this country, children stop growing, which means they stop aging. This beautiful fairy tale has a second, rather scary, meaning. None of the fans of Michael Jackson think about this meaning. Well, tell me, when does the counting of human years stop? That's right, when people die.
Why staged an artificial death of Jackson?
Michael Jackson has been obsessed with the idea since childhood that he died as soon as he was born, and therefore that he is a vampire. This strangely combined with his fear of death, which many of his fans know about. It is known that Michael observed a strict regime, because he dreamed of living at least 150 years. He often feared that he would die early, like the legendary Elvis Presley. Michael's most unusual way of preserving his youth was his desire to sleep in special chambers, where high oxygen pressure was maintained.
In fact, one was conditioned by the other. Jackson was afraid of death because he never really lived. As a child, the joy of life was taken away from him. Jackson Sr. stubbornly and systematically pushed his son to success in show business, not allowing him to relax in games with peers and childish pranks. The creation of Neverland Ranch was Michael Jackson's attempt to regain the lost joy of childhood.
Jackson's father not only robbed his son of his childhood. He made his son a kind of "drug addict", instilling in him an obsessive desire for constant success on stage. Therefore, the huge wealth that show business brought to Michael Jackson did not satisfy him. Jackson did not see life, did not feel it. He was an outsider in this world. Such detachment gave rise to Michael's belief in his divinity, and - as a result - in inevitable immortality. He tried to achieve this immortality not only by scientific and technical means, but also by occult means.
Was Michael Jackson a Vampire?
Michael Jackson considered himself a vampire. Everyone knows that he underwent several facial skin grafts. He endured these painful operations not because he was ashamed of being black. He wanted to become like thousands of the living dead, who - he believed - still had not disappeared from the face of our planet.
On December 2, 1983, the Thriller clip was shown on MTV for the first time.
Filmed on the disc of the same name, Thriller is an attempt to shout to the soldiers of the vampire army. Michael hoped that if he became like them on the outside, he would change on the inside. "Thriller" was like an autobiography of Jackson, in which he laughed at death. But subconsciously he was afraid of death and was looking for the secrets of immortality. He hoped that after seeing the film, the living dead would feel his desperation and come to him.
And they came. One of the vampires led Michael Jackson to the Illuminati.
One way or another, this meeting had to take place. Jackson not only spent millions on pleasure. He spent hundreds of millions searching for immortality. These searches were bound to lead him to the Illuminati sooner or later. At one time, Hitler was looking for contacts with the Illuminati in order to build a thousand-year empire with their help. I have already mentioned this. The Illuminati were able to avoid Hitler's bloodhounds. But Jackson had more resources than the demon-possessed Fuhrer.
With money and threats, he achieved that he was admitted to the archives of the Order, which kept the secrets of millennia. He spent many weeks in the Illuminati archives. At this time, his three doubles constantly flashed in public. It was much easier to find doubles for Michael Jackson with his face, assembled from shreds of skin, as if plastic, than for other celebrities. It was this circumstance that prompted Michael Jackson to plan a fake death. It is about this plan that I will now tell.
Michael Jackson doppelganger photo
The truth about the fictitious death of Michael Jackson
Before leaving for a better world, he allowed himself an excessive load, which could well lead to cardiac arrest from the painkiller administered by the attending physician. It is claimed that it was not the real Michael Jackson who died in the hands of the attending physician, but Romanian doppelgänger Dimitri Dragucescu(Dimitrie Draghicescu), who was dragged into one of the biggest intrigues in show business.
Michael Jackson himself at that time calmly boarded a jet plane that took him to the South-East of the United States of America. This Romanian decided to be like two peas in a pop legend, for three years he underwent many plastic surgeries. He also learned to copy the manner of speech and style of behavior, not to mention the choreographic abilities. But still it was not the great Michael Jackson, but just his double, who was taken to the hospital.
Think for yourself, the person who called the emergency response service did not answer who is ill, and what is his name. In principle, even if the idol of millions died, then in 911 they would reliably hide this information from outsiders, besides, they have special sensors that react to the degree of excitement of the caller, thereby allowing you to find out about the reliability of the call. At that moment, there were no suspicions, but the person actually died, but it was unlikely that it was Michael Jackson.
Dimitri Dragucescu was mortally ill and knew that sooner or later his turn would come, so he agreed to play the role of the corpse of the Great King. In addition, the real Michael promised a generous reward to the family of the Romanian double, and he simply could not refuse such a luxurious way to leave. In fact, Jackson is alive, and he was absolutely healthy, because all his life he tried to keep himself in amazing shape, which would allow him to live not 50 years, but all 150. Most likely, the planned blackmail was successful, and now Michael Jackson is calm with looks at what is happening from the side with a smile. This man reached such heights in his life that several generations do not reach, he had everything that one could dream of. He was loved by millions, and he paid the same, and the series of scandals that was associated with the name of the singer is nothing more than a way to warm up attention to his person.
Michael Jackson's secret diary
After Michael's death, his close longtime friend allegedly found a diary kept by the singer, in which he repeatedly mentioned a certain plan of death, a staging that he wants to crank out. The diary stated that Jackson wanted to simulate his departure from this world from a heart attack. Also in his diary, Jackson writes that he is tired of the fact that his name is associated only with the scandalous details of his life, he is tired of all this hype, and he just wants to leave, relax. He goes on to describe such details that allegedly another King of the stage, Elvis Presley, who had problems with drugs, at one time also staged his death theatrically, although in fact, another person was in his place.
It is quite possible that Jackson decided in this way to get rid of all the problems at once and simply fool the world community. In confirmation of this, there are many facts that clearly show that Michael Jackson could not just disappear in an instant. In his diary, he writes that he is most likely simulating a heart attack that will occur from strong drugs.
He even chose the day when he would reveal himself to the world without breathing. He wanted to choose either Christmas or New Year, but he hesitated. He further wrote that after that a completely different life would come, which would be more beautiful than the one that was before. He understood that he had a million-strong army of fans, which he would lose forever, but he did not know and could not imagine another way to get rid of all the pressing problems at once.
The close friend who found this manuscript was taken aback by the information it contained. He decided to give the diary to friends and relatives of the singer. As he correctly noted, this is not his thing, it does not belong to him. According to people close to Michael, the singer announced his intention to leave in 2008, but then no one took his words seriously. When the case turned out in this way, there was an immediate resonance in the media. This is a veritable fraud project that, if exposed, would be a powerful weapon against the superstar's identity. The legal consequences in this case will be more than serious. When this information was made public, ordinary people happily accepted the fact that Michael Jackson could indeed be alive, and that it was a prank. Ordinary people love him the way he is in his songs, his work and they don't care about what really happened. They believe that he didn't do it for money, not for insurance, to cover all his debts.
Doppelgänger Jackson's death
On June 25 last year, the world was stunned by the news that overnight eclipsed all others. Pop idol Michael Jackson has died. At first, no one believed this contradictory information, some even decided that it was nothing more than a duck or someone's bad joke. Many continued to believe that Jackson was alive and just hiding. Moreover, thousands of witnesses around the world unanimously claimed that they had seen the King of Pop.
In particular, his family behaved extremely suspiciously, on the basis of which, the journalists decided that death of michael jackson is not fiction. Then the whole world learned that the death of the most popular singer in the world is real, really.
After reliable medical confirmation of death, the family of the deceased demanded a second autopsy to find out for sure whether it was really Michael. An autopsy showed that Michael Jackson died from a large dose of the painkiller Diprivan (another name in the medical world is "Propofol"), which was injected into him by his attending physician. An attending physician is found guilty of the death of the world's most popular singer.
The best lawyers tried to drop the charge against the attending physician, but as it turned out, this was absolutely impossible. Nevertheless, some argue that death is nothing more than a very high-quality staging, and in fact, Jackson was an absolutely healthy person who would not have lived up to 50 years, up to 150 years.
Regarding his bankruptcy, this is also nothing more than a fiction, he still had huge financial resources and could afford a lot. It seems that Jackson is quietly sitting somewhere in a secluded place and watching what is happening with a smile on his lips. He achieved even more than he imagined, so why not indulge in such a small prank?
Perhaps he was tired of being popular, because popularity does not relieve loneliness, and apparently, Jackson was an unhappy person. Many did not understand him when he decided to have the operation and changed his skin color, but when the tragedy came to his house, it seemed that everyone who even disliked Michael began to mourn with those who considered him their idol.
When did the Michael Jackson lookalike die?
On June 25, 2009, at the age of 50, a staged death was performed. And on Thursday, September 3, at the Glendale Forest Lawn cemetery in the suburbs of Los Angeles, millions of people around the world watched how the funeral of the “King” took place, so how to regard the fact that he is alive or really went to another world? Nobody knows for sure.
What actually happened will remain a mystery to everyone, the key to which will be extremely difficult to find.
Perhaps this is one big performance in which the King of Millions played the main role, and I must say he played it perfectly, making the whole world believe in his sudden death. After all, judge for yourself how otherwise such a famous person could disappear without a trace, whose life has recently become the subject of discussion throughout the globe, a certain stagnation was noticed in creativity, and here there is such a chance that you need to use as soon as possible. After all, Michael Jackson disappeared immediately after the world tour, doesn't it seem suspicious or even mystical to you?
The golden lid of the coffin was closed, behind it it was not visible who was in the coffin.
Immediately after the announcement of the death of the great singer, all of him soared to the top of the charts, his album began to be sold out with a triple force, knowing about the debts that had accumulated a lot, Jackson and his entourage could well pull off such a scam. All statements about long-term illness and other health problems are nothing more than a myth. Jackson was in great shape and was not going to die, at least not so soon. More such a genius may not appear on the stage, and if he does, how will the world react to him? Will he accept a new, yet unknown singer? Only time will give an answer to this question.
What do you think?
Trailer - That's it
The legendary American singer Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana (USA). He was the seventh of nine children in the Jackson family.
At the age of five, Michael became a member of the Jackson Five family band and soon took over as lead vocalist.
In 1968, the Jackson Five signed a contract with Motown Records and recorded such hits as I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save and I "ll Be There. In the mid-1970s, the popularity of the Jackson Five began to decline, and a solo career Michael began to gain momentum.
In 1977, Michael Jackson made his debut in the film-musical The Wiz, which began his long-term collaboration with the famous producer and composer Quincy Jones. Together with him, Michael released a solo album Off the Wall in 1979. The disc took the top lines of the US and UK charts, and for the song Don "t Stop" Til You Get Enough, Jackson received his first Grammy statuette.
In 1982, the singer released his second album Thriller. The album became one of the most commercially successful in the history of pop music - its circulation amounted to 70 million copies worldwide. The Thriller disc brought Michael seven Grammy awards.
A video clip was shot for the album's main song of the same name, which is considered to be the beginning of the active development of the music video.
In 1983, at the Motown 25 years show, Michael Jackson walked his famous "moonwalk" for the first time.
In 1987, the singer released the album Bad. All the singles from this album reached the first lines of the charts. The album was sold with a circulation of 29 million copies.
In the same year, Jackson's autobiography Moonwalker was published.
In 1991, Michael Jackson signed a major contract with Sony Music and released his solo album Dangerous.
The singer finally secured the status of the first star in the world show business - his composition Black Or White became a number one hit on both sides of the ocean.
In September 1993, a Michael Jackson concert took place in Moscow, at the Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Stadium.
In 1995, Jackson released the double album HIStory, which paired a disc of 15 new songs with a greatest hits disc. The album has sold 7 million copies in the US (15 million worldwide).
In 1996, Jackson's second performance in Russia took place at the Dynamo Stadium in Moscow.
In 1997, an album of dance remixes for tracks from HIStory - Blood on the Dancefloor appeared in stores.
The album Invincible, released in October 2001, contained 16 tracks, including the single You rock my world, which featured the legendary actor Marlon Brando in the video. In the same year, Michael recorded the song What more can I give, the proceeds of which went to charity.
In 2003 the album was released greatest hits Michael Jackson - Number Ones. The only original track on this disc, One More Chance, spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard charts.
In 2004, Jackson released the anniversary edition of Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection, a five-disc collection of his biggest hits, demos, and an additional DVD of live recordings from the Dangerous tour.
In August 2008, Michael Jackson released an original studio album titled King of Pop. The collection consisted of compositions based on poems by the great Scottish poet of the 18th century, Robert Burns.
Jackson's album Thriller 25, released in February 2008 to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of the legendary Thriller album, was a great success. The new compilation includes nine original tracks from the old album, as well as remixes and a new song For All Time.
The disc reached number one on the charts in eight European countries, reached number two in the US and number three in the UK charts. It was sold in the USA.
As a forensic medical examination established, the king of pop music became an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol.
July 7, 2009 at the Staples sports and entertainment complex in Los Angeles was held with Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson has been married twice. The first time was on Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. The marriage did not last long, from 1994 to 1996, but the stars remained friends. In 1996, Michael Jackson married former nurse Debbie Rowe. For three years of marriage, they had two children: a son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Sr. (1997) and a daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson (1998). Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (2002), was born via a surrogate mother.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
short biography Name: Michael Joseph Jackson Michael Joseph JacksonDate of Birth: August 29, 1958
Place of Birth: Gary, Indiana, USA
Date of death: June 25, 2009
A place of death: Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres: Pop
Biography Michael Joseph Jackson (born Michael Joseph Jackson; August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009) was an American pop singer, dancer, songwriter, philanthropist, King of Pop, and entrepreneur. One of the most successful performers in history, winner of 19 Grammy awards and dozens of other awards. 2 times listed in the Guinness Book of Records; Around 750 million copies of Jackson's albums have been sold worldwide. Michael Jackson has made a significant contribution to the development of popular music, video clips, dance and fashion.
Not only creativity, but also Jackson's personal life attracted the attention of the press: vitiligo disease, as a result of which Michael's skin became light; his plastic surgery; trials during which he was accused of child molestation but acquitted. Jackson died in 2009 as a result of a drug overdose, propofol in particular.
Childhood and The Jackson 5
Michael Jackson was born to Joseph and Katherine in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh of nine children. Jackson claimed that his father repeatedly humiliated him mentally and physically. However, he respected his father's strict discipline, which played a large part in Jackson's success. In one of the confrontations with his father, described by Michael's older brother Marlon, his father, holding him upside down, struck on his back and buttocks. One night, while Michael was sleeping, his father snuck into his room through the window. He was in a frightening mask, piercingly screamed and roared. Joseph explained his action by saying that he wanted to teach his children to close the window before going to bed. Four years later, Michael admitted that he suffered from nightmares in which he was kidnapped from his bedroom. In 2003, Joseph admitted to the BBC that he had beaten Michael when he was a child.
Jackson first spoke openly about the humiliation he had to endure as a child in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993. He said that in childhood he often cried from the feeling of loneliness and vomited after talking with his father. In another high-profile interview, Living with Michael Jackson (2003), while talking about childhood abuse, the singer covered his face with his hand and began to cry. Jackson recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand when he rehearsed with his brothers, and that "if you did something wrong, he will bring you to tears, really get you."
Jackson performed in front of classmates at Christmas concerts from the age of five. In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined The Jacksons, a band formed by their brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, as understudies, playing conga and tambourine, respectively. Jackson later began performing as a backing vocalist and dancer; at the age of eight, he and Jermaine became the main vocalists and the group was renamed The Jackson 5. The group toured extensively in the Midwest from 1966 to 1968. Often they performed in a number of "black" clubs and places known as the "Chitlin" circuit, often warming up the audience for a striptease. In 1966, they won a local talent competition, performing hits from Motown and "I Got You (I Feel Good) by James Brown with Michael as the main vocalist.
The Jacksons soon rose to the national level, and in 1970 their first four singles were on the first line of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gradually, Michael stood out as the frontman of the children's quintet, in fact, it was he who got the main solo parts. He drew attention to himself with his unusual manner of dancing and behavior on stage, which he copied from his idols - James Brown, Jackie Wilson and others.
The beginning of a solo career
In 1973, the success of the family project began to decline, the record company limited them financial opportunities, and in 1976 they signed a contract with another firm, as a result of which they had to change their name again to The Jacksons. From 1976 to 1984 they released 6 more albums, traveling around the country on tour. Meanwhile, Jackson released four solo albums and a string of successful solo singles, including "Got to Be There", "Rockin' Robin" and the 1972 chart-topper "Ben" (a ballad dedicated to his pet rat).
In 1978, Michael starred with Diana Ross in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Wiz (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). On the set, he met music director Quincy Jones, who would go on to produce his most famous albums. The first of these, "Off the Wall", was released in 1979. The disco hit "Don't Stop "Til You Get Enough" and the slower track "Rock With You" topped the charts, and the album sold over 20 million copies. disco music.
Thriller
The album "Thriller" went down in history as the best-selling album in the world. Regarding this album, producer Quincy Jones stated in an interview with Time magazine:
““Black” music has been forced to play second fiddle for a long time, but its spirit is a whole driving force in the pop music that Michael connected to every soul in the world."
Released in November 1982, Thriller gave America seven singles:
"The Girl Is Mine" (No. 2, duet with Paul McCartney),
"Billie Jean" (No. 1, Grammy Award, the biggest hit of Jackson's entire career and one of the most sampled tracks in funk music),
"Beat It" (No. 1, another Grammy)
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (No. 5),
"Human Nature" (No. 7),
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (No. 10),
"Thriller" (No. 4).
Thriller topped the Billboard 200 for nine months (37 weeks) and stayed on the chart for over two years (122 weeks). For this album, Jackson received eight Grammy Awards (including Best Album of the Year) and seven American Music Awards (American Music Awards). In 1985, the album was declared by the Guinness Book of Records to be "the best-selling album of all time". As of July 2001, the album has sold 26 million copies in the US, making it the second highest selling album in American history behind The Eagles' The Greatest Hits (27 million). Thriller has sold a record 109 million copies worldwide.
Jackson and his producers capitalized on the burgeoning music television: his groundbreaking videos were among the first in constant rotation on MTV, which was only a year old at the time of the album's release. The disc's popularity was fueled, among many other reasons, by Jackson's March 1983 performance at Motown's 25th Anniversary, where he presented the world with a 14-minute horror-inspired music video for "Thriller". At the same concert, during the performance of "Billie Jean", Jackson first demonstrated his famous "moonwalk" - a dance move in which the dancer moves his feet forward, but at the same time moves back
eighties
Jackson and his entourage used the media attention to Michael for financial gain. In 1983, Michael signed a contract with Pepsi-Cola, under which he was supposed to star in their commercial. During filming, an accident occurred, due to which Jackson received a burn to the back of his head.
In 1984, Jackson again led the American charts, this time with the song "Say Say Say" recorded in a duet with Paul McCartney. The following year, Michael bought up most of the shares in ATV Music Publishing, which owned the rights to most of The Beatles' songs, which caused a quarrel with McCartney, who himself dreamed of buying these shares. Michael Jackson also worked with, having made several test recordings with him, but the collaboration did not take place due to the employment of both musicians.
During the preparation of the new album, Jackson first took up a charity project. Together with Lionel Richie, he wrote the song "We Are the World" (We are the World), which was recorded with the participation of numerous pop stars, and also covered in German by the mother of punk rock Nina Hagen in 1987. The money from the sale of the single was transferred to help disadvantaged children in Africa.
The Jackson-Quincy tandem's third and final album, Bad, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks and gave the world seven more hits, five of which topped the Billboard Hot 100: Bad, I Just Can 't Stop Loving You", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". On Bad, Jackson and Quincy tried to follow the previous album's recipe for success (using stylish beats, smooth funk jazz and electric guitar), but on a much bigger scale. The album was sold with a circulation of 29 million copies.
Next, Michael went on his first tour as solo artist, in support of the album "Bad" in 15 countries, which took up most of 1988. In 1987, Jackson starred in the 3D film Captain EO. The latter, with a budget of between $17 million and $30 million, was only 17 minutes long and at the time was the highest-grossing film in terms of length. This was Jackson's first appearance on the big screen.
In the 18-minute video for the album's title track, "Bad," it was easy to see the change in the singer's appearance. Despite the fact that his skin color was black throughout childhood, from 1982 he began to lighten, and became light brown. It became so noticeable that the whole press began to write about it, and not only the yellow one. Jackson attributed this to the rare disease vitiligo and dispelled rumors that it was the result of intentional actions. In addition to lightening the skin, another reason for the change in the appearance of the singer was plastic surgery.
The nineties
Due to the increased attention to his person, Jackson spent most of his time in seclusion at his strictly guarded Neverland Ranch. Few friends visited him there, including Elizabeth Taylor. Children also lived on the ranch, to whom the singer was always partial. In 1991, he wrote two singles for The Simpsons, of which he was a fan. However, due to contract restrictions, his name was not mentioned in the credits. In 1993, he was charged with corrupting an underage boy, but at that time the case was settled out of court and the parents withdrew the civil lawsuit.
In 1991, "Dangerous" was released, which was preceded by the premiere of a large-scale video clip for the single "Black or White" ("Black or White"). The video was allowed to air on MTV only after the exclusion of scenes in which Jackson breaks windows and imitates masturbation. For five weeks, "Black or White" was at the top of the charts and became Jackson's biggest hit since "Billie Jean". As with previous albums, seven singles were released from this album. In addition to "Black or White" they included "Remember the Time", "In the Closet" and "Will You Be There". "Remember the Time" was filmed with a multimillion-dollar CGI video featuring Eddie Murphy and top model Iman as the pharaoh of Egypt and his wife.
Throughout the 1990s, Jackson's face changed dramatically, and his skin became completely white.
In 1995, the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future - Book I was released, which combined a disc of 15 new songs with a disc of the biggest hits. It was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy. In order to return the shaken popularity, the first single was released "Scream" - a duet of the singer with his sister, Janet Jackson, who also became a popular solo singer by that time. The song was accompanied by a futuristic music video that cost over seven million dollars to film.
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 7 million copies in the US (15 million worldwide). Many new songs from it were released as singles, among them a ballad about Moscow (“Stranger in Moscow”; Jackson promised to record a song about the Russian capital when he first visited here in 1993), a composition on environmental theme"Earth Song" and "You Are Not Alone", a contemporary rhythm and blues composition written and produced for him by R. Kelley. In the video for "You Are Not Alone," Michael appeared semi-nude with his then-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley.
In 1997, an album of dance remixes for tracks from "HIStory" - "Blood on the Dance floor" was released. Reviews for this disc were mostly positive, with the title track topping the sales charts in many countries, including the UK. In the US, the album went largely unnoticed and did not reach number one on the charts.
Performances in Russia
Michael Jackson first came to Moscow in September 1993. His concert was organized by the firm "Dessa" and cost her $ 1,000,000. The organizer of the tour is Samvel Gasparov. The concert took place on September 15 in an open area - the Big Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Stadium in heavy rain. Shortly after the concert, the company ceased to exist due to financial problems, and the stadium was closed for repairs. During the concert, it was pouring rain, puddles of which were removed service staff right during the performance of Michael Jackson. In his Moscow hotel room, Jackson wrote a ballad about loneliness - Stranger in Moscow, which was included in the 1995 album History and was released as a single. During a 1993 visit, Jackson stayed at the Metropol Hotel.
Jackson's second performance in Russia took place on September 17, 1996 at the Dynamo Stadium in Moscow. During the visit, Michael Jackson met with the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, the head of the security service of the President of the Russian Federation, Korzhakov, and composer Igor Krutoy. During a 1996 visit, Jackson stayed at the Baltschug Kempinski Hotel.
Album Invincible
Jackson's next studio album was recorded only six years later, its release was repeatedly postponed. The Sony label was reluctant to invest millions of dollars in the protracted process of recording and subsequent promotion of the album, which ultimately led to a falling out between the singer and the recording giant. "Invincible" (Invincible), released in October 2001, contained 16 tracks, including the single "You Rock My World", which starred famous actors Marlon Brando and Chris Tucker in the video. The album was met with a mixed critical reception, and its sales figures were half that of "HIStory".
The song Invincible is dedicated to a 15-year-old Afro-Norwegian boy named Benjamin Hermansen, who was killed by a group of neo-Nazis in Oslo (Norway, January 26, 2001). Omer Bhatti, a close friend of Jackson, was a good friend of Benjamin Hermansen. Michael Jackson writes in a message:
“This album is dedicated to Benny Germansen. We must remember that a person can be judged not by the color of his skin, but by his personal qualities. Benjamin, we love you. Rest in peace".
To promote the album, a special celebration of the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's solo career was organized at Madison Square Garden in September 2001. Jackson appeared on stage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also included performances by Britney Spears, Mya, Usher, Whitney Houston, Tamia, Slash, Aaron Carter. The album spawned three singles, "You Rock My World", "Cry" and "Butterflys", the latter of which had no music video. "Unbreakable" was supposed to be released as a single, but due to several funding issues, Sony refused to release it.
In November 2003, Jackson released the hits collection Number Ones. The 18 tracks included in the collection included 16 previously released hits, a live performance of the song "Ben" and the new single "One More Chance". By the end of 2004, Number Ones had sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
Late 2000s
In 2003, Jackson had to stand trial on charges of child molestation. After a lengthy trial, the musician was acquitted. After the trial, Michael Jackson retired from journalists in Bahrain and began preparing a recording of a charity single in memory of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It soon became clear that not all the invited musicians wanted to participate in the project led by Jackson. Although the song "I Have This Dream" was recorded, it was never released as a single due to unclear circumstances.
On November 16, 2004, Michael Jackson released "Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection" Box Set" - a 5-disc set - containing 57 tracks and 13 previously unreleased recordings, covering the period from 1969 to 2004, plus a previously unreleased 1992 live concert on DVD.
In the summer of 2008, Sony BMG launched a global campaign in which people in more than 20 countries voted for their favorite songs of Michael Jackson, and thus took part in compiling the collection of hits of the "King of Pop" in their country. 122 tracks were presented to the fans. The album, which became unique in each country, included about 17-18 tracks on each disc (there were 1 or 2 in total, depending on the country).
In addition, Michael Jackson recorded his new solo album, which was scheduled for release in 2009. The album featured rappers Will.I.Am, Kanye West and R'n'B singer Akon.
In November 2008, the son of the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Khalifa, at whose invitation the singer was in this country, filed a lawsuit against Michael Jackson for failure to fulfill contractual obligations. The sheikh demanded payment of seven million dollars to him.
In March 2009, Michael announced that he was going to play the last series of concerts in London called "This Is It Tour". The concerts were scheduled to begin on July 13, 2009 and end on March 6, 2010. When Jackson announced his return to the stage at a special press conference on March 5, 2009, it was about 10 concerts at The O2 arena, which seats 20,000 people. However, the demand for tickets was so high that 40 more performances had to be scheduled. The concert tour never took place due to the death of the singer.
Sony signed a contract with Michael's family for the release of ten new Jackson albums. These will include re-releases of some of the older albums and compilations of never-before-released songs. The release of the first album called Michael is scheduled for December 14, 2010. It will consist of ten unreleased songs, including those recorded by Michael shortly before his death.
There will also be a game called "Michael Jackson the experience" and the entire videography of "Michael Jackson vision". Release date November 22-23, 2010
Personal life
A family
Michael Jackson has been married twice. From 1994 to 1996 he was married to Lisa-Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. They first met in 1975 during one of the celebrations at the MGM Grand Hotel, in the casino. Through a mutual friend, they met again in early 1993, and their relationship became serious. Every day they called up.
When Jackson was accused of child molestation and it became public, Jackson became dependent on Presley: he needed emotional support, and she was preoccupied with his health and addiction to relaxing drugs. Presley explained: “I believed that he did nothing wrong and that he was innocent, I became closer to him. I wanted to save him. I felt I could do it". She soon persuaded him to settle the charges out of court, as well as the need for rehabilitation to restore health. In October 1993, Jackson proposed to Presley over the phone: “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?” They got married in the Dominican Republic in secret, denying it for almost two months. Jackson and Presley divorced less than two years later, but remained friends. In 1997, Presley accompanied Michael, who was married to Debbie Rowe, on the HIStory tour.
In November 1996, after divorcing her, Jackson married Debbie Rowe (a former nurse), with whom he has two children: a son, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Sr. (born February 13, 1997) and a daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson ( born April 3, 1998). Debbie Rowe and Michael Jackson divorced in 1999. The second son - Prince Michael Jackson II (born February 21, 2002) was born from a surrogate mother, whose identity is unknown. A scandalous story is connected with this child, when Michael, showing photographers on Prince Street, almost dropped him from a height of 50 feet. After that, Jackson tried to hide his family from the press and fans: when they appeared in public, the children wore masks. Guardianship of the children after Jackson's death was taken by his mother, Katherine Jackson.
In life good friends Michael Jackson were: Diana Ross, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Eddie Murphy, Chris Tucker, Macaulay Culkin, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Omer Bhatti.
Health and appearance
Michael's childhood was difficult. He and some of his siblings said they were abused and abused by their father. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Jackson's appearance began to change dramatically. He lost weight, his skin brightened, his nose and facial contours changed. The initial causes of skin lightening are vitiligo and systemic lupus erythematosus (which were diagnosed in Jackson in 1986), as well as the singer's use of cosmetics to mask skin blemishes. Surgeons believe he has had a rhinoplasty, forehead lift, cheekbone surgery, and thinned lips.
Mental health experts claimed he had the mind of a ten-year-old, while other doctors thought he suffered from body dysmorphic disorder. Deepak Chopra, a doctor and friend of Jackson's for 20 years, said: “The reason that he subjected himself to plastic surgery was the craving for self-mutilation and complete disrespect for himself”.
During the 1990s, it seemed that Jackson became addicted to prescription drugs, mainly painkillers and powerful sedatives, and his health began to deteriorate rapidly. He went into rehab in 1993 with the help of Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John, but the addiction remained.
Childhood and mental health
Jackson and some of his siblings have stated that they were physically and mentally abused from a young age by their father Joseph, which included continuous rehearsals, insults, and the use of derogatory names such as "big nose" for Michael; this treatment influenced the rest of Jackson's life. During one of the trials, Marlon Jackson recalled how Joseph held Michael by one leg upside down and inflicted many blows with his hand on the back and buttocks. Joseph often tripped the boys and pushed them. One night, when Michael was sleeping, Joseph went up to his room through the window. He put on a scary mask, entered the room and screamed. Joseph explained that this was how he taught the children not to leave the windows open at night. For years to come, Jackson had nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom. By the early 1980s, he was deeply unhappy; Jackson said: “Even at home I am lonely. I sometimes sit in my room and cry. It's so hard to find friends... I sometimes leave the house at night, only to find someone to talk to. But it all ends with me returning home.”
Jackson recalled how Joseph sat in a chair during rehearsal, holding his belt in his hand. And if the children did something wrong, then he beat them with this belt. In 2003, the father admitted that he beat his children. In November 2010, he confirmed this, but stated the following: “I don't think Michael was afraid of me. If he was afraid, it was that he might do something wrong, and I would reprimand him, but not that I would beat him. I never beat him, as many media wrote.
In 2003, Michael Jackson was charged with child molestation and acquitted two years later. During the investigation, Jackson's biography was studied by Stan Katz, a professional psychologist, who also spent several hours with the accuser. According to John Randy Taraborrelli, Katz concluded that Jackson was stuck at the level of mental development of a ten-year-old child. Some doctors have publicly expressed the opinion that the singer had body dysmorphic disorder, a psychological disorder in which a person is overly concerned and preoccupied with a minor defect or feature of his body.
Vitiligo and lupus, treatment and consequences
Jackson's skin was swarthy in his youth, but from the mid-1980s, it became increasingly pale; this was, as many believed, due to the fact that Michael deliberately bleached his skin and changed facial features to look like a European. All this was widely covered in the media. According to John Randy Taraborrelli's biographical book, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus in 1986. Vitiligo partially lightened his skin and made him sensitive to sunlight. Lupus was in remission, but sunlight may have aggravated it. To combat these diseases, Jackson used solaquine, tretinoin, and benoquine. He also used hydroxychloroquine, which was regularly injected directly into the scalp. Medicines with which he fought these diseases; cosmetics to hide blemishes on the skin - because of all this, he seemed very pale.
In February 1993, Jackson gave an unusually candid hour and a half interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was his first televised interview since 1979. During this interview, he stated that he never bleached his skin on purpose, publicly announcing for the first time that he suffers from vitiligo disease and is forced to use powerful cosmetics to even out skin color. The interview was viewed by 68 million Americans. After that, active public discussions began on the topic of an unknown disease at that time. An autopsy performed after Jackson's death confirmed that he suffered from vitiligo.
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married his dermatologist's nurse, Debbie Rowe. They first met in the mid-1980s when Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo. Over the years, she treated his illness and provided emotional support, and the two formed a strong friendship before their relationship became romantic. The couple divorced in 1999, but they remained friends.
plastic surgery
The outlines of his face also changed; some surgeons believe that he underwent numerous surgeries to change his nose, forehead, lips, and cheekbones. According to Taraborrelli, in 1979 Jackson had his first rhinoplasty after breaking his nose while performing a difficult dance element. However, the operation was not entirely successful, and Michael complained of difficulty breathing. He was sent to Stephen Hofflin who gave him a second rhinoplasty in 1980. However, in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson's mother revealed that Michael deliberately and purposefully got his first nose job done. “One day he just got up and decided that he wanted to redo his nose, considering it too big. He left as soon as he decided to do so. When I asked where Michael was, it turned out that he was fixing his nose. Katherine Jackson said In his 1988 autobiography, Moonwalk, Jackson wrote that in addition to nose surgery, he also had a dimple in his chin and never had any more surgeries. However, his mother said that Michael had more than two plastic surgeries, but he was very shy about it: “I heard that people are addicted to plastic. I think that's exactly what happened to him. I told him that there were enough operations already and asked why he couldn't stop. I even talked to his plastic surgeon and asked that when Michael comes, he only pretends to change something in his face.. Also, since 1986, Jackson has been a regular client of Arnold Klein, a dermatologist who specializes in skin injections and non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
In his book, Jackson attributed the changes to his face to puberty, a strict vegetarian diet, weight loss, hair changes, and stage lighting. He refuted the opinions of many that he had an operation on his eyelids. By 1990, the changes that were happening to Michael were already widely discussed by the public; relatives of the singer reported that by that time he had undergone about ten operations on his face. In June 1992, The Daily Mirror ran a front-page image of what was believed to be Michael Jackson's face, which was described as "horribly disfigured" by plastic surgery. Jackson sued the tabloid and they reached a settlement in 1998. In the highest court, the former editor of the publication said that there were no traces of plastic surgery on Jackson's face and publicly apologized to him.
Weight and drug dependence
Part of the reason for the changes in his face were periods of significant weight loss. Jackson lost weight in the early 1980s due to a change in diet and a desire to have a "dancer's body". By 1984, Jackson had lost 9 kilograms, bringing his weight to 48 kilograms with a height of 175 cm - at that time he had the smallest weight in his entire life. adulthood. Witnesses reported that Jackson often experienced dizziness, and it is believed that he suffered from anorexia nervosa. In subsequent years, the musician recovered a little, but after being accused of child molestation in 1993, Jackson stopped eating, again losing a lot of weight. In late 1995, he was rushed to the hospital after collapsing while rehearsing for a television performance (which was later cancelled); an independent writer claims that the incident was caused by a stress-related panic attack, while doctors cited abnormal heart rhythms, gastrointestinal inflammation, dehydration, and malfunctioning of the kidneys and liver; In none of the hospitalizations, including this one, drugs were found in Jackson's system. The BBC reported that during his trial in 2005, the singer also suffered from stress-related illnesses and serious weight loss.
The biographer claims that in 1993, the artist agreed to the use of analgesics, diazepam, alprazolam and lorazepam, to deal with the stress caused by the allegation of child molestation brought against him. A few months later, according to the news, Jackson lost approximately 4.5 kg of weight and stopped eating. During the deposition in court, Jackson was very drowsy, unable to concentrate, and spoke indistinctly. He couldn't remember the release dates of his previous albums or the names of the people he worked with. It took him a few minutes to name some of his recent albums.
Jackson's health deteriorated to the point that he canceled the last leg of his world tour and flew with his girlfriend Elizabeth Taylor and her husband to London. At the airport, two friends supported him to keep him from falling; he was rushed to Elton John's manager's home and then to a clinic. At the entrance, he was searched for drugs; medicine vials were found in the suitcase. He was placed on the fourth floor of the hospital in an intravenous ward to reduce his dependence on painkillers. A rep for the singer then told reporters that Jackson could barely move or talk. At the clinic, Jackson underwent group and individual therapy sessions. According to Taraborrelli, in January 2004, when the trial ended, Jackson became addicted to morphine and demerol.
After Jackson's death, a police investigation directed primarily against Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray revealed that Dr. Jackson had used 19 different aliases, including "Omar Arnold", "Josephine Baker", "Fernand Diaz", "Paul Farance", "Peter Madonie, Faheem Muhammad, Roselyn Muhammad, Blanca Nicholas, Jimmy Nicholas, Bryan Singleton, and Frank Tyson while prescribing medication for Jackson. He, in turn, received doctor's prescriptions under the pseudonyms "Prince", "Michael Amir" and "Kai Chase" - these are the names of one of his sons, a representative and a former personal chef, respectively. Police during a search in Las Vegas of the home and office of Conrad Murray found a CD that mentioned the pseudonym "Omar Arnold". The use of pseudonyms by celebrity doctors is a common practice: it is done to keep the patient's medical history confidential and does not necessarily indicate drug addiction.
Child molestation allegations
Michael's fans held demonstrations in support of him during the allegations
Michael Jackson has been tried twice on charges of child molestation, both times boys.
In 1993, he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. Jordan was a fan of Jackson and often visited him at Neverland Ranch. According to the boy's father, the son confessed to him that the singer forced him to touch his genitals. The police investigated these allegations, during which Michael had to show his genitals to compare with what the boy described. As a result, the parties entered into a settlement: Jackson paid the Chandler family $ 22 million, and they withdrew the application.
Ten years later, in 2003, Michael was again charged with a similar charge. This time, the singer was accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, also a regular guest at the Neverland Ranch. During their stay at the ranch, the children often slept in the same room as Jackson, and even on his bed. According to the prosecution, Jackson allegedly got Gavin drunk, which is already a crime under US law, and then masturbated with him. In addition, he allegedly often groped Gavin and other children.
On December 18, the police raided the Neverland Jackson estate, and on the 20th, the singer was arrested and released on bail a few hours later. Like the previous time, Jackson vehemently denied the accusation, stating that the Arvizo family was simply trying to engage in extortion. Michael's trial lasted from February to May 2005. More than 2,200 media outlets from around the world have accredited their journalists to cover the scandalous trial. The jury ruled that there was not enough evidence and Jackson was innocent.
Constant litigation led to the deterioration of Jackson's health, he even began to use painkillers to cope with stress. In addition, the court served to completely empty bank accounts: the services of the best lawyers in the United States cost more than $ 100,000,000.
After the singer's death in 2009, Jordan Chandler admitted that he slandered Michael Jackson, his father Evan Chandler (who later committed suicide) forced him to do this for the sake of money.
Religious views
Michael Jackson was not an open follower of any church, but showed interest in the religion of various denominations.
The Jackson family belonged to the Jehovah's Witnesses, and Michael was brought up in this organization. However, his relationship with the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses did not work out because of the strict rules that it imposes on its members. Jehovah's Witnesses condemned his defiant behavior on stage and his Thriller video, which were unacceptable to the organization's followers. Soon, Michael's sister La Toya Jackson was expelled from the organization for not attending their meetings. Michael, like all members of the organization, was forbidden to communicate with her, which was a blow to him. Michael violated the prohibition of the congregation elders and himself stopped attending the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1987, it was announced that the Jehovah's Witnesses no longer considered Michael a member.
In recent years, Jackson began to take an interest in Islam. Michael's brother, Jermaine Jackson, is an open Muslim and often gave his brother books about the religion. Germain hoped that the passion for religion would protect Michael from nervous breakdowns and bad habits. In addition, Michael had connections with the African-American Nation of Islam. According to the former nanny of his children, Jackson often met with the leader of this organization, Louis Farrakhan.
On November 21, 2008, The Sun tabloid reported that Jackson allegedly changed his name to Mikael as a sign of his conversion to Islam at a shahada ceremony, "a promise to be faithful to the Quran", while visiting composer Steve Porcaro in Los Angeles. This information has never been confirmed by Jackson himself. Jackson's lawyer Londell McMillan denied the report, saying of him that "this is bullshit. It's completely untrue".
Jackson was also close to Andre Crouch, a Christian musician and gospel singer. Shortly before his death, the singer visited a Christian church with Crouch and sang several Christian songs. According to Crouch and his sister, Jackson asked them about Christian customs and commandments, but said nothing about wanting to be baptized himself.
Death, farewell ceremony and funeral
Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009 at 21:26 UTC (14:26 local summer Pacific time, 1:26 Moscow time) occurred after he collapsed in a rented house in Los Angeles.
As the death of a symbol of an entire era, it caused a huge reaction from Michael's fans around the world, influenced the work of many major sites and caused an explosion in sales of Jackson's albums.
On the morning of June 25, 2009, Michael collapsed while in a house he was renting in Holmby Hills, west Los Angeles. Jackson's personal physician, cardiologist Conrad Murray, later reported through his lawyer that he went up to the second floor and found Jackson in bed, no longer breathing, but with a weak pulse in the femoral artery. Murray began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After 5-10 minutes, Murray decided to make a phone call, but there was no landline in the bedroom, and Murray did not want to call on a cell phone, because he did not know the address of Jackson's house. While Murray was looking for a security guard to use his phone to call emergency services, 30 minutes passed. At 12:21 p.m. local time, a 911 call was recorded. It was not Murray who called, but a home security worker.
Arriving 3 minutes and 17 seconds after the call, the doctors found Jackson no longer breathing with a cardiac arrest and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 42 minutes. According to Murray's lawyer, a UCLA doctor ordered the medical team to give a direct injection of adrenaline into Jackson's heart. The lawyer noted that all the time while Jackson was at home, he still had a pulse. Efforts to bring Jackson back to life continued along the way and for an hour after arriving at the UCLA Medical Center at 1:14 p.m. The effect was not achieved. Death was pronounced at 14:26 local time
Stacy Brown, Jackson's biographer, said that Jackson became "very weak, very, very underweight" and that the family was very worried about it. Another biographer, Randy Taraborrelli, who knew Jackson for 40 years, said that Jackson had been addicted to painkillers for decades. Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist, confirmed the fact that Jackson abused prescription drugs. At the same time, Klein examined Jackson three days before his death and, according to Klein, the singer “He was in very good physical condition. He danced for my patients. He was in a good psychological tone when we examined him, and in a very good mood..
Investigation
The coroners were investigating the cause of death. Michael's body was transported by helicopter to Boyle Heights, home of the Los Angeles coroner's office. An autopsy was performed on June 26 in the evening, after which the body was given to the family. However, the cause of death was not established. To clarify it, additional toxicological tests were required, which could take from 6 to 8 weeks. At the same time, the coroner noted that there were no signs of violence or signs of murder during the autopsy. The Jackson family later performed a second autopsy.
Despite the fact that initially there was no suspicion of murder, the day after Jackson's death, the Los Angeles Police Department began investigating an unusual and high-profile case. Because the LAPD did not restrict access to Jackson's home and it was freely visited by his relatives, some observers, such as lawyer Brown Harland, have criticized the actions of the police, believing that, due to the free access of unauthorized persons, the chain of custody could be broken.
On July 1, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) joined the investigation. The DEA, with the power to investigate issues normally protected by doctor-patient privilege, could examine all of Jackson's prescription medications. California Attorney General Jerry Brown said the DEA used CURES, a prescription database containing information about all prescribed drugs, doctors, doses and patients, to investigate. On July 9, William Bratton, LAPD chief, said the investigation was focused on murder or accidental overdose, but that full toxicology reports from the coroners should be awaited.
On August 24, the conclusions of a forensic medical examination were made public - death was due to an overdose of the potent anesthetic propofol. A number of other potent substances (lorazepam, diazepam, midazolam) were also found in the blood.
On August 28, the Los Angeles coroner announced that Michael Jackson's death would be qualified as a homicide.
Jackson's personal physician, cardiologist Conrad Murray, was born in 1953 in Grenada, lived for a long time in Trinidad and Tobago, emigrated to the United States in the 1960s. A 1989 graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Not certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. In 1992, his firm went bankrupt, and later several lawsuits were filed against him for a total of $790,000. According to the Telegraph, Murray met Jackson in 2008 in Las Vegas, where Murray was treating his cold. According to People, the acquaintance happened in 2006, when Murray treated Jackson's children. Jackson insisted that AEG Live - the organizer of Jackson's planned concerts - hire Murray, and Murray lived with Jackson for two weeks preparing him for the concert program. Murray was supposed to accompany Jackson on his trip to the UK and was supposed to be paid US$150,000 a month, but the contract required Jackson's signature and was never signed by him.
Doubts were raised about the quality of Murray's CPR - Murray performed it not on the floor or other hard surface, but on a bed. As soon as the 9-1-1 operator heard that CPR was being performed on the bed, he immediately requested that the patient be moved to the floor. In response, Murray, through a lawyer, stated that the bed was very hard, in addition, he put his hand under Jackson's back. In addition, the lawyer stated that when the ambulance arrived, Jackson's blood was still circulating, there was a pulse, which means CPR was successful. A professor of cardiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine stated that “it is very difficult, if not impossible, to perform CPR on a bed. There is no leverage, no firm support, no neck extension.”. The professor also noted that it is impossible to support the back of the patient with one hand while performing CPR with the other hand, since "Even for an emaciated 50 kg person, you need two hands" to achieve the desired compression.
On July 29, 2009, the confession of a personal doctor became known that shortly before his death he injected Michael Jackson with the powerful painkiller propofol.
Michael Jackson is survived by a son and daughter from his marriage to Debbie Rowe - Prince Michael Joseph Jackson (b. 1997) and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson (b. 1998), as well as a son, Prince Michael Jackson II, born in 2002 year from an unknown surrogate mother.
He was also survived by brothers - Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy; sisters - Rebbie, Janet and Latoya; parents - Joseph and Katherine Jackson. On June 27, the Jackson family released a joint statement:
In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we find it hard to find words worthy of this sudden tragedy that we all face. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children passed away so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and so quickly. This leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to the point where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.
We lost Michael forever, our pain cannot be expressed in words. But Michael wouldn't want us to give up now. So we want to say thank you to all of his loyal supporters and fans around the world, you are the ones that Michael loved so much. Please do not fall into despair, because Michael will live in each of you. Keep carrying his word, because that's exactly what he would like you to do. Keep going and his legacy will live forever.
Press and public gathered around UC Medical Center on June 25
The news of Jackson's death was first reported by TMZ.com, a Los Angeles-based celebrity tabloid. Jackson's death was pronounced at 2:26 pm, and 18 minutes later, at 2:44 pm, the website reported that "Michael Jackson died today at the age of 50." For more than an hour, TMZ.com alone reported on Jackson's death, and magazines and television were wary of reprinting this information for fear of spreading false information. Jackson's death was first confirmed by The Los Angeles Times at 3:15 pm PDT. Due to the large influx of visitors, the sites TMZ.com and The Los Angeles Times worked intermittently.
Immediately after the news of Jackson's death, MTV and BET began to broadcast only Michael Jackson clips and programs dedicated to Jackson. On MTV, the uninterrupted marathon of Jackson's clips continued for two days. Each clip was followed by a live broadcast from a makeshift studio in Times Square, where famous people in the pop industry called and expressed their condolences. The American channels ABC, CBS, NBC on June 25 released prime-time specials dedicated to the death of Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. On June 29, TIME magazine published a special memorial issue about Jackson, which was the first such memorial issue since the issue of the September 11 attacks in 2001.
On June 25 and 26, Michael Jackson's death was devoted to 60% of all news releases in the United States. This detailed media coverage of Jackson's death has been criticized. The head of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, said that CNN paid more attention to Jackson's death than to the political crisis in Honduras, and called such a news policy "deplorable". 70% of whites and 36% of blacks polled by the Pew Research Center felt that press coverage of Jackson's death was too detailed, and only three percent felt that coverage of Jackson's death was insufficient. The BBC received more than 700 calls from viewers complaining about too much news about Jackson.
Within hours of Jackson's death, sales of his records skyrocketed. His album Thriller climbed to number one on the US iTunes chart, while his other eight albums climbed to the top 40. In the UK, 14 of the top twenty spots on the Amazon.com chart were Jackson albums, with Off The Wall at number one. Sales of all Michael Jackson CDs and MP3s on Amazon.com increased 721 times on June 26. According to the vice president of Amazon.com, the online store sold out all the available discs of Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 in a matter of minutes after the news of Jackson's death.
In total, 415,000 Michael Jackson albums were sold in the United States in a week, which is 40% more than in the entire year before his death.
On the day of his death, condolences from the heads of Sony Corporation are posted on the official website. This appeal was on the site on June 25 and 26, then it was replaced with a bulletin board where everyone could post their message.
Jackson's death caused bitterness among his fans, who began to gather around the UC Medical Center and Michael's home in Holmby Hills. Fans also approached the Apollo Theater in New York. A small group of fans, including the city's mayor, crowded into Gary around the house where Jackson spent his childhood. Fans also gathered on the Hollywood Walk of Fame around Michael Jackson's radio commentator's star, as Michael Jackson's own star was unavailable due to the premiere of Bruno. In Russia, Jackson fans gathered outside the US Embassy in Moscow, attaching flowers and photographs to the embassy's fence.
Gary Taylor, head of Jackson's fan club MJJcommunity, said 12 fans committed suicide following the news of Michael's death.
US President Barack Obama, in a conversation with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, called Michael Jackson a "musical icon", expressed condolences to the singer's family and fans, and also sent a letter to Jackson's family. In the US House of Representatives, Jackson was honored with a minute of silence.
Many celebrities reacted to Jackson's death. , who wanted to participate in one of Jackson's concerts in London, said she "couldn't stop crying" over Jackson's death. Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime friend of Jackson's, said her "heart and mind are broken" and that she "can't imagine life without him". Paul McCartney posted a message on his website stating that “It was an honor to spend time and work with Michael. He was a very talented guy with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever, and my memories of the time spent with him will be happy.". Their condolences on the death of Michael Jackson on the official website Queen expressed by Brian May. Lisa Marie Presley, ex-wife of Michael Jackson, said that she was extremely amazed that exactly the same thing happened to Jackson that happened to her father Elvis Presley in 1977, as Michael himself predicted.
The news of Jackson's death quickly spread across the Internet, causing problems for many websites. Thus, the Google search engine perceived a large number of search queries for "Michael Jackson" as a hacker attack and from 14:40 to 15:15 PDT issued a warning to users that their "request looks like requests automatically sent by viruses and spyware." The number of messages about Jackson in the Twitter microblogging service rose to 100,000 per hour on June 25, as a result of which the service was temporarily unavailable. AIM, America Online's instant messaging service, has been unavailable for 40 minutes. America Online issued a special press release naming the day of Jackson and Farrah Fawcett's death "nodal day in the history of the Internet" and noted that they "never seen anything like it in scale or depth". The online encyclopedia Wikipedia was temporarily unavailable at approximately 3:15 pm PDT due to an influx of readers and active editing of articles. According to Keynote, the average load time for a news post has doubled in 3 hours, from four seconds to nine.
For many sites, the day of Jackson's death was a record in attendance. News michael jackson rushed to hospital on Yahoo! visited a record 800 thousand times in the first 10 minutes, and in general Yahoo! News was viewed by 16.4 million unique visitors in a single day, surpassing the previous US Election Day record of 15.1 million visitors. On June 26, Michael Jackson's article on the English-language Wikipedia was shown 5.9 million times, which was the most hit in the history of the encyclopedia.
The funeral
The farewell ceremony was held on July 7 at the Los Angeles Staples Center with a capacity of 20,000 people. 17 500 free tickets were randomly drawn among those who wished. The page on which they were accepted was shown 4 million times and an additional server was installed to process requests. A total of 1.6 million fan submissions were accepted. On July 5, the computer selected 8750 people from the registrants, each of whom received two tickets. 11,000 ticket holders were allowed inside the Staples Center, while the remaining 6,500 people watched the ceremony from large outdoor screens. 3,200 police officers were assigned to keep order, the ceremony cost the budget of the city of Los Angeles from 1.5 to 4 million dollars.
A private farewell ceremony for Michael Jackson was held on July 7 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The coffin was later moved to the Staples Center, where a public ceremony was to take place.
Smokey Robinson began the service at 17:10 UTC after reading messages from Diana Ross and Nelson Mandela. While the gospel choir sang "Soon and Very Soon" by Andre Crouch, Jackson's coffin was brought into the hall. This was followed by a speech by Pastor Lucius Smith. Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz sang I "ll Be There, the Jackson 5 single, after which Queen Latifah said her word. Lionel Richie, Jackson's friend and co-author of "We Are the World", performed the song "Jesus is Love" by The Commodores. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, the record company where Jackson and his brothers began their career, gave a speech in which he called Jackson "the greatest worker in the entertainment industry that ever lived". These words were met with a standing ovation.
Then Stevie Wonder spoke and performed the song "Never Dreamed You "d Leave in Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go". Kobe Bryant spoke about Jackson's humanitarian work, and Magic Johnson, who appeared in the episode in the video "Remember the Time ", spoke about his relationship with Jackson. John Mayer played the song "Human Nature" on the guitar from the album Thriller. Brooke Shields spoke about the time spent with Jackson, read excerpts from little prince and noticed that Jackson's favorite song was "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin, which was immediately performed by Jermaine, Jackson's older brother.
Martin Luther King's children, Martin Luther King III and Bernays King, said that Michael Jackson was the best at what he did. Sheila Jackson-Lee, member of the US House of Representatives from Texas, spoke of Jackson's "American history" and announced her intention to have him declared an international humanitarian through the House of Representatives. Asher approached the coffin and sang the song "Gone Too Soon", which Jackson himself sang in memory of Ryan White, a schoolboy who died of AIDS in 1990. After Usher, a clip from The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 was shown, in which the Jackson 5 performed Smokey Robinson's Who's Loving You. After the video was shown, Smokey Robinson himself spoke about this performance of his song. After Robinson's story, this song was performed 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargoli of Britain's Got Talent Kenny Ortega was the next to mention Jackson, then several guests, along with the singers, including Michael Jackson's family and children, performed "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" .
After the concert, the Jackson brothers, Marlon and Jermaine, made small speeches and hugged. The concert ended with Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris Katherine Jackson, who tearfully said she loved her father, adding that he was "the best father you can imagine". The family removed the coffin from the stadium as "Man in the Mirror" began to play. During the performance, a spotlight illuminated the microphone stand, which was empty. Pastor Lucius Smith closed the service with a prayer at 19:48 UTC.
The farewell ceremony was broadcast in many countries of the world. In the United States, the farewell ceremony was broadcast by 19 television channels, and was also shown in 37 cinemas. In Russia, the live broadcast was made on the Muz-TV, Euronews and MTV-Russia channels. The total global audience of the ceremony prior to the broadcast was estimated at 300 million to 1 billion people. These predictions turned out to be grossly overestimated. In total, 31 million people watched television broadcasts in the United States. By comparison, 33 million Americans watched Princess Diana's funeral, 23 million watched Ronald Reagan's, and 68 million watched Bill Clinton's August 1998 apology to the nation. In the UK, the total audience of the broadcast was 6.5 million people - 4.5 million viewers watched the broadcast on BBC Two (20% of the total audience of this timeslot), 1.2 million on Five and 900 thousand on Sky News. For Sky News, the broadcast audience was the largest since the early days of the Iraq War.
In addition to television, the ceremony was also broadcast on the Internet. The CNN website transmitted 9.7 million video streams on July 7, down from the record 27 million video streams on Barack Obama's inauguration day. UStream transmitted 4.6 million and MSNBC 3 million video streams. On the BBC website, the broadcast was watched by 8.2 million global unique visitors, which was the second most watched event for the BBC Online service after the inauguration of Obama.
There were reports that Michael Jackson was secretly buried on August 8 or 9, 2009 at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, but later it was reported that he would not be buried until September.
The King of Pop's final funeral took place on Thursday, September 3 at Glendale Forest Lawn Cemetery in suburban Los Angeles. The death certificate lists "murder" in the "cause" column.
On July 1, 2009, Michael Jackson's will, drawn up on July 7, 2002, was made public. According to the document, the entire fortune, estimated at that time at $ 500 million and almost entirely consisting of "non-cash, illiquid assets primarily from interest on the publishing rights catalog currently managed by Sony ATV and other interest"
2010 -
Filmography
1978 - Wizard / The Wiz - "Scarecrow" (first film role)
1986 - "Captain IO / Captain EO" - in the title role of Captain IO
1988 - "Moon Wanderer / Moonwalker" - plays himself
1996 - "Ghosts / Ghosts" - played five different roles (thanks to makeup); In 2006, this film was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest video.
2002 - "Men in Black 2" - "Agent Em"
2004 - "Miss Robinson / Miss Cast Away" - Michael Jackson again plays a cameo role in this film, which lasts no more than 10 minutes
2009 - "That's it / This is it" - a musical documentary film directed by Kenny Ortega, created with the full support of the Jackson family.
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