Michael Jackson, the former�King of Pop who has fallen from grace over the past decade, volition today celebrate 50 years of celebrity, infamy, awe and ridicule.
One of the worlds superlative entertainers, Michael Jackson is famous for revolutionising the music and entertainment industry with a series of chart-topping singles and albums, both solo and with his ring, The Jackson 5.
The man nicknamed�'Wacko Jacko' by some is every bit as�infamous for his often bizarre behaviour and allegations of sexually molesting lester Willis Young boys.
Born in Indiana in 1958, Jackson has exhausted his entire life on stage, pushed by his domineering sire who Jackson would after say was physically and emotionally abusive.
Originally, Jackson performed with his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon as the chart-topping Jackson 5. Hailed as a child prognostication, Jackson rapidly became the star of the hugely successful group.
Jackson launched his solo career with Off the Wall in 1979. The album sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and spawned hits including Don�t Stop Till You Get Enough and Rock With You.
He followed up with Thriller�- the higest merchandising album of all time - marketing more than 100 meg copies and featuring mega-hits including Billie Jean, Beat It and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
Thriller was credited with breaking down race barriers as, previously, MTV had non played smuggled artists on the transmission channel. It also helped Jackson score ashcan School Grammy Awards.
The album was re-released this year in a coaction with current chart-topping artists such as Fergie and Kanye West.
Other albums included Bad,�Dangerous and HIStory, all huge successes but never scaling the heights of Thriller.
Jackson was hailed for his horrid dancing as he introduced the reality to moves like the Moonwalk.
Today�s enceinte artists including Chris Brown and Mary J Blige have repeatedly cited Jackson as an inspiration.
Aside from his musical success, Jackson's often gonzo private liveliness has been the subject of acute scrutiny, including claims he slept in an atomic number 8 chamber and had bought the finger cymbals of the Elephant Man.
Jackson faced severe allegations of sexually assaulting two whitney Moore Young Jr. boys in 1993 and in 2005 but was never convicted.
His predilection for plastic surgery is also well documented. Over the years, his face has changed dramatically.
He is said to receive had several rhinoplasties, a cleft frame in his chin, and his skin has been bleached theodore Harold White, reportedly partially due to the aesculapian condition Vitiligo.
Jackson has been married twice and fathered three children: sons Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr (too known as "Prince"), and Prince Michael Jackson II; and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson.
He was widely criticised for dangling Prince Michael II over a hotel balcony in Germany in short after he was born.
More recently, his financial situation has come under vivid scrutiny. He was sued by early associates an employees world Health Organization said his spending was out of control.
He owns a 2500-acre ranch called Neverland in California. The ranch in one case hosted thousands of children and featured a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and a zoo with elephants, giraffes and orangutans.
He also had a positron emission tomography Chimpanzee known as Bubbles.
Jackson now lives in exile where he has reportedly been a guest of Bahrain�s crown prince of the desert.
DISCOGRAPHY
1972: Got to Be There
1972: Ben
1973: Music & Me
1975: Forever, Michael
1979: Off the Wall
1982: Thriller
1987: Bad
1991: Dangerous
1995: HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
2001: Invincible
2008: King of Pop: The New Zealand Collection
FIVE KEY MICHAEL JACKSON VIDEOS
Billie Jean (1982)
Thriller (1983)
Bad (1987)
Man in the Mirror (1987)
Black or White (1991)
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