Michael Jackson
Introduction
Michael Jackson, was an American songwriter and singer, whose achievements in music resulted in immense popularity and placed him as a figure that was dominant in the popular culture. The popularity spanned over four decades all through the 20th Century. Michael was a pioneer in the musical entertainment owing to his exceptional style, sound, and performances in stage and music videos, which gave a helping hand in the transformation of the platform into an art form. Michael’s birthplace was Gary in Indiana, in the year 1958 to Katherine and Joseph Jackson. He was their eighth child out of ten siblings, who included six brothers and three sisters. Unfortunately, his brother Brandon passed on not long after his birth. In the year 1964, Michael together with his brother Marlon, joined the Jackson 5. Their senior brothers Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie created the Jackson 5 band. Later on, the group would go on to achieve successes and put in place a record when their initial four singles that included ABC, I want you back and I will be there, all reached the summit on the Billboard countdown of the top 100 hits.
The initial solo effort by Michael was a collaboration with his friend Quincy Jones. The two partnered in the production of an album, which was also inclusive of inputs from other celebrities such as Stevie Wonder, Rod Templeton, and Paul McCartney. The subsequent album, Off The Wall, was the initial album that produced four hits in the US. The hits from the album include do not stop until you get enough and rock with you. In the late 1982 period, Michael released the Thriller album, under the record label of Motown. The album emerged to be the bestseller album in US alongside becoming the bestseller album of all time internationally in the 1983 period. During the commencement of the 2011 year, the Thriller album had an estimated copies sale in the proximity of 110 million. Additionally, Thriller won Michael a record seven Grammy Awards besides another Grammy Award he won for a song he had written for film E.T The Extra Terrestrial storybook. Consequently, Jackson won eight Grammy Awards in the year 1984. Michael won a further eight other American awards that resulted in him becoming the mainly awarded artist in a solitary night during that period. Later in the year 1985, The Making of Thriller received a Grammy Award for best music video. More than one and a half decade later, the Congress Library inducted the video into the Film Registry. That marked the first occasion for a music video being accorded such an honour.
Almost as popular and appealing as the moonwalk dance, Michael’s other dancing style referred to as the lean, has for sometime been a cherished move following the release of the Smooth Criminal video. Nevertheless, the moonwalk dance is a legendary style all over the globe. It was initially made popular Jackson in the earlier 1980 periods. Other artists such as Lionel Richie worked with Jackson on the writing of the hit collaboration song we are the world for the purposes of charity in the year 1985. The Guinness Book, acknowledged Jackson as the greatest entertainer in the world. Jackson’s Bad album is the foremost album in the US that has ever produced five singles, which rank in the position one. Sadly, Jackson passed on in the year 2009 with his survivors being his siblings, parents and his three children. Not many performers have had iconic moments or enjoyed it worldwide, as was the notoriety by Jackson, particularly in the 1980 periods. A primary sincere breakout star, Jackson had album sales approximated to be above 750 million copies, alongside thirteen number one singles and a record thirteen Grammy Awards. A combination of numerous elements resulted in the fame with not the least being the nature of talent that Jackson possessed. Michael was already a made star at the beginning of the decade as he had been a kid star in his time as the front singer for the Jackson 5 group.
Michael ensured that he worked with the best directors and made use of the recent editions in visual effects in the creation of whatever he referred to as short films. None of Jackson’s videos captured the concept better compared to Thriller. The zombie dance carried on a life of itself with the black and red suit adorned by Jackson becoming iconic in its individual right. In the list of VH1 ranking, Thriller made it to the position one spot for the greatest videos of all periods. Jackson’s dancing styles have received descriptions to be an assortment of Gene Kelly, James Brown, and Fred Astaire. The display was put forward on the March of 1983 on special television coverage of Motown’s celebration of its 25th anniversary. Jackson unveiled the moonwalk backsliding version dance during the rendition of his other hit song Billie Jean.
Works Cited
Krohn, Katherine E. Michael Jackson: Ultimate Music Legend. Minneapolis, Minn: Lerner, 2010. Print.
Michael Jackson. Parragon Inc, 2010. Print.
Pratt, Mary K. Michael Jackson: King of Pop. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co, 2010. Print.
