Michael turns 50 today, August 29. Here's wishing the Moonwalker the very, very best
As The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame puts it, Michael Jackson 'has enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known only to Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra.'
Stardom kicked in as early as 11.
The Jackson 5 was an enormously successful family act but even that Motown routine was just a grooming ground for much greater things. Jackson was the frontman for the 5, and by thirteen he was already churning out solo singles.
At age 14, his Ben -- for a film about a rat -- became Michael Jackson's first #1 single.
It was just the beginning.
In 1979, he released Off The Wall
In August 1979, a few weeks before Michael turned 21, he released his Off The Wall. With songwriters including Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, the album ricocheted up the charts. The first album to generate as many as four US Top 10 hits, the album spent over eights months in the Top Ten and eventually went on to sell 15 million copies.
Not bad for his first adult outing, one would think. But Jackson wasn't content, despite the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy he won for the album's Don't stop 'til you get enough.
All he said was that the next album would be bigger.
Thriller conquered the world .
Jackson was 24 when he released the biggest-selling music album of all time, Wikipedia ranking it as the only album selling over 100 million copies, conservatively pegging the figure at 108 million, even though some estimate it to be more in the region of 134 million. (Just for contrast, the second highest-selling album is AC/DC's Back in Black, selling the comparatively paltry figure of 42 million.)
Jackson's voice soars all over the melody, Eddie Van Halen checks in with a blistering guitar solo, you could build a convention center on the backbeat, and the result is one nifty dance song,' Rolling Stone wrote in their 1983 review of Thriller to describe a song.
A song called Beat It. A song that changed music forever.
Michael hit gold and never looked back.
A ridiculously lightfooted dancer talented enough to be called revolutionary, Jackson followed up Thriller with hit albums like Bad and Dangerous, and became the world's greatest stage performer.
In 1993, his performance at the halftime intermission of Superbowl XXVII drew the largest viewing audience in American television history -- the footballers clearly appreciated the help. He can still rock a stage -- and a microphone -- like nobody else ever quite could.
And then things crashed.
That very same year, a child-abuse suit is filed against him. The plastic surgery machine goes into overdrive. The album sales decline. Michael is acquited. The new albums can't generate enough buzz. His nose falls off. Somewhere in the middle he dangles a baby from a window. Chimpanzees, divorces and a string of crazy rumours and television tell-all documentaries further sensationalise all things Jacko.
Today, in every way, Michael Jackson is a pale imitation of his former megastar self.
That doesn't mean that if he decides to perform at Madison Square Garden tomorrow, you wouldn't want to be there. He can still rock a stage -- and a microphone -- like nobody else ever quite could.
Happy 50th Birthday, Michael. May you come back to us in all your glory. Believe in yourself. Just... Remember The Time?
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