Michael Jackson

Known for

Solo recording artist; lead singer of the Jackson 5^[1]

Career start

Lead singer, Jackson 5, from age six^[1]

Grammy Awards

13 in total, including 8 for Thriller^[3]

Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

13^[1]

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions

2 (Jackson 5, 1997; solo, 2001)^[3]

Final studio album

Invincible (2001)^[1]

Died

2009; death ruled a homicide^[3]

Official YouTube channel subscribers

Approximately 41.1 million^[4]

Early life and the Jackson 5

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer and philanthropist.^[1] He began his career at age six as the lead singer of the Jackson 5.^[1] Motown Records signed the group in 1969.^[3]

Solo career

Jackson rose to solo stardom with the album Off the Wall, released in 1979.^[1] Its follow-up, Thriller, released in 1982, became the best-selling album in history, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame likewise describes it as the best-selling album ever.^[1][2]

Bad, released in 1987, was the first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.^[1] Dangerous followed in 1991 and HIStory in 1995, and both were commercial successes.^[1] Jackson's final studio album, Invincible, was released in 2001 and is described as the costliest album ever produced.^[1]

Accolades

Jackson had 13 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the only artist to land a US top-ten single in six different decades.^[1] He won 13 Grammy Awards, 8 of them linked to Thriller.^[3][1]

He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 with the Jackson 5, and in 2001 as a solo artist.^[3] *NSYNC performed the honors at his 2001 solo induction.^[2]

His other awards include 26 American Music Awards, 12 World Music Awards, 8 MTV Video Music Awards, 6 Brit Awards and 3 US presidential honors.^[1]

Short films and videos

The short film for Thriller, directed by John Landis, was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.^[4] The short film for Billie Jean, directed by Steve Barron, was the first video by a Black artist to go into heavy rotation on MTV, according to the official Michael Jackson YouTube channel, and it entered the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame in 1992.^[5]

The Thriller single peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA on December 4, 1989.^[4] Billie Jean spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in spring 1983 and was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 4, 1983, and Platinum on February 4, 1989.^[5]

Sales and influence

Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with global solo sales estimated at more than 500 million records.^[1] His death in 2009 triggered spikes in online traffic and a rise in music sales.^[1]

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame names BTS, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Kanye West and Madonna among the artists he shaped.^[2]

Legal matters

In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing a child, and a civil suit was resolved out of court.^[1] In 2003 he was arrested and charged with child molestation involving a different boy from the one in the 1993 case.^[3] After a 14-week trial, he was acquitted of the 2003 charges in 2005.^[3] Leaving Neverland, a 2019 documentary, presented further child sexual abuse allegations involving Jackson.^[1]

Personal life

In a 1993 televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson revealed that he had vitiligo, which had begun changing his skin in the early 1980s.^[3] His autopsy report, issued after his death in 2009, confirmed the condition.^[3]

Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996.^[3] He had a third child in 2002 via a surrogate mother.^[3]

Death

Jackson died in 2009 while preparing for the This Is It concert series.^[1] His death was caused by cardiac arrest attributed to a combination of sedatives and the anesthetic propofol, and was ruled a homicide.^[3] His personal physician, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011.^[3]

Posthumous releases

After his death came the 2009 documentary Michael Jackson's This Is It and the albums Michael (2010) and Xscape (2014).^[1] The 2026 biopic Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, stars Jaafar Jackson in the lead role.^[3]

Online presence

On YouTube, the official 4K upload of the Thriller music video had been viewed more than 1.19 billion times,^[4] the official Billie Jean video more than 2.3 billion times^[5] and the official Beat It video more than 1.48 billion times.^[6] The official Michael Jackson YouTube channel had approximately 41.1 million subscribers.^[4]

8:30 Thriller (1983 music video) The official music video for Thriller, on the estate's channel, from the start of the zombie dance; cited in the discography and short-film sections.

0:20 Billie Jean (1983 music video) The official music video for Billie Jean, on the estate's channel, from the first paving stone lighting under Jackson's step; cited in the short-film and certification sections.

1:05 Beat It (1983 music video) The official music video for Beat It, on the estate's channel, from Jackson's first appearance; cited in the online-presence section.

Timeline

1. 1969 The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records.^[3]
2. 1979 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of the solo album Off the Wall.^[1]
3. 1982 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of Thriller.^[1]
4. 1983 According to michaeljacksonVEVO, Billie Jean spent seven consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in spring 1983.^[5]
5. 1983-04-04 Billie Jean certified Gold by the RIAA.^[5]
6. 1987 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of Bad.^[1]
7. 1991 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of Dangerous.^[1]
8. 1992 According to michaeljacksonVEVO, the Billie Jean short film inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame.^[5]
9. 1993 According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jackson publicly discussed his vitiligo in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey.^[3]
10. 1995 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of HIStory.^[1]
11. 1997 According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Jackson 5.^[3]
12. 2001 According to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist by *NSYNC; release of Invincible.^[2]
13. 2009 According to Wikipedia contributors, Died of cardiac arrest while preparing for the This Is It concert series.^[1]
14. 2011 According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Conrad Murray found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.^[3]
15. 2019 According to Wikipedia contributors, Release of the documentary Leaving Neverland.^[1]
16. 2026 According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Release of the biopic Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson.^[3]