One of the most renowned superstars of all time was the one and only American superstar Michael Jackson who was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958. He entertained audiences throughout the world practically his entire life. He began his career as a young child with The Jackson Five and reached stardom before he even reached double digits in age. He remained in the group throughout the 70’s and was a central figure in this group which was made up of Michael Jackson, his brothers: Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, and Marlon. In the 80’s is when Michael Jackson became a full fledge star and this is the decade that he personified and ruled completely during his career. His first solo album Off the Wall was a masterpiece in its own right, this is where he proved that he was capable of sustaining his own independent career and that the sky was the limit. With “Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough as one his first singles it had different elements of disco with pop music.
After this album Jackson’s best selling record Thriller with over 60 million albums sold worldwide. The music from this record was omnipresent from 1982 through 1984 had seven tracks on the Top Ten pop hits from the total of a nine track album. In the wake of Thriller, Jackson ruined his friendship with Paul McCartney when he outbid the former Beatle for control of many of the band's songs. He also famously suffered burns when his hair caught on fire filming a Pepsi commercial. And in 1985, he was a major force in recording the massive “We are the World” charity single.
Then there was the album Bad and the sales were good and his stardom didn’t appear to be decreasing. This album had been received without much enthusiasm as his other albums. Unfortunately, Jackson was becoming noticed less for his music and more for his drastically changing appearance and rumors. In the 90’s Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world, but his personal life was becoming a circus to the media and fans.
In 1993 the start of accusations of child molestation began to surface. He was spending a lot of time in the Neverland ranch, and most of his quests were children and they at times slept over. Shortly after the child molestation charges, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994 and divorced a year and half after in 1996. More sexual abuse charges surfaced in 2003 and resulted in a highly followed trial and acquittal in 2005.
Though Michael Jackson has been known for pretty much anything and everything under the sun besides music for the past 15 years or so, his accomplishments during the '80s will always