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Michael Jackson
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Michael Jackson was born on 29 August 1958 in Gary, Indiana, the eighth of ten children. His father, a crane operator who played guitar himself, formed a band with his sons. So Michael was already on stage at the age of six, as lead singer of what would become The Jackson 5. With that group he scored his first hits at Motown, and as a teenager he also began a solo career.
Music and breakthrough
His great breakthrough as an adult artist came with Off the Wall (1979). Thriller (1982) followed, the best-selling album in history. The videos for Thriller, Beat It and Billie Jean changed what a video could be: short films with dance in the leading role. Bad (1987) was the first album to produce five number ones on the American Billboard Hot 100. Dangerous (1991), HIStory (1995) and Invincible (2001) followed.
Influence
Jackson blended soul, funk, disco, pop and rock and delivered it with a recognisable, high voice and sharp rhythms. On stage he made dance moves such as the moonwalk world famous. His success broke through racial barriers in the American music industry and made him a dominant figure worldwide. From the mid-1980s onwards his private life became increasingly a subject of debate, partly because of allegations of child abuse. In 2005 he was acquitted of these charges in a trial. During preparations for a series of comeback concerts he died on 25 June 2009 of an overdose of an anaesthetic given to him by his doctor.
Listening
Billie Jean · Michael Jackson, 1982Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1972Ben
- 1972Got to Be There
- 1973Music & Me
- 1975Forever, Michael
- 1979Off the Wall
- 1982Thriller
- 1987Bad
- 1991Dangerous
- 1995HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
- 2001Invincible
- 2010Michael
- 2014Xscape
- 2026Michael: Songs From the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 2: Youth Cultures 1950-1980NL Reader
- Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still PopNL Reader
- Mixtape 6: Fear of a Black PlanetNL Reader
- Mixtape 7: The 1980sNL Reader
- Magazine: Een film die platen verkooptNL Magazine
Mentioned in other articles
- Grunge Genre
In January 1992 Nirvana's Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the American album chart.
- Contemporary R&B Genre
The beginning lies with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones; Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis brought Prince's Minneapolis sound to Janet Jackson (Control, 1986).
- Sequential Prophet-5 Technology
It became a sound of new wave and synth-pop, from The Cars and Japan to Talking Heads, and later of Michael Jackson and Madonna.
- Linn LM-1 Technology
The machines can be heard on countless hits of the 1980s, from The Human League and Michael Jackson to Prince, who often used the drums unusually tuned and processed.
- MTV and the music video Technology
In its first years, MTV played almost only white rock; it was only when Michael Jackson's videos reached the channel that this changed.
- Another One Bites the Dust Song
On Michael Jackson's advice they released it as a single.
- Africa Song
Toto consisted of Los Angeles session musicians who also played on other artists' records, including Michael Jackson's Thriller.