Michael Jackson

The future King Of Pop was born into a family of many children with African American roots. Michael showed his musical talent at the early age. At the age of ten, he became a member of the quintet The Jackson Brothers, renamed in The Jackson 5 later. There Michael sang and danced with his brothers. In 1968, the band signed to the Motown Records. Michael's brightness was evident even in the phenomenally popular The Jackson 5, where the boy successfully rivaled his elder brother Jermaine - the lead singer for the band. Performing in The Jackson 5, the young artist recorded five solo discs at the same studio. When the group decided to leave the label, Michael became the lead soloist for The Jacksons – as their previous name was found to be the intellectual property of the Motown Records by the court. Jermaine stayed at that label, Randy, the younger brother, substituted him. The Jacksons recorded six more albums. When they took part in the musical The Wiz, Michael was acquainted with Quincy Jones. The two got down to the new solo attempt by Jackson immediately.

In 1979, the Off The Wall disc by Michael saw light. Singles Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough and Rock With You made a star out of him. The next work Thriller with the energetic and piercing single Beat It became the real sensation, while the high tenor of Jackson could be heard from the speakers all over the world. At the same time, Michael made sophisticated dancing techniques fashionable – his famous moonwalk among others. He came back to The Jacksons for a while, helping his brothers to record the Victory album. Around the same time, Michael already started to give big sums of money to different charity organizations. For now, he has given more than three hundred million dollars for this purpose. In 1987, the album titled ad was released. It was greatly anticipated and rumored due to the singer's appearance – his skin became lighter and lighter. Michael personally stated that he suffered from the vitiligo disease and it had nothing to do with surgery. Bad presented the world with five mega-hits: I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror and Dirty Diana.

After a five-year hiatus, the singer recorded Dangerous, which was firstly presented to the public by the antiracist single Black Or White. In 1994, the pop-idol married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. The marriage collapsed less then in two years. The next Jackson's marriage lasted from 1996 to 1999; it resulted in two children, but it finished with the divorce too. In June 1995, the performer issued the collection of best songs History: Past, Present And Future - Book 1 with the sparkling lead single Scream. The video for this song, recorded in the duet with Janet Jackson, is still the most expensive one for the whole story of the musical industry. The release of Invincible in 2001 was marred by Jackson's leaving the Sony and canceling the support tour. However, singles You Rock My World, Cry and Butterflies proved his star status once again. In February 2008, Jackson celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Thriller release with the jubilee issue of Thriller (25th Anniversary Edition).

On June 25, 2009 the legendary singer, dancer and musician Michael Jackson (aged 50) died. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Six records were issued after the death of the incredibly gifted singer: This Is It, The Collection, Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection, Michael Jackson: The Stripped Mixes, The Definitive Collection and The Remix Suite.