His 1982 album Thriller presently holds a title of existence a better marketing album within history, selling 60 million copies worldwide.[http://www.mjinf.co.uk/Thriller/Thriller.htm]. Additionally to his albums, Jackson has as well recorded xiii total-1 Billboard Hot 100 solo hits, including "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock With You", "Billie Jean", and "Beat It", and an additional four with the Jackson 5. His distinctive dance moves, music on line videos, & popular appeal use at times inspired & influenced numerous of in todays world's singers, like Usher, Beyoncé Knowles, Omarion and Justin Timberlake among others.

Despite his career profits, he has been dogged by medithe attention all over allegations of baby sex crime, which resulted within a trial and acquittal in 2005. Early childhood
Jackson was born a seventh of nine tikes inside Gary, Indiana, to Joseph and Katherine Jackson. A entire personal – including older sib, Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, LaToya and Marlon, and immature sib Randy and Janet – lived together in the flyspeck both-bedroom home, & Jackson's father earned the scrimpy dwelling working around the steelworks. At a behest of their mother, however against Joseph's wishes, a Jackson youngsters were raised when Jehovah's Witnesses and practiced door-to-door evangelism.

Inside accordance sustaining Joseph Jackson's nonindulgent system, them were saved latched in their home when he worked a nighttime shift. All a same, them would regularly sneak away from the home to their neighbors’ homes, in which it good singing & swimming music. A older Jackson brothers would for instance play Joseph’s prized guitar without his permission while he was at act. Yet, Joseph discovered out astir their musical abilities & decided to capitalize upon it, sequentially to leave Gary for California.

The Jackson 5 (The Jacksons)
Group founding and early years
Joseph organized Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, & 2 unrelated front yard youths, Milford Hite (in drums) & Reynaud Jones (in keyboards), as an act known as A Jackson Brothers within 1962. Inside 2 years, Michael & his older brother Marlon began swimming congas and tambourine, respectively, by owning A Jackson Brothers, prior to a class action's title was changed to The Jackson 5 (down a road the Jackson 5) in 1966 and by the next season, eight-season-old Michael was appointed lead singer.

Motown success
By having Michael in lead vocals, the Jackson V built higher a below by swimming at clubs & blocks on the "chitlin' circuit" throughout a Midwest, winning an Amateur Nighttime competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. A Jackson Quint signed their number one recording locate a local Steeltown label around 1967, and experienced the regional hit by having "Big Boy" inside 1968.

A Jackson Fivesome were found by two Gladys Knight & the Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, who brought them to Motown Records in 1968. Label head Berry Gordy bought out the Jackson V's Steeltown contract & signed a class action to Motown around March 1969. Gordy so moved a Jackson personal to Los Angeles, California, and proceeded to turn them into international stars. In the fall of 1969, The Jackson Fivesome were presented to the public by Diana Ross, and were officially launched when a next large Motown work.

A class action's number one 4 singles, "I Want You Back" from 1969, and "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" from 1970, all became number-one hits in the U.S. Late hits involved "Mama's Pearl" and "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1971), "Lookin' Through the Windows" (1972), "Get It Together" (1973) and "Dancing Machine" (1974). A Jackson Pentad recorded xiv albums for Motown, & Michael, Jermaine, & Jackie totally recorded solo albums when a share of the Jackson V "franchise". Michael freed 4 solo albums piece at Motown, spawning a hits "Got to Be There", "Rockin' Robin", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", & a total-1 hit "Ben," among others. Virtually all of the Jackson Cinque hits were by either The Corporation#8482; – a collective of songwriters and record producers including Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards – or by Motown songwriter/producer Hal Davis.

The move to Epic
Inside 1975, the Jackson brothers signed the fresh locate CBS Records, first joining a Philadelphia International division and late moving above to Epic Records. A freshly treat using CBS provided big royalties & originative freedom that a Jackson Cinque were non allowed at Motown. Upon learning that a Jackson Quintuplet experienced signed a locate an additional label, Motown sued a class action for breach of contract; following, it wasted a rights to utilise the "Jackson 5" title & logotype. Additionally Jermaine, world health organization got married Berry Gordy's girl Hazel, opted to remain at Motown for the good-whale solo career. Currently called "The Jacksons", & featuring immature Jackson brother Randy in Jermaine's place, the brothers continued their successful career, touring internationally & releasing hexad albums between 1976 and 1984. Hits in the cycle of this period involved "Enjoy Yourself" and "Show You The Way To Go" inside 1976, "Blame It On The Boogie" within 1977, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" in 1978, and "Can You Feel It" and "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1980. A Jacksons would prove my point to record together swell into a 1980s, even bringing Jermaine back into a stack for their 1984 Victory album and tour. Per prevent of a decade, Michael & Marlon were there are no yearn members of The Jacksons, & the class action disbanded inside 1990.

Solo career
The Wiz and Off The Wall
Inside 1978, Michael co-starred in The Wiz when the Straw man, by owning previous labelmate Diana Ross as Dorothy. A musical film's songs were intended & by noted producer Quincy Jones, who incurred the resonance sustaining Jackson. Fallowing Jackson signed the solo locate Heroic poem inside 1978, he began work in his number one of many albums by owning Jones.

Michael Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was a worldwide hit, & spawned a total-a single hit singles & music video cds "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You". A ballad "She's Out Of My Life" also reached the top ten in 1980. Thereupon accomplishment, Jackson became a foremost solo creative person to use at times quaternary Top 10 hit singles in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart from one album. A album went within to sell assibilate seven million copies in America, establishing Jackson as a musical click forgoing his brothers.

Thriller
In the 1980s, Jackson released the progression of solo albums of slickly-produced synthesizer-heavy pop. Within what was peradventure a "Golden Age" of the video clip, some of Jackson's streaming videos were virtually short films with detailed plots, favorite results, & featuring Jackson's distinctive dance style.

Michael Jackson's 1982 album Thriller produced seven top-ten hit singles, broke sales records, & became a better merchandising album within music history. A "Billie Jean" music video, freed to promote Thriller, became the foremost streaming videos by a melanize creative persin to exist as aired on MTV. A xiv-microscopic "Thriller" music video / short film became the world's best marketing home video at a period (packaged by owning the featurette ''The Making of Michael Jackson's "Thriller"''), & is considered by numbers of music industry critics to become one of the greatest music cds ever and a big come to the fore around artistic quality for music online videos. A album's third major only, "Beat It", was another #1 popular hit in the U.S., attended by the popular West Side Story inspired music video. A streaming videos for "Billie Jean", "Thriller" & "Beat It" often place extremely in MTV & VH1 countdowns of notable classic videos, & receive airplay in MTV2 to this day.

When performing "Billie Jean" in a period of the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special on television on May 16, 1983, Jackson publicly performed his moonwalk dance for the first period. Within January 1984, at the American Music Awards, Jackson was nominated for nine awards, and won the record eight. At a Grammy Awards in February, Jackson was nominated for twelve awards, & won the record-breaking eight: heptad for Thriller & a single for his narration on The E.T. Storybook. Around Might, Thriller was qualified per Guinness Book of Records as the better marketing popular music album ever. A equivalent season, he was likewise awarded a H. Claude Hodson Medal of Freedom at a NAACP Image Awards, honored at the White Home by President Ronald Reagan with the Presidential Favorite Achievement Award, & was awarded the star inside November on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. By 2005, Thriller had been qualified twenty-xxvii days platinum in the U.S.

Jackson became the spokesman for Pepsi at the height of Thriller's popularity. In January 27, 1984, while singing "Billie Jean" inside the period of the Pepsi commercial shoot in Los Angeles, Jackson's hair caught on fire while the fireworks display erupted behind him, showering him in sparks. He recieved hospital professional assistance for 2nd-dgree burns to his scalp.

From "Say Say Say" to Captain Eo
When Paul McCartney appeared on Michael Jackson's song "The Girl is Mine" from his Thriller album in 1982, Jackson appeared on McCartney's solo album known as Pipes of Peace. A lead individual, known as "Say Say Say", was the song written & sung per 2 by owning background vocals from either La Toya Jackson. It attend total one in the United states popcharts & number Deuce in the UK, performing better than "The Girl is Mine". A late release known as "The Man" did non perform too, however "Say Say Say" became a survive song them performed together prior to a bitingly feud to choose a rights to The Beatles' publishing catalogue (See "Finances section).

Inspired by Band Aid, Michael Jackson was instrumental in organizing the recording of the single "We Are the World", which he co-wrote with former Motown labelmate, Lionel Richie. The single was released in 1985 to raise money for USA for Africa, a charity working to raise awareness about and give aid to impoverished families in Africa. "I am the World" featured forty-four different vocalists, including Jackson, Ritchie, Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, and sold 7 million copies in the United States, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.

In 1986, Jackson starred in the George Lucas/Francis Ford Coppola 3-D film Captain Eo, which was shown in Disney theme parks until 1998. Minute for minute, it was the most expensive film ever produced at the time, with an estimated total production cost of USD 17 million. The film contained the songs "I am On text to Vary the World" and "A second A share of Us".

Bad
In 1987, Jackson released the album Bad, and began his first solo world tour, performing to sold-out audiences across the world. The Bad world tour broke all existing attendance records. Jackson would later break the Bad world tour attendance records with the Dangerous world tour, and top those records with those for the HIStory world tour. The following year, Jackson released a film entitled Moonwalker, and an autobiography, entitled Moon Walk.

Bad was another multi-platinum success for Jackson, although it was not as successful as "Thriller" had been. Its first five singles and music videos, "I Upright Can't Prevent Caring Your family", "Bad", "The Way Busy people Produce Us Sense", "Human in the Mirror", and "Contaminated Diana" provided Jackson with another string of hits, and made him the first artist to generate five number one singles off of one album. The other three singles, "A second A portion of Us", "Smooth Criminal", and "Leave Us Alone" kept Jackson on the charts throughout the year as he toured.

Dangerous
Jackson was awarded a new record breaking $890 million contract by Sony in March, 1991, and released his first album under the new contract, Dangerous, that November. Beginning with this album, Jackson ended his association with Quincy Jones, and enlisted new producers such as new jack swing inventor Teddy Riley for his records. While in the U.S., sales for the album reached seven million, internationally Dangerous eclipsed Bad as the second best-selling album of Jackson's career, selling over 29 million albums. The major hits included "Black or White", "Remember the Period", "In the Closet" and "Jam".

As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. "Give around to Us" featured Slash from Guns n' Roses in its video. The video was shot a few days before the Dangerous Tour started, in Munich in 1992. The directors were the Austrian duo Rossacher and Dolezal who shot many – if not all – of the videos and specials for Freddie Mercury and the band Queen. The video for "Recover the World" featured children and adults from throughout the world, in order to correspond to Jackson's charity of the same name. "May Your family Become There"'s video showed Jackson singing in front of scenes from Free Willy, for which "Will Wise shoppers Become There" served as the theme song. Several of the other videos had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. The video for "Jam", directed by David Kellogg, showed Jackson and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing together, while "Remember a Instance" was set in an ancient Egyptian palace, and starred Eddie Murphy and Iman as the pharaoh and his queen. Also, it featured a cameo by basketball player, Magic Johnson. "In The Closet" featured Jackson and model Naomi Campbell as lovers.

"Black or White" probably remains Dangerous' most aired and most remembered video today. Originally over ten minutes long, it premiered simultaneously on November 14 1991 and presented in Dolby Surround, on MTV, VH1, BET, and FOX, becoming one of the most-watched music video premieres in history. The video is technically noteworthy for featuring one of the earliest examples of computer-generated morphing. The last four minutes of the video also induced much controversy, as it depicted a crotch-grabbing Jackson smashing store windows and destroying a car with a crowbar. MTV and the other music video networks decided to excise the last four minutes of the "Black or even Whiten" video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been offended, and explaining that he tried to impersonate panthers' wild instincts.

HIStory
In 1995, Epic released Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present And Future - Book 1, a double-disc album. The first disc, HIStory Begins, was a fifteen-track greatest hits album, while the second, HIStory Continues, contained fifteen new songs. The newer songs found help from producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, sister Janet, Dallas Austin, Bill Bottrell, R. Kelly and Jackson himself.

The album produced two major hit singles and videos in America. "Scream", a duet with Jackson's pop star sister Janet, was supported by a futuristic music video which remains, at a cost of $7 million, the most expensive music video ever filmed. Thanks to a change in Billboard's chart policy, the R. Kelly-produced "You Are Not Alone" became the first song to ever debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The album's third single, "They Don't Care About Us", peaked at #30 on the Hot 100 and #10 on the Billboard R&B charts while other songs such as "Earth Song" and "Stranger in Moscow" found better success in Europe with the latter peaking at #91 - the lowest charted single in Jackson's career.

Blood on the Dance Floor
. Off the new songs, three were released globally including the title track which peaked at a dismal #42 in the states but reached #1 in the UK, "Ghosts", a song later based on the mini-movie Jackson starred in that year, and "Would it be Scary?" The album went on to sell over 7 million copies globally becoming the best-selling album of remixes of all time to be released.

Around the same time, he was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the first time as a member of The Jackson 5. Four years later he would get in again as a solo artist in 2001.

Invincible''
Released on October 30, 2001 after two years in production, Jackson's Invincible album was released. The album debuted at number-one the Billboard Top 200 album chart, and went on to sell over two million copies in America (8 million worldwide). The singles released from the album include "You Rock My World" (US #10; R&B #13; UK #2), "Cry" (UK #25), "Butterflies" (US #14; R&B #2) and "Heaven Could Hold off" (R&B #72). The album included guests such as Carlos Santana, Brandy (who performed background vocals on the album's first track, "Unbreakable"), and a posthumous appearance by The Notorious B.I.G..

Promotion on the album, mostly produced by Rodney Jerkins and Jackson himself, stopped in 2002, due to Jackson making accusations that Sony did not properly promote his album. Jackson also referred to Sony Entertainment head Tommy Motolla as a "devil" and a "racialist" who used black artists for his own personal gain. Sony issued a statement stating that they found the allegations strange, since Motolla was once married to half-Black R&B star Mariah Carey.

"What More Can I Give"
On October 21, 2001, Michael Jackson performed the song "What Further Potty I personally Give" at the United We Stand: What More Can I Give charity concert for the September 11 terrorist attacks, in Washington, D.C. Twenty-seven other artists joined Jackson onstage during the song, including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé Knowles, Usher, Anastacia, Mya, Ricky Martin and Tom Petty. After the event raised USD 3 million, Jackson planned to release it as a single.

"What Other May I personally Give" was available for paid download on the Internet, and had a video shot for it, but the single was never commercially released as intended. Although Jackson blamed Tommy Mottola for the single's cancellation, the release was allegedly cancelled because of the involvement of Mark Schaffel, a producer of gay pornographic films. Later a catalog featuring the song, called "What Additional Potty I personally Give: Michael Jackson & Friends", was released instead.

"One More Chance" to The Essential Michael Jackson
On November 20 2003, Jackson released a new song, " One More Chance", written by R. Kelly. It was the only new track included on his Number Ones greatest hits album, released the same year. As of 2005, the album has sold six million copies worldwide. "1 Further Risk" went on to become the number-one track on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart for three straight weeks. An original video for "A single Additional Risk" was filmed but never released.

In November 2004, Jackson released his first box set, Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection, a four disc collection which included many of his hits, unreleased material from the past 25 years, demo recordings of some of his biggest hits, four new songs, and a bonus DVD that featured a concert from the Dangerous world tour, originally aired on HBO in 1992. Six months later, Epic released a two-disc compilation, The Essential Michael Jackson, which focused only on the hit records. The Ultimate Collection peaked at #154 on Billboard 200, while The Essential Michael Jackson sold 8,000 copies in the first week in the U.S. (compared to the number-one album, "At present Xix", which sold 436,000 copies in the same period), though the CD reached #2 in the U.K., selling 45,000 copies.

"From the Bottom of My Heart"
On September 6 2005, Jackson announced, through his website that he was making a single dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jackson has already written and composed the charity single which is called "From the Bottom of My Heart".

Hoping to rekindle the success of "I am the World", which raised millions for aid to Africa, Jackson has enlisted the involvement of other recording superstars to help him record the single. It was announced on September 12 2005 that the artists offering their vocals on the single are Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Yolanda Adams, Babyface, James Brown, Snoop Dogg, The O'Jays, and Ciara.

Michael Jackson is in London at the moment, recording the single.

The single, to be released in October, will be released through 2 Seas Records, owned by Prince Abdulla Hamad Alkhalifa of Bahrain. All proceeds from the sale of the single will be donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Voice
Bob Geldof said of Michael Jackson's voice, "when (he) sings these are sustaining a voice of angels..."

Michael Jackson, described by his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, as a high tenor, was declared the 11th best vocalist in contemporary music, according to MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music. He has recieved many awards for his vocal performance throughout his career.

Technically, Michael Jackson has one of the finest voices in contempary music. His first advantage is the natural speed of his voice. Michael Jackson has the ability to sing in staccato, and sing complex rhythms in perfect timing. The best recorded example of this is the title track from his 1979 album, Off The Wall.

Jackson's second advantage as a singer is his range. Michael Jackson’s natural vocal range, before he breaks off into falsetto, goes from two E's below middle C, to two B's above middle C, or 44 notes. Jackson is able to reach octaves that other tenors cannot attain with their natural voice. The best example of Michael Jackson's range is a recording from Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (2004), titled "Beautiful Girl".

Personal life
Michael Jackson continued to engage in door-to-door evangelizing as a Jehovah's Witness after becoming famous, but in disguise. His career and flamboyant lifestyle led to friction with congregation elders. At one point, his sister, LaToya, was shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses, and in 1987, he formally left the religion.

Jackson's most famous home is his 2,600 acre (eleven square-kilometer) Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, which he purchased in 1988. It is named after the magical kingdom, Neverland, from the children's story, "Peter Pan". Jackson, a huge Disney fan, built an amusement park on the ranch, and frequently welcomes sick and poor children there to visit and sponsors charity drives for children. Jackson's relationships with children, both his own and others, have been controversial: his sleepover parties at Neverland have received widespread critical media coverage, especially after he revealed that he sometimes slept in the same bed with several unrelated children.

He claims that he likes to be surrounded by children because of their sense of innocence, which he feels he lost too soon. His song "Childhood" included the lyric, "It's been our fate to compensate/for a childhood I personally've never known". Jackson is fond of animals: he owns a private zoo at Neverland, and was often seen with a chimpanzee named Bubbles and a snake called Muscles in the 1980s. Jackson claims that Neverland has inspired much of his work, having once told an interviewer that he liked climbing trees to write songs like "Might Your family Exist as There" and "Recover the World".

Jackson is noted for his humanitarian efforts, and has often used his music, including the all-star single "We Are the World" (1985), "Man in the Mirror" (1987), "Heal the World" (1992), "Earth Song" (1995), "Cry" (2001), and "What Additional Could I personally Give" (2003) to support and promote various causes. The "Recover the World" foundation was created by Jackson in 1992, with assistance from former President Jimmy Carter. Jackson was considering a tour of Africa in May or June 2004 to raise money to fight AIDS; Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Senegal were among the countries he had planned to visit. Heal the World Foundation no longer exists however.

Over the years, Michael Jackson maintained a number of high-profile celebrity friendships with entertainers such as Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Macaulay Culkin, Emmanuel Lewis, Chris Tucker, and others. Jackson is also the godfather of Lionel Richie's adopted daughter, Nicole Richie and of Barry Gibb's son Michael Gibb.

For four months after his trial ended, Jackson vacationed in Bahrain with Shaikh Abdullah Ben Hamed Al Khalifa, the Prince of Bahrain. In this time he also visited Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Jackson toured Dubai with UAE champion rally driver Mohammad Ben Sulayem.

Relationships
Michael Jackon's first girlfriend was actress Tatum O'Neal. The two dated in the late-1970s. O'Neal claimed, in her autobiography years later, that Jackson dedicated the song ''She's Out Of My Life'' to her although the song was not written by Jackson and his then-producer Quincy Jones state that Jackson possibly hadn't "had (what a song talked all about)".

Jackson's next girlfriend, was model Brooke Shields. The two started dating in 1984. The two were last seen together in 1993 at the Grammy Awards.

During Michael Jackson's Bad world tour, in 1988, he was linked romanticaly with Sheryl Crow and Tatiana Thumbtzen. Crow was one of Jackson's backing singers and Thumbtzen is a famous model who appeared in Jackson's music video for "The Way Smart shoppers Produce Us Sense". Thumbtzen has recently written a book about Jackson titled The Way He Made Me Feel (in reference to the famous Jackson song). In the book she hints at an intimate relationship between Jackson and herself.

Jackson's marriages and children
In 1994, Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley; the marriage was severely criticized by the media and lasted less than two years. Despite some comments questioning the validity of this union, Presley has always maintained that they both shared a normal couple's life during their time together. The separation date on divorce papers was indicated with Sunday, 10 December 1995. A day when Jackson was still hospitalized after suffering dehydration during rehearsals for his "Of these Nighttime Simply" special at New York's Beacon Theater.

Jackson married his dermatologist's nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe in 1996, with whom he had a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (who publicly goes by the name "Prince"), and a daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson. Jackson and Rowe were divorced in 1999. Rowe later said that she wanted Jackson to have the children as a "gift", which she had offered even while Jackson was married to Presley. She resultantly gave up her parental rights to the children, but as of 2005, a family court case is under way regarding visitation. The godparents of the two children are Macaulay Culkin and Elizabeth Taylor.

Around February 2002, Jackson had another son, Michael Joseph Jackson III, called both "Prince Michael II" and "Blanket", apparently with a surrogate mother whose identity has not been disclosed. In late 2002, Jackson stirred up controversy while staying at the Adlon hotel in Berlin, by briefly suspending him over the edge of a balcony. Jackson defended his actions, saying that he held the child very tightly though he had issued an apology in a public statement made a few days afterwards saying he was "caught in the moment (of fans cheering)". Jackson's children are veiled or masked when they appear in public with him, which he describes as a security measure. Rowe said it was her idea from the beginning as they had been sent many death threats in the past however in a recent interview Mr. Jackson had said that he would love to take his children onstage one day so his fans can see his children's faces.

After the children were seen in Martin Bashir's Living with Michael Jackson documetary special, many in the press and the public questioned whether Prince and Paris were actually Jackson's biological children, as they had no noticeable African features about them. Jackson explained that his own father is African-American, but has blue eyes, and that some of the Jackson family ancestors are Caucasian, and even Indian. However, during the interviews for the same special, Jackson revealed that "Blanket's" mother was Black.

There had been rumors that Jackson was having children by various women. One woman claimed that she was giving birth to quadruplets fathered by Jackson, a claim later proven to be false. Jackson had suffered the same problem two decades earlier with a woman claiming Michael was a father of one of her fraternal twins, a story from which his memorable hit "Billie Jean" was derived.

Controversies
Skin color
Although Jackson's skin color was a medium brown color for the entire duration of his youth, his skin has lightened gradually since 1982, and is today a pale cream color. Jackson has attributed his changing skin color to vitiligo, a skin disease in which the body develops antibodies against its own melanin, a body pigment, resulting in light patches and an eventual loss of all pigment. The public finally got to know of Jackson's condition when he first revealed it in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993. Several members of the media refused to believe Jackson has vitiligo and believe that Jackson bleaches his skin, an allegation which Jackson denies. Jackson's family members support his claim, with Joseph Jackson stating that Michael's grandfather had also suffered from vitiligo. During court depositions in 1994, both Jackson's dermatologist and his nurse (later his wife) confirmed the diagnosis. However, tubes of skin bleaching cream were found by police when they raided Neverland.

Jackson claims he was diagnosed with the disease in 1981. Ever since then, Jackson has regularly worn long-sleeved shirts and pants under an umbrella while in public to hide from the sun, which he says he's allergic to because of his condition.

Plastic surgery
Jackson has allegedly used extensive plastic surgery to modify his appearance, although he claims to have had only three operations: two rhinoplastic surgeries – the first of which he claims was to repair a broken nose resulting from a dancing accident in mid 1979, and the second to correct imperfections in the first surgery – and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin. When listing his cosmetic surgery, Jackson often omits mentioning the cleft; however, he confirmed this surgery in his 1988 autobiography, Moon Walk.

Jackson's use of plastic surgery has caused increased concerns of a possible cartilage and nose collapse. Surgeons with no link to Jackson, have speculated that his nose structure could easily collapse during an altercation.

In 2000, Jackson reportedly had his collapsed nose corrected by a new plastic surgeon, who used cartilage taken from one of his ears to rebuild the nose's structure. This tabloid report was denied by Jackson's representatives.

Finances
Michael Jackson purchased ownership in Sony/ATV Publishing in 1985, which administers the publishing rights to songs written by The Beatles, Sly Stone, and several others. Jackson's 50% interest in the company (Sony Records owns the other half) is estimated to be worth USD 1.5 billion. In October 2002, various international banks claimed that Jackson was tens of millions of dollars in debt. That same month, concert promoter, Marcel Avram, sued Jackson in a court in Santa Maria, California, claiming that he reneged on a deal to perform on a series of millennium concerts crossing the International Date Line on the evening of December 31 1999–January 1 2000. Jackson lost the case, and is appealing.

Jackson has been involved in a legal dispute with his former financial adviser, Union Finance and Investment Corporation of South Korea, who claim that Jackson owes the firm twelve million dollars in fees and expenses, and that Jackson's extravagant spending may lead to his bankruptcy. ''See also Jackson's finances in connection to the trial.''

Alleged child sexual abuse
Michael Jackson has also been accused of child sexual abuse on three occasions. In 1993, Jordan Chandler, the son of former Beverly Hills dentist Evan Chandler, accused Jackson of sexual molestation, represented by civil lawyer Larry Feldman. Jackson was served a search warrant to have the Santa Barbara Police Department, headed by District Attorney Tom Sneddon, view his body. Jackson later complained in a December 22, 1993 press conference that the officers violated his privacy, by photographing his body in order to look for some marks allegedly described by the young accuser. Jackson settled out of court with the accuser for at least USD 25 million[http://www.courttv.com/news/jackson/061504_ctv.html]. Jackson's settling out of court brought suspicion among the media, some of whom claimed that Jackson avoided a trial because he was afraid he would have been proven guilty. The victim's parents were criticised for not filing criminal charges against Jackson, making it appear that they were simply attempting to extract money from him. Others debated whether Jackson chose to settle or was forced to by his insurance provider. When interviewed by Bashir, Michael Jackson confirmed that the 1993/1994 settlement was his own personal decision. Though when the trial began Jordan Chandler was infact told to testify however he ignored the court order [http://www.mjshouse.com/stories/living_with_mj_transcript.wm].

In 2003, Jackson was accused of sexual molestation by a second young accuser, Gavin Arvizo, who appeared with Jackson on the Living with Michael Jackson television documentary. Like Chandler, Arvizo was represented by civil lawyer Larry Feldman, and an investigation was once again launched by Sneddon. Jackson was served a search warrant for Neverland, and the singer was arrested in November 2003. In the prelude to the trial, Jackson allowed a high profile visit of children to Neverland in December 2004. Michael Jackson's spokesperson provided the press with a list of non-profit children's organizations which had sent the children. According to Court TV, most of these organizations turned out to be either non-existent or were upset that they were falsely associated with the visit. [http://www.courttv.com/news/jackson/010405_dimond_ctv.html] The criminal case was tried in Santa Maria, California during the spring of 2005. On June 13, Jackson was acquitted of all charges. CNN later reported that two of the jurors, Ray Hultman and Eleanor Cook, believed he had commited child sex crimes in the past but there was not enough evidence to prove it, and announced impending books on their experiences in the trial [http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/08/jackson.jurors.ap/index.html].

A civil (non-criminal) suit filed by [http://www.mugshots.com/Criminal/Sex%20Offenders/Joseph+Thomas+Bartucci+Jr.htm Joseph Bartucci] over allegations of abduction and sexual assault is currently pending in Louisiana. [http://today.reuters.co.uk/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2005-07-21T015607Z_01_HAR058177_RTRUKOC_0_PEOPLE-JACKSON2.xml] Jackson did not appear for the August 17, 2005 court date, and was fined USD 10,000 as a result. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4160796.stm] The next court hearing was scheduled for September 7, 2005 but was cancelled as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

In his first interview since the acquittal, Michael Jackson told the Associated Press, the trial was "the hardest tool I personally've ever knock off our life". He also spoke briefly about the charity single and added that he and his children were still in Bahrain "resting & recovering" from the ordeal.

Discography
For a more detailed listing of albums and singles with chart positions, see Michael Jackson discography. <!--Do not add any album chart positions or sales records here, keep this list as short as possible--> Regular studio albums
;Motown releases: 1972: Got to Be There 1972: Ben 1973: Music and Me 1975: Forever, Michael

;Epic releases: 1979: Off the Wall 1982: Thriller 1987: Bad 1991: Dangerous 1995: HIStory 1997: Blood on the Dance Floor 2001: Invincible

Number one hits
The following singles reached number one on either the US Billboard Hot 100, R&amp;B singles chart, or UK pop singles charts:

1972: "Ben" (#1 Pop) 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1980: "Rock With You" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1981: "One Day in Your Life" (#1 UK) 1982: "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (#1 R&amp;B) 1983: "Billie Jean" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B, #1 UK) 1983: "Beat It" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1983: "Say Say Say" (Paul McCartney with Michael Jackson) (#1 Pop) 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B, #1 UK) 1987: "Bad" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1987: "The Way You Make Me Feel" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1988: "Man in the Mirror" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B) 1988: "Dirty Diana" (#1 Pop) 1988: "Another Part Of Me" (#1 R&amp;B) 1991: "Black or White" (#1 Pop, #1 UK) 1992: "Remember the Time" (#1 R&amp;B) 1992: "In The Closet" (#1 R&amp;B) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (#1 Pop, #1 R&amp;B, #1 UK) 1995: "Earth Song" (#1 UK) 1997: "Blood on the Dance Floor" (#1 UK)

Filmography
Films
1974: Free to Be... You &amp; Me 1978: The Wiz 1985: Captain EO 1988: Moonwalker 2002: Men in Black II (Cameo appearance) 2004: Miss Castaway (Cameo appearance)

Video games
''Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is an arcade game that was ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and Sega Master System. Space Channel 5 for the Sega Dreamcast featured Michael Jackson in the later levels. Space Channel 5 Part 2, a dance game for the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast also featured Michael Jackson in the later levels. Ready 2 Rumble Round 2'' is a fighting game for the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast featuring Michael Jackson as a hidden character.