The Story of A True Pop Genius | Michael Jackson: Thank you For The Music | Amplified

yes sir I need an ambulance ASAP sir okay sir uh sir I have a gentleman here that needs help and he's still not breathing run away they're on their way sir

thank

you sir he's pumping. pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything sir please and we're getting this right now uh and it's very, very sad news that jim moray and for all of our viewers, both the los angeles times and cbs news are now reporting that

michael

jackson

has died cnn has not confirmed it but the la times and cbs news are reporting that

michael

jackson

50 years old the king of pop has died june 25, 2009 saw the passing of a

true

entertainment icon michael jackson's death resonated around the world left millions of fans in a state of shock and sadness.

Losing such a notable figure not only meant the end of the most successful

music

al career of all time but also the loss of an artist who left an indelible mark on popular culture never left hi

story

. In the public eye and often subject to rumors and controversy, he was also a figure whose

music

and videos brought innovation and high quality to the industry, who helped break down racial barriers, and who also contributed millions of dollars to charities around the world. the world, whether through your own healing. foundation or as an anonymous donor michael jackson was a man truly loved by his fans and who loved them equally in return michael jackson is a symbol that is bigger than himself his greatest contribution is not a particular album, it is a style of music and his approach to music creation that found its apotheosis in the early days of MTV.

He was the most instinctive musician I have ever met. The most talented deep musical person. His music managed to embody so many different styles, from rock to pop to classic soul. Fields Dance Tunes, he influenced so many artists throughout the industry, I mean, the greatest artists in the world will say, "You know who your influence is," and everyone always says that Michael Jackson was one of the great almost old-fashioned artists because he was a whole. -Round host, he danced, he sang, he used visual images in a way that was really imaginative and really magical. Michael was sincere and real, regardless of what you read in the press, regardless of what people say, regardless of the talk show.

He introduces comics that make fun. of him the public knew the real michael uh michael jackson's rise to the top of the music industry was largely a public affair and has been well documented the boy who would become the undisputed king of pop began singing with his brothers At the age of five and after spending several years touring and gigging, they finally auditioned and signed to Barry Gordy's Motown label in 1969. Although Build is only nine years old, Michael was actually 11 and since the release of his first single on motown, i want you back, it was clear that the band and particularly michael was ready for stardom, there was something special about jackson 5 the moment you lowered the needle and i want you back because you hear that fantastic instrumental intro that It was the first thing that caught my attention was the sound of the strings on this record and it was a classic sound that was rhythmic with the rhythm of the track and I was so struck by the intricate patterns, the simplicity but the complexity of it and then you listen this strong, imposing, athletic and young voice, how could it be someone so young? so good that you thought, well, is he really eleven years old?

It was always about Michael, you know, there was this beautiful little boy who, so there's a trick about him being so young and so small and so cute, but he had an incredibly soulful voice that kind of belied it. his years and I think of his brothers as perfectly capable musicians but you know they were in the background he was the real talent the fact that they were family the fact that they were black the fact that they had a father as a manager made them stand out from the rest and the fact that they had musical integrity, there was a whole era of bands like the Supremes and stuff like that, but when the Jackson Five came out as a boy band and as the original boybender.

It sounds pretty funny, but they were so believable musically that that made them stand out. above the rest. They were very versatile and covered a whole range of black American music and soul music in particular, and Michael Jackson always stood out from the beginning. A big global hit really was ABC and that's where Michael really came to the fore. ABC is an interesting song because it's a bit like a children's song, but it's extremely moving and quite sophisticated, plus it's like a really good mix, so it actually appealed to a large cross-section of people, I don't think you can do better records that I won't do back or abc, I mean, they are purely uplifting pop, but with this fantastic, moving, emotion, emotional force in them.

I mean Michael Jackson, when you listened to those records you could almost feel a joy juice coming out, I mean it was a complete saturation in the thing and an excitement that now he was a part of it and that he was good enough to be a part of it. It and He had a ridiculous maturity in his voice throughout the entire Michael Jackson memorial service. The moment that caught my attention was when they showed the photo of Michael Jackson as Frank Sinatra and this was from a performance of It Was a Very Good Year at Diana Ross. tv special now to think that someone who was 11 years old could dress like frank sinatra okay, it was a joke but it was also serious because it said that this kid is the height of frank sinatra and he immediately became a major star oh motown had I seen to michael individual potential and between 1972 and 1975 he would release four solo albums for the label in the same way that diana ross was promoted as the star of the supremes michael jackson from the beginning was actually promoted as the star of the jackson five um and i I think this was partly a Motown thing, um, uh, I think Barry Gordy liked to do, he liked to really push the lead singer, um, and really prepare them, I think for a solo career it's funny too, though At first it was Obviously Michael was the standout talent, however, the group itself had such an impact that at first no one thought they should break this guy up and those Michael Jackson solo albums were simply something he could do on his own. free time, a way to earn money, obviously. but it's not an attempt to divide the jacksons five of us michael's four albums under motown got to be there ben music and me and forever michael featured covers of songs by many artists such as smokey robinson and bill withers and generated a string of hits solo for The Young Star Throughout this time, despite their already massive success, the Jackson 5 became frustrated by their lack of control over their music and in 1975 they bravely left Motown and signed a new contract with CBS Records that it allowed them more creative input, something that only benefited from Michael's growing stardom they were very identified as a boy band when they were with Motown and it was simple pop music um they were irritated by the part they really wanted they were getting older they wanted um to just have more freedom and to be able to exercise their creativity and I think it was actually a very good move when they moved to CBS, as happened so often in children's businesses, people thought well, it's just that we've heard the end of them, no one believed that they actually they could generate their own material, but they had a successful period with epic Gamblin Huff, gave them their first British number one, show you the way to go and they had huge hits, have fun, uh, shake your body, shake your body, achieved more than 2 million in the says a very big record, but still no one anticipated what was going to happen with Michael.

I don't know what will happen to you, baby. After changing the group's name to Jackson, they released six albums between 1975 and 1984. Crucially, the move to CBS. had allowed michael jackson's songwriting and production talents to come to the fore with tracks like shake your body this place hotel and can you feel it this proved that not only was there life in the jackson brand but there was also another side to the star child who was quickly becoming an adult the other boys were more like young men growing up they wanted to play everyone worked hard everyone worked very very hard but michael worked 10 times harder than anyone he worked harder than me because I like to play too you know it's time to play I want to play uh michael could stand up and talk to you and you'd think he's not paying attention to you because he's practicing moves while talking to you and doing turns and you know it and you're talking to him about Ok Mike, we have to get to the limo at 5 15 and uh, and we know that sound checks at seven, Michael, are you paying attention?

Yeah, I hear you 515 and he's doing it, he's constantly thinking about what he's going to be doing or creating things in his head all the time the other kids didn't work like that the kids um jermaine uh jackie marlon tito liked to play basketball with the band members they had a little basketball court and michael was always about work, it was time to work, michael wanted to work and he often came to see me and said, sam, could you tell the guys to come over, let's go. Then I would have to come out and say, "Okay, guys, let's go." finish and then of course they go well, we only have five more minutes left, we're almost done with this game.

I was like, uh, Michael wants to start, guys, come on, so Michael didn't want to tell his brothers what to do because he was almost the youngest, so he asked me to do it, which was cool, you know, That's part of my role as musical director, locating the band members and everyone you know. Come on, let's start with Michael's professionalism and momentum shining through. He made plans for more solo work. At that time, Michael wanted to make an album. ballads and he wanted to use two people to produce that album Walter Scharf, who has since passed away, who wrote Ben and I and at that time Epic Records did not want him to make a ballads album even though he had contacted Walter Scharf and I had told him.

He had told me. The album never came out, but what did happen was a meeting between Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones in 1978. When the pair found themselves working on the set of the musical film The Wiz in which Michael appeared as the Scarecrow, the pair connected. and Jones agreed to work on Michael's next solo project, the multi-platinum selling On the Wall, the first thing one noticed. On the wall was the cover, it's the first thing you notice and he's in a tuxedo, he's grown up to avoid looking square, he had the album designers shine his shoes, but this is now an adult Michael Jackson, he's 21 years old and he's a handsome young black man that's the tragedy no one but himself thought he had to change his appearance off the wall he looks great i think associating with quincy jones certainly released what i consider the essence of michael jackson into the world it was, i want I mean, I felt like he was a lot more funky about it um, you know, he was a young man now there was no trick to it, he was grown up and confident and it seemed like a really cool period for him because he was still a teenage icon, but he seemed like a man. who knew what he was thinking, a confident artist who was growing, he doesn't stop until he's had enough, it's just a perfect, perfect disco track, he's always been a very good songwriter. um, great lyrics, uh, great ear for melody, um, uh, and that's something that almost gets overlooked because everyone is so transfixed by what you know as a performer, the joy, the voice is never better than when Sing, don't stop until you've had enough.

What he can do, I think other Motown singers don't, is float through the entire set and when he can get a rhythm in the falsetto. The skillful thing that he and Quincy Jones did was to release this album at the top of the disco crowd. It is forgotten because off the wall has lasted and most disco albums have not, what a challenge it was to be danceable without being outdated by all the forms of Popular music, dance music is the fastest because dances like steps are novelties and go out of style. and also dance music tends to use electronic machines more than other forms of music and of course technology advances rapidly and things that sound cool and new sound dated very quickly, they managed to avoid these challenges partly due to production probably due to interpretation. and probably because of the excellent songs, I was very lucky to have the relationship with Rod Temperton from Cleethorpes of all places, but Rock With You was number one for four weeks in America.

A huge album, relax your mind, love with you, oh, when I compare it to something. Like Ben, I know this is a big leap, so I guess he's starting to show the individuality of him and what he's capable of. It was wonderful to be able to see Michael Jackson in his element in those videos that were so classic and me. I remember seeing him, you know, dance for the first time and just seeing his love for performing, he seemed so free and so open and so willing to express himself and what he's done is seen the bridge from Motown to disco, the world of album and those songs are business cardsas effective as in their time the Rolling Stones doing I want to be your man are the stone roses I want to be adored you know, don't stop until you have enough of these are these are bones promises com compact with an audience a massive audience you know this guy can sing this guy can dance this guy is part of it this guy is part of it this guy is close and then the guy has his audience it was a very, very strong album and it made you think, oh my god, he did it, he did the cross as a child to adult and now he's going to be with us for a while.

Off the Wall turned out to be a huge hit for Michael. He had reinvented himself. and broke free from the confines of the Motown production line, allowing his own personality to flow through the music, the album was received as a breakthrough and was the first by a solo artist to spawn four single releases among the America's 10 Best with Don't Stop Until. You get enough and you rock out to No. 1 while the following singles, Off the Wall and She's Out of My Life, both charted at No. 10. To date, Off the Wall has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. world, but at that time jackson was still unfulfilled.

Despite the success of the album and its Grammy-winning single, Jackson's next thriller album, released in 1982, was to launch him into the stratosphere. I talked to a company executive who I won't name and I said, Oh, how's the new Michael Jackson album? and he told me. It's not so much good as out of the ordinary, I think he had been fooled by the choice of Girl as Mine as the first single. It was a decent pop single, but it didn't give you any evidence that there was going to be a classic album. and uh when 1982 turned into 83 no one thought the thriller would be as good as it was and that's why it was so completely awesome and of course the Billie Jean video blew everyone away just always remember the funny thing about Billie Jean was that Quincy.

Jones wasn't convinced at first, he thought we should release this and then it turned out to be one of the most successful songs of his career. What was amazing about Billie Jean and I remember when he first came out sitting there watching Top of the Pops. And um, up until that point, Michael Jackson had essentially been seen as a really cool disco star, but a disco star and then Billie Jean, uh, this went into totally new territory, um, because it combined dance music with new wave pop and rock sounds. Furthermore, Billie Jean presents what becomes a non-misogynistic theme, it would be too strong, but certainly a very conflictive relationship with women in his songs becomes a dynamic supposedly inspired by a real scenario of stalker styles.

Funnily enough, I had this topic and at the time I thought: oh, this is a close to knuckleball topic, disguised with icing, it sounds so good that you don't want to talk about the fact that it's about a guy denying the paternity of a child. I look back now and I think this is the first real sign of Michael Jackson's paranoia because once he was no longer working with Quincy Jones, the paranoia sometimes just set in completely. They Do not Care About Us. Screaming was Billie Jean. The first example of that, whether it was. or not, it was surrounded enough by all these other elements that made it a product greater than the sum of its parts.

Billie Jean was the second single from Thriller and was released in January 1983. With this track, Jackson had created a sound that was truly unique and the single reached number one in both the US and the UK; However, it wasn't simply the strength of the song and video combined that helped make Billie Jean and Thriller the gigantic hit it was becoming by March of that year. He appeared alongside his brothers in a television special celebrating 25 years of Motown and when he took the stage alone, he delivered a performance that would cement his place in music hi

story

forever.

It's fascinating to read that even the night before the Motown 25 TV special, he still didn't know what to do with Billie Jean, so he turned the music up all the way and let it control his body, which is in his analogy when they did the show Motown 25, it introduced the moonwalk and it was one of the most incredible moments in the history of television and I'm not exaggerating it's billie jean it's that moment that changes history it was like one of those great iconic moments in music when You saw him do that moonwalk you thought I was seeing something It's amazing I'll probably never see him again in my life and without sounding hyperbolic it was like he created something so special um and he did it was that moment in time that changed so many things and won an Emmy Award for Best Musical Performance just for that, I mean, no awards are given for four-minute segments, but it was so amazing and after that, it was king of the world for a while I think Billie Jean. and the sequins, I think by then we had the white socks very prominent, all those little details, um, the moonwalk, you know, the kind of head movements he did, um, the shiny hair, everything, um, yeah, I mean, it really was, I think it was. he was very smart so you know he paid attention to every detail and those were things that were distinctively Michael um you know I mean a pop star could have gotten by on just the gimmicks without the raw talent but you know That he had it all, unlike off the wall, an album with firm disco and rb roots thriller demonstrated michael's versatility as he experimented with a crossover rock feel on tracks like beat it, released in february 1983. what was so special about uh beat it was that fusion of soul meets rock it was the first time we heard that electric guitar and you're thinking wow what a line I just remember hearing it it means it's like it was one of those things who never leave your mind and his works do what I know Michael was very shrewd in the 80's, he was portrayed as a bit elfin and fragile, but in reality he was quite a ruthless businessman, he was very shrewd at times about the guy of musical styles that would appeal to different audiences and uh. with the song beat it, he really brought the rock guitar right to the center, in a way that was quite unexpected for a black artist, and he had eddie van halen as a lead and really riffing on the guitar, but that fit the song and Se It suited the mood of the song, so it's like a really strong dance beat and then also the rock guitar.

I remember being at the control when we were playing drums to play it with Jeff Piccaro and I mean, what can you say? It was incredible. It was just incredible, of course, Jeff Cross is one of the best rock drummers in the world and he plays on this while a machine grows and then he plays on top of it and it's scary how good it is and it's just great. I mean, it was, it was, it was clear, I think for everyone, we had incredible music, not only was Jackson making strides with his music, but he had developed a distinctive visual style that he carried over into his music videos to both Billie Jean and Beat, which he demonstrated to Michael. dancing ability and incorporated complex narratives into a format that was essentially designed to promote a song when the thriller's title track was released in January 1984, making it the album's seventh single.

Michael was ready to take things further than any artist. I had on the screen I have something I want to tell you Yes, Michael, I'm not like other guys, of course not, that's why I love you, no, I mean, I'm different, what are you talking about? to accompany the single release of Michael Jackson's thriller Clerk. Horror film director John Landis and together created a short film to showcase the song that featured a plot that revolved around Jackson being harassed by the undead and cost a record-breaking half a million dollars. The 12 minute long thriller along with other videos from the albums like billie jean and beat it helped change the way music videos are viewed today, the thriller changed everything in terms of the vehicle or video because before that It wasn't even considered that important, it was a secondary activity that came with the song, but a thriller made into a video, it carried a message and a story and then, instead of the song being a song, the song became a story, a movie.

Jackson used the medium to break down barriers that prevented videos of him from being shown to a wider audience when he was a rookie. The MTV station, then a channel that exclusively dominated white rock, finally agreed to show Billie Jean with great success. It was seen as a breakthrough for the artist. At the time, Michael Jackson was so big that MTV became the natural place to debut the full-length thriller video. So this was a real conquest. This was not something that was handed to Michael Jackson on a plate. These videos spread around the world in a way that nothing he had done in the Motown years could simply because there were no distribution facilities for it.

The thriller video opened up a whole new style of filmmaking, essentially a type of pop music cinema, so let me hold you tight and share it together. It is clear that with the thriller it was very important for Jackson to be able to exercise his imagination. He had a great imagination. And perhaps this was part of the reflection of the strange closeted childhood he had. I remember that a friend of mine, a journalist, met the Jacksons five years ago in a London hotel and told him that the Jacksons were normal guys. apart from michael there was something about him even then he seemed to be in a world of his own and almost ethereal and i felt like even then um and i think in jackson's head he had some kind of huge um it's like this big cinematic landscape in his head and i guess The best thing about having that success and that money was that he was able to make it and he teamed up with John Landis, the director, and essentially made the horror movie that he had always wanted to make, the thriller that is the title song. about the transformation is um some people say it's jackson coming out um in terms of body transformation the video with john landis is um john landis directed uh american werewolf jackson chose it but john landis reveals things about michael jackson and where he is creatively and Where is personally where Michael Jackson had arrived at the time of the thriller that would become the biggest star in the world.

The album was an unprecedented global success and at its peak was selling one million copies a week worldwide and also garnered a record eight Grammy Awards. wins to date thriller with its mix of r b rock soul and funk tracks iconic videos and an inimitable sense of style remains the best selling album of all time with over one hundred million copies sold however michael's success was suddenly seen eclipsed when in January 1984 during the filming of a commercial in support of his new endorsement of Pepsi a pyrotechnic explosion set the superstar's hair on fire and left him seriously injured with second and third degree burns to his scalp.

It would be a major turning point in Michael's career and it would be six months before he would do it. Reappearing in the public eye Despite the setback of the fireworks accident, Jackson continued his relentless schedule with his solo career firmly established. The Jacksons' separation was inevitable. In July 1984, the family embarked on the Victory Tour. which was to be his last. After playing to sold-out audiences in the United States and Canada, Michael, having donated his five million dollars to charity, returned to the studio with his collaborator Quincy Jones to begin work on his next album, one that would portray the star in a whole new light.

There was a lot of anticipation about the next album after the thriller. It took a while for Michael, about five years, um and it's no wonder how you continued with the thriller. Oh, he was very aware of uh, well, I wouldn't call it pressure because I don't. I don't think he ever showed me that he felt pressure, but he was just burning with ambition and wanted to top whatever the last album did. He always wanted to get over it. It was released in August 1987 and featured a slightly simpler sound. the influences of hip-hop and rap from the late 80s, however, the change in Jackson's music almost ended up taking a backseat to the radical changes in the star's appearance.

I think it was an evolution for him as a person and musically I think obviously the five The gap of years between albums was trying to grow reflect write learn travel meet um obviously changed a lot on the outside too um I remember the first images of bad and people were so surprised by such a big change in the face and the color. about his skin and all those things that people started to question, but again the music spoke for itself. I guess the word bad back then, when it came out, you know bad means good and that whole thing was like you know it was a lot.

African American, um slang, so he brought that into the pop world and you know, there's even little articles and articles about, yaYou know, bad means good and it really means that he changed his image in a way that was tougher, um, studded leather. the belts and the tight pants and the boots and the kind of pretty aggressive choreography and martin scorsese directed the video and of course it's very well done and of course it's beautifully choreographed and michael's performance is impeccable but i don't like it. It doesn't seem innovative or sincere that it was I started following trends instead of starting them just a little bit.

I mean, it was still a great album, but there was a sense that maybe it wasn't at the top of its game the way it had been with the quincy jones three-album thriller this is the least of it but still so it's still very good but it's a transitional album there's no tempered rod in it michael jackson wants to write almost all the songs in which cedar garrett appears as you know with his collaborator in mirror man but michael is becoming more and more Plus, His Bad Adult Self went straight to number one and was the second single from the album to do so, after I Just Can't Stop Loving You, maintaining a high tempo and somewhat more adult feel to the album, Dirty.

Diana, another chart-topping track, continued to promote this new vision of Michael Jackson. Jackson was showing real versatility along the way. that he could move between dance music and rock music and very convincingly um and it was interesting also that he was becoming more overtly sexual and sexually assertive um a song like Dirty Diana, I mean , there she is, she is a groupie and a predator. and she is a seductress and he is really getting into the song and the intensity of the emotions there i am what you need she looked me deep in the eyes she touched me so to stop she says diana it just reminded me of someone losing their virginity or dare I say it, you meet the best partner of your life and someone who completely blows you away and I remember thinking I wish I was her, yeah it's goodbye to little michael jackson that's for sure and he's trying to be sexier , he's revealing more of his own flesh, which is interesting, he's grabbing his crotch, he's being more overtly sexual in some of the lyrics, but it doesn't hold up, it was like we couldn't be fooled, there's a sense of a new kind of bravery really and a new um uh. realism, a kind of urban realism that he's bringing to the table that was very in tune with the times and in tune with the late '80s, where I mean, Guns and Roses were kind of massive and rock music was going through a renaissance at that time. time, so he was tapping into those influences in the wake of Michael's death, one song in particular came out, the song that defined his character, the Godfather in the Mirror, was released in January 1988 and was one of the top three hits in the United States despite not including Jackson's main traits such as an elaborate video and dance routine, the song demonstrated Michael's strong humanitarian nature after his death, Man in the Mirror has become the great song and takes on additional intensity, but at the time it was one of a very good selection of songs that only got. at 21 in Britain Mine and the Mirror is the most popular song after his death, it became the most downloaded song and in a way if you said one song was Michael Jackson's most honest song, Man in the Mirror , and the most reverberant. song in terms of how it would have related to other people with his fan base, look at yourself and make a change, man in the mirror underlined a long-standing trend in Jackson's music that called for world unification and peace with songs like can you feel it we are the world and then we heal the world song of the earth and others michael was able to express his desire to help people as the 1980s came to an end michael jackson was inarguably the biggest superstar of the decade and He had achieved a status that saw his music and videos become embedded in popular culture.

When the '90s indicated that there was a new direction for Jackson, Jackson sought to infuse his sound with more dance and hip-hop. flavors and teamed up with producer Teddy Riley, who injected elements of new jack swing into the album in an emerging decade where pop music was now giving way to new variations of rap and rock jackson aiming to conquer this ever-changing landscape. when the dangerous arises. I had another four years for the music to change, another four years for him to change and now we are post Quincy Jones and the influences maturing musically and anything I did to tone down any excess feeling there might have been is gone. there was a fight there, um you know, because quincy in certain ways maybe got more credit than he should have for the thriller because, in fact, michael was a lot of thriller, most of the thriller was in the demos, i mean, Michael did a phenomenal job getting that album together, Quincy facilitated its completion.

The album did a great job too, but it was Michael's record and then Michael got mad at Quincy because he thought Quincy was taking credit for things Michael had done and then they got into a little fight. there are no restrictions now michael is co-producing he is writing he is in charge and that is why we are going to get a purer michael jackson to eat this tonight. um black or white was really a plea for racial harmony and that's clear in the video in the video that We have everyone from dancing Russian Cossacks to African tribes and it's clearly about racial unity and I think Michael himself felt very deeply that in a sense it represented all of these different groups.

I remember the first time, in all honesty, here dressed in black. or white, I remember saying, oh, that's so cheesy, thinking, oh, what a statement to make, then I watched the video and thought, "I got it," when I saw the faces morphing into yes and no, you know, and becoming one, I thought, "okay." I actually understand what he is trying to say. It wasn't cheesy at all. It was actually something that really protected gang clubs and nations and caused pain in human relationships. I'm not going to spend my life being black, you agree with me. Black or White was a huge number one record in America, but it's not a lasting favorite in the canon.

The red, the rap dates it on the one hand and that is the problem of succumbing to novelty trying to please too much because rap had become popular michael thought okay I have to incorporate a rap you don't have to do anything michael you are michael jackson just know michael jackson sings ben he sings something like ben and everyone is going to like it but in trying to please he came out with the song black or white it was an undeniable success and with it michael jackson became the first artist since the beatles to reach first place in The US within three weeks of its release and also the first American artist since Elvis Presley entered the UK charts directly at number one and topped the charts in 17 other countries.

Black or White was truly a global song. Although Jackson had dominated the 1980s, the 1990s were proving to be difficult terrain to negotiate. Dangerous had been produced with modern ones. format in mind and therefore its 77 minute running time would be more suitable for CD than vinyl. The modern feel also carried over into the music as Michael struggled to remain relevant in the dangerous new decade. It came out in '91 and it just showed Michael how he always had his finger on the pulse, you know he was really aware of where the music was going. He has been criticized a lot for becoming white in some ways and being less black, but he has always had the support of the African-American community and the black community in general. and I and I think it's there in the music, it's like he never abandoned, okay, he might have changed the color of his skin, but in terms of his music, he never abandoned his roots in rb and soul music and with dangerous um, a track like jam just shows how. um, totally up to date at the time he was with the new kind of black urban dance rhythms and incorporating them in a way that was really sophisticated.

We must live every day like this. I love it. In fact, everyone loved the music. Everyone around me was saying: Have you heard the new Michael Jackson song? It's incredible because it was great and I know it like you know it, because for us it was like Michael Jackson from the 80s great and all legend, but not great. Great from the 90s, but when he came out with Down it was great. Jam was a consistent hit for Jackson and with nine single releases in total, all charting, he maintained his place as the world's leading artist; However, although his music was well received by critics, Jackson himself was now under fire as rumors and tabloid speculation began to increase. out of control as it seemed to become more and more eccentric released in october 1992 michael wanted to heal the world to be another global anthem to highlight the need for change, but in some corners his stance on the matter seemed too sentimental and only became bitter when he started to project this image of the semi-messianic personality but the loose shirt with the wind machine and the song of the earth heal the world feelings type the type of thing that jarvis cocker was demonstrating against someone who had existed for a long time with who would be uncomfortable with this, he wasn't born for this, he did this himself and sure there were some young fans who believed him and followed him, but you knew this wasn't healthy in a special appearance at the 1993 Super Bowl that Jackson made , "Heal the World to a." television audience of more than one hundred million people today we are together around the world united in a common purpose to remake the planet into a haven of joy, understanding and kindness no one should have to suffer especially our children this time we must succeed this is To the children of the world that I know, there is no need to cry, we have a media, possibly especially here in England, you know, compared to America, this is very negative and loves to tear people down, you know, because Michael really did something. you know amazing things he clearly cared about the environment he clearly cared about so many causes and really not just for show before going on stage michael jackson marked his return to britain with gifts for underprivileged children gave the britain variety club six gifts trainers, will be used to take children from around the country to their other shows in the UK before taking them to schools.

I would say that children will always have a special place in my heart, so from Heal the World and from myself I present to you this gift that is more. Where does this come from,

thank

you, I wasn't really that focused on his strange eccentricities, so I mean that in itself is very sad, you know clearly, I mean, you know we all have different sides, but clearly at least one part of us. he was kind and loving, you know, he had a conscience, we don't hear much about it, you know he had the heel that the world trusts and you know he is one of the celebrities who has donated the most to charitable causes, Michael, now he is a great my pleasure. present you a check for a million dollars, this represents the money that pepsicola is committed to raising in europe this summer with our best wishes or healing the world and yet he was so quiet about it, it wasn't something he particularly shouted about um, but he really echoed his thoughts through his music, um songs like Kill the World and Man in the Mirror and Black or White, they all had this feeling of togetherness and kind of a sense of unity about it.

Michael started the Heal the World Foundation in 1992, whose purpose was to raise money and awareness about the plight of children around the world living with illness and poverty. Since its inception, the charity has raised millions of dollars for the causes it supports, including many donations from Jackson himself, as well as all the profits from his dangerous world tour, I believe. dangerous was really in a lot of ways you could see that that album was michael jackson's last as the king of pop and the main kind of global superstar, i think after that his career went in quite strange and strange directions and in a way in that he started to lose his way after the dangerous thing and that he had personal problems that were about to derail him.

I asked everyone to wait and hear the truth before labeling or condemning me, don't treat me like a criminal because I am innocent in the summer of 1993, while Jackson was still at the peak of his fame. He was accused of child abuse, which caused a media frenzy. The killing deeply disturbed Jackson and was settled out of court. Insufficient evidence also meant that no criminal proceedings were initiated. He concluded that because the young man who was the catalyst for this investigation recently informed us that he does not wish to participate in any criminal proceedings in which hename as a victim, we must reject the prosecution involving Mr.

Jackson. Despite this conclusion, Jackson and his career never fully recovered after a two-year absence during which Michael had married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, returned with a huge double album and his world tour history included a greatest hits album and a second album of new superstar material, although his fans did not abandon him, the media attention regarding his personal life did not would decline and, as he had before, Jackson responded through his music by releasing the single Screen with his sister Janet. I think Scream was a really interesting song because I know one thing he did was showcase Janet, who was, you know, a pretty popular artist in her own right.

It was cooler to say you like Janet than Michael at the time, so she was showing that she was supporting her brother, you know? in that video it's a fantastic video, so it's a hot song and it's a great video there, it's fantastic, done in that kind of spaceship, and you know, this idea revolved around Michael Jackson's videos, which he It's different, that is. it's another place that you know and and and and they're in this blank space and all these indignities that are piling up on him and it's that thing where he's always making contact with the audience, they're always feeling this is my, this is my p and this is my then , but at that point, you know, unlike the man in the mirror, where you know, I really buy these kind of soft swirls and, I mean, I think screaming is a big piece of rock, tell me.

When the story was published I went against the media opinion and went on breakfast television and said I wasn't going to believe this. This is a sad deterioration of a person who happens to be a great talent. Michael spent or was reported to have spent seven. million dollars on that video to spend seven million dollars basically on a complaint is extraordinary, I mean, what a distortion of perspective, you know, the cost of the video was a little bit like, oh, come on, you know, do we really need to spend that much? money because it's almost like you're spending so much money, but then you're talking about the fact that you want to be humanitarian, spend less and give half the budget to a charity, so I think that was a huge contradiction and it brings your sister involved like did it with Janet and show that he was completely unhappy with this aspect of his life, it was distressing to watch if you realized it wasn't entertainment, this is real, this guy doesn't like press attention, he's suffering and he's bringing on his sister, he was an extraordinarily attractive recording artist at the time to help make the point and he's spending seven million dollars to say don't write things about me.

I don't see how anyone could react any other way than to say this. It's really sad if his life wasn't derailing the train was shaking that should have been a real warning to everyone in typical jackson tradition. Scream garnered critical acclaim for its music and video and was a solid top five hit in the United States. In the United States and the United Kingdom, however, the reality of Jackson's relationship with media intrusion was somewhat overlooked even though it had appeared many times in other songs such as Leave Me Alone and Why You Want to Trip. With me with Jackson, now apparently a more fragile artist, there were signs.

His loneliness is evident in the story in songs like You Are Not Alone which was released on August 15, 1995 and was the first song in the history of the Billboard 100 to debut at number one. You are not alone, it was a really flawed song that he made. I feel so sorry for him, he seemed vulnerable, but it showed me a whole new Michael. I mean, this isn't the same guy who was out there playing beat it and you know, this dynamic, fantastic guy just seemed nice. defeated when he released that song, yes, there were certain songs in the story where you felt an intense feeling that Michael was alone at the top and it's kind of a cliché, but I think it's

true

that once you get to that level , The normal family and community ties that you had and nurtured seemed to disappear and he became more and more isolated and surrounded himself with yes people and rather strange advisors, people in his position who also know that they understand that they are at the top. of a pyramid and who are there happens inside that pyramid people who just say yes and uh that's a problem for a lot of people in Michael's position you're not here with me you never said goodbye someone tell me why you had to leave and I'm leaving my world so cold every day the indifferent air about these songs that something quite exaggerated but not really rooted in anything and it is there in the music also the grandiose and enormous gestures of the music but somehow it is not much the rhythms are not locked in the way they were, there are songs now, when you look at songs like you're not alone, they become, they're not, it's hard to think of them as both compositions and responses, they're very mediated, this idea that um He wanted to have privacy Well, why would you be out doing what he does?

He must feel this to want to do it because no one would be so embarrassed or so committed unless they really felt it and I did. I think this is a car accident and I don't want to see it. The story marked a significant downfall in Michael's career. Although on a worldwide number one album, there was anger in the music that made the artist focus more on responding or attacking the people who were trying to bring him down more than anything else with his career heading into a decline in his life. Personal and his relationship with the media in disarray Michael tried to disappear even further from the public eye during his historic tour.

He had married nurse Debbie Rowe and in 1997 had two children with her, although their relationship was not going to last on the front. Musically, Jackson released a remix album Blood on the Dancefloor in which several story tracks were remixed as well as a handful of new songs, but the album was seen as a disappointment to critics and despite reaching No. 1. in Europe it went practically unnoticed in the American market. The blood on the dance floor was surprising to me because I was gone for two weeks. I think I was working on some project in the United States and I came back.

Michael Jackson had been number one and fallen out of the top 20. All in the space of the two weeks I was out, which told you how fast the chart was moving in those days, but it also told you how Michael's fans now they were concentrated among the Jacksonites who would buy everything on the first day and then not cross it they reeked a little of desperation to make money and say, "hey, I'm still relevant, I'm still relevant, you know, I'm still cool people." I would buy absolutely anything Michael Jackson released. You know, it would have a certain audience.

You know that he would never be completely forgotten, but you know that he is almost like a person who has reached a certain age trying to dress in teenage clothes. I started to have that impression a little. This was the situation he found himself in now. It had lost the wider audience due to this excess of sentimentality. It was questionable in terms of why because it's the only album we don't see in every aspect. reinvention we've had a time out he's been writing he's back with a new look there's a new one this there's a new era like oh here it is and what is it oh there's a couple of new tracks but this is the body of what I wonder if that it was money oriented in the sense that you know you need to generate some sales, you need to generate some income.

Things are happening, we have to put things in their place and there was a little space where you know he was obviously going through what he was. going on and it seemed more like a stopgap album to me and it's interesting that the Blood on the Dancefloor album was a pretty good hit in Britain, but it was a flop in America and it took off commercially in the States. The blood on the dance floor had shown that Jackson's career was struggling to live up to his past successes. The king of pop was being left in the wilderness as the public preferred to engage with him in the glossy pages of celebrity gossip magazines rather than listen to his music having apparently been away from the spotlight for almost five years, michael jackson returned with their last studio album, Invincible, which was released in 2001 and was the first album to include all new material since Dangerous 10 years earlier, but like blood on the dance floor, it was only I'm going to underline the fact that the Jackson's relevance as an artist was passing when he appeared with Invincible, in the eyes of Americans he is an Altis artist, he is not a current actor and the album only sells two and a half million, compared to previous figures.

It's a disastrous fall, of course, if someone had started with two and a half million, you'd think, hey, this is great, but he really seemed to see in that that he was just hanging on to people to write with people to do something in the style . and, ironically, the most successful song was Butterflys with floatry, which is incredible, if I could have been in contact with higher quality young groups like Poesía, it could have been a better album. I think there was a slight air of desperation in those last few. album, I mean, it's interesting that for the invincible album dr dre, a major hip-hop producer, was asked if he would do some production and he declined and I think that's a great moment because 10 years before, dr dre would have jumped on there's a chance you wouldn't reject michael jackson, but it's interesting that he did so at the time, which shows how much his career had really declined.

So I mean, Jackson is tired at this point, he would say he's not just tired creatively, but mentally tired. mentally in his ability to always see culture well and use it, whether for himself or for the brilliance of the music, that aspect, that skill, that spark, it's hard to discern about invincible compared to his previous works, Invincible, They were unable to compete and some critics felt that this was because Jackson was out of control and lacked a figure in the Quincy Jones mold to offer the star an occasional check on reality. Michael had everyone so talented.

As he always has, he has lost nothing. The problem I really think is that Quincy focused on things and likes to record the number of songs like this last album where they recorded, I don't know, 60 or 70 songs, I mean, that just wouldn't have happened. I mean, Quincy and Michael would have gone on, they would have picked the top 10, 15 or 20, they would have eliminated all that other stuff and they would have come up with 12 songs that were great because Quincy would have been a great advisor on that level. i would say to michael, you know michael was going to maybe michael would be a little bit out of touch and make some statement that wouldn't necessarily work very well in public the queen says you can't say that and michael would laugh and they would say, you know?

I mean, quincy was like a father to him on that level and he was a straight shooter with the idea that who's holding michael jackson now no one's holding him back but no one's going to tap him on the shoulder and tell him they know because they're in a different world and you know the people that are around them have uh they have no end to doing that because they know that they prevented that from ever being a reality in the way that it has been allowed to grow and become an unviable icon that is due to an ongoing contractual dispute with Sony Jackson.

Sony Jackson's final offering was not promoted well and there was no supporting tour. A special concert was organized at Madison Square Gardens to celebrate Michael's 30 years in music, which saw him perform with a host of other big names and also saw him reunite and perform with his brothers once again. The 2000s were not the happiest of decades for Jackson, despite celebrating the birth of his third child in 2002. Michael's world and personal life once became the center of attention. Once again, a documentary by journalist Martin Bashir painted the star in an unfavorable light, but was later considered biased and unfair by critics; however, it led to more accusations of child abuse.

Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court. i deserve a fair trial like any other american citizen i will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told reed breeds greed mr jackson now realizes that the advice he received was wrong he should have fought these actions to the end and justified himself by publicity The recent news regarding these agreements is unfair and detrimental to him, his family and his dedication to the children of the world. The charges he faces are false and will be fought in a court of law within our justice system.

He is innocent and will be vindicated this time. case went to court and jackson was acquitted of all charges jackson left the courtroom taking the steps of a dazed man on a walk he must have wondered if he would ever be free to take duringThis time the star's health was also called into question when he began to look frail and world-weary, the case had crippled Michael financially and he moved as far away from the spotlight as possible with all the legal and personal problems in his life, Music had taken a back seat, several compilations and reissues were released, but there was no new music planned from the artist.

In 2009, Jackson made a surprise announcement after teaming up with AEG, he was going to play 10 nights at the O2. London Arena at the end of the year. Tickets sold out in minutes and the number of dates increased to a staggering 50 nights. which also sold out, making it the best-selling concert series of all time, doubts soon arose about Michael's ability to complete such a grueling residency in his current state of health, but rehearsals were underway and reports from camp of jackson indicated that the star was happy. and enjoying the preparations for his return, however, it never took place on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson collapsed at his home due to a suspected heart attack and was declared dead that afternoon, history offers us precedents and all the presidents tell us that the artist's personal eccentricities have been forgotten over time if Mozart really had Tourette's syndrome if he really liked toilet humor it doesn't matter and we don't waste time thinking about it but we think about the artist and so it will be with generations Future people who will not have experienced everything Michael is taking a bath in Perrier stories will only have the records and the videos and the work will speak for itself, I think that when we look back, and then you will know that there are certain signifiers that will jump out and the white glove the military jacket the moon walk and those are the moments of true innovation the falsetto singing um but particularly the dancing that that um in the way that fred astaire you knew was like magic I definitely think that michael created uh right certain styles that people take for granted all the younger kids that have come up since the '80s take for granted that we were older they saw that michael was innovating and creating these things, but the use of the way records are put together now is the use of uh, the way the background vocals are stacked, uh, the way the rhythm track is put together, built piece by piece, the way the leader works against the backgrounds and the track, it was all invaded by michael michael Jackson will go down in history as one of the greatest artists of all time, although he will remain a tragic figure in the eyes of some, he approached his life and career with passion and an infectious happiness and the world will miss the undisputed kingdom, oh you