In the years since Michael Jackson made his first national television appearance with his brothers at the age of11, he has evolved from a singing and dancing soul-music prodigy to the self-proclaimed but widely acknowledged "King of Pop." At his early-Eighties zenith, still riding the crest of his best selling album to date, Thriller, spot lit in his trademark red zippered jacket and single white sequined glove, he was ubiquitous. 

A superb businessman, Jackson has exerted unparalleled control over his career since he and his brothers (sans Jermaine) left Motown for Epic Records in 1975. As a singer, dancer, and writer, Jackson’s talent is unassailable, and he created one of the most intriguing personas in popular music, at once childlike and obsessed with control. With the passage of time, and especially since 1993, it is Jackson’s personality that has dominated headlines formerly dedicated to his prodigious artistic accomplishments and humanitarian efforts. His charity work was enormous and focused always on his highly publicized and self-admitted identification with children. Infatuated with Peter Pan and ET., Jackson seemed a kind of childlike extraterrestrial: benign (if in an eerie way), either sexless or sexually ambiguous, neither black nor white. Secluded by his celebrity, he appeared to touch down to earth only on stage or videotape; fanatically private, he generated endless gossip. 

In1993 with allegations of child molestation, his career was rocked with scandal as gargantuan as his fame. Not since Shirley Temple has a child star so entranced the American public, and the massive public soul-searching the allegations against Jackson inspired were but one indication of the almost only pop music but pop culture. Jackson returned to the tabloids in 1994 with the shocking announcement that he had wed Lisa Marie Presley, an act that led to even more speculation about his motives but that undeniably made him the son-in-law of the late Elvis Presley. The Jackson 5’s lead singer and focal point, Michael became more popular than the group as the Eighties began. An alliance with Paul McCartney, who had written "Girlfriend" for Off the Wall. The two reconvened to co-write the duet "The Girl Is Mine" 

It was 1983 that marked Jackson’s complete ascension. With Jones again producing, Thriller yielded, in addition to "The Girl Is Mine," two other hit singles by early 1983 -- "Billie Jean" (#1, 1983)and "Beat It" (#1, 1983) (with a guitar solo delivered gratis by Eddie Van Halen) -- and went on to become the best-selling album in history, with over45 million copies sold worldwide. Charting at #1 in every Western country, it spent a record 37 weeks at U.S. #1. The first album ever to simultaneously head the singles and albums charts for both R&B and pop, it eventually generated an unprecedented seven Top Ten singles In 1985 Jackson co-wrote with Lionel Richie "We Are The World," the theme song for USA for Africa, to benefit famine relief. Jackson released Bad in 1987.Its 17-minute title track video was directed by Martin Scorsese. In 1991 Jackson released Dangerous, which topped the charts so did the tour. And his last album was History.