Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972
Here's a time line of Michael Jackson
- 1958–1975 - Early life and the Jackson 5
- 1975–1981 - Move to Epic and Off the Wall
- 1982–1983 - Thriller and Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
- 1984–1985 - Pepsi, "We Are the World", and business career
- 1986–1987 - Changing appearance, tabloids, and films
- 1987–1990 - Bad, autobiography, and Neverland
- 1991–1993 - Dangerous, Heal the World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII halftime show
- 1993–1995 - First child sexual abuse accusations and first marriage
- 1995–1997 - History, second marriage, and fatherhood
- 1997–2002 - Label dispute and Invincible
- 2002–2005 - Second child sexual abuse allegations, trial, and acquittal
Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, near Chicago, on August 29, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, a working-class African-American family living in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street.
In 1975, the Jackson 5 left Motown. They signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records, and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Their younger brother Randy joined the band around this time
Jackson recorded with Queen singer Freddie Mercury from 1981 to 1983, recording demos of "State of Shock", "Victory" and "There Must Be More to Life Than This"
In November 1983, Jackson and his brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke records for a celebrity endorsement.
Jackson's skin had been medium-brown during his youth, but from the mid-1980s gradually grew paler. The change drew widespread media coverage, including speculation that he had been bleaching his skin.
Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated, with the industry expecting another major success. It became the first album to produce five US number-one singles: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana"
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal, beating Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records.
In August 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler, and his father, Evan Chandler. Jordan said he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex.
The first single from HIStory was "Scream/Childhood". "Scream", a duet with Jackson's youngest sister Janet, protests the media's treatment of Jackson during the 1993 child abuse allegations against him.
From October 1997 to September 2001, Jackson worked on his tenth solo album, Invincible, which cost $30 million to record. In June 1999, Jackson joined Luciano Pavarotti for a War Child benefit concert in Modena, Italy.
On December 18, 2003, Santa Barbara authorities charged Jackson with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of intoxicating a minor with alcoholic drinks.