So sad. Early Life of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was child number seven out of nine brothers and sisters. He was born August 29, 1958 in the popular Gary, Indiana which is outside of Chicago. His parents were average working class people. Michael’s mother was a Jehovah Witness and his dad, “Joe” Jackson worked in a steel mill and was in a band called “The Falcons”. The Falcons played R&B music and was popular around the Chicago area.
Michael never got along with his father. He has stated in the past that he was mentally and physically abused by Joe during band practices with the Jackson 5. His father would call him names, whip him but Michael said that this in fact made him a better performer and pop star.
Michael showed that he had talent while performing at his school in front of his classmates. He loved to star in the plays at school from kindergarten all the way through high school. Michael and the Jackson 5 began touring as early as 1966 and the tour lasted several years afterwards.
The Jackson 5 shortly after, signed a contract with CBS records and then renamed the band, “The Jacksons”. They began touring all over the world for CBS records and Michael was the lead songwriter. During this time, Michael also stared in musicals along side of Quincy Jones. Jones saw the talent that The Jacksons had and decided to be the producer of the next solo album called “Off the Wall”.
Michael has always had the best music video, most popular dance routines and commercials from some of the biggest companies in the world. One of his most famous music videos was “Thriller”. He most remembered commercial was the Pepsi commercial when Michael Jackson was burned on his head, face and scalp. He received third degree burns and had to undergo rhinoplasty after the incident. Pepsi settled with Michael and was awarded $1.5 million which Michael then donated to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California. This medical center is now called the Michael Jackson Burn Center, in honor of his donation.
Michael has been in the tabloids since his younger years and nothing much changed throughout his career. Many stories started to unfold about the King of Pop when it was reported that he slept in an oxygen bed so that he could slow his aging. He also bought a chimpanzee named “Bubbles” from a laboratory, which many people though to be odd for the King of Pop.
What do you think about Michael’s childhood? Was it normal? Did this cause Michael to die younger than he should have? Did this cause Michael to become addicted to drugs?
