20B: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was one of the most popular singers in the history of pop music. His sound, style, music videos, and dancing influenced countless people. He was known as “the King of Pop.”
Michael was born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana, which is just outside of Chicago. (Can you find Chicago on a map?) He was the eighth of ten children in the family.
The Jacksons were a poor family. They lived in a two-bedroom house.
The Jackson family was very musical. When he was six, Michael joined his brothers to form the Jacksons 5. By the time he was ten, Michael was famous. Here’s one of their biggest hits.
He made four solo albums as a teen-ager. (A “solo album” means that he did most of it himself, instead of with a group.) When he was 21, he scored a big hit with the album Off the Wall. (Question 1: If he was 21, what year would this have been?) Here’s a song from it, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.”
Michael Jackson’s album Thriller, which was released in 1982, was a worldwide smash. It spent a record-breaking 37 weeks at No. 1. Today, it remains the best-selling album of all time. (Question 2 – Any idea how many copies of this album have been sold?)
Watching Michael Jackson perform was a thriller. (Get it?) He was electrifying. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him. It was during the Thriller era that he created his signature dance move, the “moonwalk.” Here, at the 3:38 mark, he performs it for the first time. And the crowd goes wild!
One of the appeals of the Thriller album is that it appealed to people with various musical interests – ballads, disco, rhythm and blues, and rock. “Beat It” features guitar from hard-rocker Eddie Van Halen.
Michael Jackson changed the world of music videos by working with directors who made full-length films. The video for “Thriller” was directed by John Landis, who had made several horror movies. At 14 minutes long, it was like a mini-movie. This catapulted Michael Jackson’s star even higher. Here’s a shortened version. Check out the dancing zombies!
In 1985, Harry Belafonte asked Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie if they would write a song to raise money for hungry people in Africa. Belafonte recruited several dozens of the world’s most famous singers to record “We Are the World. It was a landmark recording. How many singers in this video can you identify? How many singers that we’ve covered in these lessons can you spot?
Like many other artists, Michael Jackson believed strongly in racial harmony. That’s the subject of his 1991 song, “Black or White.”
Answers —
— “Off the Wall” came out in 1979, when Michael Jackson was 21.
— “Thriller” sold 47 million copies!
Bonus video!
Here’s the full-length video for the song “Thriller.” Pop some popcorn and cozy up!