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Michael Jackson biography

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Singer-songwriter Michael Jackson's award-winning career as the King of Pop transformed the face of pop music and popular culture. He released the best-selling album in history, Thriller, in 1982. He died unexpectedly in 2009.

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In the video's final minutes, Jackson caused some controversy with his sexual gesturing and violent actions. Many were surprised to see the Peter Pan-like Jackson act in this manner.

Jackson's music continued to enjoy wide-spread popularity in the upcoming years. In 1993, he performed several important events, including the halftime show at Superbowl XXVII. Jackson gave a rare television interview,

which aired that February. Sitting down with Oprah Winfrey, he explained that the change in his skin tone was the result of a disease known as vitiligo. He also opened up about the abuse he suffered from his father.

Molestation Allegations and Career Decline

In 1993, allegations of child molestation against Jackson emerged. A 13-year-old boy claimed that the music star had fondled him. Jackson was known to have sleepovers with boys at his Neverland Ranch, but this was the first public charge of wrongdoing. The police searched the ranch, but they found no evidence to support the claim. The following year, Jackson settled the case out of court with the boy's family. Other allegations emerged, but Jackson maintained his innocence.

In August 1994, Jackson announced that he had married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock icon Elvis Presley. The couple gave a joint television interview with Diane Sawyer, but the union proved to be short-lived. They divorced in 1996. Some thought that the marriage was a publicity ploy to restore Jackson's image after the molestation allegations.

Later that same year, Jackson wed nurse Debbie Rowe. The couple had two children through artificial insemination. Son Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson Jr. was born in 1997, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson was born in 1998. Rowe and Jackson divorced in 1999, with Jackson receiving full custody of their two children. He would go on to have a third child, Prince Michael "Blanket" Jackson II, with an unknown surrogate.

Jackson's musical career began to decline with the lukewarm reception to 1995's HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I, which featured some of his earlier hits as well as new material. The record spawned two hits, "You Are Not Alone" and his duet with sister Janet Jackson, "Scream." "Scream" (the most expensive music video ever made, costing $7 million to produce) earned Michael and Janet a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form that year. Another track from the album, "They Don't Care About Us," however, brought Jackson intense criticism for using an anti-Semitic term.

By the release of 2001's Invincible, Jackson was better known as an eccentric whose quirks were reported in the tabloids than as a performer. The album sold well, but stories of his odd behavior started to overshadow his talent. He often appeared in public wearing a surgical mask, and he hid his children's faces under veils.

In 2002, Jackson made headlines when he seemed confused and disoriented on stage at an MTV awards show. Soon after, he received enormous criticism for dangling his son, Prince Michael II, over a balcony while greeting fans in Berlin, Germany.

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