The Way You Make Me Feel (A Tribute To The Legend... Michael Jackson)

Member Name: DixieChick101

Product:	A Tribute To The Legend... Michael Jackson
Date:	05/07/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: He was an exceptional musician, however will not be remembered just for that

Disadvantages: He will not just be remembered as the king of pop, but Wacko Jacko as well .

I think this review could be quite controversial as my opinions on the death of this man are not sad, I don't think I really have any opinions on his death, and that'll come across when I write my review. I am writing in the subject of 'What are YOUR thoughts of the life of the King Of Pop?', so I hope I don't offend anyone by my opinion of him.

I am going to lay this out a bit like a biography and then put my opinions about this part of his life, the biography part is all facts that I have read about his life, I don't know everything about MJ so if I get anything wrong, please tell me and I'll alter it.

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Michael Jackson- Early Years
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Michael Jackson was born August 29th 1958 in Gary Indiana, United States, he was the seventh child to his parents and at the age of 10 he made his debut as a member of the Jackson Five. It wasn't until 1971 that he while still a member of the group flew solo and started the successful career that made him king of pop.

Michael later in 1993 talked about his childhood in great detail to Oprah Winfrey, he said he was a very lonely child and was terrified of his father, even vomiting when he saw him. It came out that he was psychically and emotionally abused by his father from a young age, and 10 years after this interview Joseph Jackson actually admitted to hitting his children.

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_My Opinion_
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His childhood had an obvious effect on him when he grew up, was his childhood the reason he was nearly convicted of child abuse? I can't be sure, I'm sure the fact that 'he never grew up' stems from his childhood, there is no doubt about that. It is obvious he never had a childhood and in his later years, maybe all of the allegations that came out were just families looking for a good wad of cash.

I have watched enough Criminal Minds/Bones/CSI over the years to know, that a lot of serial killers urges stem from their childhood, maybe them being abused or not really having a childhood, so there is a good chance that Michael may have become the abuser in later years like he was partially as a child as he thought it was right as that was all he knew.

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Michael Jackson- Teen Years
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The Jackson 5 left Motown records in 1975 after they realised that they had very little input in the music that they were producing and their sales were declining quite quickly. In 1975 they joined CBS Records (Epic Records later on) and they were now renamed The Jacksons. In the period between 1976-1984 they released a total of 6 albums, and Michael being the lead songwriter of the group had written hits like Shake Your Body and Can You Feel It?.

MJ's love of surgery began in 1979 at the age of 19 when an accident caused him to break his nose. He had rhinoplasty surgery but that was not a success so he was referred to a specialist who fixed that problem and many 'others' later in life.

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_My Opinion_
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I think this was the stage that Michael became addicted to surgery, I know he denies having lots of different surgeries, but the only people who can't see he's had a lot is blind people. His obsession began after an accident and it stemmed into the rest of his life and his inability to feel good about his image.

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Michael Jackson- Early 20's
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In 1982 he wrote and sung Someone In The Dark for the ET movie, which won him a Grammy, and Epic records wanted another album, so Michael delivered with a little unknown album called Thriller. I'm not sure if you've heard of it or not.

All joking aside, this album was the apex of Michael Jackson's career, even I have it and I wasn't alive at the point of the release of the album. It remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. Thriller went onto sell 109 million copies, and that's not even counting the ones that I'm sure have sold since his death. It was the best selling album EVER.

In 1984, he suffered a setback from the all the success he was having, he was filming a Pepsi Cola advert and suffered second degree burns to his head. This resulted in his third rhinoplasty surgery.

It was noticeable during the 1980's that MJ was growing paler. It drew in a lot of controversy, including people saying he was bleaching his skin to become white. He was however diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus during the mid 80's which meant he was sensitive to sunlight. It was also noticeable that the shape of his face was changing; it looked like he'd had multiple surgeries.

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_My Opinion _
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This was probably the highlight of MJ's career, Thriller is to this day the best selling album ever, I even have it in my collection and I'm not his biggest fan. Thriller made Michael Jackson a household name, however I think this fame was the reason that Michael may be a little bit twisted towards the end.

The accident that happened with the Pepsi advert probably caused a lot of Michael's problems as well, he lost his hair at this point and from then on had to wear a wig, he suffered second degree burns and that had to do something for his confidance. It was the controversy surrounding his skin in this decade that really was a talking point, was he bleaching his skin or did he really have vitiligo?

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Michael Jackson- Late 20's
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He started to cause controversy when he brought a Chimpanzee called Bubbles and even the bones of the Elephant Man. It was in the early 90's that he got his nickname, Wacko Jacko.

In 1987 he released his next album called Bad, whereas it did not reach the success that Thriller had, it was in no way a 'bad' album, pardon the pun. This included songs like Man In The Mirror, Dirty Diana, Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel. All of which got great success.

Just before his 30th birthday he released his first autobiography called Moon Walk. He told of his childhood, his experiences within the music industry and probably the most controversial the surgeries he has had or hasn't had. In the same year he brought land in California to build the Neverland Ranch which cost him $17million, this ranch included a ferris wheel and movie theatre, this ranch later became the cause of quite a bit of controversy.

He was however not only nicknamed Wacko Jacko but 'The King Of Pop', the name that is being thrown around a lot at the moment.

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_My Opinion_
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This was the time where nicknames came out for Michael Jackson, both of which are well known, Wacko Jacko due to his antics and The King Of Pop, as he was truly the best pop singer ever. He caused controversy when he brought the Neverland Ranch, a place that did him no good in future years when he was facing child abuse allegations. This ranch proved that this man, was truly a Peter Pan at heart, he never really grew up because from a young age, he had to be a man.

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Michael Jackson- Early 30's
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In 1991 he released Dangerous, it has sold 7 million copies in the US and 32 million in worldwide, and is one of the most successful new jack albums ever. The song Black and White was the albums first release and it is it's biggest hit as well.

The 35th Annual Grammy Awards saw Michael win the Living Legend Award and Black or White was nominated for best vocal performances.

His early 30's were probably one of the hardest part for Michael Jackson, in 1993 he told all on a interview with Oprah Winfrey, and talked about his childhood and the fact that even today he is a very lonely person. In the same year, a young boy called Jordan Chandler came out saying that Jackson had touched him inappropriately. This accusation was fuelled by Chandlers father Evan, who was on the rampage to get Jackson's career to end. His mother however, denied these accusations and said that Jackson was innocent, and multiple children denied he abused them. A year later, the Chandler's stepped down with a healthy sum of $22 million in their bank account.

This was the turning point for The King Of Pop, I don't think he was the same ever again, he started popping pills to stop pain and panic attacks, and he became addicted to the drugs and he became anorexic for a while. In this year however he also met Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, they had met decades prior but met up again in 1993. They married in 1994, but divorced in 1996.

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_My Opinion_
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This part of Jacksons career was probably the hardest for him, it finally changed people's opinions of him, I'm sure all of you have heard at least one joke about Michael Jackson and child abuse, which is a shame as we will never know if the Chandlers were just after the $22 million settlement or they were telling the truth. It was weird that the mother was denying all of the claims however.

Even if the claims were false or true, it changed the public's opinion of this icon and he was never really the same again.

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Michael Jackson- 30's/Early 40's
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In 1995 he released a double album called HIStory, this album was best selling multi disk album ever sold and it received a Grammy nomination. One of the songs on the album was called Scream, which he sung with his younger sister Janet. You are Not Alone was another song from the album and then Earth Song which was his most successful single in the UK/.

In 1997 he met Derborah Jeanne Rowe who gave him two children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr or Prince, and a daughter called Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, and the couple divorced in 1999, giving the full custody of the children to Jackson. In 2002, Prince Michael Jackson II or Blanket was born by a surrogate mother. He created controversy in this year, by dangling his new son out of window with a cloth covering the baby's face. He later apologised, but this incident has never been forgotten.

In 2003, Martin Bashir released a documentary called 'Living With Michael Jackson'. He interviewed Michael over the span of 8 months, and was probably the breaking point for Michael Jackson. The footage, which was obviously heavily edited, saw the singer holding hands with children and admitting to sharing beds with kids, including a young boy called Gavin Arvizo who later accused him of child abuse.

After this footage was shown, he was charged with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of admitting a intoxicating agent. These charges involved Arivzo who was 14 at the time. The trial began in 2005, and the trial lasted five months and he was acquitted on all accounts. In this time however, he became drug dependant again and lost a lot of weight.

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_My Opinion_
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I'm sure this portion of his life was his greatest joy, however at the same time the worst part of his life. He thought the accusations were over, and he had three children who were all in his care, he wanted to boost his public opinion again so let Martin Bashir into his home. It is known now that Bashir heavily edited the television show, including points where he praises Jackson on his parentage skills, however in the television show you see him saying that Jackson should not be allowed kids. I'm sure this was a horrible point in Jackson's life, I know he brought it on himself by admitting to sharing beds with kids, but if you look back on his past and the fact that he still believed he was only a kid, then maybe he was just watching tv with these kids.

The trial was a hard point for Jackson and I don't think he ever really came back from it. It obviously was a hard point in his life and it might have had something to do with his untimely death.

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Michael Jackson- Late 40's/50
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In 2008, Michael reached the age of 50, and for that Sony BMG released a series of compilation albums called King Of Pop. These included tracks from his solo and group career. This was not a good year for Michael though as financial problems got the better of him and the neverland ranch was threatened to be closed. In November 2008, Fotress sold Jackson's debt to Colony Capital LLC and the ranch's title changed to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC. This deal cleared his debt.

In 2009, Jackson announced that he was to perform 50 concerts at the O2 arena in London. They would have started on the 13th July and finished on the 6th March 2010. The concerts became sold out very quickly, however on June 25th 2009, he collapsed and died.

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_My Opinion_
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This was the stage in Jackson's life where we all thought he was turning things around again, when he announced he was doing 50 tours, I know quite a few of my mates went mad, and managed to get tickets for the tour. It was a known fact really that Jackson was not going to do the tour, no one actually believed he'd make it up until 50 dates, I think even a fit young music star would struggle with that, let alone a 50 year old quite frail man.

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Michael Jackson- His Death
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Unfortunately the first time I heard about Michael Jackson's death was through a text at 8am in the morning waking me up. It was of course a joke, and throughout the rest of the day my inbox slowly filled up with jokes about Michael Jackson.

He apparently died of a heart attack, however rumours that drugs were induced are still flying around, like most things in Jackson's life, we'll never know.

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Final Opinion
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Whether you believed the allegations of Michael Jackson and child abuse or not, you can't deny that this man was a legend, everyone in the world knows who he is and you can appreciate that over the 40+ years that he was in the entertainment business he delivered each and every time he released an album. The songs he produced were catchy and I'm sure a lot of performers look up to him even now.

What are my thoughts on the life of the King of Pop? I think the man was severely troubled, I myself don't believe the accusations of child abuse, I think a lot more names would have come out if it was true, I think a lot of families, used their children to get the settlement after they learnt of the close friendship between Jackson and their child. Yes, the friendship may have been too close for man and child however, I don't think it ever went more than Jackson looking for a friend, he has admitted he was a lonely child and now is a lonely man, so maybe finding a friend of the age he was when he became famous was his way of becoming normal again.

I think he had a very troubled life however people are not going to forget him, he really did produce some amazing, brilliant music and you can't doubt that he was a very talented person. He did die quite young and he has left behind three children, are they better off without him? Maybe, but I still think they will grow up surrounded by all of the controversy that their dad created over the years.

(C) Kirsty 2009

Summary: You'll remember him, not just because of his music, but the controversy surrounding him as well