Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson — is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, arranger, dancer, choreographer, actor, screenwriter. The most successful performer in the history of pop music, is known as the "King of Pop", winner of 15 Grammy Awards and hundreds of other awards. 25 times recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. The number of Jackson records sold in the world is 1 billion copies. Michael Jackson has made a significant contribution to the development of popular music, video clips, dance and fashion.

Michael was born August 29, 1958 in the family of Joseph and Catherine Jackson in the city of Gary (Indiana). He was the eighth of ten children. Jackson claimed that his father repeatedly humiliated him morally and physically.

Jackson appeared before classmates at Christmas concerts from the age of five

In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the "The Jacksons" - a group created by their brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermain - as back-up musicians, playing in the Congo and tambourine, respectively. Later Jackson began to perform as a backing vocalist and dancer; at the age of eight he and Jermain became the main vocalists, and the group was renamed The Jackson 5

The group toured extensively in the Midwest from 1966 to 1968. Often they performed in a number of "black" clubs and places known as "Chitlin 'circuit", often warming up the audience before striptease. In 1966, they won a local talent contest, performing with hits from Motown Records and "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown with Michael as the main vocalist

Soon the Jacksons climbed to the national level, and in 1970 their first four singles were on the first line of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gradually Michael stood out as the frontman of the children's quintet, in fact, he was the main solo part. He drew attention to his unusual manner of dance and behavior on the stage, which he copied from his idols - James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others.

On May 14, 1984, at the White House, Michael receives an award from President Ronald Reagan for supporting charitable organizations that help people overcome alcohol and drug abuse

From July 6 to December 9, 1984 in America and Canada, the Jackson brothers conduct the largest "Victory Tour" for groups of the time: 55 concerts, more than 2 million spectators, more than 75 million dollars in profit. At that time, they were world record achievements. Michael donated to the charity all his income from this tour - $ 5 million.

March 7, 1985, the single "We Are the World" (Russian "We are the World") is released. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by the most famous musicians of the USA. Funds raised from sales of $ 61.8 million were sent to help the hungry in Ethiopia.

However, the 1980s were not only marked by achievements and records.

January 27, 1984 - a day that changed a lot in the life of Michael Jackson.

Michael and his brothers were shot in advertising Pepsi. At the request of the director, he lingered in dangerous proximity to pyrotechnic devices. His hair caught fire and Michael received third degree skin burns

While in the hospital, Michael visited the children's burn department, and after that he decided instead of receiving a multi-million dollar compensation from Pepsi to open with Pepsi a children's burn center of his name.

This was the beginning of the charitable work of Michael, which he did not stop until the end of his days.

Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 as a result of an overdose of medications, in particular propofol. On the morning of June 25, 2009, Conrad Murray made Michael Jackson's injection of propofol and left the singer alone. After about 2 hours, Murray returned and saw his patient lying on the bed with wide eyes and mouth. The doctor tried to resuscitate the singer, but the attempts were unsuccessful. At 12:21 pm local time, a call to number 911 was registered. Arriving after 3 minutes and 17 seconds, doctors found no longer breathing Jackson with a stopped heart and immediately began to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Attempts to bring Jackson back to life continued along the road and within an hour after arriving at the University of California Medical Center at 13:14. These attempts were unsuccessful . Death was ascertained at 14:26 local time. The news of his death was publicized in the very first minutes after the incident. Rumors and news of the death of Michael Jackson have broken network records, provoking some kind of Internet "traffic jams" and a sharp increase in traffic on such sites as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia.