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His name has become synonymous with superstardom. He was turning out million selling records when his peers were still in grade school. He has single-handily rewritten recording history. his dancing seems to defy the laws of physics. his fans are both loving and frightening. He has redefined the term: professional entertainer. he is simply, Michael Jackson. He was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary Indiana. The 7th of 9 children, Michael showed musical talent early in his life. Little Michael was a child prodigy with overwhelming musical gifts. Though Michael sang with a child's piping voice, he danced like a grown-up hoofer and sang with the R&B/gospel inflections of Sam Cooke, James Brown, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Displaying a talent far beyond his age. Michael Jackson’s biggest dream as a child was to become a singer. His brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon had already formed a small musical group and had been practicing around the house. Young Michael wanted to join the group, but was thought to be too young. In 1963, Michael, at the age of only five, performed an amazing rendition of “Climb Every Mountain” for his class at Garnett Elementary School in Gary, Indiana. His performance moved many teachers to tears and he received a standing ovation. Immediately after his stunning performance, little Michael was invited into the Jackson brother’s group as their lead singer. A lady from their neighborhood would suggest calling the group “The Jackson 5”. When the boys musical talents showed promise, Joseph Jackson, the boys’ father, took on the role of manager for The Jackson 5 and began to rehearse them before and after they went to school. He helped polish and mold the group by adding the latest songs to their repertoire and checking out what the top musicians were doing. Michael would also study the greats on television- such as James Brown and Jackie Wilson to learn the newest dance steps in order to add them to The Jackson 5’s routines. Through hard rigorous training and the winning of many talent shows, most notably their win at the Apollo theater, the Jackson 5 were getting loads of exposure. They were eventually signed to a record label. Michael and his brothers were destined for stardom. Beginning at a place called Motown.
The Jackson 5 Era, 1963-1975, would see young Michael burst onto the music scene with his brothers, The Jackson 5. Michael would also cut his first solo record at the tender age of 13 and establish himself as an accomplished and polished performer. It was the start of a career that broke almost every record in the book. For The Jackson family their lives changed almost over night. They went from obscurity to superstardom. These years were a whirlwind of performances, recording, television appearances, interviews and constant touring. They even had their own cartoon series. But it was little Michael that was getting the most attention. The way the group started off at Motown was unprecedented, when they set a chart record with their first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There") all peaking at #1 simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100, the first group to ever accomplish this feat. Significantly, they were the first black teen idols to appeal equally to white audiences. But not all of it was happy going, the Jackson 5 did experience some discrimination while they were on top. Starting in 1972, Jackson released a total of four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben. These were released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and produced successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben" and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin Robin"; one of which earned Michael his first #1 single. The Jackson 5 achieved phenomenal success, during their six years at Motown. The Jackson 5 had worked hard; recording over 450 songs of which only 174 were released. They made a total of ten studio albums and generated ten top 10 US and UK hits. They had made numerous television appearances and toured America several times. Young Michael Jackson had released four albums of his own and generated a major number #1 hit. Under Motown's direction The Jackson 5 had made a massive impact in the music world and became one of the most successful groups in recording history. The Jackson 5 epitomized the Motown slogan, "the voice of young America". And fit perfectly to Motown philosophy of reaching fans of both soul and pop music. Michael also had become the youngest vocalist ever to top the US charts. In their 7 years at Motown, the Jackson 5 had sold nearly 100 million records.
The Jacksons Era, 1975-1978, would see Michael and his brothers leave Motown and start writing and producing their own music. Before the decade was over, they recorded 3 albums for Epic records, embarked on a worldwide tour, and starred in their own TV series. The Jacksons finally had the creative control they had dreamed of. In the late 70's, Michael and his brothers worked their already perfected style into some of the best and most successful music of the time. Michael ans his brothers entered the Music video era early with a level of sophistication never seen before. And to this date The Jacksons have sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they were the second group in history to sell more than 100 million records. And according to the Guinness World Records, The Jackson's are the most successful family in music history. While the eras rolled by, the Jacksons success continued while their music changed with the changing times. But as the boys grew older, who could have guessed what would lay in store for Michael Jackson. Young Michael was preparing himself for his first solo record for Epic Records, one that would break the first of many records for him, and would change the music world forever.
The Off The Wall Era; 1978-1981, would see Michael Jackson grow up musically. He starred in his first major motion picture and he would set the first of many world records with his first solo album for Epic records. He had started in an urban version of 'The Wizard Of Oz' called 'The Wiz'. There a musical partnership formed that will change popular music forever. This album had started a 9 year partnership with legendary producer Quincy Jones. In 1979 Michael released an album called "Off the Wall". In "Off The Wall" Jackson crafted a daring wit of rock, pop, R&B, and jazz. The record gained positive reviews and won the artist multiple awards. With Off the Wall, Jackson breaks music industry records by being the first solo album ever to spawn four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 5 top 10 singles in the U.K. The album was a commercial success, and exceeds all expectations. To date, Off The Wall has sold over 22 million copies worldwide. This album up until that date has been the best selling album from a black artist, and solo artist, until that record was later smashed by Michael's next album 'Thriller'. The album breaks new grounds vocally for Michael, with some of his adventurous and mature vocals to date. Today it is seen as one of Michael Jackson's most important records and the success of this album helped launch Michael into more dazzling heights. He had also sold more records than any artist at a time when the record industry was experiencing a major slump in sales. Off The Wall had displayed Michael's amazing song writing and vocal skills. Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release, and by god he was right. While each musical effort had been more successful than the last, no one could predict the mass appeal of his next album. The best was yet to come, as Michael was soon back in the studio, creating an album that will shatter all music industry standards.
The Thriller Era, 1982- 1984 would see Michael Jackson reach worldwide super stardom. Michael dominated the world of music, setting new standards in the music industry. In 1982 he released an album called "Thriller". A masterpiece of brilliant song writing, it sports an impressive collection of musicians that span the pop, R&B, rock and Jazz genres. Thriller holds the record for being the biggest selling album of all time selling over 70 million copies worldwide. Thriller has held this record for 25 years straight. During this time, Michael broke the record for the most quantity of certification awards to an artist ever with over 140 certifications in one year. Additionally, singles released from the Thriller album sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, another all time record. Thriller would become a greatest hits album all by its self, and it would change the music industry forever and the way music is made and marketed. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, two of which became #1 singles, becoming the first album in history to accomplish this feat. Thriller also simultaneously reached number one in the US and the UK; becoming the first album to do so. Also in 1983 Michael became the first artist to simultaneously hold the number one spots on Billboard's rock albums and singles charts, as well as the R&B albums and singles charts. And Jackson was also the first artist to simultaneously have the number-one album and number-one single on Billboard's Pop Charts and Black Charts. At its peak, Thriller sold one million copies worldwide per week. It even got to the point where it was selling 1 million copies worldwide every 4 days. It is the only album in the United States to have sold more copies than any other album in two separate years, topping the sales charts in 1983 and 1984. It is also one of only three albums in history to remain in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for a full year, and spent 37 weeks at number one out of the 80 consecutive weeks it was in the top ten, the longest stay by a non-soundtrack album to date. In mid 1983, just as the sales of "Thriller" are about to slow down, over forty-seven million Americans watch Michael moonwalk across the stage during his first ever performance of 'Billie Jean' at the two-hour TV special, Motown 25. First Michael performed a melody of hits with his brothers. During Michael's solo performance he spends four minutes on the stage for inspired song and dance. His performance of 'Billie Jean' is entertainment at its most powerful and showcases his first ever public performance of the 'moonwalk'. Michael's electrifying performance remains in the minds of fans and non-fans alike and sparked a new interest in Thriller and millions rushed to the store to purchase it, sending sales of the album to soar again the very next day. Through the medium of television, Michael had confirmed his position as an incredible entertainer among his fans and also reached millions of people who had never experienced Michael Jackson’s talent as a singer and dancer or watched his videos on MTV. And through this TV appearance he gained millions of new fans and admirers. Michael’s Motown 25 performance was even nominated for an Emmy award for “Best Individual Performance on a Variety or Music Program”.The album was the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools. The videos for the album, "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Thriller" all received regular rotation on MTV. And the "Thriller" Music video has become the most successful and revolutionary music video in history. Thriller also became the first music video to ever be nominated for an academy award. Jackson broke racial boundaries when he became the first black artist to have his music videos played in heavy rotation on MTV and have mainstream recognition. He was the key reason MTV is so successful today, because of his influence and star power at this time period. He bought in record breaking ratings for the struggling network. His position persuaded MTV to begin airing Jackson's videos, which led to a long partnership and later helped other black music artists to gain mainstream recognition on this network. Jackson transformed and revolutionized the medium of music video into an art form and promotional tool through the use of complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and cameo appearances by well known personalities. As a result of the surge in sales of the album Thriller, millions also purchased albums by other artists. Cash box magazine dubbed Michael Jackson ‘the saviour of the record business” and Michael was credited for increasing interest in music, particularly black music. Revenues for record sales were at their highest since 1978 and Michael was also mentioned for increasing CBS record sales profits by a whopping 101% in 1983 alone. Out if its 12 nominations, the album won a record-breaking 8 Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammys, the most ever won in a single year by a single person; this was later tied by Carlos Santana at the 2001 Grammys. Like always, Michael toured with his brothers and in July 1984, Michael embarked on the "Victory Tour" with The Jacksons. The Tour started on July 6th in Kansas City and the Victory album was released on the same day. The tour consisted of 55 shows over 5 months in the United States and Canada to approximately 2 million people. The tour was the biggest and most successful of its time and Michael announced at the start of the tour that he would be donating all of his profits to charity.The Tour grossed $75 million and set a new record for the then-largest grossing tour. It would be Michael's last tour with the brothers. When Thriller was the hottest album on the planet for more than 3 years it was Michael Jackson's moment in time and all industry branches in the world wanted to have Michael, the music and/or the style of Thriller for their products. Michael and Thriller merchandising kept growing as much as Michael's stardom and record sales. In less than two years, more than 300 different products were manufactured with the image, endorsement, and or likeness of Michael Jackson creating a real buzz and cult status around Jackson. Many had wanted to look and dress like Michael. Many sported the Jeri Curl and was wearing the famous jackets featured on the Thriller and Beat It videos. The attire he wore during the Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean" inspired millions of children to don black fedoras, whits sparkling socks and single white gloves.There was even a series of Michael Jackson dolls released in 1984. Michael also broke records in licensing revenues and in sales figures for his merchandise. Posters with images of the "One Glove" sold more than a million copies, and even trading cards were released all over the United States, just like for the football or baseball players. However, the merchandising madness reached a new level when even Michael Jackson bubble gum arrived in stores. As it wasn't enough, the island nation St. Vincent honored the King of Pop by picturing him on stamps. Classic merchandise for fans included 1983 and 1984 calendars, as well as many books about Michael Jacskon's career and the Thriller phenomena. Even Pepsi paid Michael and the Jackson for the most expensive advertising contract ever at $5 million, a record only surpassed by Michael himself. From 1983 to 1984 alone, Michael was pictured on the front page of more than 10,000 magazines, and newspapers all over the world. While Thriller was on the crest of its popularity, there was hardly a day where Michael's name or face was not seen in print or on Television. In 2008, Thriller was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant". The whole industry has a stake in Thriller's success. Thriller raised the importance of albums, and multiple hits also changed notions about the number of singles to release from an album before it lost its appeal. It also helped raise the importance of music, especially black music, to a whole new level. Thriller wasn't just an album, it was a phenomenon. It, released hit after hit, created a mania which the likes of which were never seen before, and went on to sell more records than any other album in history. It set many industry standards in recording and for the visual presentation of music. The record that broke all records. It still remains the most successful, best selling, influential, and most revolutionary album in history.
After the Thriller campaign was over, in 1985, Jackson was asked to participate in an all-star charity recording. And with help from Lionel Richie, Jackson co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World", released worldwide to aid people in Ethiopia Africa. After the recording was finished, none of the artists were prepared for the impact the song would have. It became the biggest entertainment-concerning charity act ever. Jackson was one of many music celebrities who performed on the record. Released in March 1985, the single stayed at number one in America for a month and enjoyed similar success in many other countries. It became one of the biggest-selling singles of all time, with 20 million copies sold and over $64 million dollars raised for charity. The record became the fastest-selling American pop single in history, the first single to certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, and the biggest selling single of the 80's. And went on to win many awards, including three Grammy Awards and two American Music Awards. The power of music was never more clearly demonstrated than by the overwhelming response to this simple song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.
In March 1985, Michael Jackson topped off an incredible era when he purchased ATV Music Publishing Company for $47.5 million. ATV’s music catalogue included the rights to more than 4000 songs, including 251 of The Beatles’ compositions. This purchase made Michael Jackson one of the top music publishers in the world and proved Michael to be a successful and savvy businessman at the age of 26.
The Bad Era, 1986-1989, would confirm Michael Jackson's super-stardom and popularity and prove him to be the entertainer of the 1980's. Michael Jackson's first major project for the Bad Era would be a 3D movie called "Captain Eo", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas. Michael wrote and recorded two songs for the 17 minute epic. The movie took almost a year to produce and estimated costs were $17million, making it the most expensive minute for minute movie ever made. Michael also helped create a "Captain Eo" ride for Disneyland. The movie was extremely successful and ran for close to a decade in every Disney theme park around the world. So, what do you do after recording the number one best-selling album in history? You record the number two best-selling album in history, of course! In 1987 Jackson released "BAD". And one point for many years this was the second biggest selling album of all time, behind 'Thriller' (but since then has been overtaken). Bad sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Bad is currently the 9th biggest selling album of all time. It’s also the only album in history to feature five #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, more hits on an album than any other album ever. It went to #1 in a then record-breaking 25 countries; and remained in the top five of the Billboard 200 for thirty-eight weeks, longer than any other album to be on the Top 5 to date other than Thriller. During this time Michael became the Highest-Paid Commercial Spokesperson in history; with the largest Endorsement deal ever, in 1986 Pepsi Cola paid Michael Jackson $15 million to do 4 TV commercials. Along with Michaels commercials from the Thriller Era, the commercials became the most anticipated; the most publicized, and most viewed commercials in advertising history, setting the bar and the standard for future celebrities in the advertisement industry and became the first western advertisements to be aired in the Soviet Union. But yet again, MJ shattered his own record in 1992. Michael also gave Pepsi its highest sales ever. Jackson set even more records when he lunched the "BAD world tour", his first solo tour. The tour consisted of 123 concerts to approximately 4.4 million fans across 15 countries for 17 months. The show included a 90-member crew, state of the art light show, special effects and massive video screens. And by the second leg of the tour, there was a new stage and new choreography. When the tour finished it grossed a total of over $125 million, adding two new entries in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest grossing tour in history and the tour with the largest attended audience. The tour also was also the largest of its time and created a huge press and media coverage across the globe. And countless music and movie stars flocked to the see the show along with some important political figures and adoring fans. It also broke multiple records and attendances at venues. And the tour remains the second largest tour for a solo artist in terms of attendance, a record only surpassed by Michael himself. And the tour also holds the record for Most Successful Concert Series Ever; Michael sold out for seven nights at the legendary Wembley Stadium, London, England. A total of 504,000 people saw Michael perform at the legendary stadium in the summer of 1988. While on tour in Japan in December 1988, the musical movie spectacular, "Moonwalker", was released to an unsuspecting public. It enjoyed a theatrical release in Japan and Europe and a home-video release in the United States, where it sold 500,000 copies within two weeks. A top secret project in production for almost three years, "Moonwalker" was a 94 minute, 8 part movie documenting Michael Jackson's career with stunning footage, a junior version of "Bad" (titled "Badder") four video clips, and a 40-minute centerpiece with awesome special effects that were revolutionary at the time. The film cost approximately $27 million to make. To this date it sold over 3 million copies, and is the world's biggest selling music home video of all time, ahead of Michael's "The Making of Thriller", which is the 2nd biggest selling music home video of all time. With that said, Moonwalker was the first music home video to outsell more bigger and popular film releases. Showing Music Home Videos as a viable market, again setting the standard for what the music video market is like today. Throughout the Bad Era, Michael had again taken music videos a step further by pushing the limits of the the technology of the time.
Michael Jackson had certainly proved himself to be the greatest entertainer of the 1980's and one of the biggest selling artists of all time. He had broken numerous world records, most of which he still holds today. Jackson's success during this time period, resulted in his being dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname conceived by actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor when she presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul". By the End of the 1980's Michael Jackson had the two biggest tours of the decade(one with his brothers, and one on his own), the two biggest selling albums of the decade, he co-wrote the biggest selling single of the decade, more #1 hits than any other artist for the decade, and was the biggest selling artist of the 80's, with an unprecedented sale of over 110 million records during the 80's. And he was also named many times over as the Artist and Entertainer of the decade as well.
The Dangerous Era, 1990-1994, would usher in a new decade with brand new sounds and the best in contemporary concert entertainment. Michael Jackson set new recording, filming and entertainment standards that were legendary. Like always when ever Michael releases an album of coarse, there are tons of awards to be accepted, records to be set, million and millions of records to sell, and many "firsts" to achieve, in other words, its business as usual for Michael. In 1991 Jackson released another album called "Dangerous". It is the first album Michael Jackson released in the 1990s. Dangerous was one of the most anticipated albums of the 90's- so much so that armed robbers stole approximately 30,000 copies when the first shipment arrived at the L.A. Airport. Its sales were similar to "BAD"'s, selling over 31 million copies worldwide. Dangerous is currently the 19th biggest selling album of all time. Making Michael the only artist to have 2 albums on the top 10, and 3 albums on the Top 20 biggest selling albums of all time. It is also the biggest selling "New Jack Swing" Album of all time, and one of the biggest selling albums of the 90's. 'Dangerous' is also one of the fastest selling albums of all-time to be on the #1 spot on the charts. Michael broke more records when he signed with Sony Music the largest ever recording contract in history, at a record breaking $890 million, a contract, with prospective earnings of over $1 billion, which included Michael's own record label, the highest royalty rate ever, and a record $65 million in advanced payment. Jackson also broke the record and is currently the only artist in history to have number one singles in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. In all, Dangerous spent 117 weeks inside the Billboard 200, 30 weeks more than Bad. As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. Several of the music videos taken from the Dangerous album had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. During the premier of the "Black or White" music video he set another record for being the most watched music video for a single event in history, with over 500 million people tuning in from 27 countries to watch the premier, the most ever for a music video. "Black or White" is the Fox Networks Highest-rated show for a single event ever, with 14.4 million viewers in the U.S. tuning in for the premier. During this time period Michael performed at the NBC transmission of Super Bowl XXVII half-time show on January 31, 1993. While in all previous years the Superbowl had average TV viewings of around 90 million, Michael Jackson's performance during the half time show sent the Superbowl viewer ship into the unprecedented numbers of 133.4 million viewers in the US and over 800 million viewers worldwide, giving the Super Bowl its largest television audience to date. And raised the value of Superbowl advertising as well. Setting the record for Greatest Audience and the highest-ever viewership. Michael became the first major recording artist to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show, and unlike in many previous years, he was the only performer in the entire halftime show. Michael's electrifying performance took the SuperBowl Halftime show to a new level that was never reached in previous years, setting a standard for future acts to play at this event. In 1993 Michael made TV history again when the notoriously private superstar sat down for a 90-minute live interview with talk show host extraordinaire, Oprah Winfrey. The interview was conducted from Michael's home, Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Ynez, California and was the most watched non-sports program of 1993 attracting around 100 million viewers around the world, making it the most watched interview in television history and the 4th most watched non-sports program in ever. He accompanied this album with a world tour called the "Dangerous World tour". The tour consisted of 69 concerts to approximately 3.5 million fans across 29 countries and grossed over $145 million. All proceeds from the tour were donated to multiple charities including the Heal the World Foundation, which was founded by Jackson himself. The tour was to be even bigger and better than the "Bad" tour, in terms of material. The show featured special effects by David Copperfield, a specially built stage, special lighting and pyrotechnics, new and original choreography and amazing costumes. The tour was again sponsored by Pepsi for $20 million topping Michael's previous record-breaking deal with Pepsi back in 1986. The tour was due to last longer, but due to the sudden police raids of Jackson's Neverland Ranch during the second leg in 1993, as well as various health problems, Jackson decided to end the tour early in Mexico. Despite the tour ending early, it was still incredibly successful, and was also the largest of its time and created a huge press and media coverage across the globe, attracting many important political figures in many countries. It also broke multiple records and attendances at venues. Jackson sold the film rights to his concert in Bucharest, Romania to HBO for $21 million. The deal was the highest ever paid for a live concert. The concert was broadcast live on radio and shown on TV across 61 countries, and received the highest TV ratings in the history of the network of HBO with an audience of 250 million people. Michael Jackson had certainly dominated the headlines in the Dangerous Era with spectacular performances, and an amazing world tour. He had introduced a new sound to the 1990's and had again changed the face of music videos, making use of new and expensive technology. The album Dangerous had dominated the charts for two years and had won many awards. Michael was honored everywhere he went with awards and ceremonies, setting an example in the music world and as an incredible humanitarian as well.
The HIStory / Blood on the Dance Floor Era, 1995-1999, was one of Michael's busiest eras with two albums, his biggest world tour, some of the most expensive and stunning short films and a heavy media schedule. In 1995 Jackson released another album called "HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I". The album featured one disc of greatest hits from the Jackson's previous fifteen years, while the second disc featured mostly newer songs. It is the biggest-selling multi-disc album of all time by a solo artist with worldwide sales of 23 million copies (46 million units). The album had the most expensive marketing campaign in history with $40 million to promote the album. This album also had several singles and music videos. The first one was called "Scream" (a duet with his sister Janet). And with a budget of $7 Million, it is to date the most expensive music video ever made. During this time Michael Jackson became the first person in the 37 year history of the Billboard chart to enter straight in at No5, with his single "Scream", breaking a 25 year old record set by the Beatles with "Let It Be" which debut at #6. Then Jackson shattered his own record when his next single "You Are Not Alone" entered in at #1, the first to ever accomplish this, an achievement which became an unprecedented occurrence in the annals of the history of the record arts and sciences. On June 14th, 1995 ABC-TV's Prime Time Live news program screened Michael Jackson- The Man & His Music, including a live interview with Michael and his then wife Lisa Marie Presley. An estimated 60 million viewers tuned in for the interview in the U.S., and rated the highest ABC-TV news magazine program in the channels history. In October, Michael appeared on the popular German TV show, “Wetten Das”, to perform. The show was viewed by 21 million people, breaking German viewing records. By the end of 1995 Michael successfully merged his ATV music publishing company with Sony, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The company contains over 400,000 songs and became the second biggest music publishing company in the world. He also accompanied this album with another world tour called the "HIStory world tour". The tour consisted of 82 concerts; it visited a record 35 countries and was attended by approximately 4.5 million fans, which stays to this day the biggest tour ever in terms of international attendance (4.4 million tickets outside of USA) and the largest tour in terms of attendance for a solo artist. The tour also holds the record for most countries visited by any artist. It became Jackson's most successful tour; the tour grossed a total of over $165 million. And like all of Michael's previous tours, it was the largest of its time and created a huge press and media coverage across the globe, attracting many important political figures in many countries.. It also broke multiple records and attendances at venues. The amazing show featured special effects in several performances, a bigger light show than ever before, a specially built stage, breathtaking costumes and stunning choreography.Also the HIStory tour remains largest and most successful tour by a solo artist. A record which was previously held by Jackson's Dangerous Tour and before that his Bad Tour. In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new songs, it was released to promote the HIStory World Tour. The record sold 9 million copies worldwide, becoming the biggest-selling remix album of all time. Jackson also released a 40-minute short-film with this album called "Ghosts"; it is currently the longest music video in history. Michael starred as multiple characters, with mind-blowing dance sequences, special effects and makeup. In June 1999, Michael held two special concerts for charity, called “Michael Jackson and Friends”. The first concert was held in Seoul, Korea and the second concert was held in Munich, Germany. His celebrity guests included All Saints, Andrea Bocelli, Luther Vandross and Status Quo. Both concerts were televised in Europe and Asia to a massive viewer response. MCY.com reported that they made history by receiving over 10 million hits in one day for their live broadcast of the concert. The concerts raised $3.3 million for charities Red Cross, UNESCO and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
By the end of 1990's, Michael had released three albums, had many singles, released a feature film, toured the world and broke many records. Michael had dominated media headlines and the music charts throughout the era. He had the two biggest tours and two of some of the biggest selling albums of the 1990's. And he was the biggest selling male artist of the decade, with 123 million records sold during the 90's. Michael had had more interviews than ever before and created a stir wherever he went. He'd set many records, most of which still remain unbroken today.
The Invincible Era, 2000-2003, Michael would usher in new sounds for a new century and see the return of the King of Pop after a brief hiatus. He gave many interviews and appearances in his 30th year as a solo artist. In 2001 Jackson released another album called "Invincible". Invincible was a commercial success, (and like all of Jackson's previous albums) debuting atop the charts at #1. Despite little promotion, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide. However, the sales for Invincible were notably low compared to his previous releases, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute (Keep in mind that when talking about Michael, the phrase "low record sales" is relative because his sales figures are always astronomical. Therefore, "low" for him is, in fact, quite well for most other artists). With $30 million to make the album, Invincible is the most expensive album ever made. And it broke the record for being the first album ever by anyone to hit No.1 in all Common Currency Markets. On September 7th and 10th of 2001, Michael held a sold out 30th Anniversary Celebration at MSG in New York City. The concerts had the highest ticket prices for a concert ever, but that didn't stop the show from selling-out twice. Countless celebrities from the music industry and all avenues of entertainment have turned out and honor the King of Pop, by celebrating his 30th anniversary as a solo artist, by singing their own versions of Michael's songs. These shows also saw the reunion of the Jacksons as well as performances by Michael of his greatest hits. The anticipation to see Michael perform was so intense that his video screen images begin to shake, and at the age of 43, Michael proved he can dance and perform like no other. The show was aired on CBS on November 13th, and an average 25.73 million viewers in the US tune in, making it the largest audience for a musical special on any network since the Beatles two part anthology on ABC in 1995 and was ranked first in black viewers over the first decade of the new millennium. The two concerts grossed over $10 million. By the end of the 2003, Michael Jackson had released two albums, one studio album and a greatest hits album (which sold 11 million copies); and gave many appearances and special performances. He took on many projects including charity, performance and even a movie cameo. He received keys to two different cities and campaigned for his rights. Michael had started the new century with a bang!
This Is It 2009-2010, would see Michael Jackson return to the music scene after a 7 year hiatus. From July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010, Jackson was scheduled to perform 50 concerts to nearly one million people, at London's O2 arena. The shows, his first significant concert events since the HIStory World Tour in 1997, have been cited as one of the year's most important musical events. When the shows were first announced, there were only 10 planned. But due to the massive demand, concert promoters AEG had to add 40 more shows to the run, to made a grand total of 50 shows at the O2. Jackson's official website allowed fans to register early for a "pre-sale" draw. The website could not deal with the large number of registrations—reportedly up to 16,000 applications a second. In the space of 24 hours, nearly a million people registered for pre-sale tickets, enough to fill the venue 50 times over. Fans from over 200 countries registered for the pre-sale draw. The two day pre-sale began on March 11, five of these dates were reserved in their entirety for the public sale. More than 1.5 million fans caused two sites offering pre-sale tickets to crash within minutes of going online. In the space of two hours, 190,000 tickets were sold. Two million people tried to buy pre-sale tickets in the space of 18 hours. On March 13, the other 50% of seats for dates 1-45 and all the seats for dates 46-50 went on sale to the general public. Within a few hours, all 50 dates had sold out. Michael Jackson has floored his critics, and organizer's proclaimed it was a "cultural phenomenon". If the concerts were to have taken place, Jackson would have broke the previous record, for the number of shows performed by an artist at a single venue, which was set by Prince, who hosted a 21-date residency at the same arena. Jackson was going to make $80 million from the 50 show engagement. One record was broken in the process: "The fastest ticket sales in history". And had the concerts taken place, two more records would have been broken: "The biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city", "The most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows". With these shows, Michael was again pushing the limits of today's current technology, with large 3D LCD screens, state of the art pyrotechnics and stage equipment. Technology was even being incorporated into Michael's clothes for the show. And with a production budget of $25 million, it was going to be the most expensive and most technologically advanced concert ever.
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Last edited by KB50MJ; 14th June 2010 at 03:14 AM.
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2nd October 2008, 03:01 AM
Lisa Campbell's 'King Of Pop' book from years ago does this as well despite making it clear earlier that 405,000 brought it up to 4million. 
