Michael Joseph Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009), often dubbed the "King of Pop", was an American recording artist, widely regarded as one of the greatest entertainers of modern times. With his trademark black fedora and single, sequinned glove, his unique contributions to music and dance, along with a highly publicized personal life, made him a central part of popular culture around the world for four decades.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his achievements included multiple Guinness World Records—including the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles, and the sale of over 750 million records. He was also a notable philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to the 39 charities he supported, and raising more through his own Heal the World Foundation.

The seventh child of the Jackson family, he made his debut in 1968 as a member of The Jackson 5, beginning a solo career in 1971. His 1982 album Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with four others—Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995)—among the best selling. He popularized several physically complicated dance moves, such as the robot and the moonwalk, now iconic. He is widely credited with having transformed the music video from a promotional tool into an art form, with videos such as Thriller, "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" making him the first African American to amass a strong crossover following on MTV, and others, such as "Black or White" and "Scream", ensuring his popularity well into the 1990s.

Jackson's personal life generated significant controversy. His changing appearance was noticed from the early 1980s, his skin appearing paler and his facial features becoming almost androgynous. He was accused in 1993 of child sexual abuse, and though no charges were brought, his health suffered when he started using painkillers to cope with the stress. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in 1996, and brought up three children, one of them with a surrogate mother, actions that triggered more speculation about his life. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of different child molestation allegations, which provoked a further decline in his health. Jackson died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, after suffering a cardiac arrest. His memorial service was broadcast live around the world, and watched by up to one billion people.

Early life and The Jackson 5

Jackson was born the seventh of nine children on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago, to an African American family. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters, Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy.

Jackson had a difficult relationship with his father. He said that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, whippings, and name-calling, though he credited his father's discipline for his success. In one altercation recalled by Marlon, Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks". Joseph would also trip or push the boys into walls. One night while Michael Jackson was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window, wearing a fright mask and screaming. He said he wanted to teach the children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Jackson said he suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his room. Joseph acknowledged in 2003 that he had whipped Jackson as a child

Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey broadcast on February 10, 1993. He said that he had often cried from loneliness and would sometimes throw up when he saw his father. In an interview with Martin Bashir, aired on February 3, 2003, as Living with Michael Jackson, he covered his face with his hands and began crying when talking about his childhood abuse. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".

He showed talent early in his life, performing in front of classmates during a Christmas recital at the age of five. In 1964, he and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and the tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing; at the age of eight, he and Jermaine assumed lead vocals, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5. The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", led by Michael.

The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, and signed with Motown Records in 1968. Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts", writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer". The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. During The Jackson 5's early years, Motown's public relations team claimed that Jackson was nine years old, two years younger than he actually was, to make him appear "cuter" and more accessible to the general public.

Starting in 1972, Jackson released a total of four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben", and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin". The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records (finding success with albums such as Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and presidents, including President John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

Sinatra attempted to weather the changing tastes in popular music, but with sales of his music dwindling, and after appearing in several poorly received films, he retired in 1971. Coming out of retirement in 1973, he recorded several albums; scored a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980; and toured both within the United States and internationally until a few years before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a career as a dramatic actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ray Charles Robinson

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his Modern Sounds recordings, as well as a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of the song, an American anthem — a classic, just as the man who sang it." He also appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers. Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in the business".

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Charles number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and also voted him number two on their November 2008 list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Elvis Aaron Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977; middle name sometimes spelled Aron) was an American singer, actor, and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" or "The King".

Presley began his career in 1953 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, an uptempo fusion of country and rhythm and blues with a strong back beat. His novel versions of existing songs, mixing "black" and "white" sounds, made him popular—and controversial—as did his uninhibited stage and television performances. Presley had a versatile voice and had unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. To date, he is the only entertainer that has been inducted into four music halls of fame.

In the 1960s, Presley made the majority of his 31 movies, most of which were poorly reviewed but financially successful musicals. In 1968, he returned to live performances in a television special, and performed across the U.S., notably in Las Vegas. In 1973, Presley staged the first global live concert via satellite (Aloha from Hawaii), reaching at least one billion viewers live and an additional 500 million on delay.

Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling and most influential artists in the history of music, selling over one billion records internationally. Health problems, prescription drug dependence, and other factors led to his death at age 42.

The Beatles

The Beatles, a pop/rock group that formed in Liverpool, England in 1960, were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. During the band's years of stardom, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and skiffle, the group worked with different musical genres, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, style and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. After the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked upon successful solo careers.

The Beatles sold over one billion records internationally. In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one, earning more number one albums (15) than any other group in UK chart history. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles have sold more albums in the United States than any other band. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles number one in its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, The Beatles' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the chart's fiftieth anniversary, with The Beatles at #1

In March 1957 John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. McCartney met Lennon on 6 July 1957, and agreed to join the group a few days later. On 6 February 1958, Harrison was invited to watch the group by McCartney. Harrison joined the Quarrymen as lead guitarist after a rehearsal in March 1958. Lennon and McCartney both played rhythm guitar during that period. After original Quarrymen drummer Colin Hanton left the band in 1959, the band had a high turnover of drummers. Lennon's friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass in January 1960.

From "The Quarrymen", the band went through a progression of names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "Long John and The Beetles". Sutcliffe suggested the name "The Beetles" as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets. The band changed their name to "The Beatles" in 1960. The band's lack of a drummer posed a serious problem, as the group's unofficial manager, Allan Williams, had arranged for them to perform at a club in Hamburg, West Germany.
The group invited Pete Best to become their drummer on 12 August 1960. Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg. The Beatles began a 48-night residency in Hamburg at Bruno Koschmider's Indra Club, and moved to the Kaiserkeller in October 1960, but they then accepted an offer to play at the rival Top Ten Club, thereby breaking their contract with Koschmider.Koschmider was furious, and reported Harrison to the German authorities for having lied about his age, leading to his deportation on 21 November 1960. McCartney and Best were arrested for arson a week later, after setting fire to a condom nailed to the wall in their room in another show of disrespect for Koschmider, and they too were subsequently deported. Lennon returned to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at The Casbah Coffee Club, with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe. The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club again. They were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan (who also had a residency at the club) to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts. A few copies were also pressed under the American Decca Records label. When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe, who had been bass player until then, stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr, so McCartney, unwillingly, took over bass duties.

The band returned to Liverpool, and on Tuesday, 21 February 1961, they made their first lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club. From 1961 to 1962 The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963. On 9 November 1961, Brian Epstein saw The Beatles for the first time in the club. The Beatles signed a five-year contract with Brian Epstein on 24 January 1962. He then formed the management company NEMS Enterprises. Kaempfert agreed to release The Beatles from their Polydor contract. Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat, informing him that "guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein." (See The Decca audition.) While Epstein was negotiating with Decca, he approached EMI marketing executive Ron White.^[ White contacted EMI producers Norrie Paramor, Walter Ridley, and Norman Newell, all of whom declined to record the band. White did not approach EMI's fourth staff producer—George Martin—who was on holiday at the time. The Beatles returned to Hamburg from 13 April to 31 May 1962, where they performed at the opening of The Star Club. Upon their arrival, they were informed of Sutcliffe's death from a brain haemorrhage.




Epstein went to the HMV store on Oxford Street in London to transfer the Decca tapes to discs. There, he was referred to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI's publishing arm. Epstein eventually met with Martin, who signed the group to EMI's Parlophone label on a one-year renewable contract.

Martin had a problem with Pete Best.Martin privately suggested to Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. In addition, Epstein became exasperated with Best's refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of the band's unified look. Best had also missed a number of engagements because of illness. Epstein dismissed Best on 16 August 1962. They asked Richard Starkey, known as Ringo Starr, to join the band; Starr was the drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg. Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White for their next session on 11 September. White's only released performances were recordings of "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", found on The Beatles' first album.

The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but the September sessions produced a minor UK hit "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number seventeen. "Love Me Do" would reach the top of the U.S. singles chart in May 1964.

On 26 November 1962 the band recorded their second single "Please Please Me", which reached number two on the official UK charts and number one on the NME chart. Three months later, they recorded their first album, also titled Please Please Me. The follow up single, "From Me to You", became their first undisputed #1 song. The band's first televised performance was on the People and Places programme, transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television on 17 October 1962. As The Beatles' fame spread, the frenzied adulation of the group was dubbed "Beatlemania". In 1963, The Beatles' iconic logo (referred to as the "drop-T" logo) made its debut.