Celebrating black history: Michael Jackson

February 19, 2009 by Francesca Jarosz | Star staff

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Michael Jackson has produced dozens of hit singles, garnered a Presidential Award from Ronald Reagan and won the title “King of Pop” in a musical career that has spanned almost four decades.

His road to success began in Gary, where he started singing at age 6 as part of a family musical group dubbed the Jackson 5. The fifth son of a steelworker and a devoutly religious mother, Jackson grew up in a household steeped in discipline. By the time he was 11, Jackson had performed on national television with the Jackson 5, which had signed with a major record label and would go on to release several hit singles.

Jackson’s exceptional talent distinguished him from the group, and he began a solo career that took off with the release of the 1979 record “Off the Wall,” which made him the first solo artist to garner four top-10 hits from the same album. That was followed by the 1983 release of “Thriller,” which became the best-selling album in history, with more than 45 million copies sold worldwide.

Jackson’s career continued to ascend throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. His professional success, however, has been tainted by troubles in his personal life, including two separate occasions in which he was accused of molesting young boys. Jackson settled one case and was acquitted in the other.

Despite the controversy, Jackson remains one of pop’s most notable performers, a distinction solidified by his 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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