I haven’t written anything about Michael because I have been and still am in shock at his sudden passing. I still don’t want to write anything because I feel like putting my thoughts in words will somehow force this to be true and denial is much easier than accepting this harsh, sudden tragedy. The reason I am actually writing this is because of the other comments I have been reading in the papers, tabloids, blogs and Facebook status updates. Some of the outpourings of emotion were tear jerking and heartfelt – thank you. Others were just disgusting and unnecessary.
I feel the need to clarify some of the misconceptions that I believe are causing some of the negative backlash to the PLANET mourning the death of a demigod! No one is saying that Michael Jackson’s death is more important than any political struggles going on in the world, or more important than the economic issues plaguing our country, or more important than the way the Senate is disheveled right now. I think everyone needs to have reality thrown in their face. Michael Jackson is and always will be the GREATEST entertainer on EARTH! As a friend put it yesterday “there are children in middle America that don’t give a $%&# about politics but are mourning his death”. Our culture is one that focuses more on pop culture than on politics. I’m not condoning it or agreeing with it but it’s the truth. Anyone who didn’t expect the death of Michael Jackson to be front page news on EVERY major paper on the planet needs to stay in the bubble they live in because you’re not in touch with reality. They held a moment of silence on the floor of Congress – that’s HUGE!!!!!
I do ask that people refrain from making the disgusting comments about his faults or flaws, the surgeries, the court cases. He has a family, 3 children, a vast number or friends and extended family. For their sake allow them to grieve. Everyone in the world is going to die at some point or another, think of your own families and friends, they wouldn’t want to deal with it so why should Jackson’s?
I have spent the past few days listening to his music, watching his videos, concerts and interviews, and of course glued to CNN for updates. I have cried more tears than I thought I ever would and feel more pain and sorrow than is probably imaginable for someone you have never met. I am in awe of his greatness, inspired by his talent and command of craft, and deeply humbled by his philanthropy efforts. I don’t know how music will ever be the same to me. Michael you taught me English through your lyrics when I didn’t speak it, you taught me to allow my mind to be creative despite how far it may stray from the norm, you taught me that being myself was OK no matter how other people reacted, you taught me how to keep my head high in the face of adversity. I will always be grateful for your influence on my life.
I’m going to follow this with some links from articles that I think were well written and unbiased.
READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!
NEW YORK – When Elizabeth Taylor anointed Michael Jackson “King of Pop” over two decades ago, there was considerable rumbling about her hubris: Yes, he may have become a world sensation with record-setting sales of “Thriller,” and yes, he may have had a string of No. 1 hits with smashes like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” but the KING OF ALL POP MUSIC? Surely, in a modern music history that has given us Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and so many other greats, that title was more than a bit inflated. But in actuality, it understated his significance. He was as famous as a human being can get, bigger than Elvis, bigger than Sinatra, and yes, bigger than the Beatles. Many might ask how or why. That might even be heresy in the eyes of the less-informed.
Michael Jackson, however, is an icon in every corner of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America – not just the developed world of North America and Europe. There are children in Africa who sing “Thriller,” that have no idea who those other people are, and never will. The fans, however, of those artists, all know who Michael Jackson is. The Jackson 5 International Tour included a concert at the Liverpool Empire Theatre which broke attendance records, previously held by hometown heroes, The Beatles could never have pulled off such a feat in New York, Indiana, or Los Angeles, places Jackson has called home.
He was a child Motown phenomenon who grew into a moonwalking megastar, the King of Pop who sold 750 million records over his career and enjoyed worldwide adoration. History will show his to be a bigger death than Elvis or John Lennon, and the worldwide outpouring of grief has reached the levels of John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, Martin Luther King, and Pope John Paul II. If you don’t believe it, wait for the day of his public memorial.
Try, for a moment, to separate the art from the artist. Consider Michael Jackson’s entertainment proffer in a vacuum-sealed space. In that bubble, where Bubbles and all the peculiarities and plastic surgeries matter not one whit, you will find a man — and, if you go back far enough into the archives, a child — who was unquestionably one of the most transcendent performers in popular music.
He was Elvis with an androgynous tenor; Sinatra with a moonwalk and killer pop instincts; Prince with more mass appeal; John, Paul, George and Ringo with high-water pants, white socks and a single, sequined glove. Jackson was a singular talent, even if he was sometimes derivative. He sang like Frankie Lymon by way of Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross, though his soulful, ingratiating voice sounded original and distinctive; to this day, it remains one of the most easily recognizable voices in the world.
Dancing with the explosiveness of James Brown and the smooth grace of Fred Astaire, Jackson was simply mesmerizing whenever he moved across a stage or TV screen — never more so than on the 1983 special “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” The star-studded concert featured some of Hitsville USA’s most legendary figures, but the night belonged to Jackson by virtue of his electrifying performance of “Billie Jean.” Those moves!! When he unleashed the gravity-defying moonwalk roughly 3 1/2 minutes in, it was over: Jackson had had his Elvis-(or the Beatles)-on-the-Ed-Sullivan-Show moment, producing the defining performance of his career.
It didn’t hurt that “Billie Jean” was a truly potent single, a state-of-the art song built around a sharp, simple drum pattern, an indelible bass line and an undeniable melody. Jackson sang it mostly in that high, feathery tenor of his, but he occasionally slipped into falsetto, mostly to add his signature “HEE hee” vocal licks. The lyrics were no laughing matter, though, as Jackson was sneering about paternity suits.
His star power was staggering from the very start: The Jackson 5 crashed onto the pop radar in 1969 with “I Want You Back,” an exuberant song about a guy who’s having second thoughts about dumping his lover. Never mind that Jackson wasn’t even a teenager when he recorded the lead vocal, and that he had a child’s soprano; he sang it convincingly, his pleading voice exploding from the speakers. His celebrity and adoration was staggering from those early days. Check the public’s reaction to Jackson as an impossibly cute preteen wonder channeling songs like “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There” with a passion and soulfulness that belied his young years. Even then, his dance moves, copped from the likes of James
Brown and Jackie Wilson were exquisite, and his onstage presence outshone seasoned veterans.
When the brothers went on TV to sing the up-tempo song, the cherubic Michael was front and center as the featured singer who happened to be a dazzling dancing machine. How could you not be hooked?
As a child star, Jackson was a preternaturally gifted vocalist who had advanced emotional range, whether he was singing the aching, bereft “Never Can Say Goodbye” or the tender promise of a ballad, “I’ll Be There.”
When he finally went solo, his lyrical themes shifted, becoming more confrontational, hardened and paranoid — an apparent side effect of not actually having a childhood to enjoy. Jackson’s instincts as a songwriter, producer and recording artist have been nearly unrivaled.
While his elaborate, stop-on-a-dime dance moves and sensual soprano may have influenced generations of musicians, Michael Jackson stood for much more than pop greatness — or tabloid weirdness. One of entertainment’s greatest icons, he was a ridiculously gifted, equally troubled genius who kept us captivated — at his most dazzling, and at his most appalling.
At the height of his fame, he was among the world’s most beloved figures. Heads of state clamored to meet him, screen legends like Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, and Marlon Brando were his close friends, and worldwide, simply the mention of his name could make people do the moonwalk, from Los Angeles to Laos and from Sydney to Seoul. (The New York Times once accurately described him as one of the six most famous people on the planet). His whispery, high-pitched speaking voice was constantly imitated, his fedora hat on his lean frame instantly recognizable, his childlike image endearing.
He influenced artists ranging from Justin Timberlake and Usher to Madonna and Britney, from rock to pop to R&B to even rap, across genres and groups that no other artist was able to unite. He changed music videos with “Thriller” in 1983, still considered by most to be the greatest music video ever made. Stars like Beyonce and Ciara still mimic his moves. His one glove, white socks and glittery jackets made him a fashion trendsetter, making androgyny seem sexy and even safe. Designers like Roberto Cavalli, Calvin Klein, and Christophe Decarnin at Balmain have all been influenced by him. Almost everyone wanted that Michael Jackson connection (and those who didn’t were afraid to say so out loud).
As the spotlight began to dim when he entered his late teens, he still had R&B hits with the Jacksons, though it seemed as if he would never recapture the pop success that he burst onto the scene with as a child. As Jackson aged into adolescence, the Jackson 5, renamed the Jacksons after departing Motown Records, inevitably lost some of their charm. A solo career followed with a steady stream of middling hits from albums Got to Be There, Ben, Music & Me, and Forever, Michael that attempted to milk the last bit of innocence from Jackson’s voice. During this period, Jackson was constantly on a world tour with his brothers so promotion on these albums was limited.
After Jackson had the good fortune to hook up with Quincy Jones, the conductor, arranger, producer, songwriter, and trumpeter behind Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, and Miles Davis while filming The Wiz.
The two shared a vision for what Jackson’s career as an adult might be, and on 1979’s Off the Wall, they executed it beyond even Jackson’s dreams. With songwriting help from Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, Off the Wall spun off four Top 10 hits, including two No. 1s — “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You.”
Michael meeting Quincy Jones changed the musical landscape. With the legendary producer, Jackson crafted what for most artists would be a career-defining album, from the string-enhanced disco classic “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” a party staple which he wrote, to the bitter ballad “She’s Out of My Life.” That best-selling album moved 20 million copies and showed the world a grown-up Michael Jackson with grown-up artistry, showcasing his breathy alto-soprano voice and providing a springboard to his early videos, which gave a glimpse of the dance wizardry to come. It also became the best selling album ever by a Black artist.
Then came Thriller — the album that would become his greatest success, his career-defining achievement, and recorded music’s greatest album. Also produced by Jones, it featured even more of Jackson’s songwriting talents. Selling more than 109 million albums to become the globe’s best-selling disc of original music, it spawned seven Billboard top 10 hits, including two No. 1s with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It. He was the first artist to have seven Top 10 singles from one album, a feat matched only by his sister Janet and Bruce Springsteen. He also was the first artist in the 1980s to have two simultaneous Top 5 hits (”Beat It” and “Billie Jean”). It won a then-unprecedented eight Grammy awards and numerous other awards. The album’s impact was measured much more than in stats.
With Thriller, Jackson broke MTV’s color barrier, becoming the first Black artist to be prominently featured on the young, rock-oriented channel when the success of “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” became so overwhelming it could not be ignored. He also established the benchmark for the way videos would be made, with stunning cinematography, precision choreography that recalled great movie musicals. Simply put, Jackson transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances; simultaneously breaking down racial barriers. Jackson was allowed to play in countries where no Black artist had ever been. He paved the way for the cultural acceptance for R&B and hip-hop music, for Will Smith in the movies, for Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods in sports, for Oprah, and even for Barack Obama.
Jackson’s amazing talents as a dancer were also displayed to the world during his Emmy-nominated performance for Motown’s 25th anniversary. It is still considered one of TV’s most thrilling moments, from his moonwalk strut to his pulsating pelvic movements.
The title track of the Thriller follow-up, Bad, presented Jackson as a swaggering neo-soul man who was completely comfortable blending thoroughly modern sounds (synths, programmed drums) with a dash of classicism (horn charts and a wicked Hammond B-3 solo by organ master Jimmy Smith). Bad sold 30 million copies and produced five No. 1 singles, including spawned seven hit singles, five of which “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Bad”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making him the only artist in history to have five number one hits from one LP. It remained in the top five of the Billboard 200 for 38 weeks, longer than any other album to date. Videos from the album dominated MTV for over a year.
By the time of his 1991 album, Dangerous, Jackson switched it up again, jumping on the new jack swing bandwagon, in which he found himself riding shotgun alongside the movement’s figurehead, Teddy Riley. That album sold 32 million copies and spawned the hits “Black or White,” “Remember the Time,” and “Heal the World.”
In 1995, he released the dual-disc HIStory, part greatest hits collection, part new material. It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide. The album’s first single, “Scream,” was a duet with his sister, Janet Jackson, a pop icon in her own right. It was the first song to debut as high as #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. “You Are Not Alone,” “Earth Song,” and “They Don’t Care About Us” were other hits from the album. “You Are Not Alone,” was the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands. It has since been the highest rated program to ever air on HBO, and Jackson was awarded with a CableACE Award.
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. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies, making it the best selling remix album ever released. He followed with 2001’s Invincible. It essentially tanked by Jackson’s standards, selling only 10 million copies worldwide, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no supporting world tour, and a label dispute. The album still spawned three hits, “You Rock My World”, “Cry” and “Butterflies”, the latter without a music video. Most artists never even reach 1 million copies. His flop sold 10 million.
Michael Jackson was the Michael Jordan of music, the performer against whom all other wannabes were — and will continue to be — measured. That’s particularly true of high-voiced male singers who favor R&B and can’t stand still onstage (Bobby Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, etc.), though his considerable influence crossed gender lines: Christina Aguilera, Ciara, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Britney, and even Madonna have cited Jackson as one of their greatest inspirations. Celine, Whitney, Mariah, Diana, Liza, Cher, Tina, and Barbra – the world’s biggest female voices of all time, have either recorded his songs or played covers of them on their tours.
Producers like Kanye West, will.i.am, Timberland, R. Kelly, Pharrell Williams, Diddy, and Akon waived their normal million dollar fees to work on Thriller 25. It went on to sell three million copies worldwide in 12 weeks. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Billboard Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for ten weeks and became the best seller on that chart since December, 1996.
For much of his career, he had an “unparalleled” level of worldwide influence over a younger generation of artists through his musical and humanitarian contributions. He was a masterful performer whose prowess onstage, in videos, and in the studio has never been and will never be matched in the pop space.
He was one of the greats — not for nothing did the King of Pop moniker stick — and his face is destined to be carved onto pop’s Mount Rushmore. It’s just too bad that so much of the discussion surrounding the tribute will be about how Jackson’s nose should look on the monument.
Naysayers will still bring up Elvis and The Beatles. It is true that Elvis and The Beatles have sold more albums, both exceeding 1 billion units. They, however, did it with significantly more albums. The Beatles released twelve original studio albums (including The Beatles, aka White Album), twelve EPs, seventeen compilations, and twenty-four singles (mainly featuring original music not found on their albums) in eight years (1962–1970) in the UK. Add to that another six albums, twenty-five singles, and seventeen compilations in the United States, and The Beatles per record average sales is substantially lower. The same applies to Elvis, who released twenty-three original studio albums, seven live albums, thirty EPs, eleven compilations, nineteen soundtracks, and one hundred two singles. Jackson only had ten studio albums, one live album, sixty singles, and ten compilations.
I have also written only of his staggering album sales. None of this mentions his record-breaking tours for Bad (the largest world tour ever by a solo performer for a time), Dangerous (became the largest world tour ever by a solo performer for a time), or Victory (with The Jacksons and the biggest tour ever done by a group). The HIStory World Tour topped the other tours in terms of capital and became the biggest tour ever in terms of attendance (4.4 million tickets). The tour did not even stop in the United States, except two concerts at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, the first in history to sell out the venue.
None of this includes his record-breaking collaborations with Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, or Stevie Wonder; or his contributions to soundtracks. “Ben” from Ben won a Golden Globe for Best Song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz was a #1 disco hit, for five weeks and earned Jackson his first Grammy Award nomination (with Diana Ross) without his family group. “Someone In the Dark,” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, nabbed him a Grammy for Best Album for Children. “Will You Be There” from Free Willy has sold 1,050,000 copies worldwide and was included in the list, All Time Greatest Movie Songs. None of these puts forth all the other things about Jackson which establish his legacy. What follows are just a few:
Jackson co-wrote the charity single “We Are the World” with Lionel Richie. It was released worldwide to aid the poor in Africa and the US. He was one of 39 music celebrities who performed on the record. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. Jackson’s live rendition of “You Were There” at Sammy Davis Jr.’s 60th birthday celebration received an Emmy nomination.
Jackson starred in the Francis Ford Coppola-directed 3-D film, Captain EO. It was the most expensive film produced on a per-minute basis at the time, and was later hosted in Disney theme parks. Disneyland featured the film in its Tomorrowland area for nearly 11 years, while Walt Disney World screened the film in its Epcot theme park from 1986 to 1994.
Released in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Ghosts was a short film written by Jackson and world-renowned author, Stephen King, and directed by Stan Winston. The video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s longest music video.
Jackson famously collaborated on videos with legendary directors Spike Lee (”They Don’t Care About Us”), Martin Scorsese (”Bad”), John Singleton (”Remember the Time”), David Fincher (”Who Is It”) and Steven Spielberg (”Someone In the Dark” from E.T.), as well as legendary photographer Herb Ritts (”In the Closet”). Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his first television interview since 1979. The interview was watched by 90 million Americans, becoming the fourth most-viewed non-sport program in US history.
In late November 2001, the CBS television network aired a two-hour special in honor of his thirtieth year as a solo entertainer. It was watched by almost 65 million Americans. The show was edited from footage of two separate concerts Michael had orchestrated in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on September 7 and September 10 of 2001, the last ending just hours before the 9/11 tragedy. The shows sold out in five hours. Ticket prices were pop music’s most expensive ever; the best seats cost $5,000 and included a dinner with Michael Jackson and a signed poster. The show ranked first in Black viewers over the decade ending 2008. Days after September 11, 2001, Jackson made an appearance for MTV’s “Total Request Live” at Time Square’s Virgin Megastore that shut down the area and attracted the largest crowd there outside of New Year’s Eve.
One of Jackson’s most acclaimed performances came during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. As the performances began, Jackson was catapulted onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvass, he maintained a motionless “clenched fist, standing statue stance”, dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for several minutes while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and began to sing and dance. His routine included four songs: “Jam”, “Billie Jean”, “Black or White” and “Heal the World”. It was the only Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during the half-time show, and was viewed by 135 million Americans alone. The response caused his Dangerous album to rise 90 places up the album chart.
Thriller remains the world’s best-selling original record of all time. It remained at number one for thirty-seven weeks, the longest-ever stay by a non-soundtrack album and second only to West Side Story. It spent a record 80 consecutive weeks, more than a year and a half, in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It is also the only album in the United States to have sold more copies than any other in two separate years, topping the sales charts in 1983 and 1984. Four of his other solo studio albums are among the world’s best-selling records: Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory. All of Jackson’s DVD releases, including the Dangerous World Tour concert DVD, Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour, have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Jackson donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his foundations, charity singles, and support of 39 charities. He was listed in the book of Guinness World Records for his support of 39 charities, more than any other entertainer or personality in history.
He is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a member of The Jacksons and as a solo artist. Jackson was also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He holds multiple Guinness World Records—including one for “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time”—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career, and of course, the sale of 750 million records worldwide.
His first autobiography, Moon Walk, reached the top position on The New York Times best sellers’ list. The musician then released a film called Moonwalker, which featured live footage, music videos, and a feature film that starred Jackson and Joe Pesci. Moonwalker debuted atop the Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues. Jackson also wrote Dancing the Dream and My World, The Official Photobook, Vol. 1, both New York Times best sellers.
Jackson holds the record for most expensive music video ever made. “Scream” cost reportedly over seven million U.S. dollars. In 1995, it gained 11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won “Best Dance Video”, “Best Choreography”, and “Best Art Direction.” A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form. On November 14, 1991, Jackson’s music video, “Black or White” was broadcast simultaneously in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million people. It is the largest audience ever to view a music video. In March 1991, Jackson signed a record-breaking $190 million contract with Sony. It is still the largest recording contract of all time.
In 1986 Jackson signed a $15 million deal with Pepsi – it was the largest ever endorsement for product promotion. Jackson has the record for the two best-selling VHS music videos ever released (”Moonwalker” [1988] in first place, and “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” [1984] in second place). Jackson jointly holds the record for most Grammy Awards won in a single year. He won eight awards at the 1984 ceremony. This was equaled by Carlos Santana at the 2001 ceremony. He has won a total of eighteen awards throughout his career. Jackson jointly holds the record for most American Music Awards won in a single year, winning eight awards at the 1984 ceremony (equaled by Whitney Houston at the 1994 ceremony). Jackson jointly holds the record for the most World Music Awards won in a single year, with five awards at the 1996 ceremony (tied with Whitney Houston from the 1994 ceremony). Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard Awards than any other male artist, having 26. Jackson holds the record for winning more Billboard Awards than any other artist in one year, grabbing 13 in 1983. Jackson has received seven BRIT Awards (British equivalent of the Grammy), including the “Artist of a Generation” award.
Jackson was the first celebrity to have two stars on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in the same category, one as a member of The Jacksons and another as a solo artist in 1984.
Honored as artist of the decade by former President, George H. W. Bush in 1989. He has received Presidential Commendations by every US President since he started in the business, except the recently elected Barack Obama. He has also been honored by leaders of more than twenty nations. Awarded a “Special Commendation” by United States Congress, as well.
Named “Best Selling Male Pop Artist of the Millenium” at the World Music Awards ceremony in 2000. Named “Artist Of The Century” at the American Music Awards ceremony in 2002.
His “This Is It” Tour would have produced the biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city, would have been the most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows, and was the fastest ticket sales in history, with 700,000 tickets sold in about four hours.
Jackson had nine platinum singles in the United States, trailing only Elvis Presley (27) and Mariah Carey (10). Rihanna also has 9 platinum singles.
Jackson had 16 gold singles in the United States, behind only Elvis Presley (54), Madonna (26), The Beatles (24), Mariah Carey (23), Janet Jackson (21), Whitney Houston (18), Elton John (17) and The Temptations (17).
Jackson has had 13 number-one singles and 1 number one collaboration (with Paul McCartney) on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles charts trailing only The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18) and Elvis Presley (17).
Jackson had 29 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, trailing only The Beatles (29), Elvis Presley (36), and Madonna (37). Jackson had 13 number one hits on the Billboard R&B/Black Music charts.
Jackson has received the MTV Video Vanguard Award twice. In 1991, it was renamed to the “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.” The award is given to musicians who have had a profound effect on the MTV culture. Throughout his career, Jackson has been awarded with 13 MTV related awards, including two MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Japan’s Legend Award, a MTV Movie award, and seven MTV Video Music Awards.
Jackson was inducted into the Music Video Producers’ Hall of Fame in 1991. Jackson has won a total of fourteen NAACP Image Awards.
Jackson has received 56 certifications and awards from the Recording Industry Association of America for gold, platinum, multi-platinum, and diamond record sales.
With 11.5 million copies, Michael Jackson is one of only eight musical acts that have sold more than 10 million singles in Britain.
Jackson had 8 number one albums on the British charts and is tied with David Bowie for fourth place all time. (Madonna has 10, Elvis Presley has 11, and the Beatles have 15.)
Jackson had 7 number one hits on the UK Singles Charts, 40 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart and 50 Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart. These numbers are equaled or exceeded in France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Norway, Brazil, Greece, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Italy.
Jackson’s Thriller and Bad are the 8th- and 9th-highest-selling albums in UK history. Besides Jackson, only Queen, with the 1st- and 7th-best-selling albums, has multiple entries in the top twenty.
Jackson is the only foreign artist to have sold more than 1,500,000 units in Turkey with all his albums (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, Blood On The Dance Floor and Invincible). Bad is the best-selling foreign album in Turkey, and HIStory is the best-selling double album by a foreign artist in Turkey.
Jackson has more music awards than any other artist in the history of music, having been given 197 recognized awards.
His greatest accomplishment might be his co-ownership of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The company is the third largest music publisher in the world, owning the rights to songs by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Akon, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, and Willie Nelson – essentially meaning that when his rivals sell records, he earns the money. The value of Sony/ATV Music Publishing has been valued by experts to be worth as much as $1 billion. That alone cements why he is the King of Pop.
More articles worth reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/business/media/27finances.html?_r=2&ref=global-home
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/fashion/28trebay.html?ref=media
