Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958 ) is an American musician and entertainer whose successful music career and controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the last quarter-century.
Jackson began his musical career at the age of seven as the lead singer of The Jackson 5 and made his first solo recordings in 1971 while remaining a member of the group. He began a full-fledged solo career in 1979 and formally parted with his siblings in 1984. In his solo career, Jackson recorded and co-produced the best-selling album of all time Thriller, with worldwide sales over 51 million, received thirteen Grammy awards and charted thirteen number-one singles in the U.S. Throughout his four-decade career, Michael Jackson has been awarded numerous honors, including the World Music Award's Best-selling pop male artist of the Millennium, and he is a double-inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997, and again in 2001 as a solo artist.) He is also a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
From 1988 to 2005, Jackson lived on his Neverland Ranch property, on which he built an amusement park and private zoo for economically disadvantaged and terminally ill children. His frequently held sleepover parties received disparaging media coverage after it was revealed that children frequently shared his bed. These occurrences came to light first when he was accused of child sexual abuse in 1993. His sleepover parties were brought into the spotlight again in 2003 during the infamous Living with Michael Jackson TV Documentary. This resulted in Jackson being tried and acquitted of more child molestation allegations and several other charges in 2005.
