Michael Jackson, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, also has the distinction of being the most depicted cultural figure of the last fifty years. He was an inspiration for an extraordinary array of leading artists including Isa Genzken, Grayson Perry, Andy Warhol and Kehnde Wiley. This book, which accompanies a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, examines why so many contemporary artists have been drawn to Jackson as a subject and their artistic responses to him as an enduring international icon.
The surprising rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story of how Michael Jackson grew a billion-dollar business. Michael Jackson is known by many as the greatest entertainer of all time, but he was also a revolutionary when it came to business. In addition to famously buying the Beatles’ publishing catalogue, Jackson was one of the first pop stars to launch his own clothing line, record label, sneakers, and video games—creating a fundamental shift in the monetization of fame and paving the way for entertainer-entrepreneurs like Jay Z and Diddy. All told, Jackson earned more than $1.1 billion in his solo career, and the assets he built in life have earned more than $700 million in the five years since his death—more than any other solo music act over that time. Michael Jackson, Inc. reveals the incredible rise, fall, and rise again of Michael Jackson’s fortune—driven by the unmatched perfectionism of the King of Pop. Forbes senior editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg uncovers never-before-told stories from interviews with more than 100 people, including music industry veterans Berry Gordy, John Branca, and Walter Yetnikoff; artists 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, and Jon Bon Jovi; and members of the Jackson family. Other insights come from court documents and Jackson’s private notes, some of them previously unpublished. Through Greenburg’s novelistic telling, a clear picture emerges of Jackson’s early years, his rise to international superstardom, his decline—fueled by demons internal and external, as well as the dissolution of the team that helped him execute his best business moves—and, finally, his financial life after death. Underlying Jackson’s unique history is the complex but universal tale of the effects of wealth and fame on the human psyche. A valuable case study for generations of entertainers to come and for anyone interested in show business, Michael Jackson, Inc. tells the story of a man whose financial feats, once obscured by his late-life travails, have become an enduring legacy.
Painter of vibrant assemblages and champion of African American art, Suzanne Jackson receives her first monograph Published on the occasion of the first full-career survey of Savannah-based artist Suzanne Jackson (born 1944) at the Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia, Five Decades illuminates a career that spans more than 50 years, across painting, drawing, theatre, costume design, dance, printmaking and sculpture. The book presents a unique selection of Jackson's artworks and explicates their relationships to identity, community, the natural world and the human body. In addition to featuring new photo documentation and archival images, the book includes essays that contextualize Jackson's practice through the lenses of ecowomanism, materiality, an ethics of care and African American retentions. Five Decades complicates canonical and exclusionary narratives and timelines, opening up Jackson's work to new generations of artists, thinkers and doers to find inspiration in the singular contributions one person can make to collective culture.
For half a century, Michael Jackson’s music has been an indelible part of our cultural consciousness. Landmark albums such as Off the Wall and Thriller shattered records, broke racial barriers, amassed awards, and set a new standard for popular music. While his songs continue to be played in nearly every corner of the world, however, they have rarely been given serious critical attention. The first book dedicated solely to exploring his creative work, Man in the Music guides us through an unparalleled analysis of Jackson’s recordings, album by album, from his trailblazing work with Quincy Jones to his later collaborations with Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Rodney Jerkins. Drawing on rare archival material and on dozens of original interviews with the collaborators, engineers, producers, and songwriters who helped bring the artist’s music into the world, Jackson expert and acclaimed cultural critic Joseph Vogel reveals the inspirations, demos, studio sessions, technological advances, setbacks and breakthroughs, failures and triumphs, that gave rise to an immortal body of work.
