""The Fantastic Life of Michael Jackson" is an entertaining, biographical essay on the life of the singer/songwriter and dancer. All facts about his person are historically accurate. The frame story surrounds conversations set in a fantasy Heaven, interactions between Michael and his contemporaries, and imagined streams-of-consciousness from Michael himself, all of which allow the reader to appreciate his life from many different perspectives.
Michael Jackson was one of those rare human beings who can truly be described as a legend. As with Elvis and John Lennon, everyone will remember where they were when they heard about the death of Michael Jackson. He was just fifty when he died, yet had become a superstar by the time he was eleven, ensuring his music was part of the fabric of everyone's life. Though his days of greatest success were behind him, Jackson was standing on the threshold of what could well have been one of the biggest comebacks in showbiz history. It wasn't to be, but the music, sales figures and the number of current stars who queued to pay tribute to his influence underlined the fact that, for all his controversial personal quirks, Michael Jackson was indeed one of the greats. This picture-packed tribute charts the life of a legend, from his earliest days as a hyperactive child protégé fronting family group the Jackson Five, to the assured superstar looking out from the cover of Thriller, still the best-selling album of all time. It analyses the magical stage moves like the Moonwalk that made him a sensational live act, celebrates the intoxicating music that made him the King of Pop and follows his life right through to the comeback that was to be cruelly cut short before the curtain could rise. MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009: LIFE OF A LEGEND tells the larger-than-life story of a unique character whose musical legacy will never die.
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.
The investigative biography of Michael Jackson’s final years: “A tale of family, fame, lost childhood, and startling accusations never heard before” (ABC Nightline). When Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, millions of fans around the world were shocked. But the outpouring of emotion that followed his loss was bittersweet. Dogged by scandal for years and undone by financial mismanagement, Jackson had become untouchable in many quarters. Untouchable pulls back the curtain Jackson’s public person to introduce a man who, despite his immense fame, spent his entire life utterly alone; who, in the wake of a criminal trial that left him briefly hospitalized, abandoned Neverland to wander the globe before making one final—and fatal—attempt to recover his wealth and reputation. The Jackson that emerges in these pages is both naïve and cunning, a devoted father whose parenting became an international scandal, a shrewd businessman whose failures nearly brought down a megacorporation, and an inveterate narcissist who craved a quiet, normal life. Randall Sullivan delivers never-before-reported information about Jackson’s business dealings, his relationship with his family, and the pedophilia allegations that derailed his life and mar his legacy today, as well as the suspicious nature of his death. Based on exclusive access to Jackson’s inner circle, Untouchable is an intimate, unflinching portrait of the man who continues to reign as the King of Pop. “A dishy Michael Jackson biography that makes the exhaustively covered King of Pop fascinating all over again.” —People
Well beyond his passing in 2009, Michael Jackson remains one of the most adulated and mysterious stars in the world. Incredible singer, brilliant musician, amazing performer, he was just as talented as he was eccentric, adored as well as reviled with sordid accusations, sadly caught between a stolen childhood and a suffocating star system.Discover in this biography mixing comics and documentary chapters, how the youngest of the Jackson 5 was propelled to the front of the stage and then onto one of the most extraordinary solo careers in music.The next volume in the sellout series featuring the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
!--StartFragment-- • A beautifully produced visual tribute to the King of Pop • An unprecedented collection of images taking us behind the scenes of Jackson's amazing career • The latest in the successful Life in Pictures series A fitting tribute to the undisputed ‘King of Pop’, this lavishly illustrated book takes us on a visual tour of Michael Jackson’s colourful, highly publicized, sometimes controversial, but exceptionally gifted life. From his earliest performances with The Jackson 5 in the ‘60s to multi-million album success as a solo artist, this book provides a unique behind-the-scenes look at this essentially shy but legendary artist. Capturing the essence of his innovations in music, dance and video, these images show how Jackson transformed popular culture to become one of the most commercially successful entertainers of all time. The latest in the Life in Pictures series, this is a beautifully produced book filled with wonderful, often surprisingly intimate images – a celebration of one of the most talented artists of all time and the perfect gift for any Jackson fan. !--EndFragment--
The renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning cultural critic brilliantly unravels the complexities of one of the most enigmatic figures of our time in this passionate, incisive, and bracing work of cultural analysis. Who is Michael Jackson and what does it mean to call him a “What Is It”? What do P. T. Barnum, Peter Pan, and Edgar Allan Poe have to do with our fascination with Jackson? How did his curious Victorian upbringing and his tenure as a child prodigy on the “chitlin’ circuit” inform his character and multiplicity of selves? How is Michael Jackson’s celebrity related to the outrageous popularity of nineteenth-century minstrelsy? What is the perverse appeal of child stars for grown-ups and what is the price of such stardom for these children and for us? What uncanniness provoked Michael Jackson to become “Alone of All His Race, Alone of All Her Sex,” while establishing himself as an undeniably great performer with neo-Gothic, dandy proclivities and a producer of visionary music videos? What do we find so unnerving about Michael Jackson’s presumed monstrosity? In short, how are we all of us implicated? In this stunning book, Margo Jefferson gives us the incontrovertible lowdown on call-him-what-you-wish; she offers a powerful reckoning with a quintessential, richly allusive signifier of American society and popular culture.
The definitive biography of Michael Jackson, a “vivid…gripping...authoritative account of a world-changing force of nature” (Rolling Stone), celebrating the King of Pop’s legendary contributions to music, dance, and popular culture. From the moment in 1965 when he first stepped on stage—at age seven—in Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson was destined to become the undisputed King of Pop. In a career spanning four decades, Jackson became a global icon, selling over four hundred million albums, earning thirteen Grammy awards, and spinning dance moves that captivated the world. Songs like “Billie Jean” and “Black and White” altered our national discussion of race and equality, and Jackson’s signature aesthetic, from the single white glove to the moonwalk, defined a generation. Despite publicized scandals and controversy, Jackson’s ultimate legacy will always be his music. In an account that “reminds us why Michael Jackson was, indeed, a ‘genius’ entertainer” (New York Newsday), Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper delves deeply into Jackson’s music and talent. From the artist’s early days with the Jackson 5, to his stratospheric success as a solo artist, to “Beat It” and “Thriller,” “Bad” and “The Man in the Mirror,” to his volatile final years, his attempted comeback, and untimely death, Knopper draws on his “critical and reportorial savvy in assessing Jackson’s creative peaks and valleys,” (USA TODAY) exploring the beguiling and often contradictory forces that fueled Michael Jackson’s genius. Drawing on an amazing four hundred interviews—ranging from Jackson’s relatives, friends, and key record executives to celebrities like will.i.am and Weird Al Yankovic—this critical biography puts his career into perspective and celebrates his triumph in art and music. This is “a thoughtful look at an artist who grew up in a segregated mill town and who, for the rest of his life, made music to bring down walls” (Chicago Tribune).
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Michael Jackson tells the story of his life, in his words. In this intimate and often moving personal account of Michael Jackson’s public and private life, he recalls a childhood that was both harsh and joyful but always formidable. Michael and his brothers played amateur music shows and seamy Chicago strip joints until Motown’s corporate image makers turned the Jackson 5 into worldwide superstars. He talks about the happy prankster days of his youth, traveling with his brothers, and of his sometimes difficult relationships with his family over the years. He speaks candidly about the inspiration behind his music, his mesmerizing dance moves, and the compulsive drive to create that has made him one of the biggest stars in the music business and a legend in his own time. Jackson also shares his personal feelings about some of his most public friends…friends like Diana Ross, Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando, and Katharine Hepburn. He talks openly about the crushing isolation of his fame, of his first love, of his plastic surgery, and of his wholly exceptional career and the often bizarre and unfair rumors that have surrounded it. Illustrated with rare photographs from Jackson family albums and Michael’s personal photographic archives, as well as a drawing done by Michael exclusively for this book, Moonwalk is a memorable journey to the very heart and soul of a modern musical genius.
