Michael Jackson, an enigma whose dance moves made everyone crazy. A person whose name is considered synonymous with dance. The public knows him for his transformation from being a black American to a white. Michael Jackson was also known for his fame at a very young age, his Grammy awards, his music videos, and his controversial death.
But apart from that, what is Michael Jackson also famous for? Listed below are 15 Michael Jackson facts that may surprise you.
1. Michael Jackson’s father forcefully made him play music
Michael Jackson’s father was the boxer, Michael Joseph Jackson. The man used to pressurize the now ‘King of Pop’ to play various instruments while growing up.
There was a time Michael Jackson’s father often whipped his children if they made a mistake in playing the wrong note. The brothers had a rough time in their father’s attempts to keep them away from the streets. Upbringing in such a milieu put Michael under a lot of emotional stress to excel in what he did professionally.
2. Joe Jackson was the reason behind the Jackson 5
Michael was formerly a member of the Joe Jackson-managed group ‘The Jackson 5’. There were five Jackson brothers in the pop group namely: Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, and finally Michael Jackson.
The children of Joseph Jackson participated in a number of talent events in the band’s formative days to demonstrate some skills. They carried on as usual until Steeltown Studios, a record label, took notice of them.
3. The Jackson brothers shared a single bedroom
The upbringing wasn’t so colorful for Michael. All five of his brothers had to sleep on one bed. The Jackson children including girls had sleepless nights in their childhood.
The Jackson family lived in this situation up till ’69. Once Michael rose to fame, it allowed them to afford to move to the West. A mansion that was four times as big as their house in Indiana.
4. Michael suffered from a skin disease called Vitiligo
Why did Michael Jackson, a well-known black artist around the globe at some point become white? Was he ashamed of being black or did he just like being white? There was a time when Americans wondered why the King of Pop had a change in skin color.
The answer to all that speculation was a skin disease called Vitiligo. During an interview on the Oprah Winfrey show, Michael revealed the reason behind his skin color change. However, despite the press’s continued allegations that Jackson bleached his skin to white. But this was not sufficient to persuade the public.
Jackson’s postmortem in 2009, nevertheless, finally put an end to the controversy when the coroner determined that he was affected by Vitiligo.
5. His children were named after him
No one knows much about Michael Jackson’s 3 kids since he was effective in keeping them out of the public eye during his existence.
Although it has always been claimed that Jackson’s children aren’t biologically his, the world doesn’t know for a fact who fathered Jackson’s children. At the very minimum, their names are the only thing that the world is aware of.
His children whom the public referred to as Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson, and Prince Michael Jackson ii clearly shows that the King of pop named them after him.
6. The famous ‘Moon Walk’ wasn’t invented by Michael Jackson
Jackson was really instructed in the maneuver by Jeffrey Daniel, his dancer-choreographer who had been performing it from the ’70s.
It wasn’t in fact Jeffrey Daniel who initiated the move but Cab Calloway who first put his feet to dance to a variation of the ‘Moonwalk’ all the way back in 1932.
Jackson performed this dance move back in 1983 for Motown records and it became the evergreen dance step people try even to this day.
7. The Pepsi Cola commercial tragedy
Shortly after Michael released his album ‘Thriller’, he signed a contract with the soft drinks company Pepsi Cola. The company paid him a whopping $5 million to act in ads and promote their brand. Jackson sustained severe burns to his head when shooting one such commercial the next year in which his hair caught fire due to a fireworks mishap. That incident scarred Michael for the rest of his life.
The company had to face a civil suit in court for the damage Jackson had to endure and apologized with a huge fine. Jackson terminated his contract with Pepsi Cola immediately after the incident.
Donated $1.5 million to the hospital that cured him
A medical center in Southern California treated the King of Pop with rhinoplasty surgery, the only way to cure his second-degree burnt marks to the bottom of his scalp. The medical center which was named ‘Brotman Medical Center’ was renamed ‘Michael Jackson Burn Center’ in memory of the singer.
8. Michael Jackson tried buying Marvel comics
Yes, there was a chance Stan Lee’s iconic comic series could have been sold to the King of Pop. This happened in 1990 when Michael Jackson tried to purchase Marvel comics because the company went bankrupt. Michael’s desire to buy Marvel comics stems from the fact that he was a huge Tobey Maguire fan who played Spider-Man just like any other kid.
Another reason to purchase marvel comics was, that Jackson wished to see himself as one of the characters in the franchise.
9. Michael could have banned the album Thriller himself
The album Thriller would never break epic records in the world and become the best-selling album if Michael actually stuck to banning it.
The song’s music video was based on Halloween and Jackson on the other hand was still a Jehovah’s Witness. Jackson was so devoted that he actually tried to get the blockbuster movie deleted after other eyewitnesses started to worry that he was endorsing occultism. Had Jackson taken steps in this way, ‘Thriller’ wouldn’t have become the best-selling album at that time.
“Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult.” were the words at the beginning of the music video.
Michael initially requested that the movie be scrapped by the filmmaker John Landis, but his attorney persuaded Jackson to start the video with a caution alternatively.
10. Michael Jackson was accused of Child Molestation
The fifth and middle daughter of the Jackson family accused her brother of pedophilia. La Toya Jackson, Michael Jackson’s sister in 1993 stated in an interview that he would sexually abuse children. La Toya had a series of interviews at roughly the same time as the Jordan Chandler allegations: one with NBC and the other with Tel Aviv media.
In the conversations, La Toya asserts that she has actually seen checks written out to the families of the victims. “these kids are going to be scarred for the rest of their lives,” Michael Jackson’s sister concluded.
Proof of Child Abuse from the Neverland Ranch
The Los Angeles Police Department found significant evidence proving that Michael Jackson was a pedophile and entertained child abuse.
Back in 2003 when Michael Jackson’s residence in Sycamore valley ranch was raided by the cops, adult pornography, and images of children wearing half or no clothes at all were found.
The prosecution’s argument proved that Jackson actually showed the victims pornographic elements in an effort to nurture them.
Michael Jackson and Jordy Chandler
In an incident back in 1993, Michael Jackson was claimed to have slept with a 13-year-old boy named Jordy Chandler.
The kid also told the world that Jackson bathed with him and offered money. In the near future, Michael had to pay $25 million to the Los Angeles court in J. Chandler’s name in a civil suit.
All sorts of vice were supported by Michael but the most damaging evidence was the discovery of his own and his juvenile victims’ fingerprints were found in every photo and video cassette found in his estate.
11. Michael Jackson was raised as Jehovah’s Witness
Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Esther Scruse converted to this religion back in 1963. The Jackson family followed in their mother’s footsteps as well. Even after the Jackson family moved to Los Angeles from Indiana, little Michael would go from door to door and spread the religion.
12. Michael Jackson’s hit song Billie Jean is a true story
A top Michael Jackson writer claims that Billie Jean was a genuine person writing to Michael saying he was the father to her newborn twins.
Jackson, nonetheless, said that “Billie Jean” was a combination of a number of ladies who asserted their offspring were sired by Michael’s siblings like Randy Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, and others.
Reporters asked Michael Jackson about the reason behind the pop music video to be named Billie Jean. The Grammy lifetime achievement award winner said, “There were a lot of Billie Jeans out there. Every girl claimed that their son was related to one of my brothers”
13. Michael’s ‘Scream’ is the most expensive music video
Even while it may not fall into the category of the songs most many recognize Michael Jackson for, Scream, which was a part of his 1995 album ‘HIStory’, it is known for one primary criterion.
The music video was a collaboration between Michael and his sister Janet Jackson which turned out to become the most expensive album ever made. This in fact made the chief of the record label question Michael on the expenses.
14. He married the daughter of Elvis Presley
One of the numerous Michael Jackson facts that will undoubtedly shock you is this one. Michael Jackson wed Lisa Marie Presley, a descendant of the illustrious Elvis Presley in May 1994. But this only lasted for about two years before coming to an end. In the first month of 1996, they began the divorce process.
Because she desired a discreet marriage, Lisa Marie Presley said in an interview that their engagement was kept hidden. In addition, she stated that she did not want to see the journalists and photographers present the wedding to the world and cause any disruptions.
Lisa Marie Presley opted to divorce since it was tough to keep her relationship intact. Before Michael Jackson encountered Debbie Rowe, she nonetheless remained in an erratic affair with Michael for an additional 48 months.
Michael Jackson’s doctor gave his daughter to marry him
Shortly after announcing his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Jackson went on to marry Deborah Jeanne Rowe, the daughter of his personal doctor Arnold Klein.
The reason behind Jackson’s second marriage was that Michael feared he could never father children again. Debbie Rowe was in fact another fan of Michael Jackson who offered him to father her children.
Debbie went on to give birth to a boy and a girl named Michael Joseph Jackson Junior. and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson respectively.
Michael Jackson married Debbie Rowe on the 13th of November, 1996 in Australia. As a matter of fact, his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley even called Debbie Rowe and wished her luck in the years to come.
15. Michael Jackson’s burial was delayed because of family disputes
Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson’s sister caused a ruckus after Jackson’s death regarding the singer’s estate. This is one of the many Michael Jackson facts that will surely surprise you. Janet Jackson said that she demanded her money returned for the plot for burial as the main driver behind this disagreement.
The publisher of Michael Jackson’s book claims that Janet paid a commission of about fifty thousand dollars at Forest Lawn to reserve a space for Michael Jackson.
She wouldn’t allow the burial to happen on the specified day, though, unless they paid it back. As a result of which they postponed the burial for 3 months.
Michael was ultimately put to rest at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park because of all the stress. This is situated just outside California, in the city of Los Angeles.
16. It is still believed Jackson’s death was a homicide
According to the Los Angeles County Coroner, Michael Jackson died because of homicide. This happened as a result of the mixture of medications that were discovered in his bloodstream and caused his heart attack.
It was claimed that Propofol and anxiolytic Lorazepam were the ones that mainly caused Jackson’s death. In contrast, there were many other drugs Jackson consumed that are still kept confidential.
17. Michael Jackson could have died in 9/11
This is one of those Michael Joe Jackson facts that will surely have your eyebrows raised. Yes, it is true that Jackson would have died back in 2001 itself.
On the morning of September 11, the singer had to meet a few important people in the Twin Towers. But luckily he overslept because he was on the phone with his mother the earlier night. Jackson’s death could have hit the headlines 8 years early if it weren’t for that phone call.
Now there you go, some mind-blowing facts on Michael Jackson. For more such amazing articles, visit our website here.
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Last Updated on by Laveleena Sharma
