American Legends

*Includes pictures

*Includes Jackson's own quotes about his life and career

*Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading

"The minute I started breaking the all-time record in record sales-I broke Elvis's records, I broke Beatles records-the minute it became the all-time best-selling album in the history of the Guinness Book of World Records, overnight they called me a freak. They called me a homosexual. They called me a child molester. They said I bleached my skin. They made everything to turn the public against me." - Michael Jackson In the majority of cases, a pop or rock fan who is asked about a particular celebrity will answer in unambiguous terms. Artists such as Elvis Presley engage the public in their entirety, their personae fully revealed as on and offstage personalities. Most artists are judged by what they say of themselves and their art, and fans can express in distinct terms why they like or do not like them or their music. Michael Jackson, on the other hand, projected a different sort of fascination to the global public, based upon his many contradictions and hidden characteristics. The unorthodox artist was described by one author as "paradoxical and incomplete," and while audiences attended a Presley event to revel in a known quantity, Jackson's charisma depended in part on the audience's need "to understand, or fill in the knowledge that was missing." If anything, the mystical, half-revealed Jackson was as strong an attraction as his more forceful and renowned colleagues, for by the end of his career, he was "arguably the most notable popular culture virtuoso of the late twentieth century" and had set almost every record known to his industry, all in an age that featured not only Presley but The Beatles, Barbara Streisand, and other superstars. Jackson was literally bred for success. From childhood, he was rehearsed by his father as part of the Jackson 5 to extreme lengths, and he was never without multiple projects, even as he managed to juggle several genres with apparent ease. In his time at Motown alone, he recorded fourteen albums with The Jackson 5, then six more as The Jacksons. Numerous solo albums, films, and music videos, which he called "short films," garnered thirteen Grammy Awards, and twenty-six American Music Awards, among numerous others. He is one of few artists to be inducted into the Hall of Fame twice, for his work with The Jacksons, and as a solo performer. The music and video to "Thriller" stands as the best-selling ever, with thirteen number one singles. In all, Jackson's records and videos sold 750 million copies worldwide and continue to sell at a brisk pace after his death. Given that career, it's no surprise that The Guinness Book of Records lists him as "The Most Successful Entertainer of All Time." In the end, the child star who grew up perfecting the old vaudevillian moonwalk step and made crotch-grabbing and robot dancing some of his signature moves was overcome by an extensive combination of drugs provided to help him cope with anxiety and financial collapse. While he died prematurely at the age of 50 and his personal physician was later tried for offering those drugs illegally, Jackson's death could hardly have come as a surprise to anyone remotely familiar with the troubles and controversies that surrounded him for the last several decades of his life. American Legends: The Life of Michael Jackson looks at the life and career of the King of Pop, from his defining albums to the controversies swirling around him. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Jackson like never before, in no time at all.