History Music / MichaelJackson

** The original version of the "black panther" scene from the "Black or White" music video became controversial due to Jackson being shown to destroy glass from cars and walls. An altered version with racist text added on the glass (as in vandalism) exists, as if Jackson was a anti-Racism protester and wanted to remove all evidence of racism jokes.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Jackson's songs involving women are typically either [[SillyLoveSongs saccharine love songs]]—"Lady in My Life," "The Girl is Mine," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "You Are Not Alone"—or portrays them as overly sexualized, untrustworthy manipulators—"Billie Jean," "Dirty Diana," "Dangerous," "In the Closet." Given that he never really had a chance at a normal dating experience and his only relationships were with [[LoonyFan obsessive female fans]] or other pop superstars[[note]]This included the ''actual'' Music/{{Madonna}} for a brief time, though it was presumably nothing more than a publicity stunt to get the two biggest pop singers of TheEighties together. By all accounts, Madonna ''terrified'' him.[[/note]], it's often theorized that he wasn't just a prude and was ''actually'' afraid of sex.

%%* FedoraOfAsskicking: In the videos for "Smooth Criminal" and "You Rock My World".

** The white fedora from "Smooth Criminal" can also qualify.

* TruckDriversGearChange: "Man in the Mirror" contains a key change on the word [[{{Pun}}"change"]]. Also happens towards the end of "Rock With You".

As TheNineties rolled around, Jackson had another success with the album ''Music/{{Dangerous}}''. However, within a few years media attention had turned on his health and appearance, his personal life and some allegations of sexual abuse against children. Jackson did release two more albums but for the rest of his life was OvershadowedByControversy (or perhaps just eccentricity). In 2009, he looked set for a comeback after booking a 50-show farewell concert engagement in UsefulNotes/{{London}}, UsefulNotes/{{England}}.

* LikeParentLikeSpouse: He was this to his first wife Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Music/ElvisPresley. Just like her mother, Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie married the most famous star of her generation. Presley believes that one of the reasons why she was attracted to Jackson was because he had similar larger-than-life behavior to her father. Elvis Presley was the owner of Graceland and Michael Jackson was the owner of Neverland, in their later years both Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley fell hard from the peaks of their careers to become the laughingstocks of the public, and both died from overdosing on prescription drugs in relative seclusion. While in a relationship with Lisa Marie Presley from 1993 to 2000 (they were dating even after the divorce), Jackson often asked her questions about her father's demise as he feared he might end up like him. Years earlier, in Jackson's 1988 autobiography, said he did not consider Elvis to be an influence on his work but he was fascinated by how Elvis destroyed his life.

Jackson had an extraordinarily non-standard upbringing that resulted in a very eccentric individual. He suffered extensive emotional trauma from the continuous stress placed on him by his parents (his dad was his manager), production team (companies, managers, etc.), and media. Where most children grow up with at least some kind of protection from a parent who gave them affection and a chance to be their own person, Michael Jackson was told to act like an adult (even as a child), to perform like an adult (even as a child), that he wasn’t ever good enough and that he was always on the cusp of failure. Michael Jackson's childhood was characterized by severe psychological and physical abuse at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson, who always demanded perfection in Michael's performances. Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, was a deeply religious Jehovah's Witness known for her gentle personality but she often guilted Jackson into doing things he did not want to and did little to stop the abuse he received. Katherine refused to leave her husband on religious grounds as she believed that all sins could be forgiven, even after all her children begged her to divorce him. This childhood abuse and religious guilt would greatly shape his personality and were common themes in his works. It may have also been what resulted in his lifelong obsession with fellow singer Music/DianaRoss as she was one of the only responsible parental figures in his life.

Jackson also suffered from a number of lifelong health issues. Jackson broke his nose in 1978. He had reconstructive surgery which made his nose narrower than it originally was. He had another reconstructive surgery in 1982 because of breathing difficulties which made it thinner again. As his skin color became increasingly lighter over the years, many speculated that Jackson had self-hate over his race and that the reason behind the nosejobs and skin bleaching was to look more like a white person. Jackson slammed these rumors by saying he was proud to be black man and revealed that he suffered from vitiligo, a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells (melanocytes) so he was only bleaching his skin with prescription creams to even out his complexion. Jackson also suffered from lupus which caused acne, arthritis, weight loss, fatigue, and destroyed the cartilage in his already-damaged nose. His skin conditions are why he often had to walk around with umbrellas to block out the sunlight. His father's psychological abuse likely gave him body dysmorphia as he believed himself to be extremely ugly; he got surgery to give himself a cleft chin, changed his jawline, always wore makeup in public, and hated seeing photos of himself as a child. While filming a Pepsi commercial, Michael Jackson's hair accidentally caught fire and burned part of his scalp. This incident made him start wearing a wig and he was prescribed severe pain killers to cope with the agony of the burns to his scalp and face. This dependency on painkillers would lead to a decades-long addiction to them.

* VocalDissonance: In "2000 Watts" and "Shout" Jackson adopts a distinctly deeper voice. This is closer to his ''real'' voice as he usually sings and talks at a much higher pitch.

** The nude couple scenes featuring Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley are inspired by Maxfield Parrish's ''Daybreak'' painting. Jackson was a dedicated art collector.

* PlatonicLifePartners: How his relationship with Music/DianaRoss is often presented to the public. Although there is '''a lot''' of evidence to suggest that their relationship was actually romantic, at least on Jackson's part. He was obsessed with her, said he loved her, said he wanted to marry her, he wrote his song "Remember the Time" for her (while he was still married to Lisa Marie Presley!), and even had a whole shrine dedicated to her. Her feelings for him are much more ambiguous. Perhaps she did love him romantically but avoided being in a relationship with him because of the large age gap (it would have been uncomfortable for her since she knew him when he was still a child and such a relationship would completely destroy her public image), or perhaps she only ever viewed him as a friend so any flirtation she had with him (Ross flirted with every man) was never serious to her. The two never seemed to have become romantically involved but remained close friends from the moment she met him in The Jackson 5 to the end of his life.

Jackson had an extraordinarily non-standard upbringing that resulted in a very eccentric individual. He suffered extensive emotional trauma from the continuous stress placed on him by his parents (his dad was his manager), production team (companies, managers, etc.), and media. Where most children grow up with at least some kind of protection from a parent who gave them affection and a chance to be their own person, Michael Jackson was told to act like an adult (even as a child), to perform like an adult (even as a child), that he wasn’t ever good enough and that he was always on the cusp of failure. Michael Jackson's childhood was characterized by severe psychological and physical abuse at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson, who always demanded perfection in Michael's performances. Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, was a deeply religious Jehovah's Witness known for her gentle personality but she often guilted Jackson into doing things he did not want to and did little to stop the abuse he received from his father. Katherine refused to leave her husband on religious grounds as she believed that all sins could be forgiven, even after all her children begged her to divorce him. This childhood abuse and religious guilt would greatly shape his personality and were common themes in his works. It may have also been what resulted in his lifelong obsession with fellow singer Music/DianaRoss as she was one of the only responsible parental figures in his life.

Michael Jackson's life is a true RagsToRiches story filled with tragedy from his childhood to his death. Jackson's family used to be so poor that they could not afford mittens and his mother would bake potatoes for the Jackson children to carry in their pockets to keep their hands warm. As the breakout star of the Jackson 5, he was always under immense pressure and scrutiny. Michael Jackson's childhood was characterized by severe psychological and physical abuse at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson, who always demanded perfection in Michael's performances. Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, was a deeply religious Jehovah's Witness known for her gentle and kind personality. Michael thought of his mother as a saint while he hated his father in his youth. Katherine refused to leave her husband on religious grounds as she believed that all sins could be forgiven, even after all her children begged her to divorce him. This childhood abuse and religious guilt would greatly shape his personality and were common themes in his works.

He also suffered from a number of lifelong health issues. Jackson broke his nose in 1978. He had reconstructive surgery which made his nose narrower than it originally was. He had another reconstructive surgery in 1982 because of breathing difficulties which made it thinner again. As his skin color became increasingly lighter over the years, many speculated that Jackson had self-hate over his race and that the reason behind the nosejobs and skin bleaching was to look more like a white person. Jackson slammed these rumors by saying he was proud to be black man and revealed that he suffered from vitiligo, a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells (melanocytes) so he was only bleaching his skin with prescription creams to even out his complexion. Jackson also suffered from lupus which gave him acne, arthritis, weight loss, fatigue, and other symptoms. While filming a Pepsi commercial, Michael Jackson's hair accidentally caught fire and burned part of his scalp. This incident made him start wearing a wig and he was prescribed severe pain killers to cope with the agony of the burns to his scalp and face. This dependency on painkillers would lead to a decades-long addiction to them.

* AWildRapperAppears: His songs from the 1990s onwards begin to feature rap verses as HipHop itself began to pick up in popularity, this is especially prominent in his album ''Invincible''. Songs by his that feature rappers on them include "Black or White", "Jam", "This Time Around", "Serious Effect", "Invincible", and "Unbreakable", "She Drives Me Wild", "2 Bad", and "Heartbreaker". Jackson even becomes a rapper himself throughout his song "Shout".

* {{Rock}}: He has a few songs from this genre; "Beat It", "Black or White", "Dirty Diana", "Privacy", "Morphine", Give in To Me", "D.S.", "There Must Be More To Life Than This", "Come Together", and "State of Shock".

Jackson's death sent shockwaves around the world. The internet slowed down and numerous major websites crashed. Google blocked the searching of his name for 30 minutes because they mistook the huge surge of his name being searched with a distributed denial-of-service attack. Jackson's memorial service that July 7 was broadcast live around the world and was watched by a whopping 2.5 to 3 billion people. This was '''almost half the world's population''', making it the most watched single-day television broadcast in history. At least 12 Michael Jackson fans committed suicide upon hearing of his passing. Michael Jackson is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Later that year, the first of many posthumous Jackson-related projects, ''[[Film/MichaelJacksonsThisIsIt This Is It]]'', compiled from rehearsal footage of the aborted London shows, was released. Shortly after his death, Jackson would see [[PosthumousPopularityPotential renewed critical and public popularity]]. Numerous tributes to him poured out in the following years. The choice of June 25 as World Vitiligo Day is a memorial to Jackson, who suffered from vitiligo from the early 1980s until his death. In 2014, 34 members of the French-based Michael Jackson Community fan club sued Jackson's doctor for the emotional damage caused by the singer's death and ''won''. Five of them were awarded one euro each since they were able to prove their suffering. Their lawyer, Emmanuel Ludot, stated that to his knowledge this was "the first time in the world that the notion of emotional damage in connection with a popstar has been recognised".

Jackson's reclusiveness caused him to be ShroudedInMyth, which added to his mystery but also gave the tabloids leeway to spin whatever stories they wanted about him. How he was depicted in the media was often starkly different from how he acted among those closest to him. According to his friends and family, his high-pitched voice was a part of his public persona to protect his vocals and that his natural voice was much deeper. The lack of any visible girlfriend throughout most of his life led to rumors that he was a closet homosexual, or even asexual. On the other hand, his bodyguards, brothers, and other people in the entertainment industry described Jackson as a "player" who had slept with or dated numerous women but did not like to talk about his romantic relationships due to privacy concerns. Music/PharrellWilliams recounted an amusing story where Jackson stepped inside a trailer with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjH_VjeorI two tall Brazilian women]].

As TheNineties rolled around, Jackson had another success with the album ''Music/{{Dangerous}}''. However, within a few years media attention had turned on his health and appearance, his personal life and some allegations of sexual abuse against children. Michael Jackson is one the best examples of CelebrityIsOverrated as he became a ReclusiveArtist to cope. His management seems to have purposely [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity planted silly fake stories about him early on in his career to promote him]] but this grew out of control and media reporting on Jackson became increasingly negative. He hated the constant intrusions on his personal life and how much the tabloids would insult him as they took a major toll on his mental health. He also found it difficult to trust the people around him. Jackson's childhood abuse had him desperately crave being loved and admired for his work from a young age, but when he actually managed to achieve his extreme level of fame, he also came to regret it in many ways. His fame had ironically made him [[LonelyAtTheTop even more lonely than ever]] as he was now surrounded by people who could only think of his stardom rather than him as a person, and he was afraid of being used and manipulated by them.

* {{Rock}}: He has a few songs from this genre; "Beat It", "Black or White", "Dirty Diana", "Privacy", Give in To Me", "D.S.", "There Must Be More To Life Than This", "Come Together", and "State of Shock".

%%* SnakeOilSalesman: He plays the accomplice of one of these (played by Music/PaulMcCartney) in the "Say Say Say" music video.

* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: The major love of his life was Music/DianaRoss. He never completely got over her and even left his children in his will to her in case something happened to his mother. Whether she ever returned Jackson's feelings is a matter of debate. It's also arguable if the love Jackson felt for Ross was actually "romantic" in nature because he also viewed Ross as his mother/sister figure, had idealized notions of love, and a serious MadonnaWhoreComplex. Although it does seem quite obvious that he was ''much'' more into her than she ever was into him.

* AmicableExes: Michael Jackson remained friends with his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley until his death. In contrast to the media's perception of their marriage being a "sham" and "publicity stunt", Jackson's family have stated that Jackson was genuinely in love with Presley. Despite having divorced in 1996 and Jackson remarrying Debbie Rowe the same year - Jackson and Presley continued to date on-and-off for four years until early 2000 (while he was still married to Debbie), with Presley travelling to different parts of the world in order to be with him. Even Jackson's own daughter born to second wife, Debbie Rowe is unsure if Jackson ever loved her mother but is certain that he loved his first wife Lisa Marie Presley. Jermaine Jackson believes that Lisa Marie Presley was the first true love Michael ever experienced in his life, and Tito Jackson thinks she was probably his "greatest love" (even ''eclipsing'' his lifelong idolization of Music/DianaRoss) because it was a real and serious relationship. Michael himself always gave conflicting answers about his feelings for her after they split for good, ranging from admiration to apathy - which may have been because he was still bitter over their breakup. Presley recalls a phone call Jackson made to her in 2005 where he asked if he still loved her and he cried when she responded that she felt "indifferent" towards him. Although Jackson may have told his confidants Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Frank Cascio that he had moved on from the relationship, it clearly still had some effect on him.

* AmicableExes: Michael Jackson remained friends with his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley until his death. In contrast to the media's perception of their marriage being a "sham" and "publicity stunt", Jackson's family have stated that Jackson was genuinely in love with Presley. Despite having divorced in 1996 and Jackson remarrying Debbie Rowe the same year - Jackson and Presley continued to date on-and-off for four years until early 2000, with Presley travelling to different parts of the world in order to be with him. Even Jackson's own daughter born to second wife, Debbie Rowe is unsure if Jackson ever loved her mother but is certain that he loved his first wife Lisa Marie Presley. Jermaine Jackson believes that Lisa Marie Presley was the first true love Michael ever experienced in his life, and Tito Jackson thinks she was probably his "greatest love" (even ''eclipsing'' his lifelong idolization of Music/DianaRoss) because it was a real and serious relationship. Michael himself always gave conflicting answers about his feelings for her after they split for good, ranging from admiration to apathy - which may have been because he was still bitter over their breakup. Presley recalls a phone call Jackson made to her in 2005 where he asked if he still loved her and he cried when she responded that she felt "indifferent" towards him. Although Jackson may have told his confidants Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Frank Cascio that he had moved on from the relationship, it clearly still had some effect on him.

* EnforcedMethodActing: He would personally pick out the actresses he found most attractive to be his co-stars in his music videos to ensure that the chemistry between them would seem believable.

As TheNineties rolled around, Jackson had another success with the album ''Music/{{Dangerous}}''. However, within a few years media attention had turned on his health and appearance, his personal life and some allegations of sexual abuse against children. Michael Jackson is one the best examples of CelebrityIsOverrated as he became a ReclusiveArtist to cope. Jackson's reclusiveness caused him to be ShroudedInMyth, which gave the tabloids leeway to spin whatever stories they wanted about him. His management seems to have purposely [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity planted silly fake stories about him early on in his career to promote him]] but this grew out of control and media reporting on Jackson became increasingly negative. He hated the constant intrusions on his personal life and how much the tabloids would insult him as they took a major toll on his mental health. He also found it difficult to trust the people around him. Jackson's childhood abuse had him desperately crave being loved and admired for his work from a young age, but when he actually managed to achieve his extreme level of fame, he also came to regret it in many ways. His fame had ironically made him [[LonelyAtTheTop even more lonely than ever]] as he was now surrounded by people who could only think of his stardom rather than him as a person, and he was afraid of being used and manipulated by them.

How he was depicted in the media was often starkly different from how he acted among those closest to him. According to his friends and family, his high-pitched voice was a part of his public persona to protect his vocals and that his natural voice was much deeper. The lack of any visible girlfriend throughout most of his life led to rumors that he was a closet homosexual, or even asexual. On the other hand, his bodyguards, brothers, and other people in the entertainment industry described Jackson as a "player" who had slept with or dated numerous women but did not like to talk about his romantic relationships due to privacy concerns. Music/PharrellWilliams recounted an amusing story where Jackson stepped inside a trailer with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjH_VjeorI two tall Brazilian women]]. Jackson's daughter, Paris has said that her father was in a secret relationship with an unidentified Middle Eastern woman in the last years of his life.