History Music / MichaelJackson

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. Although Jackson was either acquitted of most of these accusations, or otherwise not formally charged, he was OvershadowedByControversy (or perhaps just eccentricity) for the remainder of his life, even after releasing two more albums. In 2009, he looked set for a comeback after booking a 50-show farewell concert engagement in UsefulNotes/{{London}}, UsefulNotes/{{England}}.

This would eventually culminate in the release of the 2019 ''Leaving Neverland'', which went into detail about two new allegations against him. It was released with renewed interest. However, it was still incredibly controversial. Some public figures and fans heavily criticized and denounced the documentary, saying it was full of lies and factual errors. Regardless of its accuracy, ''Leaving Neverland'' prompted a second public reevaluation of Jackson's life and legacy.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[RedBaron The King of Pop]].]]

* 1995 - ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' [[note]]The first half of the album is a compilation[[/note]]

* BeingWatched: Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" as well as his own "Who Is It" video has a face in the wall of the main character's apartment. The face seems to imply he knows what his lover has been doing to him. The lover in the short film is a high profile prostitute.

* BlackAndNerdy: He filled his homes with various forms of video games, not to mention that the whole spoken-word bit at the beginning of ''Don't Stop 'til you get Enough'', when Michael is talking about a "force", is about ''the Force'' from ''Star Wars'', of which Michael was a fan.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Bad'' was supposed to give him an "edgier" image, but it didn't really take. Later albums did delve into this trope more effectively (i.e. "Who Is It" from ''Dangerous'').
** Also, Thriller is very edgy compared to his earlier more light-hearted albums, with the darker subjects of zombies, babies trap, and gangster violence.

* EarthSong: "Earth Song" was a song made to promote environmentalism and animal welfare, originally made for the ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' album before it was cut.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''[=HIStory=]'' has this as a first disc and an album of new material as a second disc. The first disc became available separately some time later.

Jackson was, perhaps, '''the''' definitive celebrity of TheEighties. His singing voice and dance moves (especially his SignatureMove, the MoonwalkDance) gained iconic status. His unusually elaborate music videos were something of a KillerApp for the emerging Creator/{{MTV}}. In particular, [[Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller the one for "Thriller"]] is probably the most famous music video ever made, inspired [[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody a slew of homages and parodies]]. He had also been the first African-American artist to receive heavy rotation on the channel.[[note]]Actually when MTV started, it was ''all white.'' The directors of music programming explained, "MTV is supposed to be a rock channel, and it's hard to find black artists whose work fits that format. Well, we don't want to cater to fringe groups." Yep, being black makes you a fringe group. Meanwhile, Jackson had created two videos, for "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" and "Billie Jean", which MTV wouldn't play until Creator/{{CBS}} threatened to yank all their other videos.[[/note]] By the end of the decade, he had another successful album in ''Music/{{Bad}}'' (the first album to yield five number one singles on the Billboard charts), a [[Film/{{Moonwalker}} direct-to-video movie]] and even [[VideoGame/MichaelJacksonsMoonwalker video games]].

* ParodyAssistance: Jackson was a strong supporter of Music/WeirdAlYankovic and even let Yankovic use the “Badder” set from ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}'' to film his “Bad” parody, “Fat.” Weird Al was also one of the many celebrities to appear in the video for "Liberian Girl". The only parody request Jackson turned down from Yankovic was for "Black or White", because Jackson felt the song's subject matter was too serious to be parodied.

!! Tropes associated with his works:

* LyricalDissonance: "The Girl Is Mine" is light light light '80s pop about two guys fighting over a girl who is probably playing them both for someone less obsessive than either of them. "Billie Jean" is an upbeat dance number about an obsessive fan. "Smooth Criminal" is an upbeat dance-pop song about a woman being attacked in her apartment by a criminal and presumably murdered.

* SingingVoiceDissonance: Zig-zagged. As mentioned above, the powerful, masculine-sounding voice he sang with was also his real speaking voice. That notoriously feminine-sounding falsetto he was known to speak with? That was a put-on.

* 2014 - ''Music/{{Xscape}}''

* LicensedGame: ''VideoGame/MichaelJacksonsMoonwalker'', his appearance in ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5'' and most recently [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson:_The_Experience a dancing/karaoke game]] developed by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} in light of the RhythmGame craze.

* OneManSong: "Ben."

Jackson was, perhaps, '''the''' definitive celebrity of TheEighties. His singing voice and dance moves (especially his SignatureMove, the MoonwalkDance) gained iconic status. His unusually elaborate music videos were something of a KillerApp for the emerging Creator/{{MTV}}. In particular, [[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody the one for "Thriller"]] is probably the most famous music video ever made. He had also been the first African-American artist to receive heavy rotation on the channel.[[note]]Actually when MTV started, it was ''all white.'' The directors of music programming explained, "MTV is supposed to be a rock channel, and it's hard to find black artists whose work fits that format. Well, we don't want to cater to fringe groups." Yep, being black makes you a fringe group. Meanwhile, Jackson had created two videos, for "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" and "Billie Jean", which MTV wouldn't play until Creator/{{CBS}} threatened to yank all their other videos.[[/note]] By the end of the decade, he had another successful album in ''Music/{{Bad}}'' (the first album to yield five number one singles on the Billboard charts), a [[Film/{{Moonwalker}} direct-to-video movie]] and even [[VideoGame/MichaelJacksonsMoonwalker video games]].

+Music/JamesBrown, Music/LittleRichard, Music/DianaRoss, Music/JackieWilson, Music/TheTemptations, Music/MavisStaples, Music/JackieWilson, Creator/CharlieChaplin, Creator/MarcelMarceau, Creator/GeneKelly, Creator/FredAstaire, Creator/SammyDavisJr]

* AngryBlackMan: Rarely ever acted like this in real life, but he does in his videos for "They Don't Care About Us", "Scream" and "Bad".

Jackson was, perhaps, '''the''' definitive celebrity of TheEighties. His singing voice and dance moves (especially his SignatureMove, the MoonwalkDance) gained iconic status. His unusually elaborate music videos were something of a KillerApp for the emerging Creator/{{MTV}}. In particular, [[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody the one for "Thriller"]] is probably the most famous music video ever made. He had also been the first African-American artist to receive heavy rotation on the channel.[[note]]Actually when MTV started, it was ''all white.'' The directors of music programming explained, "MTV is supposed to be a rock channel, and it's hard to find black artists whose work fits that format." (Who do you think ''invented'' rock, dude?) "Well, we don't want to cater to fringe groups." Yep, being black makes you a fringe group. Meanwhile, Jackson had created two videos, for "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" and "Billie Jean", which MTV wouldn't play until Creator/{{CBS}} threatened to yank all their other videos.[[/note]] By the end of the decade, he had another successful album in ''Music/{{Bad}}'' (the first album to yield five number one singles on the Billboard charts), a [[Film/{{Moonwalker}} direct-to-video movie]] and even [[VideoGame/MichaelJacksonsMoonwalker video games]].

* TheBabyTrap: "Billie Jean," where the title character claims her child is his. Michael claimed that it was based on all the groupies trying to pull this on him or his brothers, though the song implies that he ''did'' spent the night with her.

* CelebrityStar: ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E1StarkRavingDad Stark Raving Dad]]" has Homer meeting a man named "Leon Kompowsky" who thinks he's Michael Jackson. The voice actor credited with the role was "John Jay Smith," but aside (ironically) from his singing it is Jackson's actual voice -- he was a huge fan of the show who also produced [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Bartman "Do the Bartman"]].

* ControlFreak: Something he inherited from his ever-overbearing dad, but was ''nowhere near'' as bad about it. Jackson was always extremely meticulous about how his songs should sound, and was always personally and deeply involved in the production process, though would often defer to his producers or other musicians for a second opinion, just to be sure. This initially led to him cranking out record-breaking hits, but his increasing perfectionism and creative control gradually slowed down his output in later years.
* CoolShades: Ray Bans aviators, which he adopted during the recording of ''Thriller'', and quickly became one of his signature items. During live shows, particularly the ''Dangerous'' tour, he would toss his aviators into the crowd before launching into song.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: Jackson often did this at the end of performances for his more inspirational, “world-saving” songs, such as “Man in the Mirror,” “Heal the World,” and “Earth Song.”
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJqIEU6RfUo This performance]] of “Earth Song” [[ExaggeratedTrope takes this trope]] up to eleven, helping feed accusations of having a [[MessianicArchetype Messianic complex]]. [[spoiler:Music/JarvisCocker certainly thought so, [[HostileShowTakeover invading the stage]] and giving Jackson [[FlippingTheBird the V sign]].]]
* CuteKitten: On the 25th anniversary edition of ''Thriller'''s cover, Jackson is holding a tiger cub.

** In ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}''.

** ''Film/CaptainEO''

** Also, Thriller is very edgy comparing to his earlier more light-hearted albums, with the darker subjects of zombies, babies trap and gangster violence.

* EarlyBirdCameo: A demo version of "Another Part of Me" appears at the end of the 1986 short film ''Captain EO'' in which Michael starred. It has different synth sounds to the final version, although similar vocals. The following year, the final version of it appeared on ''Bad'', and the year after that, as a single.

* DoorSlamOfRage: At the beginning of the music video for "Black or White", the father sends his son to his room and slams his door so hard, a picture frame hanging above comes down.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJqIEU6RfUo This performance]] of “Earth Song” [[ExaggeratedTrope takes this trope]] UpToEleven, helping feed accusations of having a [[MessianicArchetype Messianic complex]]. [[spoiler:Music/JarvisCocker certainly thought so, [[HostileShowTakeover invading the stage]] and giving Jackson [[FlippingTheBird the V sign]].]]

* GemEncrusted: Most of his costumes as time went on. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI7uqnyfv18 The ones he would have worn in the This Is It tour]] would bring it UpToEleven.

* LoudOfWar: The video for "Black or White" opens with a father insisting his son turns his music off, only for the son to set up a ridiculously large guitar amp and crank it all the way to "[[UpToEleven Are You Nuts!?!]]", with rather destructive effects.

* NiceHat:
** His black Trilby. During some concerts, he threw it into the audience.
** The [[FedoraOfAsskicking white fedora]] from "Smooth Criminal" and "You Rock My World" can also qualify.

[[caption-width-right:350:The King of Pop.]]

Originally a member of the Creator/{{Motown}} act Music/TheJacksonFive, Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) debuted as a solo artist in 1971 -- the year he turned thirteen. His full-fledged solo career took off in the late [[TheSeventies 1970s]]. Though songs from his first serious solo effort, ''Music/OffTheWall'' (1979), were extremely popular, he reached unprecedented superstardom in 1982 with his album ''Music/{{Thriller}}''. ''Thriller'' is still the best-selling album of all time today, and won a total of 8 UsefulNotes/{{Grammy Award}}s.

** 1997 - ''[[Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts Blood On the Dance Floor: [=HIStory=] In the Mix]]'' (RemixAlbum)

* 1997 - ''Blood On the Dance Floor: [=HIStory=] in the Mix''

* 2010 - ''{{Music/Michael}}''
* 2014 - ''{{Music/Xscape}}''

* 1997 - ''[[Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts Blood On the Dance Floor: [=HIStory=] In the Mix]]''