Singer Michael Jackson died last night, aged 50, after suffering a cardiac arrest at his LA home. He was born in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of Joe and Katherine Jackson's nine children, and grew up very much in the public eye in his role as a member of The Jackson Five alongside brothers Jackie, Tito, Germaine and Marlon. The Five got their big break when they signed to Motown in 1968, releasing their first single when Michael was eleven. They went on to enjoy hits with songs like 'I Want You Back', 'ABC', 'The Love You Save', and 'I'll Be There', making them the first group in US chart history to take the top spot with their first four single releases.
Jackson was to emerge as the biggest star in the band, as he engaged audiences with his endearing youth and evident talent, and he embarked on a solo career alongside his work with his brothers. By the mid seventies, both Michael and The Jacksons, as they were by then known, found their careers slowing.
Michael's subsequent rise to become a global pop superstar began in the late seventies when he met producer and composer Quincy Jones, leading to their first collaboration 'Off The Wall', which spawned four top ten hits, including 'Don't Stop Till You Get Enough' and 'Rock With You'. This was followed four years later by the career defining album 'Thriller', and the release of the single of the same name that spawned the groundbreaking and legendary sixteen minute John Landis-directed video.
Jackson, and 'Thriller', is credited with bringing black artists, and music, to a much wider audience than ever before, when MTV began screening the promo in direct contrast to their otherwise very caucasian output. His third and final Quincy Jones album, 'Bad', was also a global success, if not reaching the height of the 65 million copy selling 'Thriller'. Sales of subsequent albums gradually dwindled but his previous successes had ensured his superstar status.
Of course, a significant factor in the public's ongoing fascination with Jackson was his troubled, and often bizarre personal life. The singer openly shared tales of sometimes horrific abuse at the hands of his father Joe, and appeared to commentators to be clinging to a childhood he'd never had because of his early life in the public eye.
He lost his image as a smart businessman in frittering away his huge fortune on much reported fripperies such as his Neverland Ranch and accompanying accessories such as a fun fair and a menagerie.
He was, of course, also subject to allegations that he sexually abused the children he adopted as friends, successfully fighting off more than one lawsuit, and winning the many times previously reported 2005 trial in which he was acquitted of all charges.
It was during that trial that Jackson began to look increasingly frail, and subsequently promised new work failed to materialise. The singer became increasingly financially beleaguered, of course, adding to his troubles. Jackson was, of course, about to commence a series of comeback gigs at London's O2 venue, which might have solved some of his financial worries.
Jackson was married twice, firstly to Lisa Marie Presley, secondly to Debbie Rowe, who was mother to two of his children. He is survived by three children.