Category 2: Career (Entry 1)

After the Jackson Five, Michael slowly wandered on his own, into his solo career. Barry Gordy and Joseph Jackson had many rising tensions which led to a bitter break with Motown Records, which also ended the Jackson Five. Jermaine Jackson, however stayed to pursue a solo career with Gordy, but it was nothing compared to Michael’s success. (Bio Michael Jackson) Later the group called themselves the Jacksons and added their younger brother Randy. In 1978 Michael Jackson was in the movie “The Wiz” where he sang the song “Ease on down the Road” with Diana Ross. While working on the Wiz he met and began working with producer Quincy Jones and created a new solo album called “Off the Wall”. Songs such as “Don’t stop till you Get Enough” and “Rock With You” were some of the tracks. These became major hits in 1979. (Bio Michael Jackson) In 1982, Quincy helped Michael with the Thriller album. Thriller is what made Jackson. Thriller captured many awards, including a record-setting eight Grammy’s. (Jackson, Michael)  Thriller fully established Jackson as a solo performer. “Billie Jean”, “Beat it”, and “Thriller” made him a major star of the 80’s. Thriller sold more than forty million copies. It holds the title of being the best-selling album of all time. The videos of Jackson’s songs helped Jackson break color barriers between blacks and whites on the radio. At this time, success for him only went up.  By 1984 he was pronounced as the “King of Pop”. (Jackson, Michael) “At the top of his game creatively and commercially, Jackson signed a $5 million endorsement deal with Pepsi-Cola around this time. He, however, was badly injured while filming a commercial for the soda giant in 1984, suffering burns to his face and scalp. Jackson had surgery to repair his injuries, and is believed to have begun experimenting with plastic surgery around this time. His face, especially his nose, would become dramatically altered in the coming years.” (BIO Michael Jackson) In the late 80’s he created his fantasy of the childhood he never had. He bought a California Ranch in which he called Neverland. He held many events for children and had exotic pets. It was fascinating, but this offset some people, and rumors began to up rise. (BIO Michael Jackson)