Michael Joseph Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off The Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and History (1995).In the early 1980's he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and "Thriller"-credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool-helped bring the relatively new channel into fame. Videos such as performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip-hop, pop and contemporary R & B artists.One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records-including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"-13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career-more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era-and the sales of over 750 million albums worldwide. Cited as on of world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. On June 25, 2009, he collapsed at his home in Los Angeles. After being taken to the hospital in a coma, Jackson was pronounced dead.