Life of Michael Jackson
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Early Life of M.J
Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana. He was born on 29th of August 1958. He was the seventh of the children. He has 3 sisters, Rebbie, La Toya and Janet. He also had 5 brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and also Steven who is known more as Randy. He had a sixth but Brandon died shortly after birth leaving the family with 10 children. They were a small African American working class family. They lived in a small three-room house. His mother was a Jehovahs Witness and father was a steel mill worker.
As a child, M.J didnt have the best lifehis mother isolated them from the outside so they would be away from all bad influences in the world. His father Joe abused M.J and it left several scars to he was. He suffered a lot of emotional problems when growing up. He suffered from severe vomiting even just from the sight of his Father; he got nightmares and sleep dis-orders. M.J seems to think his father had such a strong and strict role in his childhood had a big affect to him later in life and made him who he was, he thinks of his father as a inspiration to him even though he suffered so much growing up as a child.
He always use to say about his father that “if you didnt do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you”
His father, Joe use to be a guitarist when he was young but put that all aside to provide for his family, he thought his family where musically talented and push them to rehearse and practice day in and day out.
Jermaine, Jackie and Tito formed the band the Jackson brothers who were trained and managed by there Father Joe. When M.J was five he joined the band and became the lead singer. Marlon also joined the group to form the new name the Jackson 5. The band became very famous, very quickly. People started to notice the range and depth of Michael and realized there was something extraordinary about him, especially for such a young boy.
The Influences of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson had a lot of influences from different things in his life.
His father was one of the main influences in his life, even though his father abused him and they had a very bad relationship he made M.J who he was. Joe pushed him so hard to rehearse and get everything perfect. His father use to sit in the corner of the room and watch them rehearse and if they got it wrong theyd get hit with the belt in his hand and made get it right. His children including M.J were so scared of him it made them stronger when they grew up. His dad influenced him to love singing, to adore dancing and always play musical instruments.
M.J had many famous influences. His favorite famous people were; Little Richard, James Brown Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, David Ruffin, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Isley Brothers, and the Bee Gees. Little Richard played one of the biggest influences and contributed a lot to M.Js life but his biggest inspiration was James Brown. Jackson said about Brown,
“Ever since I was a small child, no more than like six years old, my mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work. And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I had never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right then and there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown.”
Another big influence was Diana Ross. She made one of the biggest differences in M.js life. When M.J was young he moved into Dianas house and lived with her for a couple of years. He studied her every move, the way she sung, the way she talked, the way she thought and the way she lived. He said to her one day ” I want to be just like you.” she replied, “you just be yourself.” Diana thought him her vocal techniques and thought him how to sing even better than he was capable. He uses to say, “She was art in motion”. This briefly describes how he thought of Diana and how she had such a big influence in his young life.
M.J quotes about Diana, “I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way she moved, the way she sang – just the way she was.”
M.J owes a part of who he became and who he was to Diana Ross. She basically reared and thought him everything she possibly could have.
M.Js First Piece of Fame.
M.Js first piece of fame was when he was five and he was apart of the group, The Jackson 5. He worked with his four brothers in this group. Their dad, Joe was the manager and pushed them so hard to be the best because he really did believe in them. M.J was the lead singer just at the age of 5. This band shocked the nation and especially Michael and his range of a voice and dancing abilities. The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the “chitlin circuit”, where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Browns classic, “I Got You (I Feel Good)” led by Michael.
The band Jackson 5 had many hit songs that have became classics in the world of music to this day like ABC, Ill Be There, The Love You Save, I Want You Back. They signed to the record label Steelton in 1967 and then moved on to sing on to Motown Records in 1968.
The bands sales started to go downhill in 1973 and the band chafed under Motowns strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Even though some of there songs became well known hits, the Jackson left Motown Records in 1975.
Michaels Solo Career
Michael started his solo career in 1979 when he started to write his own solo album along with Quincy Jones, who was producing this album.
The album was called “off the wall and became a huge success, it won many awards in the AMAs in 1979 like top black artist, and also a few Grammys. Jackson still felt that this was not as successful as he thought and didnt make as much of an impact as he had hoped and decided to go bigger and better.
In 1984 Jackson wrote the song Someone in the Dark for the storybook E.T.