Michael Jackson's Death

Michael Jackson's Death

Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, to Joe Jackson and Katherine Scruse. From a young age, he performed with his brothers in a group called the Jackson Five, who became famous for songs such as “ABC” and “I Want You Back.” In 1979, he released his first solo album, Off the Wall, which was an instant hit, selling five million copies in the United States. He came out with Thriller in 1982, the best-selling album of all time, Bad in 1987, Dangerous in 1991, HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book 1 in 1995, and Invincible in 2001. He was an excellent dancer, inventing the moonwalk. Over the course of his career, he won thirteen Grammy Awards and sold 750 million albums worldwide. Jackson had two short marriages with Debbie Rowe (with whom he had two children) and Lisa Marie Presley. He later had a third child through a surrogate. He built a home in California called Neverland that had its own amusement park, and he was criticized for bleaching his skin (he claimed that his lightening skin was from a medical condition) and undergoing plastic surgery. He was also accused of child molestation two times, but he settled out of court in the first instance and was acquitted of all charges the second time. The film documentary This Is It chronicles his life. Jackson died on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, California, from an overdose of propofol and other prescription painkillers. His doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011, and was sentenced to four years in prison, but released after two years.