For many decades, popular cultural icons Michael Jackson and Prince dominated the music scene. Over the years, there are always countless discussions about the both of their careers. Although Michael and Prince bear some superficial similarities with their musical influences on the world, the differences between their careers and musical abilities are clear.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana to parents Katherine and Joseph Jackson. He was the eighth child born out of ten living in a two-bedroom home. Jackson 's father, Joseph Jackson, a former boxer, worked as a crane operator in the steel mill. His father also played the guitar in a rhythm and blues with a band called The Falcons to support the family.
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The Jackson 5 would managed by their father Joseph, who began to book their performances. The group began performing at many clubs and bars eventually gaining attention from recording labels. In 1968, The Jackson 5 signed with Motown records. As the group progressed, Michael caught the eyes of most viewers with his amazingly smooth and soft melodic voice. His ability to capture so much emotion while he sang is what made him seem mature for his age, and interesting to watch. The Jackson 5 quickly climbed the charts producing number one hit singles, including "ABC", “I Want You Back“, "Never Can Say Goodbye", "I 'll Be There", "Got To Be There" and “The Love You Saved". Although the group dominated the charts, Michael became a victim to child abuse at the hands of his father. This would cause Michael to remain scarred for the remainder of his adult …show more content…
Michael Jackson went through numerous operations of plastic surgery to fix his nose and insert a dimple into his chin. In this time period, he was diagnosed with having a rare skin pigment disease called Vitiligo which turned his skin brighter. The media claimed that he bleached his skin color, also claimed that he was sleeping in an oxygen chamber. The scrutiny and backlash he received from the media steered farther away from the public eye. In 1993, he was falsely accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy in which he settled the case out of court. This caused Jackson to spiral into an addiction to painkillers, which would be ultimate cause of his death in 2009. In 2005, he had another child molestation case in which he was acquitted out all
However, what attributed to Michael Jackson’s success was not because he got lucky, it is simply because he practiced hours and hours at his craft and essentially where he was born and raised. Michael wasn’t just blessed with an impressive dance skill set, behind those flashy dance moves was hard work and dedication. At the early age of 5, Michael Jackson studied and was inspired by the late great icon James Brown. Jackson studied the musicians legendary singing, dancing, and even his mannerisms while he was performing on stage. While Michael was studying the late singer, he had a hunch that he wanted to achieve major stardom in the same fashion as James Brown. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Outliers, he addressed the 10,000 hour rule. He indicated that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve full mastery in a field. It’s easy to assume that Michael simply just had a natural ability to sing and dance, but we tend to overlook the endless amount of hours this man has put forth to become so successful. The most compelling evidence that contributed to his success was his ability to have room for error and think of new ideas. Michael was constantly searching and constructing new dance moves/routines to perform to his audience. In addition, he always eager to
The group ranged from ages nine to fourteen. They group was brought to Berry Gordy’s attention by Bobby Taylor of the Vancouver. Berry Gordy fell in love with Michael. He sang his songs with so much feeling and inspiration and pain. It was like he had gone through everything he was singing about. Right off top, they exploded onto the pop and R&B charts in the 1969 with “I Want You Back”. Diana Ross played a big part in the Jackson 5’s debut. She allowed them to be an opening act for herself and the Supremes concert in Los Angeles, California in 1969. A few day later the group was on their way to stardom. Four chart-topping releases followed over the next eleven month with songs “ABC”, “The Love You Save”, and “I'll Be There”. That made Jackson 5 only group to have its first four records reach number 1 on the charts. This group captured the hearts of young people and a lot of other people ranging from different ages with their talent and charm. It was the youngest Michael in the group that was the lead singer and who stood out the most to the people. Years later, Berry Gordy recalled the group as a determination to succeed in his autobiography. He wrote their hard work was unconditional, and they were willing to sweat to
Madonna stated “My God, he was so unique, so original, so rare. And there will never be anyone like him again.” And Whitney Houston hailed him as the greatest entertainer. He had a lot of influence on artist like Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and many more entertainers. His impact on them shaped the music we listen on a radio today and without him the fashion, music videos, and dances would be different. Beyoncé is popular today because of Michael Jackson. She stated “Michael taught me that sometimes you have to forget technique, forget what you have on. If you feel silly, you have to go from the gut just let it go. Michael Jackson changed me, and helped me to become the artist I am thank you Michael.” This is not the only artist he had an impact
They worked with a lot of music that ultimately influenced the artist. Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and production duo that began in the 1950s and focused on black music. They were very influential in terms of crossover music, which directly influence Prince. Although he was a black musician, his music was not considered race records; instead, it was simply pop. Of course, it encompassed pretty much every genre specifically funk, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and
Janet Jackson was born in Gary Indiana on May 16, 1966. She is a member of the
Vitiligo is a skin disease in which there is a loss of pigment (color) from areas of skin, ending in abnormal patches that feel like normal skin. Vitiligo affects 0.5-1% of people worldwide. That means about two million people are affected by this disease in this country alone. Compared to how many people live on this earth , the number isn’t that large. It’s pretty rare to have this disease. One of the two million people that was affected by this disease was a music icon, the king of pop, Michael Jackson. Throughout his life, Michael’s appearance transformed, especially the color of his skin. The color of his skin became substantially lighter and in such little time. People were thinking the worst. While many believed that Michael Jackson’s changing complexion was due to a cosmetic choice, in actuality, his change was due to the skin disease, vitiligo. Vitiligo was and still is a real disease that many people all over the country and world have. Melanin, the pigment that figures out the color of skin, hair, and eyes, is made in cells called melanocytes. If these cells die or cannot produce melanin, the skin gets lighter or can become completely white. The patches can vary in size and places where it can be located on your body. There are many stages of vitiligo. Michael has gone through all of these stages. He did his best to cover it, which made people criticize him even more and say things like he bleached his skin, when what really happened was that he was coping with a disease as best as he could.
Michael Jackson and His Impact on Pop Music Introduction: There have always been pioneers in every field one can think of, no matter what. These people had a great mentality and also a taste for innovation and creativity, so they happened to have a great influence on what they were doing. This is why now they are called ‘pioneers’. Music-wise, no one can ignore the impact of Michael Jackson’s music on the mainstream music in totality and particularly on the pop culture. He started as one of the singers of a boy band and ended up becoming the greatest entertainer of all time (according to Guinness records).
Michael Jackson, born Michael Joseph Jackson was on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, son of Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Together they had nine children; Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, LaToya, Marlon, Randy, Michael, and Janet. His father was an aspiring guitarist, but had to give up his musical ambitions to provide for his family; however, he encouraged his children to take up music. Although Michael had no formal musical educational training, he gained experienced through the music group he had with his brothers, the Jackson 5. In the 1960s Joseph along with three of Michael’s older brothers, Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie, formed a musical group. When he and his brother, Marlon, joined the group it became the Jackson 5. Before signing to Motown Records, Jackson 5 toured around the Midwest, performing in a string of clubs and opening for the likes of The O’Jays, Etta James, and Gladys Knight. In 1968 the group was signed to one of the major record labels of the time, Motown Records, by its founder Berry Gordy. With their father as the manager of the group, they moved to Los Angeles, California to start recording. They released their first album, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5” in December 1969. In 1975 they split with Motown Records, over more creative control over the songs, and signed with Epic Records. Now with creative control over the songs, the group continued to experience tremendous success throughout the 1970s. As time went on a progressed throughout the 1980s and 1990s Michael would face various obstacles and difficulties. Such difficulties include; two child sexual abuse accusations, a long fought custodial battle with his first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, and swirling rumors about the paling skin color over the yea...
George, N. (2014) said, Although Michael Jackson's Thriller was released in November 1982, the artist and the album's immense cultural impact solidified in early 1984. It took 2 years for the album to become popular. According to George, N. (2014) “Thriller spent 17 of its 37 weeks a top the Billboard 200 during an uninterrupted streak that ran from Dec. 24,1983 through April 14,1984, second only to the West Side Story soundtrack.” Then George, N. (2014) says The pop star, then 25, would take home eight Grammys for the album in February and break a Hot 100 record for the most top 10 singles from the same album -- seven -- when the title track, buoyed by its groundbreaking John Landis-directed video, peaked at No. 4 on March 3rd. This album made history.
Michael embodied the talents necessary to take over the charts at his own demand. With a year of amateur performances under their belt The Jackson 5 returned to the Apollo for a paid performance where they were asked to audition for Motown Records; in 1968, the group signed to Motown where they later broke records with their debut singles (Heck, 2009). Though their first single, "Big Boy," never made an appearance on the charts, NPR says that with their new contract with Motown, Michael experienced a first-time share of breaking the record for having the first four singles of any pop group to top the charts. In 1970, the group made their first television appearance on American Bandstand helping them gain a national tour where they would be alongside Diana Ross. Michael, being the lead singer for more than two years, began his preparation for a solo career with Motown in 1971, at age thirteen; "Got to Be There" was Michael's first solo single, igniting his chart-topping streak within his solo career.
He pushed his sons including Michael into forming a group called the Jackson five. Their group quickly arose from playing local talent shows to landing a contract with the renowned Motown label at the end of 1968. During the early '70s the group became well-known, with "baby", Michael as the lead singer of the group. This talent dragged on for decades and gradually getting better and better, Michael taking the lead and as the main source of income for the family for proving and presenting his talent to many music labels and organizations throughout the years.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York (Biography.com Editors). He was raised in North Carolina. His parents are Delores and James Jordan. He was very close with his dad and they both loved baseball above all things. He has an older brother Larry, who he worshipped. Larry played basketball and Michael followed in his footsteps. He attended Laney High school in Wilmington, North Carolina. As a sophomore he was
Secondly, Michael Jackson collaborated with Eddie Van Halen in order to provide the iconic guitar riffs and solo in the song. In today’s world, to most that would seem like a perfectly acceptable collaboration, but at the time of Thriller's release, the pairing of a white rock icon and a black singer/performer was virtually unheard of (Healy, 2013). Despite the “taboo” aspect of the pairing, it obviously paid off in the end and helped create one of Michael’s most recognizable and iconic songs of his
First, he became the first artist to have obtained a total of eight Grammys at one night during the twenty-sixth Annual Grammy Awards, (Grammys). The thing that is remarkable about this is it very hard just receive one Grammy, but to receive eight you need to be someone very special. Not only did he receive eight Grammys on one night he was also, one out of fifteen individuals to have received the, "prestigious Grammy Legend Award.", (Grammys). Since there was only a total of fifteen awards overall that means only fifteen of the most special or best singers can have received that award, and basically that can be used to conclude that Jackson was one of the most
Although he spent his earliest years as an ordinary child, the small town lifestyle did not remain a constant for him. Jackson and his siblings would spend hours in their backyard singing and dancing with each other. Their father, Joseph Jackson, was a guitarist who put aside his musical aspirations to provide for his family. Immediately, he recognized the immense talent that his children possessed and molded his sons into a musical group in the early 1960s (Jensen). Suddenly, young Michael Jackson’s life took a turn. The singers, known as the Jackson 5 almost immediately became world famous, but Michael stood out (Sirota). He was often described as a shining star and a musical sensation. Beyond his initial status as a famous child, Jackson also had noble characteristics. He had a natural ability to captivate audiences and convey complex emotions. Even as a child he displayed immense maturity as he once said, “I will never stop helping and loving people as Jesus said to,” (McKeen). This is notable because although Jackson had high status as a child star, he did not allow the spotlight to blind him. He held high morals and enjoyed helping people out of the kindness of his heart. In fact, Jackson and his brothers used their fame to promote kindness and the love of all people wherever they went. (Jensen). In the early years of his fame, Michael Jackson introduced the world to something new; a young child who was blessed with talent and a heart of