Michael Jackson timeline | World History Project
Michael Jackson
b. Aug 29 1958 d. Jun 25 2009
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and businessman. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. More
The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1968, and began his solo career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with breaking down racial barriers and with transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped to bring the then-relatively-new television channel MTV to fame. With videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream", he continued to innovate the medium throughout the 1990s, as well as forging a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop, and rock artists.
Michael Jackson timeline
Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana (an industrial suburb of Chicago, Illinois) to a working-class family on August 29, 1958. The son... Read more
1969
In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, the Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut... Read more
1972
"Ben" is a number-one hit song recorded by the teenaged Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972. The song, the theme of a 1972 film of the... Read more
1974
In 1974, during a performance on "Soul Train," Jackson introduced a dance called the robot, made of moves that were mimicked on dance floors across... Read more
1978
The Wiz is a 1978 American musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An... Read more
1979
Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by pop musician Michael Jackson, released August 10, 1979 on Epic Records. The album follows Jackson's... Read more
Nov 30 1982
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records as the... Read more
Jan 2 1983
"Billie Jean" is a dance-pop R&B song by late American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones for... Read more
Feb 14 1983
"Beat It" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and co-produced by Quincy Jones for the singer's sixth... Read more
Mar 25 1983
The moonwalk or backslide is a dance technique that presents the illusion that the dancer is stepping forward while actually moving backward,... Read more
Jan 27 1984
While filming a Pepsi Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, he suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics... Read more
Mar 14 1985
Donga (Thief) is a Telegu film which was released on March 14, 1985. This film was directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy, and stars Chiranjeevi and... Read more
Aug 31 1987
Bad is the seventh studio album by Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records. The record was released nearly five... Read more
1988
Moon Walk is an autobiography written by American musician Michael Jackson. The book was first published in in 1988, a year after the release of... Read more
1993
Dangerous - The Short Films is a collection of "short films" by Michael Jackson released initially on VHS, in 1993 released by Buena Vista Home... Read more
Feb 10 1993
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his first television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his... Read more
Aug 17 1993
In 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of abuse by Evan Chandler, on behalf of his then-13-year-old child, Jordan Chandler. Jackson and Jordan had... Read more
Nov 12 1993
Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him. By the fall of 1993,... Read more
May 26 1994
In May 1994, Jackson married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. They had first met in 1975 during one of... Read more
Jan 18 1996
Presley and Jackson divorced less than two years after getting married in the midst of Jackson's child sexual abuse scandal and, at the time, it... Read more
Nov 15 1996
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, who bore him two children, a son,... Read more
Feb 13 1997
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, who bore him two children, a son,... Read more
Jul 17 2007
Thriller is a viral video featuring the dancing inmates of a high security penitentiary. In 2007, the inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and... Read more
Jun 25 2009 2:18PM
LOS ANGELES -- Pop star Michael Jackson has been taken to UCLA Medical Center by ambulance suffering from cardiac arrest, fire officials... Read more
Jun 25 2009 3:09PM