The 80s Forum

Michael Jackson is 49 today. Happy Birthday Michael. The 80s Forum Star of Today.

Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29,
1958) is an American musician and entertainer whose successful music career and
controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the
last quarter-century.

Jackson began his musical career at the
age of seven as the lead singer of The Jackson 5 and made his first solo
recordings in 1971 while remaining a member of the group.

He began a full-fledged solo career in
1979 and formally parted with his siblings in 1984. In his solo career, Jackson
recorded and co-produced the best-selling album of all time Thriller, with
worldwide sales over 51 million; received thirteen Grammy awards; and charted
thirteen number-one singles in the U.S. Throughout his four-decade career,
Michael Jackson has been awarded numerous honors, including the World Music
Award's Best-selling pop male artist of the Millennium, and he is a
double-inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (once as a member of The
Jackson 5 in 1997, and again in 2001 as a solo artist.) He is also a member of
the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

From 1988 to 2005, Jackson lived on his
Neverland Ranch property, on which he built an amusement park and private zoo
for economically disadvantaged and terminally ill children.

In 1982, Jackson released his second Epic
album, Thriller, which became the best-selling album in music history with more
than 51 million copies sold worldwide. The album spawned seven hit singles,
including "Billie Jean" (which was the first music video by a black artist to
receive regular airplay on MTV), "Beat It" and the album's title track which was
accompanied by a revolutionary music video.

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