Pop Artist Research

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was born in 1958 and died in 2009. He was well known as ‘the king of pop’ and was very successful in his music career entertaining, singing and dancing. He influenced dance and music in so many ways for over four decades. He is known to be the most successful entertainer. His genre of music takes on R&B, pop, Motown and soul ranging in all target audiences, gaining more popularity. He was signed to Sony at first, but then was signed to his own record label MJJ productions.

He began his career in 1964 when he was in a band with his brothers and they named themselves ‘the Jackson 5’. He began his solo career in 1971, and was very successful in doing this as his album named ‘Thriller’ is still the best selling album ever which surprisingly had little promotion, along with some other albums such as ‘off the wall’, and ‘bad’. As his music was so successful he was the first African American artist to have such a strong crossover on MTV.

Michael Jackson is hugely popular all over the world, having 17 number one singles, and an estimated world sales of 750million records, this makes him one of the highest- selling recording artist ever. He also made dance techniques such as the moonwalk and the robot very popular, this was very influential to dance at that time and that still remains today.

His career first started when he and his brothers formed ‘the Jackson 5’, he was only aged eight at the time being a lead singer. ‘The Jackson 5’ was signed with Motown Records in 1968. Sales then declined in 1973, and they were not allowed to have any creative control or input, so they left in Motown in 1975. The Jackson 5 signed a new contract with CBS Records in 1975 and released six more albums – Michael Jackson was the lead song writer at this time.

Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio, and rock video. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too" The New York Times wrote that, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else"

These quotes show how influential and a popular well liked solo artist. Although he had issues in the media about his personal life, this did not make Michael Jackson any less popular, everyone loves his music and performances.

Michael Jackson also influenced the Fashion industry, his classic black trousers with white socks and black loathers was very popular, he also wore fringed shirts, platform heels, and wide bell-bottom trousers with a hat. This brought originality to the artist, making him stand out and look unique to his style. The most famous item was his glittering white glove that was first seen on the Motown 25 special. Jackson's style made a huge impact on the younger generation in his time.

He has influenced music sound and vocal style in artists today, in all genres such as hip hop, rock, pop and R&B, with artists like Beyonce, Usher, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears.