Michael Jackson - Term Paper Example

The other four members of this group were his brothers, Sigmund ‘Jackie’, Toriano ‘Tito’, Jarmaine, and Marlon. They began playing at local bars and clubs in Indiana. They later moved to compete in bigger competitions. The Jackson five were discovered by the Vancouver and the Bobby Taylor in 1968 and got an audition for Berry Gordy. They later signed for Motown, hence moving to California. It was here that their first four singles made US number one hits. During this time, Jackson with Motown recoded four solo albums.

The group stayed in Motown until 1976, when they needed more artistic freedom and decided to move on (Pratt 81). They dropped the name Jackson Five, since it was owned by Motown and adopted the name The Jacksons. At this time, they had a number of records and made six albums altogether between 1976 and 1984. Michael later teamed up with his producer for his first solo album. The album was titled Off The Wall, and was a tremendous success all over the world. It was the first album ever released that produced the four number-one singles in the United States.

The world’s largest selling album was released by Michael in 1982. It was titled Thriller. It produced seven hit singles, once again breaking more previously established records (Pratt 81). It has been documented to have sold over fifty million copies across the world. Jackson was careful, as well as skillful, in using the music videos to promote his singles from the album. His success has, nevertheless, been attached to his directors and producers. They were the best, and made use of the latest technology coupled with choreography and fantastic dancing.

The short film, Thriller, incorporated latest artists in the make-up technology to produce a video which lasted 14 minutes, with the beginning, the middle part and the end. This video was so successful that it became the world’s largest selling video. At the Motown 25-years anniversary show, Jackson performed his legendary moonwalk for the first time. It was this performance that set him into the realms of a superstar (George 98). Michael broke a record by winning 8 Grammy awards in a single night in the year of 1984.

These awards were for his narrative for the ET Storybook and the Thriller album. On 9th December 1984, during his final performance of The Jackson’s Victory Tour, he declared that he was quitting the group and going solo. His third, and much awaited solo album titled Bad, was released in 1987. It was during this time that he launched his first solo world tour that was significantly record-breaking (Josh 1). He wrote his first autobiography, Moonwalk, where he talked for the first time about his career and childhood.

Michael was soon to turn thirty when significant changes were observed in his outlook. He seemed to have undergone a facial surgery, which not only changed his facial features, but also his skin color and jaw line. This did not, however, affect his music career. By the end of 1980s, Michael was commonly known as the Artist of The Decade. This was as a result of his success in the Thriller and Bad albums. Michael signed the biggest ever recording agreement with Sony Music in 1991. It was during that time that he released his fourth album Dangerous.

Touring the world in 1992, he brought his performances to the countries that had never received a pop artist. Other than his success in the