Michael Joseph Jackson: The Wizard Of The Wall Era

Michael Joseph Jackson, born in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958. He was the sixth child of Joe and Katherine Jackson. Michael and his siblings were surrounded by music their entire life. When Michael was a young boy he listen to Sammy Davis and would always be dancing. In 1963, when he was only five years old, he performed an amazing portrayal of “Climb Every Mountain”. This had many teachers in tears.

He was invited to be the lead singer in the Jackson's brothers group. This is where the Jackson 5 era began. Their father took the role of being their manager. They entered many talent shows, Michael says they one every single one. That was when they started to invest money in the band. Their first paid gig was at a nightclub called Mr. Lucky’s.

The reason for this was because they had no creative control. CBS/Epic Records were interested in the band. One of the brothers, Jermaine, did not sign with CBS and stayed with Motown so randy was signed on to replace him. When leaving Motown they weren't allowed to use the name “The Jackson Five” since the label trademarked the name.

Here came the Off the Wall Era. Michael’s first motion picture was released in October 1978 called “The Wiz”. It was a soul adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz”. Michael gained the row of the scarecrow. He moved in October 1977 for filming with his sister Latoya. Unfortunately, the film was a box office failure but, Michael's performance was extolled by critics. Jackson sang in 6 of the movie soundtracks songs. “You Can't Win” and “Ease Down the Road” were both released as

This album featured the hit “Black or White”. The video had child star Macaulay Culkin. Controversy sparked when Michael apparently made some sexual gestures and violent actions. In 1993 he performed at Super Bowl XXVII. He even agreed to a rare interview with Oprah Winfrey. In this interview he tried to quell some of the rumors that were spread about him. He explained the change in his skin color was caused by a disease called vitiligo which affects the pigmentation of one's skin. He also opened up about the abuse that was inflicted by his father when he was younger. He told Oprah that when he was going through puberty his father would tease him about his acne and call him