Jackson, Michael Joseph
1958-2009 · Contribution: 1969-2001
Singer, Songwriter & Performer
Became known as the “King of Pop” after his 1982 album Thriller sold an estimated 70 million copies worldwide to become the best-selling album in history, won a record-setting eight Grammy Awards in a single night in 1984, and transformed the music video into a cinematic art form while breaking racial barriers on MTV and radio
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1958
- Active since
- 1969
- Category
- Arts, Music & Entertainment Tech
- Best known for
- "Thriller""King of Pop"Redefined the music video
Impact on the world
Jackson turned the music video into a cinematic medium and forced open a segregated MTV, reshaping pop culture globally. "Thriller" set a commercial peak still unmatched.
Sources
- Britannica
1 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson)
1958-2016
Pioneered the genre-blending “Minneapolis sound” fusing funk, rock, R&B, and new wave, and in 1984 became the first artist to simultaneously hold the number-one film, album, and single in the United States with Purple Rain, a feat that also earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score
Wonder, Stevie (Stevland Hardaway Morris)
1950-present
A blind child prodigy signed to Motown at age 11, became one of the most decorated recording artists in history with 25 Grammy Awards, the most ever won by a male solo artist, and produced a run of 1970s albums including Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life widely regarded among the greatest in popular music
Houston, Whitney Elizabeth
1963-2012
Known as “The Voice,” became the best-selling female recording artist of the 1980s and 1990s, scored a record seven consecutive number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, and starred in The Bodyguard (1992), whose soundtrack remains the best-selling album by a female artist and the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time
Gaye, Marvin Pentz Jr.
1939-1984
Became one of Motown's most versatile and influential artists, known as the “Prince of Motown” and “Prince of Soul,” and in 1971 broke from Motown's producer-driven system to create What's Going On, a self-produced concept album addressing war, poverty, and the environment that Rolling Stone later ranked the greatest album of all time