He rose to prominence as the youngest member of The Jackson Five, a funk-influenced pop group of the 1970s, whilst still a child.
Jackson went on to release a progression of solo albums of slickly-produced synthesizer-heavy pop in the 1980s.
Thriller, released in 1982, became one of the best-selling pop albums of all time. In what was perhaps the Golden Age of the video clip, some of Jackson's videos were virtually short films with considerable plots, impressive special effects, and featuring Jackson's distinctive dance style - notably including a move called the moonwalk where he would move backwards while appearing to be walking forward.
Subsequent releases included Bad, Dangerous, and History. In between albums, he wrote and produced the ballad We Are The World which became associated with African famine relief efforts in the 1980s.
Always considered something of an eccentric, as time has gone on he has become something of a recluse, spending most of his time at his ranch in Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara County, California which he titled Neverland, after the magical kingdom featured in the children's story Peter Pan. He says that, like Peter Pan, he does not want to grow up. Some of his favorite pastimes are water balloon fights and climbing trees. He has written several songs sitting in his favorite tree at Neverland, which he calls Giving Tree, because it is so inspiring.
It is clear in the opinion of a number of plastic surgeons that he has undergone extensive plastic surgery and it may be said that he is hardly recognizable as the same person he was as an adolescent; but the effectiveness of his cosmetic surgery has been hotly debated.
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