Michael Jackson was born August 29, 1958 he lived with his ten brothers and sisters in an African American working-class family who lived in a small house in Gary Indiana His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse was a devout Jehovah's Witness and his father, Joseph Walter Joe Jackson was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons.
In 1964, Michael joined the Jackson Brothers as a backup musician playing the tambourine micheal jackson began to become more famous being the smaller one in the group and was then moved to lead vocals When he was eight and the bands name was then changed to the The Jackson 5 The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the chitlin circuit, where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, there lifes changed for ever when they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good, led by Michael. The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including Big Boy, for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, before signing with Motown Records in 1968. Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as a prodigy with overwhelming musical gifts, writing that he quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer. The group set a chart record when its first four singles I Want You Back, abc, The Love You Save, and "I'll Be There peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Between 1972 and 1975, Michael released four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There, Ben, and a remake of Bobby Day's Rockin' Robin. The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single Dancing Machine and the top 20 hit I Am Love, the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Younger brother Randy formally joined the band around this time, while Jermaine left to pursue a solo career.They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Michael was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as Shake Your Body Down to the Ground, This Place Hotel, and Can You Feel It. Michael jackson then met up with Quincy Joans and produced his next solo album, off the wall which broke all kinds of records like having 4 songs in the top 10 these songs included dont stop till you get enough and rock with you.
In March 1983, Jackson reunited with his brothers for a legendary live performance which was taped for a Motown 25 Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. The show aired on May 16, 1983, to an audience of 47 million viewers, and featured the Jacksons and a number of other Motown stars. It is best remembered for Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean". Wearing a distinctive black sequin jacket and golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his signature dance move, the moonwalk, which former Soul Train dancer and Shalamar member, Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years before. The Jacksons' performance drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
In 1982 he won another 8 Grammys and 8 American Music Awards including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it, making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows. These awards were thanks to the Thriller album, released in late 1982, which was 1983's best-selling album worldwide and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 110 million copies so far. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including Billie Jean, Beat It and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work. Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12. Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple. In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform. In December 2009, the music video for "Thriller" was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, Thriller is the first music video ever to be inducted.
