The King of Pop- Michael Jackson

My final post will be on the King of Pop, Michael Joseph Jackson. He was a legend of the music world and no matter what he did in his personal life many have to agree that his music is phenomenal and will live on forever.

He was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. His family was working class and at the age of 5 he joined his three brothers Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie in a singing group. Later when his other brother Marlon joined the group then they became the Jackson 5. They started small only playing at local gigs. When they began opening for other groups and finally got recognized by the Motown record label. They were signed to the label in 1968. They were relocated to Los Angeles and their first album was released in January of 1970. They were an instant success.

At the age of 13 Michael launched his solo career as he continued performing with the Jackson 5. For the next few years both Michael and the Jackson 5 kept a busy tour and recording schedule. They even had their own cartoon show during 1971 to 1973. Conflicts led to the Jackson 5 leaving the Motown record label in 1975. Jermaine stayed with the label and began his own solo career. After leaving Motown the signed on at Epics Records and younger brother Randy joined the new group called The Jacksons.

From there Michael’s music career took off. His songs reached the top of the pop charts and his album Thriller had 7 top 10 hits. His music video to his song Thriller pushed him over the edge. He was a household commodity and everyone wanted to listen to his music. He signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi-Cola. He was badly injured while filming a commercial for Pepsi-Cola and received burns to his face and scalp. After undergoing surgery to repair the damage many believe this was when he began his obsession with plastic surgery. Short after he left The Jacksons to focus on his solo career.

His solo career kept soaring to the top and as he kept producing number one hits, rumors of child molestation and many other things occurred. He married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, but they got a divorce in 1997. Later that year he married Debbie Rowe and they had two children, Prince Michael Jackson in 1997 and Paris Michael Jackson in 1998. Michael later had a third child with an unknown woman. The child was named Prince Michael Jackson II, nicknamed “Blanket”. Rowe and Jackson divorced in 1999 and received custody of their two children. From then on his life was in the news, rumors floated around and he was charged with molestation.

Although his personal life was media frenzy, his music is what I will always remember and love. His music is the way he should be remembered not all the crazy stuff he did or was accused of doing. What he did does not matter anymore, since he died on June 25, 2009. We should now let the past go and just remember the days of a young Michael Jackson belting out A B C, it’s easy of 1 2 3. I choose to remember Michael before all the plastic surgery, back in the Jackson 5 and when his solo career was just taking off.

His music is some of my favorite. As a young child he could hit the highest notes and all the Jackson 5 was phenomenal to listen to. His music is just awesome; there is no other way for me to describe it. Some of my favorites are ABC, Thriller, I’ll be There, Man in the Mirror, and so many others. His music will live on forever and he is the King of Pop and forever will be.

For more information:

http://www.biography.com/articles/Michael-Jackson-38211

Pictures from:

http://static.gigwise.com/gallery/1-Jackson5.jpg

http://cache0.techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/michael-jackson.jpg

Folk-Bob Dylan

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, Bob Dylan came into the world on May 24, 1941 in Minnesota. During high school he created his own bands and was greatly influenced by early rock stars. During college, while he attended the University of Minnesota, he began playing folk and country music in cafes. It was then he changed he began using the name Bob Dylan, “after the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.” In 1960 he dropped out of college and moved to New York to pursue his dream of playing folk music. While in New York Dylan befriend the legendary Woody Guthrie who was dying. They became good friends before Guthrie’s death. He wrote and produced a wide variety of albums over the years. Some criticized him when he changed styles and some of albums were not very popular and very few copies were sold. He took a lot of heat from his folk music fans when he began playing the electric guitar, and he never regained their support. After a near fatal motorcycle crash in July of 1966, he spent a year in seclusion recovering and when he left finally left his seclusion the next albums he wrote were country, and the not the famous folk that he was known for. He wrote a song after his split with his wife trying to win he back, although it didn’t work. He became a born again Christian, but that soon faded from his music as well. In 1989 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and in 1994 he returned to his roots and won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album for his work World Gone Wrong. In 1997 he was the first rocker to receive the Kennedy Center Honors, which is considered the highest honor for a musician.


Like every great musician while his music life was booming his personal life was a roller coaster always going up and down. After a romantic relationship with Joan Baez, a key figure in the 60’s protest movement, he wrote many of Baez’s material into music. He married Sara Lowndes in 1965 and they divorced in 1977. They had four children together: Jesse, Anna, Samuel, and Jakob. His son Jakob is the lead singer in a rock band that is on the up and up.

Although Dylan in 68, he shows no signs of slowing down, he continues to tour and even released an album in April of 2009. He is a legend in the music world and will forever be remembered when he passes on.

I listened to some of his music as well to accompany this post. One of his most famous songs, that I had no idea h e had even written is Knocking on Heavens Door. I watched a performance of this song on YouTube and I love the harmonica around his neck. That just makes me laugh because my high school American History teacher loves Bob Dylan and has a poster of a young Dylan on his wall and I saw it every day in class. Dylan’s voice is not what many would consider the best. It is bluesier and sort of rougher. His political music is well written. Some many criticize h is music, by his words hold truth. I like his music it is a nice change of pace from the norm of what is popular today. His political and folk music is moving. All of his music that I have heard had a nice rhythm and beat to them.



For more information:

http://www.biography.com/articles/Bob-Dylan-9283052



Picture from:

http://nicolasramospintado.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bob-dylan.jpg