American superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in 1958 and has been entertaining audiences nearly his entire life. His father, Joseph Jackson, had been a guitarist but was forced to give up his musical ambitions following his marriage to Katherine (Scruse). Together they prodded their growing family's musical interests at home.

The 1960s
By the early 60s the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun performing around the city; by 1964 Michael and Marlon had joined in. A musical prodigy, Michael's singing and dancing talents were amazingly mature and he soon became the dominant voice and focus of "The Jackson 5." An opening act for such soul groups as the O-Jays and James Brown, it was Gladys Knight (not Diana Ross) who officially brought the group to Berry Gordy's attention, and by 1969 the boys were producing back-to-back chartbusting hits as Motown artists.

The 1970s
As a product of the 70s, the boys had emerged as one of the most accomplished black pop/soul vocal groups in music history, successfully evolving from a Temptations-like group act to a disco phenomenon. Michael started working without the band, making hits such as Don't Stop Till You Get Enough in 1979.

The 1980s
Solo success for Michael was inevitable, and by the 80s he had become infinitely more popular than his brotherly group. Record sales consistently orbited, culminating in the biggest-selling album of all time, "Thriller.", including classics such as Thriller, Billy Jean and Beat It. A TV natural, he ventured rather uneasily into films, such as playing the Scarecrow in The Wiz (1978), but had better luck with elaborate music videos.

The 1990s and 00s
In the 90s, the down side of being a 80s pop phenomenon began to show. Michael grew terribly child-like and introverted by his celebrity. A rather timorous, androgynous figure to begin with, his physical appearance began to change drastically and his behaviour grew alarmingly bizarre, making him a consistent target for scandal-making, despite his numerous charitable acts and releases of good songs such as Black or White and Jam

Two brief marriages - one to Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley - were forged and two children produced by his second wife during that time, but the purposes were obviously image oriented. Despite it all, Michael Jackson's skills as a singer, dancer, writer and businessman are unparalleled, and it is these prodigious talents that will ultimately prevail over the extremely negative aspects of his seriously troubled life.