Michael Jackson

No one shaped modern pop more than Michael Jackson. Born Michael Joseph Jackson on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, he was performing for crowds before he started school, as the youngest lead voice of the Jackson 5. His solo run in the 1980s, built on Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad, made him the most famous entertainer on earth and earned him the title King of Pop. He died on June 25, 2009, at fifty, but his music, dance and videos still set the standard.

The Jackson 5 years

The Jackson 5 signed to Motown in 1969 and became an instant phenomenon. “I Want You Back”, “ABC” and “I’ll Be There” all reached number one, an unheard-of start for a new group. Michael, still a child, was plainly the center of it, and a solo career was only a matter of time.

Off the Wall and a grown-up sound

His 1979 album Off the Wall, made with producer Quincy Jones, introduced him as an adult artist. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You” fused disco, funk and soul into something sleek and new, and the first of those won his first Grammy. It was a hit, but it was also a warm-up.

Thriller

Thriller, released in 1982, is still the best-selling album in history. It produced seven top-ten singles, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It”, and its title track became a fourteen-minute short film that changed what a music video could be. At the 1984 Grammys Jackson won eight awards in one night, a record at the time. On a 1983 television special he performed “Billie Jean” and debuted the moonwalk to a stunned audience.

Bad, Dangerous and the King of Pop

Bad, in 1987, gave him five number-one singles from a single album, a first, and launched his first solo world tour. Dangerous in 1991 brought in new jack swing and produced “Black or White”. By then he was calling himself the King of Pop, and the name stuck. His videos kept breaking new ground and broke down racial barriers on MTV at a time when Black artists rarely got airplay.

Records and a complicated legacy

Jackson scored thirteen number-one singles on the Hot 100 and is the only artist with a top-ten hit in five straight decades. He won thirteen Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. His later years were shadowed by legal controversy, financial trouble and failing health, and he died in 2009 while preparing for a run of comeback concerts. The grief was global.

An influence everywhere

It is hard to find a modern pop or R&B star who does not carry some of his DNA, from the choreography to the vocal tics to the idea of an album as an event. Drake later tied his record for the most number-one singles by a solo male artist, a reminder of how high the bar he set still sits. A biopic, Michael, brought his story back to cinemas in 2026.

Most loved songs

A spread across the catalogue. Each title opens through the in-site player.

From a dancefloor classic to a ballad or a hook you cannot quite place, the odds are good a Michael Jackson song has passed through your headphones. Type the line you remember into the search box above and you may find it leads back to him.