Lauryn Hill

They headlined a bill that included a star-studded cast of who's who in hip hop, including Kanye West, Common, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and others. The following singles reached the Top Five on either the Billboard US Hot 100 and R&B singles charts or UK pop singles charts:. The three Fugees were reunited on September 18, 2004 at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in Brooklyn, New York. For a detailed list of singles, see List of Michael Jackson singles.. Hill's nickname is "L-boogie.". For a detailed description of each album, see List of Michael Jackson albums.. A fourth child was born in 2003. At some stage in April, officials in Namibia expected him, but that was due to miscommunication.

Hill has four children by her husband, retired (American) football player Rohan Marley, son of the late reggae artist, Bob Marley: Zion David Marley, born 1997, Selah Louise Marley, born 1998, and second son Joshua, born 2002. The countries he would visit would include Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Senegal. Two days later Pope John Paul II told a group of Bishops from Sudan that, "Scandalous behavior must at all times be investigated, confronted and corrected" in the Catholic Church. Jackson has been considering a tour of Africa in May or June 2004 to raise money to fight AIDS, if the court will let him. Among those in attendance were Edmund Cardinal Szoka, American-born President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City, and President of the Governatorate of Vatican City. This film would feature Jackson as a man with the ability to transform into an automobile, and an as-yet-uncast adolescent male companion who rides Jackson everywhere while he is in his car state. On December 13, 2003, Hill shocked officials at the Vatican by denouncing them for "corruption, exploitation, and abuses," apparently in reference to allegations of the child molestation of boys by Catholic officials in the United States of America and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials. In 2004, film director Kevin Smith told Playboy magazine that Jackson wanted to make a feature movie entitled Hot Rod.

Hill released an MTV Unplugged album laced with verbal interludes in 2002 to mixed reviews. Jackson continues to be plagued with seemingly press-invented rumours; partly they are unrelated with his current court case; tabloids allege that he is in Colorado seeking treatment at an in-patient addiction clinic. Though a Fugees reunion was discussed by all of the members of the group, it has not yet happened, reportedly due to conflicts between the three Fugees, including a much-rumored feud between Hill and Wyclef Jean. The incident led to nothing as he was pulled over, asked to reveal his identity, and then left to go on his way. [1] (http://www.snopes.com/quotes/lauryn.htm). Employees found this suspicious and called the police with a description of his vehicle. This is considered unlikely, however, as no recording could be found of the supposed incident. Jackson had been shopping at a Wal-Mart earlier in the day wearing a ski-mask.

In 1996, a call to the Howard Stern radio show stated that the caller heard Hill say "I would rather die than have a white person buy one of my albums" during an MTV interview. On February 27, 2004, Jackson was stopped by police while vacationing with his children near Aspen, Colorado, where he went because his children wanted to see snow. In 1999 Ebony magazine named her one of "100+ Most Influential Black Americans.". See also Jackson's finances in connection to the trial. and others among the "10 For Tomorrow," in the EBONY 2000: Special Millennium Issue. of South Korea, who claim that Jackson owes the firm $12 million in fees and expenses and that Jackson's extravagant spending may lead to his bankruptcy. She was named with Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. He has been involved in a legal dispute with his former financial adviser, Union Finance and Investment Corp.

In 1999 Hill received three awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California. Jackson lost the case, and is appealing. Hill is noted as a humanitarian, and in 1996 she received an Essence Award for work which has included the 1996 founding of the Refugee Project, an outreach organization that supports a two-week overnight camp for at-risk youth, and for supporting well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, as well as for staging a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration. That same month, concert promoter Marcel Avram sued Jackson in a court in Santa Maria, California, claiming that he reneged on a deal to perform on a series of millennium concerts crossing the International Date Line on the evening of December 31, 1999 - January 1, 2000. They received an undisclosed amount of money and were given credit for drum programming and a small amount of lyrical, instrumental and production work. In October 2002 various international banks claimed that Jackson was in financial debt into the tens of millions of dollars due to various unpaid loans. Soon after, Hill and her recording company were sued by Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Johari Newton and Tejumold Newton, known as "New Ark Entertainment," who claimed to have been denied full credit and compensation for their assistance on the album. One possible reason was that producer Marc Schaffel has worked as a producer of homosexual pornography (his house was searched by the police in 2004; it is not clear whether this was related to Jackson).

Woodson's book, The Miseducation of the Negro. However, the song was never released. The album's title was inspired by Carter G. Jackson also recorded a song featuring various celebrities on vocals in an attempt to raise funds for disaster relief following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. Among the singles on the album was "Doo Wop (That Thing)." In 1999's Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated eleven times and won Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, setting a new record for a female performer. Instead of blaming this on what was, by most fans and critics, considered mediocre music, he blamed his record label and industry executives, most notably the legendary producer Tommy Mottola, whom Jackson likened to Satan. In 1998, Hill released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a critical smash hit that ended up on numerous best-of lists for the year, decade and all time. His most recent album, Invincible, had disappointing sales figures.

She appeared as a singer in the soundtracks for Conspiracy Theory in 1997 on the track, "Can't take My Eyes Off of You," and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in 2001 on the "Selah" track. In late 2002, new scandal arose surrounding Jackson. Hill's other acting work includes the television series "King of the Hill" (as "Arletta the Elevator Operator"), the play "Club 127," and the motion pictures Hav Plenty (1997) and Restaurant (1998). Jackson is planning a world tour — provisionally called Celebration — with music mogul Charles Koppelman, to start if he is acquitted, a few months after that. This was followed by The Score, a multi-platinum selling album that established all three Fugees (Hill, Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean) as international successes. The song was also featured as a montage video on the CBS TV special "Michael Jackson Number Ones." The special was then released on DVD as "The One.". The Fugees' first album, Blunted on Reality, was much-hyped but fell far short of expectations. "One More Chance" went on to become the #1 track on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart for three straight weeks.

Though the Fugees had originally formed in 1988, Hill's membership was disrupted by her acting and her education at Columbia University. It was the only new track on his Number Ones greatest hits album. Her acting roles included the TV show As the World Turns (as "Kira Johnson" in 1991), and the film Sister Act II: Back in the Habit, the latter of which showcased her vocal abilities. Kelly. She was born in South Orange, New Jersey and began singing and acting at a very young age. On November 21, 2003, Jackson released a new song, "One More Chance," written by R. Lauryn Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American hip hop singer, initially establishing her reputation as the most visible and vocal member of The Fugees. The awards recognise outstanding personalities and performances in various fields, including show business, film, politics and sport.

Download sample (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/LaurynHillRedemptionSong.ogg) of Hill covering Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". In November 2002 Jackson received in Berlin Germany's Millennium Bambi 2002 award, in recognition of his status as the world's "greatest living pop icon". "Butterflies" was a top 20 hit in America as well as a #2 hit on the R&B charts, but did not reach the top 10, despite a popular radio remix featuring rapper Eve; the song's relative lack of success also allowed no budget for a music video. "You Rock My World" managed the top ten in America, but only for a week, and its big-budget, 14-minute music video received only sparse airplay on MTV, VH1, MTV2, and BET, usually in a shortened, 5-minute version. "Cry" was also issued as a third single in Europe.

As opposed to his earlier albums which each spawned at least six singles, most of which were generally worldwide smashes, Invincible produced only the singles "You Rock My World" and "Butterflies" in America. While the numbers seemed impressive, the sales figures were nonetheless disappointing, considering Jackson's previous success and the cost of the album. charts, selling 2 million copies in the United States and 5-6 million worldwide. Jackson's 2001 album Invincible, the most expensive album ever produced, debuted at number one on the U.S.

The short film "Ghosts" is occasionally played as an hour-long special, with space made for commercials, on MTV and VH1, especially during the Halloween season. However, Jackson also produced "Ghosts", a 40-minute short film, which was shown in several movie theaters and uses the songs "Ghosts" and "2 Bad" in the film. The album only had one single and official music video, the title track, which failed to catch on in America, and again proved a far more popular hit in Europe. In 1997 Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor, a remix album of several of the tracks off of HIStory, which also included 5 new songs and has since become the biggest-selling remix album of all time.

On the other hand, the album spawned his biggest hit ever in the UK, "Earth Song" stayed at the top of the chart for six weeks and sold over a million copies. Executives and Jackson hoped it would stay at #1 throughout the summer, yet it only spent 2 weeks at the top with unspectacular sales. It was branded a failure very quickly. Apart from the video for "Scream," singles and videos from HIStory nowadays garner little airplay in America, making the album a failure overall by Jackson's standards, though it has sold over 18 million double albums as of 2004.

The lyrics "Jew me, sue me/ Kick me, kike me" were modified on the album's official release in reponse to the criticism. This caused American MTV and VH1 to ban the song's music video, even though it garnered heavy airplay on many of America's Boxnetworks. "They Don't Care About Us" caused a stir when it was released due to controversial lyrics which were considered by some to be anti-Semitic. "Childhood" is notable for having been the theme song to Free Willy 2.

The album's other singles and videos, "Childhood", "Earth Song", "Stranger In Moscow", and "They Don't Care About Us" had limited success in America, and performed far better in Europe. The album produced two new hit singles and videos in America: "Scream", a duet with his sister Janet, whose futuristic music video, with a seven million dollar price tag, is the most expensive music video ever made; and "You Are Not Alone", the first song to ever debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and whose video had a cameo from Jackson's then-wife, Lisa Marie Presley. Its first disc had fifteen of his greatest hits and second disc contained fifteen new songs. HIStory, a double-disc album, was released in 1995.

A few years ago, VH1 Europe aired them in daytime but now cuts them out. To date, the final four minutes of the "Black Or White" video has only since re-aired in America on MTV2 between the hours of 1 AM and 4 AM, as part of their special uncensored airing of the "Most Controversial Music Videos" of all time, however the extended version is available on Jackson's DVDs. MTV and other music video stations decided to cut out the last four minutes of the video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued an apology statement to anyone who had been offended. It finally ended with a cameo appearance by Bart and Homer Simpson. However, Jackson's rampage and crotch grabbing caused a good deal of controversy with many parents of young children who watched the video's premiere.

The last four minutes depicted Jackson doing his infamous crotch-rubbing, smashing store windows, and destroying a car with a metal crowbar. The original video for "Black Or White" then continued, even after the song itself ended, for another four minutes. Thanks in part to "Black Or White", as well as the development of computer technology, the morphing effect has since become somewhat common in music videos today, and can now be done much cheaper than in the early 1990s. Although this was not the first music video to feature morphing technology — former 10cc members Godley & Creme used morphing even more extensively in the 1985 video to their song "Cry", though in a less technologically polished way — it was the first exposure many people had to the technology, and this effect amazed those who saw the video for the first time.

As the song ends, the video features a morphing effect, whereby the faces of several different people of different ethnicities' (including Tyra Banks and voice actor Cree Summer) are morphed one into another, as a symbol of global unity. The music to "Black Or White" then starts, and Jackson proceeds to take viewers on a trip around the world, from country to country and culture to culture. Culkin's character, instead, decides to bring his speakers into the living room and cranks the speakers to full blast, which sends the father flying through the roof, in a manner somewhat similar to that used in an earlier Twisted Sister music video. He ends up landing in the middle of some exotic location. The original video begins with Macaulay Culkin playing a young Jackson fan whose father (played by George Wendt) tells him to turn his music down.

The original video is over ten minutes long, and premiered simultaneously on November 14, 1991, on MTV, VH1, BET, and ABC, becoming one of the most-watched music video premieres in history. Of all the album's groundbreaking and popular videos, "Black Or White" probably remains the most aired and most remembered today. This was hardly bad, but it was certainly nowhere near 100 million. But after a relatively small stay in the top 10, the album fell out and sold 7 million in the US and 29 million worldwide.

Again, Michael had high hopes, and planned to sell 100 million copies of Dangerous. Jackson and Naomi Campbell played lovers in "In The Closet". Jackson's singing and dancing is the thing that finally makes Iman's character happy, in the seven-minute long video. Magic Johnson played the king's chief guard.

The video for "Jam" showed Jackson and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing together, while "Remember The Time" was set in a Egyptian palace and starred Eddie Murphy as the king of the palace who was trying to entertain his wife, played by Iman. Several of the other videos had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. "Will You Be There" showed Jackson singing in front of scenes from Free Willy. The video for "Heal The World", to correspond to Jackson's charity of the same name, featured children and adults from throughout the world.

"Give In To Me" featured Slash from Guns n' Roses in its video. As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos were among the most costly, creative, and innovative of their time. But the album's most successful and memorable singles and videos were "Jam", "Remember The Time", "Black Or White", "In The Closet", and "Heal The World". Dangerous contained the singles and music videos "Who Is It", "Give In To Me", "Gone Too Soon" (a tribute to young AIDS victim Ryan White), and "Will You Be There", which would later become the theme song to the movie Free Willy.

During the Dangerous world tour Jackson announced the creation of his Heal the World Foundation. Jackson was awarded a record breaking $890 million contract by Sony and released an album Dangerous in 1991. Michael actually hoped Bad would do BETTER than Thriller. While Thriller moved 25 million in America, Bad "only" moved about 8 million.

However, despite the success, many industry members were surprised about Bad's sales. Of the 7 singles released in the USA, the first 5 went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, "Another Part Of Me" peaked at #11 (#1 on Billboard's R&B charts) and "Smooth Criminal" went to #7. Nonetheless, he made history by becoming the first artist to generate 6 number one singles off of one album. The album's only relatively unsuccessful single, "Liberian Girl", remains to this day as one of Jackson's least seen music videos and least heard singles.

Its singles and music videos "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man In The Mirror", "Dirty Diana", "Another Part Of Me", "Smooth Criminal" and "Leave Me Alone" provided Jackson with another string of hits. Bad was another smash success for Jackson. The following year Jackson released a silly, playful movie entitled "Moonwalker" and a serious, personal autobiography titled Moon Walk. He performed to sold out audiences at each concert.

In 1987, Jackson released Bad and began his first solo world tour. The film contained the songs "We Are Here To Change The World" and "Another Part Of Me". Minute for minute it is the most expensive film ever produced, costing an estimated US $30 million to make. Jackson starred in the George Lucas/Francis Ford Coppola 3-D film Captain Eo in 1986, which was shown in Disney theme parks until 1998.

"We Are the World" was sung by 44 different singers including Harry Belafonte, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder and sold 7 million copies in the United States, becoming the best selling single of all time (eclipsed by Elton John's "Candle In The Wind" in 1997), to raise money for USA for Africa – a charity working to raise awareness about and help starving people in Africa. Inspired by Band Aid, he was instrumental in organizing the single "We Are the World" (co-written with Lionel Richie) in 1985. Claude Hodson Medal of Freedom at the NAACP Image Awards, feted at the White House by President Ronald Reagan with the Presidential Special Achievement Award and in November was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition in 1984, he was also awarded the H.

In May, Thriller was certified by the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest selling popular music album of all time. In February at the Grammy Awards Jackson was nominated for 12 awards and won a record-breaking 8 awards (now equaled by Carlos Santana's 1999 Supernatural) – 7 for Thriller and 1 for his narrative on The E.T. Storybook. In January 1984 at the American Music Awards, Jackson was nominated for 9 awards and won a record 8 awards (tied by Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1994). While performing "Billie Jean" during the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special on television on May 16, 1983, Jackson publicly performed the moonwalk (later his signature dance move) for the first time, stunning TV audiences.

(Pretty Young Thing)", both of which were also hits, despite neither having music videos. The album's other singles were "Human Nature" and "P.Y.T. "Billie Jean" and "Thriller", as well as "Beat It", were the three music videos released from the album, and have since become three of MTV's most significant videos in history, placing highly on several MTV and VH1 countdowns, and receiving substantial airplay on MTV2 to this day. The "Billie Jean" music video, released to promote Thriller, became the first video by a black artist to be aired on MTV, and the "Thriller" short film, included with The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, became the world's best selling home video at the time.

His Thriller album was released in 1982, produced 7 Top 10 hit singles, broke records and quickly became the world's best selling album (as of 2003 it has sold over 50 million copies). 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. In the 1980s, Jackson released a progression of solo albums of slickly-produced synthesizer-heavy pop. A ballad, "She's Out Of My Life" reached the top 10 in 1980.

Michael Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was a worldwide hit and spawned the #1 hit singles and music videos "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Off the Wall, released in 1979, produced a record four Top 10 hits and sold seven million copies in the United States. It was here that he met Quincy Jones, the music producer for The Wiz, who would later produce Michael's three most acclaimed solo albums, Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Jackson starred in the film The Wiz alongside mentor Diana Ross in 1978.

Now known as The Jacksons, and featuring younger brother Randy in Jermaine's place, the brothers continued their successful career, touring internationally and releasing 6 albums between 1976 and 1984. Hits during this period included "Enjoy Yourself" & "Show You The Way To Go" (1976), "Find Me A Girl" (1977), "Blame It On The Boogie" (1978), "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" (1979), "Can You Feel It?" & "Heartbreak Hotel" (1980) and "Torture" & "State of Shock" (1984). Additionally Jermaine, who had married Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel, opted to remain at Motown for a full-time solo career. By leaving Motown behind, they lost the rights to use the "Jackson 5" name and logo. The new deal with CBS provided more creative freedom and larger royalies that they were not allowed at Motown.

In 1976, the Jackson brothers signed a deal with CBS Records, first joining the Philadelphia International division and later moving over to Epic Records. Among Michael's early solo hits were "Got to Be There" (1971, his solo debut); and "Rockin' Robin", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", and the #1 hit "Ben" (all 1972). With Motown Records, the Jackson 5 made 14 albums, and Michael also recorded four albums as a solo artist. Most of the Jackson 5 hits were produced by The Corporation, a collective of songwriters and record producers including Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards.

Later hits included "Mama's Pearl" & "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1971), "Lookin' Through the Windows" (1972), "Get It Together" (1973) and "Dancing Machine" (1974). The group's first four singles, "I Want You Back" from 1969, and "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" from 1970 all became #1 hits in the US. In fall 1969, The Jackson 5 were presented to the public by Diana Ross and were officially launched as the next big Motown act. Gordy then moved the Jackson family to California, and proceeded to turn them into international stars.

Label head Berry Gordy bought out the Jackson 5's Steeltown contract and signed the group to Motown in March 1969. The Jackson 5 were discovered by both Gladys Knight & the Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, who brought them to Motown Records in 1968. The Jackson 5 signed their first recording contract with the local Steeltown label in 1967, and had a regional hit with "Big Boy". It is alleged that they were beaten and abused by their father if they performed poorly.

With Michael as the lead singer, the group built up a following and a buzz by playing at clubs and bars throughout the Midwest, and even winning an Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Five of the Jackson brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, formed the Jackson 5, an R&B musical act, in the mid 1960s. Main entry: The Jackson 5. Rumours in 2003 claimed that Jackson had another son, seventeen-year-old Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., who apparently has an almost identical resemblance to Jackson as a young man.

Jackson however, strongly denied the allegations. The mother is said to be a "struggling actress". In July 2004 news was released that Jackson is to be the father of quadruplets, via artificial insemination. In March 2004 it was confirmed there was an unspecified family matter between Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, to be handled in mediation.

Reportedly the children have been interviewed by social workers. In December 2003 Jackson's parents promised they would look after the three children if they were taken away from their son. In what Jackson explains as a security measure against kidnapping, the children's faces are masked or veiled when they are in public. In late 2002, Jackson stirred up controversy while staying in a hotel in Berlin by briefly suspending him over the edge of the railing of a balcony.

Around February 2002 Jackson had another son, Prince Michael II, also called "Blanket", with a surrogate mother whose identity has not been disclosed. They were divorced in 1999. Rowe later said that she let Jackson have the children as a "gift". In 1996, he married Debbie Rowe, with whom he had a son, Prince Michael, and a daughter, Paris Katherine. In 1994 Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley; the marriage lasted less than two years, ending in divorce.

Jackson has insisted, however, that he only uses heavy makeup to mask the effects of vitiligo, a condition that causes white patches on the skin. Some critics have characterized his plastic surgery and purported "skin bleaching" as an attempt to hide his African-American ancestry. It has been rumored that Jackson has used extensive plastic surgery to modify his appearance, although he claims to have had only three operations: Two rhinoplastic surgeries (the first of which he claims was to repair a broken nose resulting from a dancing accident in 1978, and the second to correct imperfections in the first surgery) and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin (Jackson often omits mentioning the cleft when listing his cosmetic surgery, but he confirms the surgery in his 1988 autobiography Moon Walk). (For the related song and video "Heal the World" see below.) Michael is also the godfather of Lionel Richie's adopted daughter Nicole Richie.

He has also been friends with rabbi Shmuley Boteach, with whom Jackson founded the now defunct "Heal the World" and "Heal the Kids" foundations. He is also friends with paranormalist Uri Geller. Both Taylor and Culkin are godparents to Prince Michael and Paris. Jackson's celebrity friends have included Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Rick James, Usher, Marlon Brando, comedians Steve Harvey and Chris Tucker and actress Elizabeth Taylor and former child actors Emmanuel Lewis and Macaulay Culkin.

He likes climbing trees; he has written several songs sitting in his favorite tree at Neverland, which he calls Giving Tree, because, he says, it is so inspiring. His is a vegetarian. Bubbles was moved from the ranch after reaching maturity because adult chimpanzees are very strong and can be dangerous. Jackson kept a chimpanzee, Bubbles, in Neverland, which he valued highly, treating him more like a friend than a pet.

He has publicly stated he will no longer have them with children not related to him. However, he now supposedly feels that it violates a social norm in the eyes of many people and places him in a vulnerable position with regard to suspicions and allegations of sexual abuse. Also he has had sleepovers with children. having water balloon and water gun fights, and having rides with them in his golf carts (which children are often allowed to drive themselves), small steam train, and the other rides of the amusement park, and having long telephone conversations with young friends.

His favorite pastimes include playing with children, e.g. About once a week he has been inviting a bus full of (especially sick and poor) children there to have a day of fun. Neverland contains a small zoo and amusement park. He says he compensates for his "lost childhood", during which he always had to practice and perform.

He says that, like Peter Pan, he does not want to grow up. He says that they do not give the complications that adult people often do, like negatively judging him, and betraying him. Jackson feels a strong connection to both children and animals. He now lives in Beverly Hills in a $70,000-a-month rented home.

In December 2003, he said that after it had been searched by police (see below), it no longer felt like a home, and is now a house he just visits. Jackson has been living at his 11 kmē (2600 acres) Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, named after the magical kingdom featured in the children's story Peter Pan. However, the children would sneak out of the house to their neighbours where they practiced singing and playing music. Eventually, Joseph found out about their musical abilities and decided to capitalise upon it in order to leave Gary for sunny Los Angeles. Due to Joseph Jackson's strict religious beliefs, the Jackson kids were kept locked in their house while he worked the night shift.

At one point, his sister LaToya was shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses, and in 1987, he formally left the religion. It was said that in 2003 he embraced Nation of Islam. His career and flamboyant style led to friction with congregation elders. Jackson continued to do so after becoming famous, but then in disguise. At the behest of their mother Katherine, the Jackson children were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and practiced door-to-door evangelization.

Jackson broke down and wept during a television interview when asked about this, and said that even as an adult just meeting his father often made him physically ill. Jackson and his sister LaToya both claimed that their father was cruel and physically abusive to his children. The entire family--including older siblings Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, LaToya, and Marlon, and younger siblings Randy and Janet--lived in a tiny two-bedroom house, and Jackson's father Joseph Jackson earned a meager living working in a steel mill. Jackson was born the seventh of nine children in Gary, Indiana to Joseph Jackson and Katherine Jackson.

It is second to The Eagles' greatest hits collection Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), which has sold 28 million copies. The album is also the best-selling album containing all-original material in terms of domestic US sales--26 million copies sold). His hit album Thriller is the biggest-selling album of all time worldwide with over 50 million copies sold. MTV and Rolling Stone magazine recently named four of his songs ("Billie Jean" #5, The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" #9, "Beat It" #23, and "Rock with You" #82) among the 100 greatest pop songs of all time.

His Thriller video is considered one of the greatest music videos of all time and a large step forward in artistic quality for music videos. Estimates of his album sales worldwide range from 200 million to well over 300 million. Jackson, who rose to fame in childhood as the lead singer of the Motown act The Jackson 5, has received numerous music industry awards including 18 Grammys. The trial is in Santa Maria, California.

He denies the charges. He is a generous children's friend, but he has also repeatedly been accused of sexual abuse of children and is, as of March 2005, on trial for alleged child molestation and other offenses. Jackson's successful career has gained him legions of devoted fans, yet he has been dogged by media fascination with his changing physical appearance and what some perceive as an "eccentric" lifestyle, which has led the tabloid press to dub him "Wacko Jacko" (which Jackson says he finds hurtful). He is also known as The King of Pop or the King of the Music Video.

Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958), is an African-American man who became one of the most successful popular music singers of all time. Space Channel 5 Part 2 is a dance game co-starring Michael Jackson, for the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is an arcade game that was ported to the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis) and Sega Master System. 2004: Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls (Agent M.J.).

2002: Men in Black II (Agent M). 1997: Ghosts (Maestro/Mayor/Ghoul Mayor/Super Ghoul/Skeleton). 1988: Michael Jackson: Moonwalker (Himself). 1986: Captain EO (Captain EO).

1978: The Wiz (Scarecrow). 2003: "One More Chance" (#5 UK). 2002: "Butterflies" (#2 R&B). 2001: "You Rock My World" (#2 UK).

1997: "HIStory/Ghosts" (#5 UK). 1997: "Blood On The Dance Floor" (#1 UK). 1996: "Stranger In Moscow" (#4 UK). 1996: "Why" (3T featuring Michael Jackson) (#2 UK).

1995: "Earth Song" (#1 UK). 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #1 UK). 1995: "Scream" (with Janet Jackson) (#5 Pop, #2 R&B, #3 UK). 1993: "Give In To Me" (#2 UK).

1992: "Heal The World" (#2 UK). 1992: "Remember The Time" (#3 Pop, #1 R&B, #3 UK). 1991: "Black Or White" (#1 Pop, #3 R&B, #1 UK). 1989: "Leave Me Alone" (#2 UK).

1988: "Smooth Criminal" (#2 R&B). 1988: "Dirty Diana" (#1 Pop, #8 R&B, #4 UK). 1988: "Man In The Mirror" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B). 1987: "Another Part Of Me" (#1 R&B).

1987: "The Way You Make Me Feel" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #3 UK). 1987: "Bad" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #3 UK). 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #1 UK). 1984: "Thriller" (#4 Pop, #3 R&B).

1983: "Say Say Say" (Paul McCartney with Michael Jackson) (#1 Pop, #2 R&B, #2 UK). 1983: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" (#5 Pop, #5 R&B). 1983: "Beat It" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #3 UK). 1983: "Billie Jean" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B , #1 UK).

1983: "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (#2 Pop, #1 R&B). 1981: "One Day In Your Life" (#1 UK). 1980: "Off The Wall" (#5 R&B). 1980: "She's Out Of My Life" (#3 UK).

1980: "Rock With You" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B). 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (#1 Pop, #1 R&B, #3 UK). 1972: "Ben" (#1 Pop, #5 R&B). 1972: "Rockin' Robin" (#2 Pop, #2 R&B #3 UK).

1971: "Got to Be There" (#4 Pop, #4 R&B, #5 UK). 2004: Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (box set). 2003: Number Ones. 1997: Blood on the Dance Floor.

1995: HIStory (double-album: disc one is a greatest hits collection, disc two is all-new material). 2001: Invincible. 1991: Dangerous. 1987: Bad.

1982: Thriller. 1979: Off the Wall. 1984: Farewell My Summer Love. 1975: Forever, Michael.

1973: Music and Me. 1972: Ben. 1972: Got to Be There.