Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist and entertainer. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, four of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) andHIStory (1995), while his 1982 Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time.
In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.
One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era. Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. Michael Jackson died ofcardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, aged 50.
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (often abbreviated to HIStory) is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth album. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the exception of "Come Together", which was recorded in 1987. HIStory has been cited as the best-selling multiple disc album ever released, with worldwide sales of 20 million (40 million in terms of units). It is the top grossing album of Jackson's career behind Thriller. The album won one Grammy for Best Music Video - Short Form for Scream.
The first disc of greatest hits was reissued in 2001 as a single disc under the name Greatest Hits: HIStory, Vol. 1.
Recording started in September 1994 and would carry through the early spring of 1995. Jackson wrote the majority of the songs attacking the press for "scandalizing" him and gave messages to fans to not "feed into the tabloids". One of the songs included "Scream", a duet between Michael and sister Janet, who had agreed to do a duet with her brother after she felt that she "had made it to the top" and she didn't fear that she'd "had to ride Michael's coattails". Other songs that attacked the tabloids included "Tabloid Junkie" and "This Time Around". The Michael and Janet duet was the first of several tunes Jackson produced with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ("2 Bad", "HIStory", "Tabloid Junkie") but not without additional help from the likes of Dallas Austin ("This Time Around"), R. Kelly (the lone ballad, "You Are Not Alone"), Charles Chaplin ("Smile") and Jackson himself ("They Don't Care About Us", "Earth Song", "Stranger in Moscow", "D.S.", "Money", "Little Susie" with Jackson-arranged variation of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem as prelude). Jackson, in fact, dominated the production of the album though not fully incorporating serious issues into his music including racism, the ecology and his own personal travails ("D.S.", in particular, was an attack on the district attorney of Jackson's case, Thomas Sneddon, in which he is heard singing in the chorus despite the lyrics reading "Dom Sheldon", possibly used to escape a lawsuit). Like on previous albums, Jackson wanted to feature guest stars. Other than his sister Janet, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. put down a rap verse in "This Time Around", soul group Boyz II Men sung background vocals on "HIStory" and basketball star and sometime rapper Shaquille O'Neal put down a verse on "2 Bad". While fourteen of the songs were new recordings, Jackson included an older recording of his cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", which he had recorded during the Bad era. The version included on the album is an early fade of the original version.
HIStory was originally to be called "Decade", which would include several previous Jackson hits and several new songs from the later part of his career. This was shelved and HIStory was eventually expanded into a two-disc set.
HIStory remains Jackson's most controversial album as seen by a number of events.
- The music video for "You Are Not Alone" was controversial in that it featured an almost nude Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley. Additionally, two Belgian songwriters, brothers Eddy and Danny Van Passel, claimed to have written the melody in 1993. In September of 2007 a Belgian judge ruled the song was plagiarized from the Van Passel brothers and the song was subsequently banned from airwaves in Belgium.
- Controversy arose when a verse in "They Don't Care About Us" ("Jew me/sue me/everybody do me/kick me, kike me/don't you black or white me") raised suspicion that the singer was anti-Semitic, charges Jackson denied. To make up for it, he edited the verse on later issues of the album.
- HIStory and Blood on the Dance Floor are the only albums by Jackson using vulgar lyrics in some parts of several songs, such as "Scream" and "This Time Around."Blood on the Dance Floor did not have as much swearing, but some songs were more sexually suggestive.
- The original music video for "They Don't Care About Us" showed Jackson singing the song in a prison. MTV took the video off its playlist because it showed scenes of violence. Jackson and video directorSpike Lee released another version of the video set in Dona Marta, a shanty town in Brazil, which was actually shot before the "prison version". However, because of the filming location, one Brazilian politician accused Jackson of exploiting poverty to make money. The politician also alleged that Jackson needed and was given permission by drug traffickers to shoot the video.
- At the BRIT Awards in 1996, Jackson was given a special "Artist of a Generation" award. At the ceremony he performed "Earth Song" with a grandiose stage show, with Jackson portrayed as a Christ-like figure surrounded by adoring children. Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker mounted the stage in protest at the act. Cocker ran across the stage, lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) bottom in Jackson's direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards three of the children in Jackson's performance, although no criminal proceedings followed. The performance saw the song and album rise back up the charts.
The album received 5 Grammy Award nominations and won one, these were:
- "Album of the Year" - HIStory - Nomination
- "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" - "Scream" - Nomination
- "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" - "You Are Not Alone" - Nomination
- "Best Music Video, Short Form" - "Earth Song" - Nomination
- "Best Music Video, Short Form" - "Scream" - Won
HIStory, arguably Jackson's most conflicting album, revealed a "furious" pop icon worn by years of superstardom, with Jon Pareles of the The New York Timeswriting that "It has been a long time since Michael Jackson was simply a performer. He's the main asset of his own corporation, which is a profitable subsidiary of Sony". Some reviewers commented on the unusual format of a new studio album being accompanied by a "greatest hits" collection, with Q magazine saying "from the new songs' point of view, it's like taking your dad with you into a fight."
In relation to "This Time Around", James Hunter of Rolling Stone described it as a "dynamite jam...done with Atlanta R&B hotshot Dallas Austin that's ripe for remixes". Jon Pareles of The New York Timesbelieved that Jackson "muttered" lyrics such as "They thought they really had control of me". Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times said of "This Time Around", "a tough, rhythm-guitar-driven track co-written and co-produced by hit-maker Dallas Austin that sports one of the album's better grooves". Fred Shuster of the Daily News of Los Angeles described "This Time Around", "Money" and "D.S." as "superb slices of organic funk that will fuel many of the summer's busiest dance floors".
"HIStory" debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts selling over 391,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 22, 1999 in recognition of 3.5 million shipments in the United States. Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album if it is over 100 minutes in length, in this case "HIStory" is 148:50 minutes long. It is counted twice meaning each album was certified platinum after 500,000 copies were shipped. The Canadian Recording Industry Association certified it 5× platinum after shipping in excess of 500,000 units.
In Europe, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry certified "HIStory" six times platinum, denoting six million shipments within the continent. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number-one on the official albums chart and was certified four times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments of 1.2 million copies. In France, "HIStory" became Jackson's fourth diamond-seller album after Dangerous (1991), Bad (1987) and Thriller (1982), denoting sales of over one million units. In addition, Germany was the European country where the double-disc set sold the most, over 1.5 million copies, being certified three times platinum by the IFPI.
"HIStory" has sold over twenty million copies worldwide and, according to MSNBC, is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time.
Tracklisting:
CD 1:
1.Billie Jean (written by Michael Jackson)
2.The Way You Make Me Feel (written by Michael Jackson)
3.Black Or White (written by Michael Jackson)
4.Rock With You (written by Rod Temperton)
5.She's Out Of My Life (written by Tom Bahler)
6.Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
7.I Just Can't Stop Loving You (written by Michael Jackson)
8.Man In The Mirror (written by Siedah Garrett & Glen Ballard)
9.Thriller (written by Rod Temperton)
10.Beat It (written by Michael Jackson)11.The Girl Is Mine (written by Michael Jackson)
12.Remember The Time (written by Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley & Bernard Bell)
13.Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (written by Michael Jackson)
14.Wanna Be Startin' Somthin' (written by Michael Jackson)
15.Heal The World (written by Michael Jackson)CD 2:
1.Scream (Duet with Janet Jackson) (written by Michael and Janet Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
2.They Don't Care About Us (written by Michael Jackson)
3.Stranger In Moscow (written by Michael Jackson)
4.This Time Around (written by Michael Jackson)
5.Earth Song (written by Michael Jackson)
6.D.S (written by Michael Jackson)
7.Money (written by Michael Jackson)
8.Come Together (written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
9.You Are Not Alone (written by R. Kelly)
10.Childhood (Theme from Free Willy 2) (written by Michael Jackson)
11.Tabloid Junkie (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
12.2 Bad (written by Michael Jackson)
13.HIStory (written by Michael Jackson, James Harris III & Terry Lewis)
14.Little Susie (written by Michael Jackson)
15.Smile (written by John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons)
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