I Was Young Then...: Paul McCartney

06/26/2009 | 02:07 PM

A look at the life and career of Michael Jackson:

— Aug. 29, 1958: Michael Joseph Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children.

— 1963: After several years of training, The Jackson 5 begin to perform in public.

— Dec. 14, 1969: The Jackson 5 appear on the "The Ed Sullivan Show."

— 1970: Their first album, "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5," includes the hit singles "I Want You Back" and "I'll Be There," which go to No. 1.

— 1972: While still singing with the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson puts out his first solo album, "Got to Be There."

— 1979: Jackson's first solo album as an adult, "Off the Wall," is released. He becomes the first solo artist to place four singles from the same record in the top 10.

— 1982: His album "Thriller" wins a record eight Grammys and becomes the world's biggest selling record of all time. Along with the title track, it includes the songs "Billie Jean" and "Beat It."

— 1983: Jackson electrifies the 50 million viewers of the "Motown 25" television special by singing and dancing to "Billie Jean" while wearing a black fedora, one white glove, and pants that end above his ankles.

— 1984: During production of a Pepsi-Cola commercial, Jackson's scalp sustains burns when an explosion sets his hair on fire.

— 1985: Jackson and Lionel Richie write what becomes one of the fastest-selling singles ever with "We Are the World." The song was produced to raise money for victims of the Ethiopian famine. Jackson also pays $47.5 million for the rights to more than 250 songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

— 1987: His album "Bad" produces five No. 1 singles and sells at least 22 million copies worldwide.

— 1993: Jackson reveals in a TV interview that he had an inherited disorder that caused his skin pigmentation to fade. He was also accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy's family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed.

— 1994: Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley in the Dominican Republic. They divorce two years later.

— 1995: Releases the album "HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book I." In August, the song "You Are Not Alone" becomes the first single in pop music history to enter the Billboard chart at No. 1.

— 1997: The album, "Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix," sells in the hundreds of thousands worldwide, disappointing numbers for Jackson.

— 2002: Jackson playfully dangles infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below.

— 2003: ABC airs the British documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson." Jackson's comments about allowing kids spend the night in his bedroom prompted authorities to look into his relationships with children.

— 2005: A judge clears Jackson of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children.

— 2006: Plagued by financial problems since his trial, Jackson closes the house on his 2,600-acre (1,052-hectare) Neverland Ranch estate in California, laying off most of the staff after agreeing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages to avoid a lawsuit by state labor officials. - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

Image via Wikipedia

06/26/2009 | 12:04 PM

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business.

Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the United States and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.

The moonwalking pop star drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream after its launch in 1981. His 1982 hit "Thriller," still the second best-selling US album of all time, spawned a John Landis-directed music video that MTV played every hour on the hour.

"The ratings were three or four times what they were normally every time the video came on," said Judy McGrath, the chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks. "He was inextricably tied to the so-called MTV generation."

Five years later, "Bad" sold 22 million copies. In 1991, he signed a $65 million recording deal with Sony.

Jackson was so popular that The Walt Disney Co. hitched its wagon to his star in 1986, opening a 3-D movie at its parks called "Captain EO," executive produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The last attraction in Paris closed 12 years later.

One of Jackson's shrewdest deals at the height of his fame in 1985 was the $47.5 million acquisition of ATV Music, which owned the copyright to songs written by the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The catalog provided Jackson a steady stream of income and the ability to afford a lavish lifestyle.

He bought the sprawling Neverland ranch in 1988 for $14.6 million, a fantasy-like 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) property nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara County's wine country.

But the bombshell hit in 1993 when he was accused of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.

"That kind of represents the beginning of the walk down a tragic path, financially, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, legally," said Michael Levine, his publicist at the time.

He settled with the boy's family, but other accounts of his alleged pedophilia began to emerge.

When he ran into further financial problems, he agreed to a deal with Sony in 1995 to merge ATV with Sony's library of songs and sold Sony music publishing rights for $95 million. Then in 2001, he used his half of the ATV assets as collateral to secure $200 million in loans from Bank of America.

As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment Corp. that sought $12 million in unpaid fees and expenses.

In 2003, Jackson was arrested on charges that he molested another 13-year-old boy. The 2005 trial, which ultimately ended in an acquittal, brought to light more details of Jackson's strained finances.

One forensic accountant testified that the singer had an "ongoing cash crisis" and was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned.

In March of last year, the singer faced foreclosure on Neverland. He also repeatedly failed to make mortgage payments on a house in Los Angeles that had been used for years by his family.

In addition, Jackson was forced to defend himself against a slew of lawsuits in recent years, including a $7 million claim from Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain.

Memorabilia auctions were frequently announced but became the subject of legal wrangling and were often canceled.

Time and again, however, Jackson found a way to wring cash out of high-value assets, borrowing tens of millions at a time or leaning on wealthy friends for advice, if not for money.

Al Khalifa, 33, took Jackson under his wing after his acquittal, moving him to the small Gulf estate and showering him with money.

In his lawsuit, Al Khalifa claimed he gave Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances, cut an album, write an autobiography and subsidize his lifestyle — including more than $300,000 for a "motivational guru." The lawsuit was settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Neither the album nor book was ever produced.

Another wealthy benefactor came to Jackson's aid last year as he faced the prospect of losing Neverland in a public auction.

Billionaire Thomas Barrack, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital LLC, agreed to bail out the singer and set up a joint venture with Jackson that took ownership of the vast estate.

Barrack was unavailable for comment Thursday, but referred to the singer in a statement as a "gentle, talented and compassionate man."

A final piece of the financial jigsaw puzzle fell into place in March, when billionaire Philip Anschutz' concert promotion company AEG Live announced it would promote 50 shows in London's O2 arena. Tickets sold out, and the first show of the "This is It" tour was set for July 8.

Jackson, who has won 13 Grammys, hadn't toured since 1997. His last studio album, "Invincible," was released in 2001.

But the opening date was later postponed to July 13 and some shows moved back to March 2010, fueling speculation that Jackson was suffering from health ailments that could curtail his comeback bid.

His death, caused by cardiac arrest according to his brother Jermaine, raised the question whether an insurer would refund money to ticketholders. AEG Live did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jackson was practicing for the concert in Los Angeles at the Staples Center with Kenny Ortega, a choreographer and director of the "High School Musical" movies, who has worked on previous Jackson videos like "Dangerous" in 1993.

"We had a 25-year friendship. This is all too much to comprehend," Ortega said in a statement. "This was the world's greatest performer and the world will miss him." - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

I Was Young Then...

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Michael Jackson lived like king but died awash in debt

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