Daily Independent (Lagos)
Hakeem Jamiu
30 June 2009
analysis
Lagos — When I wrote about Michael Jackson in my serialized, Music of Yester years and today's, as one of the most wonderful entertainers of our time, whose album, Thriller, sold a record 109 million copies all over the world (the best selling album of all times), little did I know that death was already knocking at his door. I had wanted to express my fears about his health in that article but didn't want to sound an alarmist, so I dropped it. I had a sense of foreboding about something unpleasant happening to Michael but not the spectre of death. His death shook the whole world. The Internet was jammed and America was thrown into mourning. The issue of Iran that had dominated the CNN immediately receded to the backburner and the death of Michael Jackson became a minute by minute issue. My sister's son, a boy of 10, who is an ardent fan of Michael Jackson, refused to eat for two days until he was begged by his mother. Such is the love that Michael enjoys all over the world that one may be tempted to say that he was one of the most adored individuals that ever lived, save for his dwindling popularity in 1993 over charges of child molestation.
But who is Michael Jackson? He lived between August 29, 1958 and June 25, 2009. He was an enigma, a clumsy personality but no doubt a legend and one of the leading personalities who changed the course of history in the 20th century. His life and times were dogged by controversy, and so was his death. Stars like him always have extremes of everything, or how else does one explain somebody reported by Forbes magazine to be worth about 900 million dollars and a few years after was indebted to the tune of about 400 million dollars and died in a rented apartment? It is a paradox and irony of life that after all, human existence is futile and nothing is permanent in life except change. Our own Moshood Abiola (MKO) was a billionaire but he didn't touch money for four years that he was in detention, where he later died. Michael Jackson broke the Guinness Book of Records as 504,000 people attended his show at once in Wembley Stadium in 1987 and grossed him 125 million dollars. He invited underprivileged children to watch for free and donated part of his proceeds to charity. In Tokyo, a 570,000 audience watched his show in a single night. Women wept when Jackson sang, some people fainted out of ecstasy and many others were dazed because of his scintillating artistic performances. One lady in one of his videos cried because Michael waved to her. Such was the magic and aura of Michael. He built his Neverland Ranch (2,700 acres network - 11.5 kilometers in size) in 1988 at a cost of 17 million dollars. The property was valued to be worth 100 million dollars in 2003. In 1989, his earnings on his albums, adverts and biographies were 125 million dollars.
Apart from a total of 13 Grammy awards that he won in his career, Jackson was honoured with many other awards such as being dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname conceived by actress and friend, Elizabeth Taylor, when she presented Jackson with an "Artiste of the Decade" award in 1989. President George H. W. Bush presented the singer with The White House's special "Artiste of the Decade" award in recognition of Jackson's musical influence in the 1980s. He was inducted in Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 while he bagged The Living Legend Award at the 35 Grammy Award Ceremonies.
He started his musical career at the age of 5 and became an instant celebrity and a prisoner to stardom at that very tender age. He became a 'man' instantly and his attempt to free himself from the burden proved abortive. He claimed in an interview how he suffered abuse from his father when he was a child, which made him experience loneliness and a traumatized childhood. His hit came with 'Off the Wall' after he went solo, but he shook the world and revolutionized the music industry with his bestselling album ever in history -Thriller in 1982. Thriller appealed to all, across race and age, and it brought MTV station into limelight. He released 'Dangerous' in 1990 and it sold about 32 million copies. The album had other hit tracks like 'Black or white' and 'Remember the time'. His other albums were: 'Blood on the dance floor', 'Bad', 'Invincible' and 'Man in the Mirror'. Altogether, Jackson sold a total of 750 million albums worldwide out of which he sold 61 million in the United States alone.
Michael as a philanthropist between 1985 and 1990, donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single, "Man in the Mirror", went to charity. He founded the 'Heal the World Foundation' in 1992 and all profits from his world tour for 'Dangerous' were donated to the foundation. He drew the attention of the then President Bill Clinton to HIV/AIDS and started the campaign against the dreaded disease when little was known about it. He visited Gabon, Ivory Coast and Egypt, where he was welcomed heartily and awarded with chieftaincy titles as an African. He performed in these countries and donated most of the proceeds to children's charity. He was listed in the Guinness Book of Record as supporting 39 charities. In November 2006, Guinness World Records gave him eight records, among them "First Entertainer to Earn More Than 100 Million Dollars in a Year" and "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time".
Michael Jackson's problems started with the child molestation case in 1993. He was accused of being a pedophile (a person who is sexually attracted to children), but he proclaimed his innocence and said the press was not fair to him. He was diagnosed of skin pigmentation 'vitiligo', which was relatively unknown to many people. He underwent surgery four times and thus became controversial as he was accused of deliberately changing his skin colour to white. He released 'Black or White' album as a result of this issue. But analysts thought that but for youthful exuberance, he would have left his face in its natural state despite the surgery. But Jackson changed his appearance altogether with a pointed nose and a hard jaw. He was nicknamed 'Wacko Jacko' for his eccentric behaviour like living with a chimpanzee called Bubbles and sleeping in an oxygen box.
He started taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan in order to reduce the stress he suffered from the allegation of child molestation. This took a toll on his health as he became a drug addict. His lawyers and finance managers advised him to settle out of court as he could not withstand a long trial. He lost his appetite and lost considerable weight. He was so weighed down that he put off the rest of the 'Dangerous' world tour. He married Lisa Presly, who had remained his pillar of emotional support in his time of travails in 1994 but divorced less than 2 years later. He released 'History' in 1995 and in 1996 he was charged with anti-Semitism for the lyrics in his track, 'They don't care about us'. He married a dermatologist nurse, Deborah Rowe, in 1996 and divorced in 1999. He had his 3rd child, Prince (Blanket), in 2002 by a surrogate mother that he didn't disclose.
Jackson was reported to have spent 6 million dollars in a single store. Another child molestation charge was slammed on him in 2003 but he was acquitted. He relocated to Bahrain as guest of Sheik Abdallah. In 2006, his financial problems became pronounced with borrowing in the region of 500 million dollars to finance various deals, many of which were unsuccessful and which dwindled his fortunes. He was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned. He was reported to have converted to Islam in 2008 but he never confirmed the report. No doubt, his good works surpassed his negative side as he impacted positively on many lives through his philanthropy which was not as publicized as it should be. He helped humanity, and history would be kind to him. Michael Jackson, Sun re o! (May his soul rest in peace).
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