Public Agenda (Accra)
Dr. Kwame Osei
10 July 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
In the US, it spawned seven hit singles, five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", 'Bad', "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and 'Dirty Diana') reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, more than any other album.
As of 2008, the album sold 30 million copies worldwide, including eight million copies in the US.
To promote the album Jackson embarked on the ambitious Bad World Tour. This by the way was Jackson's first World Tour as a solo artist.
The Bad World Tour began on September 12, 1987, and finished on January 14, 1989. In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.
Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He performed a total of 123 concerts to a total audience of 4.4 million people, and gained a further Guinness World Record when the tour grossed him $125 million. During the trip he invited underprivileged children to watch for free and gave donations to hospitals, orphanages and other charities.
The Bad World Tour was a phenomenal success and cemented his place of the artist of the time leaving other big artists such as Prince and Madonna behind.
Other
However there was a major downside to Michael Jackson's success. Jackson's skin was a medium-brown color for the entire duration of his youth, but starting in the early 1980s, his skin gradually grew paler.
This change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that Jackson was bleaching his skin. In the mid-1980s, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the latter was in remission in Jackson's case, and both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight.
The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches, he could appear very pale. The structure of his face changed as well; several surgeons have speculated that Jackson had undergone multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips and a cheekbone surgery.
Many in the Afrikan-American community and the Afrikan community at large were critical of Jackson's change of colour and face structure and attributed it to wanting to be White.
Jackson's success resulted in his being dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname conceived by actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor when she presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul".
President George H. W. Bush presented the singer with The White House's special "Artist of the Decade" award in recognition of Jackson's musical influence in the 1980s; Bush commended Jackson for acquiring a "tremendous following" among other achievements.
From 1985 to 1990, Jackson donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.
By the early 1990?s a new sound had set in namely new jack swing or swingbeat and Jackson decided not to work with Quincy Jones anymore. Instead he decided to work with swingbeat producer, Teddy Riley.
The result of which was the album called "Dangerous" that was released in 1991. As of 2008, Dangerous has sold 7 million copies in the U.S. and 32 million copies worldwide; it is the most successful new jack swing album of all time.
In the US, the album's first single "Black or White" was the album's biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide.
The album's second single "Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the US, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.
Jackson founded the "Heal the World Foundation" in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war and disease.
The Dangerous World Tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 67 concerts. All profits from the concerts went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions of dollars in relief.
He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.
In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them Gabon and Egypt. His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable reception of more than 100,000 people in "spiritual bedlam", some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home Michael".
In a trip to the Ivory Coast, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief. He then thanked the dignitaries in French and English; signed official documents formalizing his kingship and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.
Perhaps one of Jackson's most memorable performances was at the Motown 25th Anniversary celebrations in 1983. Here he sung Billie Jean and unleashed on the World his legendary Moonwalk Dance with the one hand white glove to boot that left the audience mesmerized and awestruck.
By the late 1990's Jackson's popularity particularly in the United States began to wane amidst allegations of child abuse and other inappropriate behavior.
As such subsequent album releases in 1995 and 2001 were poorly received.
Jackson was about to begin a comeback with 50 shows earmarked in the UK between July 2009 and June 2010 when he died last week.
Whatever you think of him, Michael Jackson will be remembered as a colossal figure in the music industry who through his music and videos transformed the music business for good and single handedly influenced a generation of artists from Ussher to Justin Timberlake.
Above all the humanity that Michael Jackson espoused touched the lives of many millions and he surely will be missed.
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