Michael Jackson was one of the most iconic singers of his generation. Born on August 29, 1958, he was the eighth of ten children born to Joseph Walter and Katherine Esther. At the age of 5, he became the lead singer of his family band named “Jackson 5” which included him and his four older brothers. The band quickly became popular and began touring and performing at clubs, high schools and talent shows. Some of their hits included “I Want You Back”, “ABC” and “I’ll Be There”. In 1975, the band was signed by Epic Records and began touring extensively both locally and internationally. They released six albums between 1975 to 1981.

In 1979, Michael released his first solo album called “Off The Wall”. It became the first album by a solo artist to have 4 top 10 singles including “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You”. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts and ended up selling 20 million copies worldwide. It won him 3 American Music Awards, 2 Billboard Year-End awards and 1 Grammy Award. His next album was “Thriller”, released in 1982, which had seven top 10 singles including “Beat It”, “Billie Jean” and “Thriller”. It stayed at the top of the Billboard 200 charts for 37 weeks, and remained in the top 10 position for 80 consecutive weeks. It reached Diamond Status in the United States, becoming the bestselling U.S. album of all time, as well as the bestselling album in the world. It won Michael numerous AMAs, Grammy Awards and Billboard Awards, among others. The music video for “Thriller” was the first of its kind, and won several laurels as well.

In 1984, Michael Jackson signed a contract to make a commercial for Pepsi Cola. However, he was badly injured during the filming of the same, and suffered major burns on his face and scalp. He had extensive plastic surgery to repair the damage, which was the beginning of his experimentation with his appearance. In 1985, he co-wrote and sang “We Are the World” which was a charity single for support of Africa. He collaborated on the song with a