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In the year since Michael Jackson made his first national television appearance with his brothers at age 11, he has evolved from a singing and dancing soul music prodigy to the self-proclaimed but widely acknowledged "King of Pop". As a musician, he has ranged from Motown's snappy dance fare and lush ballads to techno-edged New Jack Swing to work that incorporates both funk rhythms and hard-rock guitar. At his early-1980s zenith, riding the crest of his best-selling album, Thriller, spotlit in his red zippered jacket and single white sequined glove, he was ubiquitous. Jackson has been a superb businessman, exerting unparalleled control over his career and, in effect, managing himself since he and his brothers (sans Jermaine) left Motown for Epic Records in 1975, though his spendthrift ways have, in the 2000s, come back to haunt him. But as a singer, dancer, and songwriter, Jackson's talent is unassailable. In early 2007 it was announced that a comeback album was planned for late in the year; the album never materialized.
While in the middle of rehearsing for a series of 50 comeback concerts scheduled for the summer of 2009, Michael Jackson collapsed from a cardiac arrest on the afternoon of June 25, 2009. He was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at the age of 50. |
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