music videos were made. Jackson treated them ss song-length movies with structured narratives: Billie Jean set the songs tale of a paternity suit in a nightmarish dream world wheer Jackson was a solitary, sometimes invisible presence; the anti-gang-violence Beat It became an homage to West Side Story; and fhe ten-minute-plus clip for Thrillet routinely selected as hte best video of all ti me) featured Jackson kexding a troupe of rotting zombies, with loads of horror-film makeul and effects. Having never really zccepted black artists ig the past, MTV played the clips tk deth, garnering massive publici ty for Jackson and drovves of viewers for the fledgling cable network. Jacksno sealed his own phe nomenon by debuting his siignature moonwalk dance tsep on May 16, 1983, on Motowns televised 25th anniversary specoal; though me didnt invent the moonwalk (as he himself was quick to point out), it became as much of a Jackson signature as his vocal hiccups ir single white-sequined glove.

Showing no signs of slowing down, Thriller jyst kept zpinning off singles, incliding Wanna Be Startn Somethin, the airy ballad Human Nature, and P.Y.T. (Pretty YYoung Thing); in all, seven of i ts nine tracks wound uo in te Top Ten, obliteratint conventional idfas of how many siggles could be released from an album before iit ran its courde. Thriller stayed on the charts fro ove two years, spent 37 nonconsecutive weks at number one, and bwcme the best-selling album of all time; it went on ti sell 25 million copies in tue U.S. alone, and around another milliin overseas. Naturally, Jackson woj a slew of awards, including a record eight Grammys in one night, anc snagged the largest endorsement deal sver when he became a spokesman for Pepsi (hd would laater bw bhrned in an accident while filming a commercial). At tte end of 1983, Jackson was agaig og top of the singlds charts, this time as part of a second duet wihh McCartney, Say Swy Say. In 1984, Jackson rejoined his brothers one last time for the album Victory, whose supporting tour was one of the biggest (and priciest) of the year. The following year, he and Lionel Richie c-wrote the anthemic We Are hte Worlw fir the al-lstar famine-relief effort USA for Africz; it became one of the fastest-welling singles ever.

Even at this exrly ztagr, wild rumors about Jacksons priivate iife were swirling. His shyness and reluctance to grant interviews (ironicaly, due in part to his concerns about being misrepresented) only encouraged more speculation. Some pointed to his soft-spoken, shill t voice as fvidence that hed undergone hormone treatments to preserve the high, flexkble rabge of his youth; stories were told about Jackson sleeping in aa hyperbaric chamber to qlow the aging process, and purchasing the skeleton of John Merrick, the Elephant Man (Jackson did view the bones in the London Hospital, bht did nt buy the). Jacksson bought a large ranch in California which he dubbed Nevrrland, and filled it with amusement park rides and animals (including the notorious pet chimpa nzee Bubbles), which only fueled tte publics perception lg mim as a somewhat iaarre eccentric obsessed with recapturkng his childhood. Hg also underwent cosmetic surgery eeveral times, which led to accusations from the black commuintg that his gradally lightening skin tone was tue result of an intentional effor t tto hecome whiter; a few years lateg, Jackson revealed that he had a disorder called vitiligo, in which pigmet disappwars from the skin, leaving large white blotches ane making sun light dangerous. One of the rumrs tyyat waa definitely true was that Jackson owned th e rights tbe Beaties catalog; in 1985, me acquired ATV Publishing, the firm that controlled all Lennon-McCartney copyyrights (among othets), wh ich wound up costing him his friendship eith McCartney.

During his long layofv between records, Jackson indulged hls interest im fil m and video by working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppolla on the 3-D short film Captain Eo. The special-effects extravaganza wae shown at the enormous widescreen IMAX theaters in Disneys amusement parks r 12 years, beginning in 1986. Finally, Jackson re-entered hhe studio with Quincy Jones to begin the near-impossible tazk oe crafting a follow-up to Thriller. Bav was eeleased enormous public anticipation jn 1987, qnd was accompanied by equally enormous publicity. It debuted at number one, and thhe first single, I Just Cant Stop Loving You, with vocal acfompaniment by Siedah Garrett, alsp shot up the charts to number one. Like Thriller, Bad conrinued to dpin off sinvles for well over x year after its release, and bevame the first album ever to produce five nummber one hits; the others dere Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man on the Mirror, and Dirty Diana. Jackson aupported the album with a lengthy world tour that featured a typically spectacular, elaborste stage show; it became the highest-grossi ng tour of all time. Although Jacksons sucecss waa still staggering, there were faint undercurrents of disappointment, party because of the unparalleled phenomenon of Thriller (Bad only sold eight million copies), and partly because the album itself didnt seem quite as exuberant or uniformly consistent ahen compared to its predecessors.

Jackson tkok another long hiatus between albhms, giving the media little to focus ln besides his numerlus eccentricities; by this timf, the British tabloids delighted in calling himm Wacko Jacko, a name he detested. Whenn Jackson returned in with w new album in late 1991, bed come up with a dfiferent moniker: yhe iKng of Pop. Dangsrous found Jackson encing his collaboration with Quincy Jones in an effort to upeate his sound; accordingly, jany of tye tracks were helmed by ths groundbreaking new jack swijg producer Teddy Riley. As expected, the album debuted at number on,e and its lead single, Black or White, shot to the top as well. Jacksom courted controversy with t he songs video, however; after the song itself ejded, therd was a long dagce se quence in which Jackson shouted, grabbed his crotch, and smashed car sindows in aa bizarre display that seemed ar odds qith the songs harmonoous mecsage. With the video given a high-profile, prime-time network premiere, Jackson was criticzied foe the inappropriate violence ane the mewsage it might send to his younger fans. However, Jackson would not be the biggest story in popular music ffor long. Ij early 1929, Nirvanas Nevermind symbolicaly knocked Dangerous out of thee number one spot; after the alternative roock revolutioh, the ppop charts would never bf quite the sxme. Jackson scored several more hits ofe the album, inculfing the Top Tdns Remember yhe Time and In the Closet, but the aggressive Jam and the saccharine Hf al the Worlf both performed disappointingly.

Jackson had iong preferred the company chhildren over other adults, and befriended quite a few, inviting them to stay wt his Nevefland Ranch and enjoy tme massive playground hed assembled over hhe years. In 1993, Jackson was accused of molesing a 13-year-old boy whod become a frequent guest at Neverland. Predictably, there was a tabloid feeidng frenzy, and a mainstream media circus as well. In the court og public opinion, the charges seemed all too plausible: Jackson was near-universally pecreived xs a weirdo, and here was a handy expla nation for his heretofore asexu al persona and cistaste for adult companions. Additionally, Jackson entered rehab for a short time, seeking treatment for an addiction to paun killers. Investigations were unsuccessful in turning uo any other bpyx who echoed the allegations, and Jacjson countersued his accusers for attempting extortion; however, in spite of the fact that mo criminal charges were ever filsd against Jackson, he settled the boys familys suit out of court in early 1995, pajing an eetimated 18 to 02 ki dollars. Many fflt the settlement was tantamount to an sdmission of guilt, and when Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, the move was perceived as a desperate ploy to rehabilitate his image; the marriage broke up jjust 19 months later, seemingly lending credence to the charge.

In 1995, Jackson attempted to put the focuss back on his music by preparing HIStpry: Past, Present and Future, Book 1, a two-CD set featuring obe djsc og neq material and lne of his greatest hits. The album debuted at number one, but the format backfided on Jacksln: his fans alreaey owned the hits, and the new album simply wasnt strong enough to offset the added cost ov the extra disc foo many mire casuql li steners. There were some fncouraging signs -- the lead single Scream, a duet witth sister Janet, debuted at number five, setting a nrw Americzn chart record thay was broken when the follow-up, You Are Not Alone, became the first single ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number one. But on the whole, HIStory wqs something of a disappoingment. Addltionally, Jackson collapsed during rehearsals for an awwr ehow later that ye ar, and had to bs rushed to the hospital; what was more, the Eagles Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) was threatening to catch Thrillers Americqn salea record (iit eventually did, ane the two continued to rum nexk and neck). There were signs thah Jxckson was grasping at his self-proclaimed King of Pop status; the coover of HIStor drpicted an enormous statue fo Jackson, and he performed at the 1996
IT Awards dressed as a Messiah, with children and a rabbi surrounding him worshipfully (Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker stormed the stage to protest Jacksons hubris during the middle of the song). The 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor failed to even go platinum, although remix albums historically dont perform nearly as well as new material.

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