For other people with the same name, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation)
Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958), also known as the "King of Pop" and "Wacko Jacko", is an American musician whose successful music career and controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the last quarter-century. Michael Jackson has been regarded as the most successful pop singer of all time with estimated accumulative record sales of over 300 million.
Michael Jackson began his musical career at the age of five as lead singer of The Jackson 5 and made his first solo recordings in 1971 as part of the Jackson 5 franchise. He began a full-fledged solo career in 1979 and formally parted with his siblings in 1984. Since then Jackson has recorded and co-produced the best-selling album of all-time ( Thriller with approximate worldwide sales of 60 million ), received thirteen Grammy awards and charted thirteen number-one singles in the US. Michael Jackson has been awarded numerous honors, including the World Music Award for " Biggest Selling Artist Of The Millennium". Michael Jackson is a double-inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997 and in 2001 as a solo artist.
Michael Jackson has been married twice and has three children. His first wife was Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of pop icon Elvis Presley, whom he married in 1994 and divorced less than two years later. His second wife was Deborah Rowe, with whom he has two children, Prince Michael I (born February 13, 1997) and Paris (born April 3, 1998). Jackson divorced Rowe in 1999 and she gave up her parental rights in 2001. In early 2002 he had a third child, Prince Michael II (better known as "Blanket") who was born through surrogacy.
