Words From The Heart

Its almost been a year and the pain still hurts and haunts me. The inspirational, legendary, loving father, philanthropist and worldwide entertainer Michael Jackson passed away last year on this day (25th-June). The world mourned a icon that paved the way for modern day artists, dancers and billions of music lovers. Many will forever be inspired and will never forget the excellence of Michael Joseph Jackson King of Pop.

The Bad Era

As the King of Pop rest in peace, records are still being broken. Non other than the SONY music signing a deal worth $250 million retaining distribution rights to his recordings until 2017 via Jackson’s estate. An estimated 7 albums are to be developed over a decade following MJ’S death. MJ’S album thriller is the best selling album of all time. Other recordings including off the wall (1979) Bad (1987) and Dangerous (1991) also qualify among the worlds best selling. A mouth watering 750 million records sold worldwide is a vast amount to exceed for any artist, not forgetting  the hundreds of awards making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of music entertainment.

Inspired by James Brown, Michael knew exactly what he wanted to do in his life. In one claim MJ stated that “Ever since I was a small child, no more than like six years old, my mother would wake me no matter what time it was, if I was sleeping, no matter what I was doing, to watch the television to see the master at work. And when I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I had never seen a performer perform like James Brown, and right then and there I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown.” With the love and support yet inspiration of another great artist by the name Diana Ross, Michael owes he’s vocal technique to. After decision making Michael will soon live with Ross, observation during rehearsals and mother care were among the love.

On June 25th, Jackson dies suffering cardiac arrest reportedly administrated with high levels of propofol and lorazepam. Declaring his death as Homicide the by LA County Coroner, Dr Conrad Murray pleads not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. As the news of Michael’s death rapidly spreads across the globe, internet sites begin t crash by overloaded information. Search engine GOOGLE believed that so much information by millions meant the engine was “under attack”. AOL networks also failed for 40 minutes claiming it a “seminal moment in Internet history”, including, “We’ve never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth.” It go’s to show the impact this musical genius blessed us with. On February 8th Dr Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

R.I.P Michael Joseph Jackson, the King of Pop and visionary

Here are some record and achievements;

• Jackson’s Thriller (1982) remained at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for thirty-seven weeks, second only to the soundtrack for West Side Story.^[1] Thriller spent a record 80 consecutive weeks, more than a year and a half, in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It was the first of only three albums that have remained in the Top 10 for more than one year (along with Alanis Morissette‘s Jagged Little Pill and Celine Dion‘s Falling into You). It is the only album to have sold more copies in the United States than any other in two separate years, topping the sales charts in 1983 and 1984, and selling over 29 million copies to date. Worldwide, its sales total has been estimated at 110 million copies by Jackson’s management; independent sources give lower estimates, but there is consensus agreement that “Thriller” is the top-selling album in history.^[2]
• Five of Jackson’s albums, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, Invincible, and the soundtrack to Michael Jackson’s This Is It, debuted at number one in the United States.
• Jackson was the first artist to chart four Top 10 singles from one album (Off the Wall).
• Jackson was the first artist to chart seven Top 10 singles from one album (Thriller), a feat matched only by his sister Janet and Bruce Springsteen.
• Jackson is the only artist to chart five number one hits from one LP, Bad (“Bad“, “The Way You Make Me Feel“, “Man in the Mirror“, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You“, and “Dirty Diana“).
• With “Thriller”‘s “Billie Jean“, Jackson became the first artist to simultaneously have the number one album and number one single on Billboard’s Pop Charts and Black Charts.
• Following changes in Billboard’s methodology, Jackson became the first artist to have a song debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (“You Are Not Alone“).^[1]
• In 2009 Jackson became the first artist in history to have four of the top 20 best selling albums in a single year in the United States^[3]
• Jackson has had 13 #1 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart, trailing only The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18) and Elvis Presley (18 or 17, depending on source). This total does not include “We Are the World”, co-written by Jackson and credited to USA for Africa, or the four #1 singles by The Jackson 5.
• Jackson had 28 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, one less than The Beatles (29), and trailing Elvis Presley (36) and Madonna (37)