Seventeen years after Michael Jackson’s death, the singer still looms as one of the most influential and talked-about figures in music. The article marks the anniversary with 10 lesser-known facts about the artist whose career stretched across more than four decades and left behind record-setting hits and global headlines.
Jackson became the youngest singer ever to reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart at age 11, a record that still stands. The nickname “King of Pop” was coined by his close friend Elizabeth Taylor, who called him “the real king of pop, rock and soul.”
In 1985, Jackson bought the rights to hundreds of Beatles songs for $47 million, beating his friend Paul McCartney in the auction. He also invented and patented special shoes that helped him perform the seemingly impossible forward lean in “Smooth Criminal.” His album “Thriller” remains the best-selling album of all time, with more than 100 million copies sold worldwide.
The piece also notes that Jackson transformed the Super Bowl halftime show in 1993, when his performance drew a larger audience than the game itself and turned the event into a major music showcase. Beyond music, he donated hundreds of millions of dollars to humanitarian causes and was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize for work supporting children and charities.
The article mentions his famous bond with the chimpanzee Bubbles, who traveled with him for years, and recalls the abuse allegations that shadowed him through the 1990s and 2000s. In 2005, he was acquitted in a highly publicized trial, but public debate continued after his death. It closes by noting that in the summer of 2009, after nearly a decade without major performances, Jackson was preparing for 50 London shows, but died less than three weeks before the first concert.
