Entertainment
15 Things you don’t know about Michael Jackson
- He was the eighth of ten children
- Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joseph Walter “Joe” Jackson
- He had chronic sleep problems
- In 1964, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine
- In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine
- In front of a full house of fans during a simulated concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson’s hair on fire. He suffered second-degree burns to his scalp
- Jackson’s album Thriller was best selling album of all time in the US as well as the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies
- In 1984, Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse
- In 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission; both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight. The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone
- Jackson won hundreds of awards, which made him the most-awarded recording artist in the history of popular music
- Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium
- In 1988, Jackson released his only autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies
- Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson’s ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war, poverty, and disease
- Michael Jackson was reported to be one of the largest owners of property on the moon. In 2005, he bought a 1,200-acre (4.9 km2) plot in the Lake of Dreams and owned a smaller parcel in the Sea of Vapours
- Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s longest music video
