Best songs

Michael Jackson is, without doubt, one of the biggest selling solo artists of all time, beaten only
by rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley, and became a global phenomenon after embarking on a solo
career from his childhood band the Jackson 5.I thought Id collate together the global favorite
Michael Jackson songs from The Pop Star's back catalogue.
Heal the World (1992)
It is without doubt that Michael Jackson was an avid philanthropist and this song is
probably his hit that most reflects this. The video features the poverty and misery among children
in third world countries, predominantly Burundi. It also shares its name with his own charitable
foundation that he set up to help some of these children and was donated for use as the anthem
for the James Bulger Red Balloon Center; a safe haven for bullied children run by the mother of
the murdered toddler who the charity is tribute to.
Dirty Diana (1988)
This was one of Jackson's more rock-infused singles and appeared on his album 'Bad'.
Similarly to 'Billie Jean', it incited much speculation as to what it was about with some
suggesting that it was about his close friend Diana Ross and others suggesting it concerned
another friend of his, Diana, Princess of Wales. However, co-producer Quincy Jones confirmed
that, as with 'Billie Jean', 'Dirty Diana' was also about groupies. Princess Diana did personally
tell MJ that it was her favourite of his songs which prompted him to sing it at a performance at
Wembley Arena. The song was at number 1 in the US for 1 week and entered the charts again in
2009 following his death after an increase in digital downloads.
Thriller (1984)
The title single from his 1982 album, 'Thriller' became a huge hit with its voice-over from
horror legend Vincent Price and typical horror sound effects like those of a 50s movie and it
remained at number 1 in the French charts for 3 weeks plus a further 1 week in Spain. However,
the actual song was massively surpassed by the accompanying music video which won Jackson 3
MTV Video Music Awards and global recognition. It features a narrative with MJ on a date with
a pretty girl at the movies before running into an army of zombies who perform the iconic
'Thriller' dance routine.

Man in the Mirror (1988)

One of the reasons Michael Jackson was such an important figure in entertainment was his
penchant for writing deep and meaningful songs with timeless messages and global significance.
'Man in the Mirror' is a fine example of this and became one of his most critically acclaimed
singles, even being nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys and remaining at number
one in the US for 2 weeks.
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (1979)
From the early 'Off the Wall' album, this track is one of Jackson's first major solo hits
earning him his first Grammy since leaving his brothers and introducing most of the
characteristic Jackson vocals such as vocal 'hiccups' and his falsetto. The accompanying music
video was his first since going it alone and the song earned a number one spot on the US chart
for a week as well as a further 3 weeks in Australia.
Blood on the Dance Floor (1997)
'Blood on the Dance Floor' served as the first song to be released from his 1997 remix
record 'Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'. It is one of a handful of songs by Jackson
with a chilling and somewhat grisly storyline with the video focusing on a salsa dancer called
Susie who seduces the star by table-dancing above him before producing a switchblade. It had
limited popularity in the US which contrasted massively to the reception in Europe. The song
was at number one for 7 weeks in Spain, plus 1 week in the UK.
Beat It (1983)
'Beat It' has to be Jackson's biggest rock song of his career. Featuring on his 'Thriller'
record, the song includes a guitar solo from Van Halen's Eddie Van Halen and is often lauded as
a pioneer in 'black rock' music. It won MJ two Grammy awards and helped him achieve a top 5
position on the charts at the same time as 'Billie Jean' which is a particularly rare feat. The song
remained at number one for 3 weeks in the US plus a further week in Spain. One of the most
shocking things about this seminal hit is the video which he had feature around 80 real members
of notorious rival gangs the Crips and the Bloods to not only add realism, but also to make some
kind of peace among them just like the song suggests.
You Are Not Alone (1995)
This track was composed by R&B star R.Kelly who, after presenting the demo to Jackson,
co-produced it with him before later covering it himself. It appeared on MJ's 'HIStory' album and
earned him a Grammy nomination on its release and while it peaked at number one in several
countries, the UK particularly favoured it with 2 weeks atop the charts. It's a beautiful song with
a touching message, but it hasn't been without controversy.

Earth Song (1995)

'Earth Song', from album 'HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I', is the biggest number
one hit for Jackson in the UK topping the charts for 6 weeks but it surprisingly failed to chart at
all in the US. MJ had a history of releasing songs of global importance but 'Earth Song' has got
to be the first that directly addressed the issues of environment and animal cruelty. The video
was a thought-provoking montage shot in four regions and won Jackson a Grammy nomination
in 1997.
Bad (1987)
The title single from his 1987 album is one of the more 'edgy' of his biggest hits. Although
it was initially meant to be a duet with Prince, it still worked out as one of his major landmark
singles. It is accompanied by an 18 minute long video directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring
a narrative about a boy from the 'ghetto' who comes back after a lengthy stay at a private school
to find that he's not as 'bad' as he used to be. MJ has confirmed that it is in fact based on a true
story that he read about in an article that ended much worse than his own version. It was at
number one for 2 weeks in the US and was a major hit in Spain with 14 whole weeks atop the
charts making it the most popular of his singles in that country.
Billie Jean (1983)
'Billie Jean' is widely considered as one of the most revolutionary songs of its time
following its release on his 'Thriller' album and its video features some of Jackson's most
incredible trademark dance moves. The song was initially slammed by co-producer Quincy Jones
but ultimately won him two Grammys and featured in his famous Pepsi commercial.
Black or White (1991)
This track is without doubt the world favourite topping the charts in 15 countries after its
release in 1991, partly due to the fast growing globalisation of music sales in the early 90's. It
featured on his eighth studio album 'Dangerous' and its counterpart video turned into an equally
major hit.

Death and memorial

On June 25, 2009, Jackson died while in his bed at his rented mansion at 100 North
Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him
by Conrad Murray, his personal physician, were unsuccessful. Los Angeles Fire
Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22, arriving three minutes later at Jackson's
location. He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. Resuscitation efforts
continued en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after
arriving there at 1:13. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 local time. Jackson's death triggered a
global outpouring of grief.
The news spread quickly online, causing websites to slow down and crash from user
overload. Both TMZ and the Los Angeles Times web pages suffered outages. Google initially
believed that the input from millions of people searching for "Michael Jackson" meant that the
search engine was under Distributed denial-of-service attack, and blocked searches related to
Michael Jackson for 30 minutes. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia
at 3:15 pm. The Wikimedia Foundation reported nearly a million visitors to Jackson's biography
within one hour, probably the most visitors in a one-hour period to any article in Wikipedia's
history. AOL Instant Messenger collapsed for 40 minutes. AOL called it a "seminal moment in
Internet history", adding, "We've never seen anything like it in terms of scope or depth."
Jackson's memorial was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,
preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Because of
the high demand, organizers of the service fashioned a lottery style distribution method to give
out tickets to members of the public. 1.6 million Fans applied for tickets to the service over the
two-day period that registration was open. 8,750 names were drawn at random to decide who to
distribute tickets to, with each recipient receiving two tickets each. Jackson's casket was present
during the memorial but no information was released about the final disposition of the body. The
memorial service was one of the most watched events in online streaming history. The U.S.
audience was estimated by Nielsen to be 31.1 million, an amount comparable to the
estimated 35.1 million that watched the 2004 burial of former president Ronald Reagan, and the
estimated 33.1 millionAmericans who watched the 1997 funeral for Princess Diana.
Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Jennifer
Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi performed at the event. Berry
Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read "We had him", a poem
written for the occasion by Maya Angelou. The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing
ovation with cheers when he told Jackson's children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy.
It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway." The memorial is
best remembered for when Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, speaking publicly
for the first time cried as she told the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best
father you could ever imagine ... I just wanted to say I love him ... so much." On August 24,
several news outlets quoted anonymous sources as stating that the Los Angeles coroner had
decided to treat Jackson's death as a homicide; this was later confirmed by the coroner on August
28. At the time of death, Jackson had been administered propofol
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,lorazepam and midazolam. Law enforcement officials conducted a manslaughter investigation

of his personal physician, Conrad Murray. On February 8, 2010, Murray was charged with
involuntary manslaughter by prosecutors in Los Angeles. Jackson was entombed on September
3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

The trial of Conrad Robert Murray

The trial, which started on September 27, 2011, was held in the Los Angeles County Superior
Court in Los Angeles, California, before Judge Michael Pastor. The prosecutors in the case, in
their opening statement, told jurors: "misplaced trust in the hands of Murray cost Jackson his
life". Murray's defense counsel claimed Jackson, who was tired and under pressure from
rehearsing, took eight tablets of lorazepam (Ativan), a sedative. "When Dr. Murray left the room,
Jackson self-administered a dose of propofol (Diprivan) that, with the lorazepam, created a
perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly. The whole thing is tragic, but the evidence is
not that Dr. Murray did it", Chernoff said. Testimony during the trial showed Murray stayed with
Jackson at least six nights a week and was regularly askedand sometimes beggedby the
insomniac singer to give him drugs powerful enough to put him to sleep. Dr. Murray told
authorities Jackson was especially eager to be administered propofol, a surgical anesthetic that
put him to sleep when other powerful sedatives could not. Testimony indicated that propofol, in
conjunction with other drugs in Jackson's system, had played the key role in his death on June
25, 2009. In November 2011, the jury found Murray guilty after about eight hours of deliberation
and he was sentenced to four years in prison. Murray was released on October 28, 2013.

Aftermath
After his death, Jackson became the best-selling albums artist of 2009. He sold over 8.2
million albums in the United States, and a total of 35 million albums worldwide, in the 12
months that followed his death. Jackson became the first artist to sell one million downloads in a
week in download history, with a record-breaking 2.6 million downloads of his songs. After his
death three of his albums sold more than any new album which was the first time a catalog
album has ever scanned more sales than any new album. Jackson also became the first artist in
history to have four of the top 20 best selling albums in a single year in the United
States. Following this surge in sales, Sony announced that they had extended their relationship
with his material. The distribution rights held by Sony Music were due to expire in 2015. On
March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment, in a move spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label
Group division, signed a new deal with the Jackson estate to extend their distribution rights to his
back catalogue until at least 2017, as well as to obtain permission to release ten new albums with
previously unreleased material and new collections of released work. On November 4, 2010
Sony announced the release of Michael, the first posthumous album set to be released on
December 14, with the promotional single released to the radios on November 8, titled "News.
The deal was unprecedented in the music industry as it is the most expensive music contract
pertaining to a single artist in history; it reportedly involved Sony Music paying $250 million for
the deal, with the Jackson estate getting the full sum as well as its share of royalties for all works
released. Video game developer Ubisoft announced it would release a new dancing-and-singing
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game featuring Michael Jackson for the 2010 holiday season. The game titled Michael Jackson:
The Experience will be among the first to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the respective
motion-detecting camera systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360and Sony's PlayStation 3 due out later
that year.
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. After his death, a crater on the moon was renamed Michael Joseph Jackson by The
Lunar Republic Society in Jackson's honor. The crater, officially named Posidonius J, is located
on an area of the moon known as the Lake of Dreams, or Lacus Somniorum. The crater is 22
kilometers across and is situated near Jackson's owned land. A spokesman for the society said:
"The official designation of a Lunar crater is a singular honor bestowed upon only a select few
luminaries. Among those receiving this rare tribute over the past century are Leonardo da Vinci,
Christopher Columbus, Sir Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar and Jules Verne."
On November 3, 2010, the theatrical performing company Cirque du Soleil announced that
it would launch Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour in October 2011 in Montreal, while
a permanent show will reside in Las Vegas. The 90-minute US$57M production will combine
Jackson's iconic musical oeuvre and choreography with the Cirque's signature artistry, dance and
aerial displays involving 65 artists. The tour was written and directed by Jamie King and centers
on Jackson's "inspirational Giving Tree the wellspring of creativity where his love of music
and dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature are unlocked." On October 3,
2011, the accompanying compilation soundtrack album Immortal was announced to have over
40 Jackson's original recordings re-produced by Kevin Antunes. A second, larger and more
theatrical Cirque show entitled Michael Jackson: One designed for residency at the Mandalay
Bayresort in Las Vegas was announced on February 21, 2013. This show, whose production was
written and directed by Jamie King who produced the Immortal show, began its run on May 23,
2013 in a newly renovated theater to both critical and commercial success.
In April 2011, Jackson's longtime friend and billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed,
chairman of Fulham Football Club, unveiled a statue of Jackson outside the club's
stadium, Craven Cottage. Fulham fans were bemused by the statue and failed to understand the
relevance of Jackson to the club. Al Fayed defended the statue and told the fans to "go to hell" if
they did not appreciate it. The statue was removed in September 2013.
In 2012, in an attempt to end family public feuding, Jackson's brother Jermaine
Jackson retracted his signature on a letter made public criticizing executors of Michael Jackson's
estate and his mother's advisers concerning the legitimacy of his brother's will. T.J. Jackson, son
of Tito Jackson, was given co-guardianship of Michael Jackson's children after false reports
surfaced of Katherine Jackson going missing.

This Is It
Michael Jackson's This Is It is a 2009 American documentaryconcert film directed
by Kenny Ortega that documents Michael Jackson's rehearsals and preparation for the concert
series of the same name scheduled to start on 13 July 2009, but canceled due to his
death eighteen days prior on 25 June. It is the last film Jackson starred in. The film is now the
highest grossing concert movie and documentary in the history of cinema. The film consists of
Jackson rehearsing musical numbers and directing his team and additional behind the scenes
footage including dancer auditions and costume design. The film's director Kenny
Ortega confirmed that none of this footage was originally intended for release, but after Jackson's
death it was agreed that the film be made. The footage was filmed in California at the Staples
Center and The Forum, and features a clip from London's O2 Arena where Jackson publicly
announced the concert series.
Despite originally being set for 30 October, the film's release date was rescheduled for 28
October 2009, due to a strong demand by Jackson's fans. The film was given a worldwide release
and a limited two-week theatrical run from 28 October, to 12 November 2009, but theatrical
release was later extended. Tickets went on sale a month early on 27 September, to satisfy a high
anticipated demand; to date; the film has broken numerous records via tickets both pre-sale and
sales worldwide.
Since the film's confirmation, AEG Live has faced criticism; mostly consisting of claims that
they had only made the film to make a profit. Multiple members of Jackson's family had
confirmed that they did not support the film and some family members went as far as to try to
stop the film agreement in August. The film has also been surrounded by allegations regarding
the appearance of body doubles in place of Jackson; which Sony denied, and an outrage from
some of Jackson fans; with some going as far as to start a protest against the film. In August
2009, a judge approved a deal between Jackson's estate, concert promoter AEG Live, and Sony
Pictures. The agreement allowed Sony to edit the hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage needed
to create the film. Sony subsequently paid $50 million for the film rights.
The film was received generally positive reviews from both critics and Jackson fans; the
film's portrayal of Jackson and his performances were generally praised, while criticism mainly
consisted of both critics and fans having felt that the film was made just to profit off Jackson's
death and that Jackson wouldn't have wanted the film released because he was a perfectionist.
Despite some fans boycotting the film, and his family not endorsing the movie, the ticket sales
for This Is It broke international records a month before its release. Among the cities with the
strongest sales were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York. Records were also set
in Japan, where more than $1 million in tickets were sold on the first day they were available.
In London, fans bought more than 30,000 tickets on the first day. Record sales were also
reported in the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Brazil and New Zealand In the first opening
weekend it grossed $101 million worldwide. The movie sold $32.5 million over its first five days
in the U.S. and Canada, and $68.5 million in 97 other countriesmaking the number one film at
the box office and making it the fifth highest-grossing Halloween debut. On its theatrical run, the

film's worldwide revenue gross was in total $261 million, making it the highest grossing
documentary/concert movie of all time.

Concept
The film begins with a short text introduction stating the purpose of the footage and its intent
"For the fans...". After short dialogues from various dancers, Kenny Ortega is heard talking
through the original concert opening sequence involving a body suit made from screens which
display fast clips and images with bright intensity from which Jackson emerges on stage.
Immediately after this, Jackson begins "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" first solo, which pauses
half-way through and a small snippet of Jackson singing his song "Speechless" a cappella is
shown. Jackson is then joined by dancers and completes the first number. A short clip showing
rehearsals of the "toaster" mechanism is shown before rehearsal footage of "Jam" is played. This
plays directly into thegreen screen adaptation of soldiers dancers for "Bad" which are also used
for "They Don't Care About Us" which is shown next. From here, the film shows Michael
directing Ortega and his band for his solo rehearsal performance of "Human Nature" which he
performs a cappella, then acoustic and finally with full band. Green screen rehearsals for the
video vignette for "Smooth Criminal" come next, with dress rehearsals of the song following,
including parts of the vignette intertwined with the dancing. Jackson is seen next directing his
musical team for the cues in his song "The Way You Make Me Feel". Jackson then performs a
rehearsal with dancers which he alters and changes as he goes. Jackson then rehearses a medley
of The Jackson 5 songs: "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "I'll Be There" and "Shake
Your Body (Down To The Ground)". After this, Jackson sings with Judith Hill, one of his back
up singers, on his duet song "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" in which he sings at full strength,
directing his partner as he goes. The filming for the "Thriller" vignette is then shown with
Jackson and Ortega watching with 3D glasses. Jackson is then seen rehearsing "Thriller" with the
vignette intertwined like that in "Smooth Criminal."
During the dance sequence, puppets are suspended in the audience aisles while Jackson
emerges from a robotic spider originally seen in the vignette. Jackson and Ortega rehearsing the
cherry-picker is seen next, along with Jackson rehearsing "Beat It." Footage of Jackson and the
band rehearsing "Black Or White" is shown next, in which he instructs his band to skip the
second verse and later allows guitarist Orianthi Panagaris to take center stage to finish with a
high guitar riff. The video sequence for "Earth Song" is shown next, featuring a little girl who
wanders through a forest, falls asleep, and wakes up to find the forest destroyed by man. Jackson
then performs the song, with his voice being heard at the end telling of the dangers of Global
Warming and the lack of reversible time left. He then performs a quick version of his song
"Billie Jean". Michael is then seen talking to all crew members and wishing everyone the best for
the London performances. At a sound check, Michael performs "Man In The Mirror" with strong
backing vocals. The credits are shown next, with a montage of rehearsal clips and "This Is It"
being played in the background. After the show, a live recording of "Heal The World" was
played. Then, the audio of "Human Nature" was played, with a clip of Michael rehearsing it in
early June. Then, a clip of what could have been a Dome Project video of "Heal the World" was
shown, in which the girl that appeared in the "Earth Song" video was shown holding the world
and a signed message, by Michael, saying "I Love You."
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