Country	USA
Type	I
Route	20
Map	Interstate 20 map.png
Length mi	1539.38
Length round	2
Length ref
Established	1957
Direction a	West
Terminus a	near Kent, TX
Junction	near Fort Worth, TX in Fort Worth, TX in Dallas, TX in Dallas, TX in Jackson, MS in Birmingham, AL in Atlanta, GA
Direction b	East
Terminus b	near Florence, S.C.

Interstate 20 (I-20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs 1,535 miles (2,470 km) from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95. Between Texas and South Carolina, I-20 runs through northern Louisiana, central Mississippi, western and north-central Alabama, and north-central Georgia. I-20 intersects with seven of the 10 primary north–south interstates (all except I-5, I-15 and I-25) and also with the major Interstate routes I-10, and I-30.

From its terminus at I-95, the highway continues about two miles (3 km) eastward into the city of Florence as Business Spur 20.

Route description

Texas

|- |TX || 636.08 || 1023.67 |- |LA || 189.87 || 305.57 |- |MS || 154.61 || 248.82 |- |AL || 214.7 || 345.5 |- |GA || 202.61 || 326.07 |- |SC || 141.51 || 227.74 |- |Total || 1539.4 || 2477.4 |}

Interstate 20 begins east of Kent at a fork with Interstate 10. From there, the highway travels east-northeastward through Odessa, Midland, and Abilene before turning eastward towards Dallas/Fort Worth. The La Entrada al Pacifico corridor runs along I-20 between U.S. Route 385 and FM 1788. Between Monahans and I-10, I-20 has an 80 mph (130 km/h) speed limit, the highest in the United States.

From the highway's opening in the 1960s through 1971, I-20 originally went through the heart of the Metroplex via the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike. This old route is now signed Interstate 30 (Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike), U.S. Route 80 (former stretch between I-635 and Terrell) and Texas Spur 557 (bypass around Terrell).

In 1987, I-20 was rerouted to go through the southern sections of Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas, and Mesquite before rejoining its original route at Terrell. Part of I-20 in Dallas is named the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway and used to be signed as I-635.

Interstate 20 continues eastward from Terrell, bypassing Tyler, Marshall, and Longview, before crossing the Louisiana border near Waskom.

Louisiana

In Louisiana, I-20 roughly parallels U.S. Route 80 through the northern part of the state.

Entering the state from near Waskom, Texas, the highway immediately enters the Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area, intersecting Interstate 49 near downtown Shreveport and passing close to Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier city.

From that area, the highway traverses mainly rural, hilly terrain, bypassing Minden, Ruston and Grambling before reaching Monroe.

From Monroe, I-20 enters flatter terrain as it approaches the Mississippi River. Before crossing the Mississippi, the highway passes Tallulah. At the Mississippi River, I-20 leaves Louisiana and enters Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Mississippi

Upon entering Mississippi by crossing the Mississippi River, I-20 immediately enters Vicksburg. Between Edwards and Clinton, the highway mostly follows the original two-lane routing of U.S. Route 80. In Jackson, I-20 sees a short concurrency with both Interstate 55 and U.S. Route 49. Also in Jackson is an unusually expansive stack interchange, at the junction of I-20, I-55 North and U.S. 49 South. The interchange replaces a former directional interchange at I-55 North and a cloverleaf at Highway 49. From the Stack, I-20 continues eastward to Meridian, where it begins the nearly overlap with Interstate 59.

The route of the Mississippi section of Interstate 20 is defined in Mississippi Code § 65-3-3.

Alabama

Interstate 20 (along with Interstate 59) crosses the Alabama state line near York, and it stays conjoined as it passes through western Alabama and Tuscaloosa. At Birmingham, the two highways pass through downtown together before splitting at Exit 130 just east of the Birmingham airport. I-20 continues eastward through Oxford/Anniston, Alabama, and the Talladega National Forest, passing by the Talladega Superspeedway in the process, which is visible from the highway.

Also in Birmingham, the intersection of I-20/I-59 and Interstate 65 is known as a Malfunction Junction because of the interchange's somewhat-confusing design, and the number of traffic accidents that occur there.

Georgia

I-20 enters the Peach State near Tallapoosa and after passing through western Georgia, it enters the Atlanta metropolitan area. On clear days, eastbound motorists get their first view of downtown Atlanta as they come over the top of the Six Flags Hill. The Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park is easily visible off exit 47 eastbound. In Atlanta, the highway passes through the heart of the city, crossing Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 on a common expressway (the "Downtown Connector"). It continues though Metropolitan Atlanta eastward and through the eastern half of Georgia until it exits the state, crossing the Savannah River at Augusta, Ga..

Throughout the state, I-20 is conjoined with unsigned Georgia Highway 402. Also, I-20 from the Alabama state line to Interstate 285 in Atlanta is named the "Tom Murphy Freeway", but it is called the "Ralph David Abernathy Freeway" within I-285. The Interstate Highway is also named the Purple Heart Highway from I-285 in DeKalb County to U.S. 441 in Madison, Georgia; and it is called the Carl Sanders Highway from U.S. 441 to the South Carolina state line.

South Carolina

Upon leaving Augusta, I-20 crosses the Savannah River and enters the Palmetto State and heads northeastward, bypassing Aiken and Lexington before reaching the state capital of Columbia, which can be reached most directly by taking I-26 east at Exit 64 ("Malfunction Junction"), then, almost immediately, I-126/U.S. Route 76.

At Columbia, Interstate 20 bypasses the city to the north and again turns northeastward, bypassing Fort Jackson and Camden. After crossing the Wateree River, it turns due east, passes by tiny Bishopville, before reaching the Florence area. It is near Florence where I-20 sees its eastern terminus at Interstate 95. However, for about two miles (3 km), the highway continues into Florence as Business Spur 20.

I-20 in the Palmetto State is known as either the J. Strom Thurmond Freeway or John C. West Freeway. The first section to be completed was the bridge over the Savannah River in 1965, the last, the section between U.S. Route 401 and I-95 (including the business spur), opened in August 1975.

Future

{|align="right" |- | |- | |} In 2003, the North Carolina Department of Transportation proposed extending I-20 eastward from Florence to Wilmington at the behest of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley and his 'Strategic Transportation Plan' for the southeast portion of the state. The proposed route would follow U.S. 76 east from Florence to Whiteville, North Carolina, then parallel U.S. 74/U.S. 76 into Wilmington. Part of this route is already designated the future eastern extension of Interstate 74. As part of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU transportation legislation, North Carolina received $5 million for a feasibility study for this extension.

Major intersections

Interstate 10 in Kent, Texas Interstate 30 near Fort Worth, Texas Interstate 820 in Fort Worth, Texas (twice) Interstate 35W in Fort Worth, Texas Interstate 35E in Dallas, Texas Interstate 45 in Dallas, Texas Interstate 635 in Dallas, Texas Interstate 220 in Shreveport, Louisiana (western terminus) Interstate 49 in Shreveport, Louisiana Interstate 220 in Bossier City, Louisiana (eastern terminus) Interstate 220 in Jackson, Mississippi Interstate 55 in Jackson, Mississippi (I-20 and I-55 briefly run together here) Interstate 59 in Meridian, Mississippi (Map). I-20 and I-59 stay connected until Birmingham, Alabama. Interstate 359 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Interstate 65 in Birmingham, Alabama ("Malfunction Junction") Interstate 59 in Birmingham, Alabama Interstate 459 in Birmingham, Alabama (twice) Interstate 285 in Atlanta, Georgia (twice) Interstate 75/Interstate 85 in Atlanta, Georgia. Both follow the same stretch of freeway known as the Downtown Connector. Interstate 520 in Augusta, Georgia (western terminus) Interstate 520 near North Augusta, South Carolina (eastern terminus) Interstate 26 in Columbia, South Carolina Interstate 77 in Columbia, South Carolina Interstate 95 in Florence, South Carolina (Map)

Auxiliary routes

Two Interstate 420s were planned, but never completed or built. One was to be a bypass around Monroe, Louisiana, but was never built. The other I-420 was planned as a bypass to the south of downtown Atlanta. Due to anti-freeway sentiments, this I-420 was never completed, and the already-built portion has been signed as GA 154/GA 166, named Langford Parkway (formerly the Lakewood Freeway).

Shreveport, Louisiana - I-220

Jackson, Mississippi - I-220

Augusta, Georgia - I-520

Fort Worth, Texas - I-820

References

External links

I-20 on Interstate-Guide.com

Proposed I-20 extension in North Carolina

20 020

Name	Owl City
Landscape	Yes
Background	group_or_band
Genre	Electropop, synthpop, indietronica, ethereal wave, emo-pop, New Wave
Origin	Owatonna, Minnesota, United States
Years active	2007–present
Label	Universal Republic
Associated acts	Sky SailingSwimming With DolphinsBreanne DurenRelient KPort BlueArmin van BuurenMatt Thiessen Something CorporateChicane Lights
Url
Current members	Adam Young

Owl City is an American electronic/synthpop musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Owl City developed a following on Myspace in the late 2000s before signing with Universal Republic in 2008.

After two independent albums, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the hit triple platinum single "Fireflies" and the lesser hit "Vanilla Twilight". The album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010.

History

Early years (2007–2009)

Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks in his hometown, Owatonna, MN, Young turned to composing music. He began receiving attention for songs he had uploaded to MySpace, the "viral popularity" of which would later result in his signing to a major label. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of June reached #20 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at #16.

Ocean Eyes (2009–2010)

Owl City's third album, Ocean Eyes, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies". "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts and became the most-downloaded song on iTunes in the US. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By December 2009, it was certified Gold in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the number 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.

Young is joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most noted being "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Matthew Decker (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgenson (vibes).

Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals".

"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the iPod/iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.

Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with a song titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. Owl City has toured with The Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with a song entitled "The Technicolor Phase" that had already been featured in his debut album.

All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011–present)

Young has revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, moving away from his usual electronica genre of music and introducing acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2007 before he began making music as Owl City. His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010 via iTunes.

In May, 2010, Adam Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on 1 August 2010 featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the forthcoming van Buuren album Mirage on September 10, 2010.

On September 21, 2010 "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming mp3 on his website, , on October 25, 2010.

On November 13, 2010, a new album was also released for one of his other musical projects, "Windsor Airlift", called "Flight" on iTunes.

On November 23, 2010, a new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was released. A preview had been released the previous week on Facebook.

On February 14th, 2011, it was announced that All Things Bright and Beautiful will be released on May 17. Young released a cover/reply song to Taylor Swift's "Enchanted". On March 1st, he announced via his website the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour featuring recording artist Mat Kearney and Unwed Sailor. All Things Bright and Beautiful presale and tour ticket presale started March 22.

On March 22, 2011, the debut single off the album called Alligator Sky was released on iTunes. Two versions have been released so far, with a version featuring only Adam Young on vocals and another featuring Young as well as guest rapper Shawn Chrystopher, and each version having different lyrics in the verses. Adam Young also released a song "Lonely Lullaby," available through his website. Previews of 3 songs (Honey and the Bee, Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, and Deer in the Headlights) could be heard in a making-of video posted on the official website.

On April 6, 2011, Adam Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs (Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, Alligator Sky Ft. Shawn Chrystopher, Galaxies, and Deer in the Headlights), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautiful would be pushed back to June 14. His song 'The Yacht Club' features electropop singer Lights, who opened for him during his 2010 tour.

On May 6, 2011, Owl City released the music video for "Alligator Sky". Adam talked about the concept, in a making-of video, "So the concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth. Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."

Musical styles and influences

Owl City's music is described as indietronica and synthpop and is often described as belonging under the broad "alternative music" label. Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music, as well as instrumental genres such as drone, ambient, and post-rock. He cites his biggest influences as Jonathan Ford of Unwed Sailor and Thomas Newman. Young also incorporates a large amount of his Christian faith into his music, though usually in a subtle way because he wants people of all beliefs to enjoy his music.

Owl City also has been compared to The Postal Service for his combination of fuzzy synths, ironic lyrics and use of female guest singers.

Other projects

Young also produces music under a wide variety of other projects, which include Port Blue, Seagull Orchestra, Sky Sailing and Swimming with Dolphins. Most of these projects were started before Owl City propelled Young to fame. Many of these projects were formed alongside some friends, including Austin Tofte of Swimming with Dolphins.

Band members

;Current members

Adam Young - lead vocals, programming, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, xylophone, accordion

;Current touring members While Young writes, composes, performs, and produces all of Owl City's recorded music, during live performances he is accompanied by a group of supporting musicians:

Breanne Düren - keyboards, backing vocals, is also featured on "The Saltwater Room" and several other songs on Owl City albums

Daniel Jorgensen - guitar, xylophone

Laura Musten - violin

Hannah Schroeder - cello

Nick Pitingolo - Bass Guitar

Matthew Decker - drums, percussion

Concert tours

Discography

;Studio albums

Of June (2007)

Maybe I'm Dreaming (2008)

Ocean Eyes (2009)

All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011)

References

External links

Owl City Official Website

Category:Musical groups from Minnesota Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American indie rock groups Category:American electronic music groups

Name	Nate Dogg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Nathaniel Dwayne Hale
Birth date	August 19, 1969Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States
Death date	March 15, 2011Long Beach, California, United States
Genre	Hip hop, West Coast hip hop, R&B;, G-funk
Occupation	Rapper, Singer
Years active	1991–2011
Label	Death RowElektraDoggystyleAtlantic
Associated acts	213, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, 2Pac, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre, Game, Eminem, Tha Dogg Pound, Fabolous

Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 - March 15, 2011), better known by his stage name Nate Dogg, was an American musician.

Early life

Nate Dogg was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He moved to Long Beach, California when he was 14 following his parents' divorce. He was the friend and partner in the rap game with rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G, RBX, Daz Dillinger and was the cousin of Butch Cassidy and Lil' ½ Dead. He began singing as a child in the New Hope Baptist Church in Long Beach and Life Line Baptist Church in Clarksdale, Mississippi where his father Daniel Lee Hale was pastor. At the age of 16 he dropped out of high school in Long Beach, California and left home to join the United States Marine Corps, serving for three years.

Career

Early career with 213

In 1991 Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg, and their friend Warren G, formed a rap trio called 213. 213 recorded their first demo in the back of the famed V.I.P record store in Long Beach, the demo was later heard by Dr. Dre at a house party and he was instantly hooked on the soulful voice of Nate.

Solo career

Nate Dogg made his debut on The Chronic. Singing in what later become his trademark style, he was well-received by fans and critics alike, and would go on to sign with Death Row Records in 1993. Nate Dogg was also featured on Mista Grimm's "Indosmoke" with Warren G. Then in 1994 he produced his first hit single "Regulate" with Warren G. Nate Dogg was also featured in many Tupac releases, including his collaboration record Thug Life: Volume I. Then in 1998 after a tumultuous time at Death Row Records he released another album. The double album was titled G-Funk Classics Vol. 1 & 2 and was followed up in late 2001 with Music & Me on Elektra Records. Music & Me peaked at number three on the Billboard hip-hop charts in 2001.

Television appearances

In 2002, Nate Dogg and Isaiah Mendez appeared on a celebrity episode of the Weakest Link, making it to the last three players before being eliminated by Xzibit and Young MC.

Callaborations with other artists

Nate has found his greatest success, not in solo projects, but in collaborations with other hip-hop artists. In the 2000's, Nate's chart-topping singles, in-which he collaborated on, included Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode," Mos Def's "Oh No," Fabolous' "Can't Deny It," Ludacris' "Area Codes," 50 Cent's "21 Questions," Mark Ronson's "Ooh Wee," Houston's "I Like That," Eminem's "Shake That," and Mobb Deep's "Have a Party."

Self-Titled Album

After a number of delays and an original release date of April 2004, his self-titled album Nate Dogg is set to be released on Affiliated Entertainment Group on June 3, 2008. Nate Dogg had already begun work on a new project. However he died before its completion.

Personal life

Legal issues

In early 1990s, Hale was charged of two separate robberies, Check Changers robbery in 1991 and robbery of a San Pedro Taco Bell in 1994. He faced a maximum of nearly eleven years in prison, but he was subsequently acquitted of both charges. He pleaded guilty in May 2002 and was subsequently sentenced to probation and community service. He was also ordered to attend drug counseling sessions.

On June 17, 2000, Hale was alleged to have kidnapped and assaulted his former girlfriend and set her mother's car on fire in Lakewood. He was arrested by a SWAT team in his home Pomona. He was accused of kidnapping, domestic violence, making terrorist threats and arson. He spent a night in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles before he was released on a $1 million bail. These charges were later dismissed, but Hale faced jail time for a new charge, illegal possession of a firearm by felon. An unmarked firearm was found in his home during the June 17 arrest.

On April 12, 2002, Hale was stopped by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers outside of Kingman, Arizona while traveling on a tour bus. He was arrested and charged with firearms-related and drug-related offenses after two pistols and four ounces of cannabis were found. Hale was booked on Mohave County Jail and subsequently released on a $3,500 bond. Weapon charges against him were dropped as an exchange to guilty plea to drug possession charge. Hale was subsequently sentenced to probation and community service. He was also ordered to attend drug counseling sessions in May 2002.

In 2006, Hale was charged with misdemeanor aggravated trespassing, telephone harassment, battery assault, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and violation of a restraining order. In March 2008, Hale pleaded guilty to trespassing and battery and was ordered to complete a domestic violence treatment program, probation of three years, and was stripped of gun ownership rights for the next ten years.

In July 2008, Hale was charged with two felony criminal threats after allegedly sending threatening emails to his estranged wife, and one count of stalking after allegedly chasing her by car on Interstate 405 in previous month. Hale initially pleaded not guilty to these charges, Reports had circulated that Nate Dogg had been admitted to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California after suffering a heart attack. Erica Beckwith, however, confirmed to MTV News that Nate Dogg was released on December 26 after being treated for a stroke and was admitted to a medical-rehab facility to assist him in his recovery. On January 18, 2008, it was officially reported that the stroke had rendered the left side of his body paralyzed. Doctors believed there would be a full recovery, and his voice was not affected. In September 2008, Nate suffered a second stroke. On December 19, 2007, Nate Dogg suffered a stroke, according to a coordinator for his recently formed gospel choir, Innate Praise. Reports had circulated that Nate Dogg had been admitted to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California after suffering a heart attack. Erica Beckwith, however, confirmed to MTV News that Nate Dogg was released on December 26 after being treated for a stroke and was admitted to a medical-rehab facility to assist him in his recovery. On January 18, 2008, it was officially reported that the stroke had rendered the left side of his body paralyzed. Doctors believed there would be a full recovery, and his voice was not affected. In September 2008, Nate suffered a second stroke. - Nate Dogg died March 15, 2011 in Long Beach, California. On March 17, Nate's attorney Mark Geragos confirmed that the cause of the death was from complications of multiple strokes.

Discography

G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 (1998)

Music and Me (2001)

Nate Dogg (2008)

Filmography

The Transporter song "I Got Love" (2002)

Doggy Fizzle Televizzle as singer of the theme song for the sketch "The Braided Bunch" (2002–2003)

Head of State as himself (also singer/composer of theme song) (2003)

song "Keep it Comin"

''The Boondocks (2008)

Awards/nominations

During his career, Nate Dogg has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.

Category	Genre	Song	Year	Result
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration(with Eminem)	Rap	"Shake That"	2007	Nominated
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration(with Ludacris)	Rap	"Area Codes"	2002	Nominated
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group(uncredited with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg)	Rap	"The Next Episode"	2001	Nominated
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group(with Warren G)	Rap	"Regulate"	1995	Nominated

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:2011 deaths Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:African American rappers Category:American people convicted of assault Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Death Row Records artists Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Clarksdale, Mississippi Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Rappers from Mississippi Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:United States Marines Category:Crips Category:Pseudonyms

Name	Mystikal
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Michael Lawrence Tyler
Born	September 22, 1970
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre	Hip-Hop, Rap
Years active	1993–present
Label	Big Boy Records (1994-1996)No Limit Records (1996-1999)Jive Records (1995-Present)

Michael Lawrence Tyler (born September 22, 1970), better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.

Music career

1993-1994: Early career

Mystikal's debut album, Mystikal, was released on New Orleans-based independent record label Big Boy Records in 1994. He found himself in conflict with fellow New Orleans rappers signed to Cash Money Records including U.N.L.V., Lil Wayne and B.G.. They dissed him on tracks like "Drag 'Em in Tha River" by U.N.L.V. and "Fuck Big Boy" by The B.G.'z He struck back with the diss "Beware" which was on his sophomore effort Mind of Mystikal. Mystikal's sister, Michelle Tyler, who sang the chorus on "Not That Nigga" was murdered (stabbed) by her boyfriend, Damion Neville (grandson of the Neville Brothers' Charles Neville), prior to the album's release. The songs "Dedicated To Michelle Tyler", "Murder 2" , "Shine" and "Murder III" on the Mind of Mystikal ,Unpredictable and Let's Get Ready albums, respectively, refer to Mystikal's sister's murder.

1995-1998 Mind of Mystikal, Unpredictable & Ghetto Fabulous

Mystikal signed to Jive Records and released Mind of Mystikal in 1995. He signed to Master P's No Limit Records in 1996 and released Unpredictable in 1997. He appeared on many of the No Limit albums in 1997-1998. In 1998 he released Ghetto Fabulous. That was his last album with the label, and he left in early 1999 to go on his own.

1999-2004: Let's Get Ready & Tarantula

In 1999 he began recording his album after leaving no limit. Let's Get Ready was released in 2000 and contained "Danger (Been So Long)", which featured rising pop star Nivea, and was the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs number-one single in June 2001. Let's Get Ready debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200, making it Mystikal's only chart-topping album to date. The album also featured the popular, Neptunes-produced hit "Shake Ya Ass". The song retained cult-like popularity and can be heard in the background of numerous movies.

Mystikal's most recent solo release was the 2001 album Tarantula, which contained the hit single, "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)". Though it presented Mystikal's typical and unique flow style, the song also saw a blending of jazz and swing elements with hip-hop. The well received album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2003, and Mystikal was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance that same year. Mystikal was also featured prominently in the single, "Move Bitch" by Ludacris as well as "I Don't Give a Fuck" by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz along with Krayzie Bone, both in 2002. In 2003 he starred in the film 13 Dead Men. In 2003, Mystikal was indicted on charges of sexual battery and extortion. On January 15, 2004, he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to forcing his hairstylist to perform sex acts. He served the full six years and was released on January 14, 2010.

2010-present: TBA album

Mystikal headlined a concert at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts on Mardi Gras, February 16, 2010. Mystikal's first song after being released from prison was an underground track with former No Limit labelmate Fiend entitled "I'ont Like You". A few weeks later, Atlanta-based, New Orleans-born R&B; artist Lloyd released "Set Me Free" featuring Mystikal. The music video for "Set Me Free" was released on May 18, 2010 and was shot in New Orleans, primarily from the Calliope Projects.

In an interview in May 2010, he stated that he was still obligated to Jive Records for one more album and alluded to the fact that he would be taking the necessary time to ensure the album would be his best to date. He also stated that he had not come up with a name for the album, but stated that he was considering The Big Shake Back. In August 2005, while incarcerated on the state sexual battery and extortion charges, Mystikal was charged federally with two misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns for 1998 and 1999. On January 12, 2006, he was convicted in federal court of the tax offenses, but was allowed to serve the one-year federal sentence concurrent with his six-year state sentence. Mystikal was incarcerated at Louisiana's Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. On January 19, 2006, Mystikal was denied parole at a parole board hearing. On January 11, 2007, Mystikal was released from custody on the federal misdemeanor tax convictions (as his one-year sentence had expired), but he remained in custody on the six-year sentence for the Louisiana state felony convictions. The news of his release caused confusion among fans who heard the news and mistakenly thought he had been released on parole. He was released January 14, 2010. After his release, Mystikal registered as a sex offender. He currently resides in Prarieville, Louisiana.

After his release Mystikal stated:

Discography

;Studio albums

Mind of Mystikal (1995)

Unpredictable (1997)

Ghetto Fabulous (1998)

Let's Get Ready (2000)

Tarantula (2001)

(Untitled) (2011)

References

External links

[ allmusic biography - Mystikal]

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:American extortionists Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:American sex offenders Category:Jive Records artists Category:No Limit Records artists Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana

Img alt	A mid-twenties African American man wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He is walking while waving his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
Landscape	no
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Michael Joseph Jackson
Alias	Michael Joe Jackson
Birth date	August 29, 1958
Birth place	Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Death date	June 25, 2009
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, piano, drums, beatbox, guitar
Genre	R&B;, pop, rock, soul, dance, new jack swing, funk, disco
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, musician, dancer, choreographer, actor, businessman, philanthropist
Years active	1964–2009
Label	Motown, Epic, Legacy
Associated acts	The Jackson 5, Janet Jackson, Slash
Url

Michael Joseph Jackson

Aspects of Jackson's personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, have generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of child sexual abuse, but the case was settled out of court and no formal charges were brought. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and several other charges after the jury ruled him not guilty on all counts. While preparing for his concert series This Is It, Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Before his death, Jackson had been administered drugs including propofol and lorazepam. The Los Angeles County Coroner declared his death a homicide, and his personal physician pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as one billion people around the world reportedly watched his public memorial service on live television. In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a US$250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017, and to release seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.

Life and career

Early life and The Jackson 5 (1958–1975)

, showing floral tributes after his death.]] Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, the eighth of ten children in an African American working-class family who lived in a small 3-room house in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, was a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B; band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy. A sixth brother, Brandon, died shortly after birth.

Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father, Joe. Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, though he also credited his father's strict discipline with playing a large role in his success. Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast in February 1993. He admitted that he had often cried from loneliness and he would vomit on the sight of his father. Jackson's father was also said to have verbally abused Jackson, saying that he had a fat nose on numerous occasions. In fact, Michael Jackson's deep dissatisfaction with his appearance, his nightmares and chronic sleep problems, his tendency to remain hyper-compliant especially with his father, and to remain child-like throughout his adult life are in many ways consistent with the effects of this chronic maltreatment he endured as a young child. Also, U.S.-based research studies on impact of "adverse childhood experiences" or ACEs (e.g. a child being abused, violence in the family, extreme stress of poverty, etc.) have shown that having a number of ACEs exponentially increases the risk of addiction (e.g. a male child with six ACEs has a 4,600%/46-fold increase in risk of addiction), mental illnesses, physical illnesses, and early death.

In an interview with Martin Bashir, later included in the 2003 broadcast of Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson acknowledged that his father hurt him when he was a child, but was nonetheless a "genius", as he admitted his father's strict discipline played a huge role in his success. When Bashir dismissed the positive remark and continued asking about beatings, Jackson put his hand over his face and objected to the questions. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".

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. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing. When he was eight, Jackson began sharing the lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5.

The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, before signing with Motown Records in 1968. The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Move to Epic and Off the Wall (1975–1981)

In June 1975, the Jackson 5 signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Michael was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel," and "Can You Feel It". In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.

Jones and Jackson produced the Off the Wall album together. Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first solo album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You". It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over copies worldwide. In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B; Album, Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B; Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Year-End for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Jackson again won at the American Music Awards in 1981 for Favorite Soul/R&B; Album and Favorite Soul/R&B; Male Artist. Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.

Thriller and Motown 25 (1982–83)

In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; the record won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1984. In the same year he won another seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards (including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it), making him the most awarded in one night for both award shows. These awards were thanks to the Thriller album, released in late 1982, which was 1983's best-selling album worldwide and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated copies so far. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." Thriller was certified for 29 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States. The album won also another Grammy for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical in 1984, awarding Bruce Swedien for his work. Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of his recordings. The videocassette of the documentary The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12. Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple." In 1985, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Longform.

Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".

In March 1983, Jackson reunited with his brothers for a legendary live performance which was taped for a television special. The show aired on May 16, 1983, to an audience of viewers, and featured the Jacksons and a number of other Motown stars. It is best remembered for Jackson's solo performance of "Billie Jean". Wearing a distinctive black sequin jacket and golf glove decorated with rhinestones, he debuted his signature dance move, the moonwalk, which former Soul Train dancer and Shalamar member, Jeffrey Daniel had taught him three years before. The Jacksons' performance drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times later wrote, "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How does he do it? As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."

Pepsi, "We Are the World" and business career (1984–85)

Snoopy mascot in April 1984]] On January 27, 1984, Michael and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi Cola commercial, overseen by executive Phil Dusenberry, from ad agency BBDO and Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, Alan Pottasch at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. 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 underwent treatment to hide the scars on his scalp, and he also had his third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter. Dusenberry later recounted the episode in his memoir, Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall of Fame Career in Advertising.

On May 14, 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. Jackson won eight awards during the Grammys that year. Unlike later albums, Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the 1984 Victory Tour, headlined by The Jacksons, showcased much of Jackson's new solo material to more than two million Americans. He donated all the funds (around ) raised from the Victory Tour to charity. He also co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" in 1985 with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in the U.S. and Africa. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 30 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. In 1986, "We Are the World" won four Grammys (one for Jackson for Song of the Year). American Music Award directors removed the charity song from the competition because they felt it would be inappropriate, but recognised it with two special honors (one for the creation of the song and one for the USA for Africa idea). They are the only AMAs that Jackson won as non-solo artist.

and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1984]] In 1984, ATV Music Publishing, which had the copyrights to nearly 4000 songs, including the Northern Songs catalog that contained the majority of the Lennon/McCartney compositions recorded by The Beatles, was put up for sale by Robert Holmes à Court. Jackson had become interested in owning music catalogs after working with Paul McCartney in the early 1980s: Jackson had learned McCartney made approximately $40 million a year from other people's songs. In 1981, McCartney was offered the ATV music catalog for £20 million ($40 million USD). According to McCartney, he contacted Yoko Ono about making a joint purchase by splitting the cost equally at £10 million each, but Ono thought they could buy it for £5 million each. Also, an attorney for McCartney assured Jackson's attorney, John Branca, that McCartney was not interested in bidding: McCartney reportedly said "It's too pricey" According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, 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, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches, he could appear very pale. Jackson was also diagnosed with vitiligo in his autopsy. Several surgeons speculated that he had undergone various nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and cheekbone surgery—although Jackson denied this and insisted that he only had surgery on his nose. Jackson claimed that he had only two rhinoplasties and no other surgery on his face, although at one point he mentioned having a dimple created in his chin. Jackson lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire for "a dancer's body".

During the course of his treatment, Jackson made two close friends: his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, and Klein's nurse Debbie Rowe. Rowe eventually became Jackson's second wife and the mother of his two eldest children. Long before becoming romantically involved with her, Jackson relied heavily on Rowe for emotional support. He also relied heavily on Klein, for medical and business advice.

, here in the early stages of the disease]] Jackson became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box. Although the claim was untrue, according to tabloid reports that are widely cited, Jackson had disseminated the fabricated story himself. When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called Bubbles from a laboratory, he was reported to be increasingly detached from reality. It was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "elephant man") and although untrue, Jackson did not deny the story. These reports became embedded in the public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko," which Jackson came to despise. Responding to the gossip, Jackson remarked to Taraborrelli:

Jackson collaborated with Francis Ford Coppola on the 17-minute 3-D film Captain EO, which debuted in September 1986 at both the original Disneyland and at EPCOT in Florida, and in March 1987 at Tokyo Disneyland. The $30 million movie was a popular attraction at all three parks. A Captain EO attraction was later featured at Euro Disneyland after that park opened in 1992. All four parks' Captain EO installations stayed open well into the 1990s: Paris' installation was the last one to close, in 1998. The attraction would later return to Disneyland in 2010 after Jackson's death.

In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the Thriller video. With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated. It did not top Thriller as a commercial or artistic triumph, but Bad was still a substantial success in its own right.

The Bad album spawned seven hit singles in the U.S., five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana") reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. This was a record for most number one Hot 100 singles from any one album, including Thriller. Although the title track's video was arguably derivative of the video for the earlier single "Beat It", the "Bad" video still proved to be one of Jackson's iconic moments. It was a gritty but colorful epic set against the backdrop of the New York City Subway system, with costuming and choreography inspired by West Side Story. As of 2008, the album had sold 30 million copies worldwide. Thanks to the Bad album, Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica won one Grammy in 1988 for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Michael Jackson won one Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" in 1989. In 1988, "Bad" won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B; Single.

The Bad World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989. Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people. The Bad Tour turned out to be the last of Jackson's concert tours to include shows in the continental United States, although later tours did make it to Hawaii.

Autobiography, changing appearance and Neverland (1988–1990)

"]] In 1988, Jackson released his first and only autobiography, Moonwalk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies. Jackson wrote about his childhood, The Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered. He also wrote about his facial appearance, saying he had had two rhinoplastic surgeries and a dimple created in his chin. The musician then released a film called Moonwalker, which featured live footage and short films that starred Jackson and Joe Pesci. The film was originally intended to be released to theaters but due to financial issues, the film was released direct-to-video. It debuted atop the Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues. In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts was estimated at $125 million for that year alone. The nickname was popularized by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul." President George H. W. Bush designated him the White House's "Artist of the Decade". From 1985 to 1990, he donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity. Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration received an Emmy nomination. displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records. He released his eighth album Dangerous in 1991. As of 2008, Dangerous had shipped seven million copies in the U.S. and had sold 32 million copies worldwide. The Dangerous album was co-produced by Teddy Riley, one of the pioneers of "new jack swing" which convinced Michael to feature a rapper on his album for the first time, the act worked and it turned out to be the best-selling album associated with that movement. In the United States, the album's first single "Black or White" was its biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide. In 1993, Jackson performed the song at the Soul Train Music Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in rehearsals. In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992. He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.

Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research. In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them Gabon and Egypt. His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable and enthusiastic reception of more than 100,000 people, some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home Michael."

First child sexual abuse allegations and first marriage (1993–94)

Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his second television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he had vitiligo. The interview was watched by an American audience of 90 million. Dangerous re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after its original release. The Chandler family demanded payment from Jackson, and the singer initially refused. Jordan Chandler eventually told the police that Jackson had sexually abused him. Dr. Chandler was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue charges, saying, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over". Jordan's mother was, however, adamant that there had been no wrongdoing on Jackson's part. a fact confirmed in his autopsy. His friends said he never recovered from the humiliation of the strip search. The investigation was inconclusive and no charges were ever filed. Jackson described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence. On January 1, 1994, Jackson's insurance carrier settled with the Chandlers out of court for $22 million. A Santa Barbara County grand jury and a Los Angeles County grand jury disbanded on May 2, 1994 without indicting Jackson. After which time the Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994. The out-of-court settlement's documentation specifically stated Jackson admitted no wrongdoing and no liability; the Chandlers and their family lawyer Larry Feldman signed it without contest. The Chandlers' lawyer Mr. Feldman also explicitly stated "nobody bought anybody's silence". A decade after the fact, during the second round of child abuse allegations, Jackson's lawyers would file a memo stating that the 1994 settlement was done without his consent. According to a friend of Presley's, "their adult friendship began in November 1992 in L.A." They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As the child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Presley for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs. Presley explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it." She eventually persuaded him to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover. At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image. The marriage lasted less than two years and ended with an amicable divorce settlement. In a 2010 interview with Oprah, Presley admitted that they spent four more years after the divorce "getting back together and breaking up", until she decided to stop.

HIStory, second marriage and fatherhood (1995–99)

In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's music publishing division creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million upfront as well as the rights to even more songs. He then released the double album . The first disc, HIStory Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later reissued as in 2001, while the second disc, HIStory Continues, contained 15 new songs. The album debuted at number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in the US. It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide. HIStory received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. "You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from HIStory; it holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK. In 1996, Jackson won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form for "Scream" and an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.

The album was promoted with the successful HIStory World Tour. The tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans, and grossed up a total of . The show, which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures. During the tour, Jackson married his longtime friend Deborah Jeanne Rowe, a dermatology nurse, in an impromptu ceremony in Sydney, Australia. Rowe was approximately six months pregnant with the couple's first child at the time. Originally, Rowe and Jackson had no plans to marry, but Jackson's mother Katherine persuaded them to do so. Michael Joseph Jackson Jr (commonly known as Prince) was born on February 13, 1997; his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born a year later on April 3, 1998. The couple divorced in 1999, and Jackson got full custody of the children. The divorce was relatively amicable, but a subsequent custody suit was not settled until 2006. It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track. In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24. Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Red Cross and UNESCO.

Label dispute, Invincible and third child (2000–03)

At the turn of the century, the American Music Awards honored Jackson as Artist of the '80s. Throughout 2000 and 2001, Jackson worked in the studio with Teddy Riley and Rodney Jerkins, as well as other collaborators. These sessions would result in the album Invincible, released in October 2001. Invincible was Jackson's first full-length album in six years, and it would be the last album of new material he released while still alive. The release of the album was preceded by a dispute between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him sometime in the early 2000s. Once he had the licenses, he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and he would also be able to keep all the profits. However, due to various clauses in the contract, the revert date turned out to be many years away. Jackson discovered that the attorney who represented him in the deal was also representing Sony. After 9/11, Jackson helped organize the benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert took place on October 21, 2001, and included performances from dozens of major artists, including Jackson, who performed his song "What More Can I Give" as the finale. However, the sales for Invincible were lower than those of his previous releases, due in part to a lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. The album also came out at a bad time for the music industry in general. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.

In 2002, Michael Jackson won his 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century. In the same year, Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born. The mother's identity is unknown, but Jackson has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm. On November 20 of that year, Jackson brought his newborn son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, as fans stood below, holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face. The baby was briefly extended over a railing, four stories above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake". Sony released Number Ones, a compilation of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the US, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was certified six times platinum for shipments of at least units.

Second child sexual abuse allegations and acquittal (2003–05)

Beginning in May 2002, Jackson allowed a documentary film crew, led by British TV personality Martin Bashir, to follow him around just about everywhere he went. Bashir's film crew was with Jackson during the "baby-dangling incident" in Berlin. The program was broadcast in March 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, and painted an extraordinarily unflattering portrait of the singer.

In a particularly controversial scene, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with a young boy. As soon as the documentary aired, the Santa Barbara county attorney's office began a criminal investigation. Jackson was arrested in November 2003, and was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the 13 year old boy shown in the film. After the trial, in a highly publicized relocation he moved to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.

Final years (2006–09)

, 2006]] In March 2006, the main house at the Neverland Ranch was closed as a cost-cutting measure. There were numerous reports around that time that Jackson was having financial problems. Jackson had been delinquent on his repayments of a $270 million loan secured against his music publishing holdings, even though those holdings were reportedly making him as much as a year. Bank of America sold the debt to Fortress Investments. Sony reportedly proposed a restructuring deal which would give them a future option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly owned publishing company (leaving Jackson with a 25% stake). Jackson did not have a recording contract in place with Sony or any other major record label at the time.

In early 2006, there was an announcement that Jackson had signed a contract with a Bahrain-based startup called Two Seas Records. However, nothing ever came of that deal, and the CEO of Two Seas, Guy Holmes, later stated that the deal had never been finalized. Throughout 2006, Sony repackaged 20 singles from the 1980s and 1990s as the series, which subsequently became a box set. Most of those singles returned to the charts as a result. In September 2006, Jackson and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe confirmed reports that they had settled their long-running child custody suit. The terms were never made public. Jackson continued to be the custodial parent of the couple's two children. In October 2006, Fox News entertainment reporter Roger Friedman said that Jackson had been recording at a studio in rural Westmeath, Ireland. It was not known at the time what Jackson might be working on, or who might be paying for the sessions, since his publicist had recently issued a statement claiming that he had left Two Seas.

In November 2006, Jackson invited an Access Hollywood camera crew into the studio in Westmeath, and MSNBC broke the story that he was working on a new album, produced by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. Jackson returned to the United States after Christmas 2006 to attend James Brown's funeral in Augusta, Georgia. He gave one of the eulogies, saying that "James Brown is my greatest inspiration." In the spring of 2007, Jackson and Sony teamed up to buy yet another music publishing company: Famous Music LLC, formerly owned by Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others. Jackson recorded extensively during this period in New York with songwriter and producer will.i.am and also in Las Vegas with producers Akon and RedOne. In March 2007, Jackson gave a brief interview to the Associated Press in Tokyo, where he said, "I've been in the entertainment industry since I was 6 years old, and as Charles Dickens would say, 'It's been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not change my career ... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me."

In September 2007 Jackson was reportedly still working with will.i.am, but the album was apparently never completed. However, in 2008, Jackson and Sony released Thriller 25 to mark the 25th anniversary of the original Thriller. This album featured the previously unreleased song "For All Time" (an outtake from the original sessions) as well as remixes, where Jackson collaborated with younger artists who had been inspired by his work. Two of the remixes were released as singles with only modest success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" (with will.i.am) and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" (with Akon). The first single was based on an early demo version, without Paul McCartney. The album itself was a hit, however. In anticipation of Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of greatest-hits albums called King of Pop. Slightly different versions were released in various countries, based on polls of local fans. King of Pop reached the top 10 in most countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in other countries (such as the United States.)

In the fall of 2008, Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as collateral for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress opted to sell Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, which was a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. This deal cleared Jackson's debt, and he reportedly even gained an extra from the venture. At the time of his death, Jackson still owned a stake in Neverland/Sycamore Valley, but it is unknown how large that stake was. In September 2008, Jackson entered negotiations with Julien's Auction House to display and auction a large collection of memorabilia amounting to approximately 1,390 lots. The auction was scheduled to take place between April 22 and April 25. An exhibition of the lots opened as scheduled on April 14, but the actual auction was eventually cancelled at Jackson's request.

In March 2009, Jackson held a press conference at London's O₂ Arena and announced a series of comeback concerts titled This Is It. The shows would be Jackson's first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Jackson suggested possible retirement after the shows; he said it would be his "final curtain call". The initial plan was for 10 concerts in London, followed by shows in Paris, New York City and Mumbai. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, stated that the first 10 dates alone would earn the singer approximately . The London residency was increased to 50 dates after record breaking ticket sales: over one million were sold in less than two hours. Jackson rehearsed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the tour under the direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega. Most of these rehearsals took place at the Staples Center, which was owned by AEG. The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009, and finished on March 6, 2010. Less than three weeks before the first show was due to begin in London and with all concerts being sold out, Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest. Some time before his death, it was widely stated that he was starting a clothing line with Christian Audigier; due to his death, the current status of the label remains unknown.

Jackson's first posthumous single was a song entitled "This Is It" which Jackson cowrote in the 1980s with Paul Anka. It was not on the set lists for the concerts, and the recording was based on an old demo tape. The surviving brothers reunited in the studio for the first time since 1989 to record backing vocals. On October 28, 2009, a documentary film about the rehearsals entitled Michael Jackson's This Is It was released. Even though it ran for a limited two-week engagement, it became the highest grossing documentary or concert movie of all time, with earnings of more than worldwide. Jackson's estate received 90% of the profits. The film was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name. Two versions of the new song appear on the album, which also featured original masters of Jackson's hits in the order in which they appear in the movie, along with a bonus disc with previously unreleased versions of more Jackson hits as well as a spoken word poem entitled "Planet Earth". At the 2009 American Music Awards Jackson won four posthumous awards, two for him and two for his album Number Ones, bringing his total American Music Awards total to 26. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 (PDT, 19:22 UTC), 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 an hour after arriving there at 1:13 (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 local time (21:26 UTC). Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief. Google initially believed that the input from millions of people searching for "Michael Jackson" meant that the search engine was under DDoS attack. Twitter reported a crash, as did Wikipedia at PDT ( EDT). 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."

Around 15% of Twitter posts—or 5,000 per minute—reportedly mentioned Jackson after the news broke, compared to the 5% recalled as having mentioned the Iranian elections or the flu pandemic that had made headlines earlier in the year. MTV and Black Entertainment Television (BET) aired marathons of Jackson's music videos. Jackson specials aired on multiple television stations around the world. The British soap opera EastEnders added a last-minute scene, in which one character tells another about the news, to the June 26 episode. Jackson was the topic of every front-page headline in the daily British tabloid The Sun for about two weeks following his death. During the same period, the three major U.S. networks' evening newscasts—ABC World News, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News—devoted 34% of their broadcast time to him. Magazines including Time published commemorative editions. A scene that had featured Jackson's sister La Toya was cut from the film Brüno out of respect toward Jackson's family.

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. Jackson's casket was present during the memorial but no information was released about the final disposition of the body. While some unofficial reports claimed a worldwide audience as high as one billion people, the U.S. audience was estimated by Nielsen to be 31.1 million, an amount comparable to the estimated that watched the 2004 burial of former president Ronald Reagan, and the estimated Americans 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." Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, 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." Reverend Lucious Smith provided a closing prayer. 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, 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.

On June 25, 2010, the first anniversary of Jackson's death, fans came to Los Angeles to pay their tribute to him. They visited Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his family’s home, as well as Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Many of the fans were carrying sunflowers and other tribute items to drop off at the sites. Members of the Jackson family and close friends arrived to pay their respects. Katherine returned to Gary, Indiana to unveil a granite monument constructed in the front yard of the family home. The memorial continued with a candlelight vigil and a special performance of "We Are the World." On June 26, there was a protest march in front of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division at the old Parker Center building and a petition with thousands of signatures demanding justice was delivered. The Jackson Family Foundation in conjunction with Voiceplate presented "Forever Michael", an event bringing together Jackson family members, celebrities, fans, supporters and the community to celebrate and honor his legacy. A portion of the proceeds were presented to some of Jackson's favorite charities. Katherine also introduced her new book "Never Can Say Goodbye."

Death aftermath

After his death, Jackson became the best-selling albums artist of 2009 in the United States selling over 8.2 million albums in the U.S. and a total of albums worldwide in the 12 months that followed his death. 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, entitled "Breaking 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 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 game featuring Michael Jackson for the 2010 holiday season. The game entitled will be among the first to use Kinect and PlayStation Move, the respective motion-detecting camera systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 due out later that year. Cirque du Soleil announced on 3 November 2010 that it would launch "" 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."

In April 2011, Jackson's longtime friend and billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, chairman of Fulham F.C., unveiled a statue of Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage. Fulham fans were however bemused by the statue and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club. Al Fayed however defended the statue and told the fans to 'go to hell' if they didn't appreciate the statue.

Artistry

Influences

Jackson's music took root in R&B;, pop and soul. He had been influenced by the work of contemporary musicians such as Little Richard, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, David Ruffin, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Isley Brothers, the Bee Gees and the West Side Story dancers, to whom he made a tribute in "Beat it." and in the "Bad" video. According to David Winters, who met and befriended Jackson while choreographing the 1971 Diana Ross TV Special "Diana!", (which was also Jackson's first solo debut outside of The Jackson 5), Jackson watched West Side Story almost every week and it was his favorite film. While Little Richard had a substantial influence on Jackson, James Brown was Jackson's greatest inspiration. In reference to Brown, Jackson declared: "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."

The young Michael Jackson owed his vocal technique in large part to Diana Ross. In October 1969, it was decided that Jackson would live with Ross. Not only a mother figure to him, she was often observed in rehearsal as an accomplished performer. He later expressed: "I got to know her well. She taught me so much. I used to just sit in the corner and watch the way she moved. She was art in motion. I studied the way she moved, the way she sang – just the way she was." He told her: "I want to be just like you, Diana." She said: "You just be yourself." But Jackson owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of the oooh interjection—to Ross. From a young age, Jackson often punctuated his verses with a sudden exclamation of oooh. Diana Ross had used this effect on many of the songs recorded with The Supremes.

Musical themes and genres

Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper. Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder, and when recording he would sing the lyrics from memory. In most of his songs, such as "Billie Jean", "Who Is It", and "Tabloid Junkie", he would beatbox and imitate the instruments using his voice instead of playing the actual instruments, along with other sounds. Jackson noted that it is easier to sing a drum line, or sing a bass, instead of playing a drum line or a bass with an instrument. Several critics have said that Jackson's distinct voice is able to replace any instrument convincingly. Steve Huey of Allmusic said that, throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to experiment with various themes and genres. In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers. "Beat It" decried gang violence in an homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey. The lead single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "Man in the Mirror" is an anthemic ballad of confession and resolution. He comments the album is more diverse than his previous Bad, as it appeals to an urban audience while also attracting the middle class with anthems like "Heal the World". Dangerous contains sexually charged efforts such as the multifaceted love song, "In the Closet".

HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia. Its content focuses on the hardships and public struggles Jackson went through just prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk-rock efforts "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", along with the R&B; ballad "You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs much of his anger at the media. In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments over his "fall from grace", while songs like "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little Susie" and "Smile" are all operatic pop pieces. Invincible found Jackson working heavily with producer Rodney Jerkins. It is a record made up of urban soul like "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn" and "Butterflies" and mixes Hip-Hop, Pop and R&B; in "2000 Watts", "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible".

Vocal style

Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed noticeably. Between 1971 and 1975, Jackson's voice descended from boy soprano to high tenor. Jackson first used a technique called the "vocal hiccup" in 1973, starting with the song "It's Too Late to Change the Time" from The Jackson 5's album. Jackson did not use the hiccup technique— somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping— fully until the recording of Off the Wall: it can be seen in full force in the "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" promotional video. 1982 saw the release of Thriller, and Rolling Stone was of the opinion that Jackson was then singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness". It contains many features of Jackson's vocal style, including the vocal hiccup he is known for.}}

A distinctive deliberate mispronunciation of "come on", used frequently by Jackson, occasionally spelt "cha'mone" or "shamone", is also a staple in impressions and caricatures of him. The turn of the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album Dangerous. The New York Times noted that on some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone". Nelson George summed up Jackson's vocals by stating "The grace, the aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the falsetto, the smoothness—that combination of elements mark him as a major vocalist".

Music videos and choreography

Referred to as the King of Music Videos, Steve Huey of Allmusic observed how Jackson transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances; simultaneously breaking down racial barriers. Pressure from CBS Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, also helping other black music artists gain recognition. MTV employees deny any racism in their coverage, or pressure to change their stance. MTV maintains that they played rock music, regardless of race. The popularity of his videos on MTV helped to put the relatively young channel "on the map"; MTV's focus shifted in favor of pop and R&B.; His performance on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever changed the scope of live stage show; "That Jackson lip-synced 'Billie Jean' is, in itself, not extraordinary, but the fact that it did not change the impact of the performance is extraordinary; whether the performance was live or lip-synced made no difference to the audience" thus creating an era in which artists re-create the spectacle of music video imagery on stage. Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has frequently been imitated. The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Indian films to prisons in the Philippines. The Thriller short film marked an increase in scale for music videos, and has been named the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records. For "Smooth Criminal", Jackson experimented with an innovative "anti-gravity lean" in his performances. The maneuver required special shoes for which he was granted U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452. Although the music video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released in the US, in 1989, it was nominated for four Billboard Music Video Awards, winning three; the same year it won a Golden Lion Award for the quality of the special effects used in its production. In 1990, "Leave Me Alone" won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.

The MTV Video Vanguard Artist of the Decade Award was given to Jackson to celebrate his accomplishments in the art form in the 1980s; the following year the award was renamed in his honor. "Black or White" was accompanied by a controversial music video, which, on November 14, 1991, simultaneously premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million people, the largest viewing ever for a music video. Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as an important technology in music videos.

"Remember the Time" was an elaborate production, and became one of his longest videos at over nine minutes. Set in ancient Egypt, it featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman and Magic Johnson, along with a distinct complex dance routine. The video for "In the Closet" was Jackson's most sexually provocative piece. It featured supermodel Naomi Campbell in a courtship dance with Jackson. The video was banned in South Africa because of its imagery. The song and its accompanying video are a response to the backlash Jackson received from the media after being accused of child molestation in 1993. A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterwards Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made at a cost of $7 million.

"Earth Song" was accompanied by an expensive and well-received music video that gained a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The video had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, wars end, and the forests re-grow. Released in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Michael Jackson's Ghosts was a short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston. The video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness World Record as the world's longest music video.

Legacy and influence

, set in 1984]] Jackson throughout his career transformed the art of the music video and paved the way for modern pop music. Daily Telegraph writer Tom Utley described Jackson in 2003 as "extremely important" and a "genius." For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian contributions. Mariah Carey, Usher, Green Day, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake,

Allmusic's Steve Huey describes Jackson as "an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the skills to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility and loads of sheer star power".

Shortly after Jackson's death, on June 25, 2009, MTV briefly returned to its original music video format to celebrate and pay tribute to his work. The channel aired many hours of Jackson's music videos, accompanied by live news specials featuring reactions from MTV personalities and other celebrities. The temporary shift in MTV's programming culminated the following week in the channel's live coverage of Jackson's memorial service. At the memorial service on July 7, 2009, founder of Motown Records Berry Gordy proclaimed Jackson as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

In 2010, two university librarians found that Jackson's influence extended into academia, and was detectable in scholarly literature pertaining to a range of subject matter. The two researchers combed through various scholars' writings, and compiled an annotated bibliography of those writings that appeared to meet at least one of several criteria. Among these criteria were appearance in a peer-reviewed journal, and the provision of insight into the nature of "popular icons including Jackson". The bibliography located references to Jackson in research reports concerning music, popular culture, and an array of other topics. The bibliographers identified as their most peculiar finding an argument that certain aspects of chemistry can be effectively taught by altering and imitating elements of Jackson's singing. One of the research librarians later reflected that "the fact that someone would take a Michael Jackson song and co-opt it as a means to convey chemistry concepts just shows the pervasiveness of Jackson's influence".

Honors and awards

, Hollywood in Universal City, California.]]

Michael Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980 as member of The Jacksons and in 1984 as solo artist. Throughout his career he received numerous honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium, the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award. He was a double-inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997 and later as a solo artist in 2001. Jackson was also inducted in several other hall of fames, including Vocal Group Hall of Fame (as The Jackson 5 member) in 1999, Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and Hit Parade Hall of Fame (with his brothers) in 2009. In 2010, Jackson was inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame as the first (and currently only) dancer from the world of pop and rock 'n' roll. His awards include many Guinness World Records (eight in 2006 alone), 13 Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), 26 American Music Awards (24 only as a solo artist, including the "Artist of the Century", but not the poll of "Artist of the '80s")—more than any artist—, 13 number one singles in the US in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and estimated sales of up to 750 million records worldwide, making him the world's best selling male solo pop artist. On December 29, 2009, the American Film Institute recognized Jackson's passing as a "moment of significance" saying, "Michael Jackson's sudden death in June at age 50 was notable for the worldwide outpouring of grief and the unprecedented global eulogy of his posthumous concert rehearsal movie This Is It." Michael Jackson also received a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the United Negro College Fund and also an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fisk University.

Lifetime earnings

His total lifetime earnings from royalties on his solo recordings and music videos, revenue from concerts and endorsements have been estimated at $500 million; some analysts have speculated that his music catalog holdings could be worth billions of dollars. This speculation however is contradicted by financial documents obtained by the Associated Press, which showed that as of March 31, 2007, Jackson's 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog (his most prized asset) was worth $390.6 million and Michael Jackson's net worth was . Billboard has estimated that Jackson has generated at least in revenue in the year following his death.

Discography

Got to Be There (1972)

Ben (1972)

Music & Me (1973)

Forever, Michael (1975)

Off the Wall (1979)

Thriller (1982)

Bad (1987)

Dangerous (1991)

(1995)

Invincible (2001)

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Year!!Film!!Role!!Director |- style="text-align:center;" ||1978||The Wiz||Scarecrow|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||1986||Captain EO||Captain EO|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||1988||Moonwalker||Himself|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||1997||Michael Jackson's Ghosts||Maestro/Mayor/Ghoul/Skeleton|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||2002||Men in Black II||Agent M (cameo)|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||2004||Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls||Agent MJ (cameo)|| |- style="text-align:center;" ||2009||Michael Jackson's This Is It||Himself|| |}

Tours

Bad World Tour (1987–89)

Dangerous World Tour (1992–93)

HIStory World Tour (1996–97)

This Is It (2009–10) (cancelled)

See also

Honorific nicknames in popular music

List of best-selling music artists

List of best-selling music artists in the United States

List of unreleased Michael Jackson material

Notes

Bibliography

George, Nelson (2004). booklet. Sony BMG.

Further reading

External links

Michael Jackson Hip Hop influence & samples

Michael Jackson Live: Best Pics - slideshow by Life magazine

Michael Jackson sample map, depicting the influence Jackson's work has had on other users.

Michael Jackson at MTV

Category:1958 births Category:2009 deaths Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:African American dancers Category:African American record producers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American businesspeople Category:American child singers Category:American choreographers Category:American dance musicians Category:American disco musicians Category:American male singers Category:American beatboxers Category:American dancers Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American rock singers Category:American soul singers Category:American tenors Category:American vegetarians Category:Beatboxers Category:Boy sopranos Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Drug-related deaths in California Category:English-language singers Category:Epic Records artists Category:Former Jehovah's Witnesses Category:Grammy Award winners Michael Jackson Category:Motown artists Category:Musicians from Indiana Category:People from Gary, Indiana Category:People from Santa Barbara County, California Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters from Indiana Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Michael Jackson Category:World Music Awards winners Category:World record holders

Name	Charlie Murphy
Caption	Murphy in December 2009
Birth name	Charles Quinton Murphy
Birth date	July 12, 1959
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer, voice
Years active	1984–present
Website	http://charliemurphycomedy.com/
Spouse	Tisha Taylor (1997–2009) (deceased)

Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy (born July 12, 1959) is an American actor, comedian, writer and widower famous for being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show. Charlie is also known for his work with his younger brother, actor/comedian Eddie Murphy.

Career

Murphy achieved fame as a recurring performer on Chappelle's Show, particularly in the Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories sketches. In these, Murphy recounts his misadventures as part of his brother Eddie's entourage, including encounters with various celebrities such as Rick James and Prince.

Although he had minor roles in several films in the late 1980s (most notably Short Circuit 2) and early 1990s, Murphy's first major role in a motion picture was in the 1993 film CB4, where he portrayed the antagonist, Gusto. Murphy had a brief stint as a rapper in the late 1980s as a member of the act K-9 Posse, who was regularly featured on Yo! MTV Raps. In 2005, he appeared in King's Ransom (alongside Anthony Anderson and Jay Mohr). In the film, Murphy portrayed "Herb", a gay ex-con who is hired by King (Anderson) to kidnap him in a fake kidnapping.

After Chappelle's Show host Dave Chappelle left the show, Murphy and Donnell Rawlings hosted the "lost episodes" compiled from sketches produced before Chappelle's departure. Murphy has done voiceovers for Budweiser radio commercials, provided the voice for Iraq War veteran/criminal Ed Wuncler III on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series The Boondocks, and the voice for a pimp named Jizzy-B in Rockstar Games' video game. Recently, Murphy provided the voice for Spock on the G4TV's Star Trek 2.0 shorts, and the dog in his younger brother Eddie's 2007 film, Norbit.

On March 20, 2009, Murphy began starring in his own sketch comedy series Charlie Murphy's Crash Comedy on Crackle. Currently, Murphy has begun a work to portray the role of Leroy Smith.

A stand-up special, "Charlie Murphy: I Will Not Apologize" premiered on Comedy Central in late February 2010.

Murphy also makes special appearances in 1000 Ways to Die and the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet? as Frank Kingston.

Personal life

Charlie enlisted in the United States Navy in 1978 and served for 6 years as a Boiler Technician. Charlie and Tisha Taylor Murphy were married in 1997 and had two children together. Charlie Murphy has a third child from a previous relationship. His wife passed away from a long battle with cancer.

Murphy has been a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Television and video |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1984 | Saturday Night Live | | |- | 1990 | | | TV movie |- | 1995 | Martin | Big Bro | TV series |- | 1995 | Murder was the Case: The Movie | JC | Direct-to-video |- | 2003–2006 | Chappelle's Show | Various | also writer |- | 2004 | One on One | Senator Larry Eldrige | TV series |- | 2005 | Denis Leary's Merry F#%$in' Christmas | Himself | |- | 2005–2010 | | Ed Wuncler III | voice |- | 2006 | | Big Kid | voice |- | 2006 | Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc's Street | Big Kid | voice |- | 2006 | Wild 'n Out | Himself | |- |2007 | Beef IV | Narrator | voice |- | 2007 | We Got to Do Better | Host | TV series |- | 2007 | Natural Born Komics | | Direct-to-video |- | 2009 | Nite Tales: The Series | | TV series |- | 2010 | Charlie Murphy: I Will Not Apologize | | |- | 2010 | Lopez Tonight | | |- | 2010 | Are We There Yet? | Frank | TV series |- | 2010 | 1000 Ways to Die | Himself | TV series |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Film |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1988 | Short Circuit 2 | | |- | 1989 | Harlem Nights | Jimmy | |- | 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Eggy | |- | 1991 | Jungle Fever | Livin' Large | |- | 1993 | CB4 | Gusto | |- | 1996 | | Saxophone Man | |- | 1998 | | Brooklyn | |- | 1999 | Unconditional Love | Detective | |- | 2003 | Death of a Dynasty | Dick James/Dukey Man/Sock Head | |- | 2005 | Lovesick | Damian | |- | 2005 | King's Ransom | Herb Clarke | |- | 2005 | Roll Bounce | Victor | |- | 2006 | Night at the Museum | Taxi Driver | |- | 2007 | Three Days to Vegas | Andre | |- | 2007 | Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe || Griss || |- | 2007 | Norbit | Floyd the Dog | voice / also writer |- | 2007 | Unearthed | Hank | |- | 2007 | Twisted Fortune | Angel Robbins | |- | 2007 | Universal Remote | Various | |- | 2007 | | J-Jizzy | |- | 2008 | Bar Starz | Clay the Doorman/Arnie | |- | 2008 | | Junior Walker | |- | 2009 | Frankenhood | Franklin | |- | 2010 | Our Family Wedding | T.J. | |- | 2010 | | Al Sharpton | |- | 2010 | Lottery Ticket | James | |- | 2011 | Co2 | Coach Ashmokeem | Post-production |- | 2011 | Tower Heist | Leroy Tiggs | Filming |- |}

References

External links

Charlie Murphy's Wife Dies

Gathering of the Juggalos

Charlie Murphy on the end of Chappelle's Show

Modern Hotrodz

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:African American comedians Category:African American film actors Category:African American television actors Category:American screenwriters Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Tewksbury Township, New Jersey Category:United States Navy sailors