MJ's life in listed detail

MJonmindMJonmind Posts: 7,290
I thought this was an interesting detailed (from non-hoax perspective) list of details about MJ's life.[size=12pt] Are there any things you disagree with besides that he's still alive?[/size] It is very positive about MJ. I learned some new things about MJ. The more I learn the more I am amazed that there is SOOO much to this one man!!!<br /><br />
mjlyricsonly.com/?p=2406&nggpage=10  (copy and paste site)<br /><br />Date of birth:  August 29, 1958 at 7:33 P.M. (CST).  It was a Friday.<br /><br />Place of birth: Gary, Indiana.<br /><br />Birth name:  Michael Joe Jackson.  His driver license and his passport both indicate this name. He signed his name as Michael Joe Jackson to various important contracts and so stated in numerous depositions.  Still, most often he is referred to as “Michael Joseph Jackson.”<br /><br />Other names considered for him at birth were “Ronald” or “Roy.”<br /><br />HATED to be called “Jacko.” He voiced his strong dislike against this moniker countless times in interviews, but the tabloid insisted on taunting him and referred to him by that name — and still does even to this day.<br /><br />Height (at age 50):  69 inches (1.75 meters)<br />Weight (at age 50) 136 lbs (61.7 kilogram)<br />Eyes color: brown<br />Blood type: B<br /><br />Shoe size:  8.5 (US). Michael loved to wear the same type of black penny loafers simply because these were the shoes he could dance in.  The exact brands he wore are unconfirmed (e.g., Bass Larson, Bass Weejun or Cole Haan).<br /><br />Mother is Katherine Esther Scruse (Screws).  Father is Joseph Walter Jackson.  Maternal grandparents were Martha Upshaw and Prince Albert Screws. Paternal grandparents were Crystal Lee King and Samuel Jackson.<br /><br />Michael had some Native American Indian ancestry; Choctaw on Joe’s side, Cherokee on Katherine’s side.<br /><br />Had three sisters, Maureen Reillette (“Rebbie”), LaToya Yvonne and Janet Damita Jo.<br /><br />Had 5 living brothers, Sigmund Esco (“Jackie”), Toriano Adaryll (“Tito”), Jermaine La Jaune, Marlon David and Steven Randall (“Randy”).<br /><br />Lost a brother, Brandon (Marlon’s twin), at birth.<br /><br />Had one half-sister, Joh’Vonnie Jackson, a daughter of Joe Jackson from another relationship.<br /><br />Had three children, Prince Michael Jackson (date of birth February 13, 1997),  Paris Katherine-Michael Jackson (date of birth April 3, 1998) and Prince Michael Jackson,  II (date of birth February 22, 2002).  “Blanket” is a nickname Michael gave to his youngest son.<br /><br />Has married and divorced twice.  His first wife was Lisa-Marie Presley.  His second wife was Debbie Rowe (also the natural mother of Michael’s first two children).<br /><br />For more details on family, friends and foes of Michael click here<br /><br />Both Tito and Jermaine recall that Michael had long fingers at birth.  Tito recalls Michael was sucking his fingers for a long time.  Jermaine recalls that Michael was a very active baby and always tried to slip away when he tried to change his diaper.<br /><br />His mother recalled catching 2-year old Michael with his baby bottle in hand dancing to the sound of a broken noisy washing machine.  Katherine Jackson also stated that by her recollection Michael has never made an uncoordinated move even when he was a tiny baby.<br /><br />Jermaine recalls 4-year old Michael watching them practice songs in the living room and then he would fashion bongos from cereal boxes to play along.<br /><br />Michael’s first public appearance was at age 5, at his elementary school at Gary, Indiana.  He sang “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music.<br /><br />His fondest childhood memory of his father was when he took him to a carnival and lifted him up putting him on a pony.  (Joe Jackson admittedly did not recall this incident.)<br /><br />Was right-handed.<br /><br />Had fairly large hands.  Taped his index and ring fingers and pinkies on both hands to draw attention to his hand movements while he was performing (and not to cover up his skin condition).<br /><br />Was baptized.<br /><br />Was ticklish.<br /><br />Did not celebrate Christmas and birthdays when he was growing up due to his mother’s religious beliefs.  He celebrated his first Christmas in Neverland organized by Elizabeth Taylor in 1992. He was so guilt-ridden about celebrating Christmas that he spent the majority of his time in the bathroom crying.<br /><br />Michael never was allowed to call his father “Dad” or such.  All Jackson siblings were told to always address their father as “Joseph” or “Joe.”<br /><br />Joe was a strong disciplinarian.  Michael first publicly spoke about Joe’s heavy-handed approach to child discipline in the Oprah Winfrey interview (February 1993) and then later in another interview with Martin Bashir (February 2003).  Joe used harsh corporal punishment not only for disobedience from his children but oftentimes for mistakes made during daily musical rehearsals.  Joe never publicly addressed this issue until Michael’s death but he defended his actions for being strict for the sake of ensuring that all of his children could advance in life and the music business.<br /><br />Due to Joe’s harshness Michael feared his father so much he would become so uncomfortable that he would often black out or get sick in the stomach when they had to be in the same room.  Still, Michael gave his father full credit for his entertainment success and always hoped for a reconciliation with him.  Rabbi Schmuley wrote in his book about occasions he observed when Michael and Joe did have some reconciliatory conversations in the early 2000’s.<br /><br />Never had professional training in dancing or singing (although he did work with a voice coach during concert tours).<br />His vocal range was nearly four octaves from two E’s below middle C, to two B’s above middle C, or 44 notes.  Seth Riggs, his vocal coach described him as a high tenor, but he could drop down to a baritone, if needed.  He had perfect pitch.<br />He always sang scales to warm up.<br /><br />Before singing he would drink piping hot drink with cough drops to relax his vocal chords.<br /><br />He didn’t learn how to read or write music and never learned to play instruments proficiently.<br />He dictated all of his songs on various recording machines (even on telephone voicemails).  He would transcribe every instrument and sound (complete with stops and fills) onto tape as he would hear it in his head.  He said music was “tapestry” with different layers.<br /><br />He was a talented beat-boxer.<br /><br />When he wrote a song, he first always started on the melody.  He often said that music normally just came to him from God.  The entire composition would get into his head and then he would put it down on tape.  He brought lyrics into it later, but stated that certain words came directly with the melody.<br /><br />His motto was “Let the song create itself.”<br /><br />Main themes of Michael’s songs: 1) songs about seduction and deception (e.g., Billie Jean, Dirty Diana), 2) Gothic/horror themes (e.g., Thriller, Is It Scary), 3) Media and social injustice (e.g., Leave Me Alone, They Don’t Care About Us), 4) Classic love songs (e.g., The Way You Make Me Feel, Remember the Time), 5) Loneliness, isolation (e.g., Stranger in Moscow, Childhood) and 6) Anthems (e.g., Man in The Mirror, Earth Song)<br /><br />He often recorded songs with the lights off or dimmed in the studio not to feel self-conscious.  As he sang, he also always danced, stomped or snapped his fingers.  When he recorded something special, he called it the “Bible version,” which represented the highest quality.<br /><br />Whenever he was told “I love you”,  he always replied “I love you more”.  He learned the phrase “I love you more” in several different languages which he used during his world-wide concert performances to address his fans.<br /><br />If you are still reading this, THANK YOU, and click here to hear some words of encouragement from Michael.  <br /><br />Every town he went during concert tours, he never missed visiting hospitals and orphanages.  He brought tons of toys with him and loved watching children opening them.  He aided several children to get necessary treatment and medication to save their lives.<br /><br />Everyone who ever worked with Michael would describe him as down-to-earth, professional, humble, very polite, having a good sense of humor and an infectious captivating laugh.<br /><br />Rarely used curse words and only when he was upset or in the context of a joke.  Michael was never profane in public.<br /><br />The first song that he composed, recorded and was released was “Blues Away“.  By his own recollection, he has been writing songs since the age of 9.<br /><br />He wrote one autobiography entitled “Moonwalk” in 1988.<br /><br />In his autobiography, he wrote that he wanted to have a big family, 10 children.  He said he probably would adopt children because he “didn’t need to bring his own into the world.”  He wanted to adopt children from all races.<br /><br />He released a second book “Dancing The Dream” in 1992, which is a book of his poems and reflections.  “Planet Earth” was released in this book.<br /><br />The most comprehensive biography written about Michael is authored by a childhood acquaintance, J. Randy Tarraborrelli entitled “Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness,” a book that was originally released in 1991 and updated several times in later years, including in 2009, after Michael’s death.<br /><br />12-year old Michael received a $7 per week allowance from the group earnings of the Jackson 5.  He did chores at home like any regular kids.  When asked what he wanted to do when he grew up he said he wanted to keep on singing and do art (paint and draw).<br /><br />As a child, he and his siblings would clean the house and sing.  Loved to vacuum.<br /><br />Loved to swim.  He made a wish every time he plunged into a pool of water.<br /><br />Could play chess.<br /><br />His favorite films were “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Captains Courageous” and “300 Candles”.<br /><br />He cited Debussy, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky as his favorite composers.  He also loved showtunes written by Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Holland-Dozier-Holland.<br /><br />He regarded James Brown as his biggest musical inspiration.  Another performer who had great influence on Michael was Jackie Wilson.<br /><br />LaToya claims Michael liked to watch the show “Dancing With The Stars”.<br /><br />Was an avid reader and had over 20,000 books in his own library.  He read any subjects, including biographies, poetry, philosophy, psychology, history, religion and spirituality.  Had a custom to kiss all four corners of a new book in hopes to gain new knowledge from it.<br /><br />Read the entire Bible many times over.  He often used lines or phrases from the Bible in his lyrics.<br /><br />Read Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking” and was a believer of creative visualization.  He often marked up furniture and mirrors in his home and at hotels with motivational thoughts for himself.<br /><br />Listened to motivational tapes normally at bedtime.<br /><br />Was quite knowledgeable and read a lot about World War II.<br /><br />Appeared at the Academy Awards in 1973, was introduced by Charlton Heston and he performed the song, “Ben.”<br /><br />Was tutored by Rose Fine during the Jackson 5 years.  Janet and Michael were especially close to Ms. Rose and financially aided her to her dying days.<br /><br />Was quite knowledgeable about mythology and loved medieval stories and themes.<br /><br />Even though the Jackson 5 was not discovered by her, Diana Ross had a huge impact on Michael’s life.  She introduced Michael to arts when he lived with her for a month after Joe moved the boys to California and started recording for Motown.  Michael idolized her all his life and admittedly had a crush on Diana.  He found her such a warm, loving person and respected her parenting skills so much that in his 2002 Last Will and Testament, Michael named Diana Ross as secondary guardian in case his mother could not raise his own children.<br /><br />Shared an art studio with Australian artist, Brett-Livingstone Strong, at a hangar in Santa Monica airport.  Other modern-day artists whom Michael befriended and admired were Nate Giorgio and Dave Nordahl.  Giorgio and Nordahl made several large personalized paintings commissioned by Michael.<br /><br />In between recording sessions, he liked to doodle on random pieces of paper or play with his animals.  On August 8, 2011, his children gifted 10 original art pieces created by Michael to the newly remodeled Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.<br />Had e-mail accounts with AOL and Google’s Gmail.<br /><br />Was banking with Bank of America.<br /><br />Often ordered packages from Amazon.com.<br /><br />LOVED to shop.  He liked to browse for merchandise in the Salvation Army.  He was an excellent negotiator for bargains and discounts no matter what the asking price was (he said “Celebrities like bargains, too”).<br /><br />Very rarely got a chance to go and shop uninterrupted in any stores.  In fact, he often had to commit himself to special shopping sprees — mainly late at night — where they would close a store down (e.g., Toys R Us) and he would have the entire store to himself and his friends.  Naturally, the stores expected him to spend handsomely, which Michael always did.<br /><br />Had an extra rib.<br /><br />Had vitiligo.  Vitiligo is a skin disorder that causes white patchy skin due to loss of pigmentation.  Michael first revealed this medical condition publicly in a live interview conducted by Oprah Winfrey from the Neverland Ranch in February, 1993. Despite his very own candid disclosure of his private medical ailment (and many subsequent confirming statements made by family members, friends, colleagues, and various close acquaintances in the future) the public and the press mercilessly continued to ridicule him on his lighter skin tone until the end of his life.  The report of his autopsy conducted on June 26, 2009, positively confirmed that Michael did have vitiligo on his chest, stomach, face, legs and arms.<br /><br />Had lupus.<br /><br />Had appendectomy.<br /><br />Was allergic to giraffes and horses.  Had to take allergy medicine if he wanted to touch them.<br /><br />Was burnt on the scalp during at commercial shoot for Pepsi on January 27, 1984.  He suffered second-degree burns and a permanent scar on his scalp. The footage of the accident was released to the public in 2009.<br /><br />Had numerous unsuccessful surgeries trying to correct his burnt scalp and re-grow hair.<br /><br />Donated all money received after his Pepsi accident ($1.5 million) to the Brotman Medical Center (later known as “Michael  Jackson Burn Center” in Los Angeles).<br /><br />In his Pepsi commercials he is never seen holding a Pepsi can.  In fact, he did not like Pepsi.  He preferred Coca Cola.<br /><br />Had pleurisy while visiting at Jermaine’s Malibu house and was rushed to the hospital by Jermaine.<br /><br />Prince (aka. Roger Nelson) – Madonna - Michael connection -  They were the three biggest superstars in the 1980’s.  All three were born in the summer of 1958.  Prince was born on June 7, Madonna was born on August 16 and Michael was born on August 29.<br /><br />Michael regarded Prince as his biggest “competition” in his musical professional life.  Their “rivalry” was often played up by the press (reporting that Prince called Michael a “wimp” and Michael called Prince “gross”).  There were no bitter feuds between them but they certainly did not care much for each other.  Prince regularly “snubbed” Michael by refusing to appear or collaborate with him.  Prince was invited but never showed up for the taping and recording of “We Are The World.” Another time, Michael reached out to Prince to make a duet (the original version of “Bad”) but Prince declined.  However, after Michael’s death, Prince paid tribute to him in his 2011 concert tour by playing his own rendition of “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”.<br />Prince had his own sense of humor when it came to Michael.  Once he sent a present in a small box to Michael.  It contained some colorful metal charms and feathers.  Michael opened the box in the presence of Quincy Jones and as soon as he has seen the contents quickly closed it.  He was absolutely horrified and truly believed that Prince was sending him voodoo to put a hex on him.<br /><br />Both Prince and Michael went out on dates with Madonna.  Michael later recalled his dates and interactions with Madonna in the Rabbi Schmuley tapes.  He felt that Madonna was sincerely in love with him and was definitely intent on seducing him (including making obscene phone calls to him and showing him “spanky books”).  Back then, Michael found Madonna too aggressive, vulgar and basically “not a nice person.”  Although Michael did say in the Schmuley tapes that motherhood definitely did justice to Madonna as she seemed to be a very devoted and loving mother to her children.<br /><br />Driver license no:  N8685798.  Learned to drive only at the insistence of his mother.<br /><br />Didn’t like to drive on the freeways.  He once said  he could never get on them and then he couldn’t get off of them.<br /><br />Had trouble with parallel parking. Once he drove to visit a friend just to find out that there were no parking spaces to which he could get into.  He kept driving around the complex and a crowd gathered.  He attracted attention not only because he was driving a new expensive Bentley but because he was unmistakably recognized.  Eventually, he asked one of the spectators if he could help him park the car.  Needless to say the guy happily obliged and was eager to drive around in Michael’s car and finally parallel park it.<br /><br />“Speed Demon” was written after Michael got a speeding or similar traffic violation ticket on his way to a studio working with Quincy Jones.<br /><br />Called 9-1-1 once when he had a flat tire.  9-1-1 operator hung up on him when he stated his name was Michael Jackson. Because Michael called back asking for further assistance, the operator told him that he would be cited for “misuse of emergency hotline” and “for impersonating a famous person.”<br /><br />People often hung up on him once he announced his name.  Even though he was making legitimate phone calls most people thought it was a prank.<br /><br />After the release and the overwhelming world-wide success of “Thriller,” Michael faced an unprecedented onslaught of media attention.  Although he was a child star who grew up in the public eye, very few people knew what was going on with this shy enigmatic young man who seemed to have no bad vice; had no girlfriends; never got into any negative publicity, and still lived at home with his parents.  Since there was nothing of substance to report, the tabloids started up speculations about Michael possibly being gay (romantically tying him to song writer Clifton Davis and then to the singer Boy George); taking hormones to keep his voice artificially high; his isolation and disconnect from everyday people; his affinity for childish fantasies (Disneyland and keeping mannequins for company); his love for exotic animals (e.g., having a pet chimp, a boa constrictor and a private zoo at home), and never-ending rumors about altering his appearance to be made look like Diana Ross.<br /><br />Michael, the forever prankster, first thought it would be fun to see just how far the tabloid can be led on and he himself came up with elaborate hoax and pranks.  He posed for a picture laying in a hyperbaric chamber and his manager, Frank Dileo fed false rumors to the tabloid media — which he and Michael thought up — that Michael actually slept in a hyperbaric chamber in the hopes of prolonging his life.  Another false rumor circulated by Dileo was that Michael wanted to buy the bones of the Elephant Man.  The tabloid naturally ate up all such news and eventually started coming up with its own false rumors which became more salacious and mean-spirited in nature to the point that Michael realized that his innocent prank turned into a monster.  Thanks to the tabloid  media portrayal, the public was fed a completely false image of Michael who became a weird, wacky cartoon character and the butt of all media jokes on an international scale.<br /><br />Many attempts were made on his part to refute media misrepresentations up until the end of his life.  In 1984, Michael issued a two-page “open letter” statement to the press (which Frank Dileo read at a news conference) in which Michael reacted to each and every false allegations of the media against his character.  All this was to no avail.  Ultimately, the situation has gotten worse.  The media never stopped portraying Michael in a bad light.  Michael also became the target of an extortion brought on by the Chandler family accusing him of child molestation and his reputation and public image never fully recovered from false allegations.<br /><br />Often times he kept in touch with friends by phone calling them late at night or at odd hours sometimes miscalculating time zones.  After Lady Diana’s death it was revealed that several phone calls were made between Buckingham Palace and Neverland when Michael and Lady Diana had candid telephone conversations.<br /><br />Many recorded private conversations were posted on YouTube after Michael’s death.  Most notably a fairly lengthy series of telephone calls — referred to as the “Glenda” tapes — between an unidentified woman and Michael, which were apparently recorded by the woman’s jealous husband, who became suspicious of the long, late night telephone conversations his wife was having with another man.  It is not know whether the husband knew it was Michael Jackson on the other line.  The recordings were made at around 1992 when Michael was on his Dangerous Tour.<br /><br />Liked to make prank calls to various friends and acquaintances. Russell Crowe recalled such prank calls he received from Michael.  Many times he made prank calls (or answering his phone) using foreign accents and disguising his voice.<br />Released a fragrance with hologram on the bottle in the early 1990’s. It was called Mystique.<br /><br />Michael wore the perfume Black Orchid designed by Tom Ford.  He also reportedly liked Bal A Versailles by Jean Desprez.  According to Jermaine, Michael also liked to use a Dolce & Gabbana cologne with the red top.<br /><br />Michael used the perfume Obsession by Calvin Klein for Bubbles the monkey.  Bubbles also had impeccable designer clothing attire. Jermaine claims he sometimes ended up “borrowing” some of Bubbles clothes for his own kids.<br /><br />Gave a lecture/speech at Oxford University, London, UK, in 2001 to promote his “Heal The Kids” campaign.<br /><br />Patent no. 5255452, filed in 1992, is a special “gravity defying” pair of shoes registered to Michael Jackson.  He designed the shoes in order to perform the choreography for a special lean requiring a 45-degree angle especially for the song “Smooth Criminal”.<br /><br />Wore reading glasses that he normally purchased at Rite Aid, Walgreens or other convenience stores.  Dr. Murray claimed Michael had such poor eyesight that he should have been declared “legally blind.”<br /><br />Was a non-smoker, but empty cigarette packets were found in his personal belongings at the Carolwood residence.  Dr. Murray claimed Michael might have been a “closet smoker” and covered up the smell of cigarette smoke by using perfume excessively.<br />Always packed his own bags and suitcases.<br /><br />His clothes were custom-made by Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins.<br /><br />Michael brought in an array of singular trademarks such as a single sequined glove, fedora hat, Jheri curl, aviator sunglasses, red leather jacket with zippers, simple white T-shirt, and glittery white socks with short-hemmed black pants.<br />In 1989, Michael participated in an endorsement campaign for LA Gear footwear called “Unstoppable.”  Here is the official commercial .<br /><br />Wore armband to bring attention to and as a reminder of all the children suffering over the world.<br /><br />Wore shorter hemmed pants and glittery white socks to bring people’s attention to his footwork while he was performing.<br />Had a messy personal bedroom where no one was allowed, mainly because too much stuff was taken from him by staff in the past. He had a separate bedroom where he actually ended up sleeping.<br /><br />Often slept on the floor on a mattress.  During sleepovers with children he slept on the floor in front of a fireplace or in sleeping bags.  Although he was accused of inappropriate behavior with children, through his life, Michael was emphatic that he never slept with children in the same bed.<br /><br />Had state-of-the-art speakers installed throughout his house including the bathrooms.  He often listened to unfinished works or demos while dressing up.<br /><br />Slept with lights on and classical music playing.<br /><br />Never wore a bathing suit after being diagnosed with vitiligo.  He wore pajama pants and t-shirt in the pool.<br /><br />Dreaded to go on tours, claimed he “would go through hell during touring.” He often suffered from dehydration after performing.<br />He battled insomnia since the 1980’s.<br /><br />Became dependent on strong painkillers after he had an accident in Munich (falling with the “cherry picker” during a performance).<br /><br />He has rarely or almost never seen the entry and the lobbies of any hotels he stayed at during his tours.  He was always ushered through back entries, freight elevators or kitchens.<br /><br />He often used sheets, pillow cases and other items which he signed for fans and then threw them from his hotel suite.<br />Was scared of dogs, especially small “yappers.”<br /><br />Was able to overcome his fear of dogs and got a chocolate Labrador, “Kenya,” for his children.  He also gifted a small dog, “Marshmallow”, to Rabbi Schmuley and his family.<br /><br />Had a sweet tooth.  His eldest son, Prince recalled beach walks they had in Bahrain in 2005, when they ate Snicker bars and drank Coca Cola.<br /><br />When he was a child, Michael always bought candies from his daily allowance and gave them away to neighboring kids in Gary, Indiana.  At his Neverland theatre, he had a full service concierge with variety of candy bars, donuts and sweets served for free for the audience.<br /><br />Liked to chew gums.  His favorite gums were Bazookas.<br /><br />During the Jackson 5 era, he often played basketball with his brothers and family tournaments with other Motown groups like The Temptations. His long-time friend, Frank Cascio, claims that Michael was “shockingly bad” at any sports and by his observation, Michael couldn’t even dribble the basketball.<br /><br />After a minor fire incident, he had his own fire department on premises at Neverland Ranch.<br /><br />Had a zoo of exotic animals at Neverland Ranch including tigers, giraffes, alpacas, llamas, elephants, peacocks and snakes. Michael’s menagerie included:  Bubbles (chimpanzee), Graveyard (orangutan), Muscles (python), Louie and Lola (llamas), Mr. Tibbs (ram), Gypsy (elephant), Thriller and Sabu (tigers), Black Girl, Spanky, Shadow and Sasha (dogs), Jabbar, Rambo, Princess and Annie Sue (giraffes), MJ (alligator).<br /><br />He liked to feed his animals with candies.  The apes loved to eat Jujubes and Nerds.  His baby bear loved Skittles.  His elephants drank sodas and ate Starbursts.<br /><br />Since it was such a rural area, he had roads built and fortified in order to get to Neverland Ranch.  He often entertained and invited over sick and underprivileged children normally by the bus loads to his ranch.<br /><br />Liked white wine.  He often drank it out of soda cans when children were around so they would not see him consume alcohol.<br />Called wine “Jesus juice.”<br /><br />Was raised and practiced as a Jehovah’s Witness until 1987.  Five days per week, Michael and his mother often went “pioneering” door-to-door in the neighborhood of Encino spreading the word of Jehovah.<br /><br />The original song title for “Thriller” was “Starlight Sign.”  Michael started recording the song as “Starlight Sign,” but as the recording sessions developed, the lyrics were changed and ultimately the song’s title, too.<br /><br />Asked his attorney, John Branca, to destroy the video “Thriller” before it was released, because he was criticized by the Jehovah’s Witness church elders for its contents.  Branca told him a (possibly untrue) story about Bela Lugosi, a devout Catholic who played “Dracula” (whom Michael liked), who had disclaimers on his movies saying that his films were not endorsing vampirism.  Michael instructed a similar disclaimer be put on “Thriller” and thus it was ultimately released.<br /><br />“Carousel” was to be released on “Thriller.”  The last minute, it was replaced with the song “Human Nature.” Almost 600 different demos for songs were considered for the “Thriller” album by Quincy Jones.<br /><br />“Rock With You” was the most often-used song for outside/beach roller skating in the early 1980′s.<br /><br />“Scared of the Moon” was written by Michael after hearing a story about a relative of Brooke Shields’ lifelong fear of the moon.  The concept was so foreign to Michael that it inspired him to write a song about this phenomena.  Michael himself admired the earth and the planets, he loved to make wishes upon stars, never missed to say a prayer every time he witnessed a beautiful sunset or sunrise and loved to go outside at night just to gaze at stars and admire the moon in its forever changing phases.<br /><br />The lines “ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma ku sa” in “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” are Michael’s spin on a Swahili type chant. It is a nonsensical catchy phrase and it does not really mean anything.  The original line — which goes  ”ma ma ko, ma ma sa, ma ko ma ko sa”  — is from a Cameroonean artist, Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” which was released in 1973.  The Dibango line does not have a coherent translation either although “makossa” is believed to refer to the twisting and shaking movements of a dancer.<br /><br />“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” was to be a duet with Whitney Houston, but Arista, Houston’s recording company did not give permission for Whitney to record the song with Michael.  They never got to collaborate on any songs.<br /><br />He liked the drink Red Bull.<br /><br />Was often regarded as a vegetarian, but he was not.  According to Dr. Murray he “ate poorly, always chicken and rice”. According to Kai Chase, his chef, Michael liked spinach salads and granola with almond milk.<br /><br />He loved traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams and — his personal favorite — cranberry sauce.<br />His favorite junk food place was KFC.  He would take the skin off the chicken and then jokingly comment “now I made it organic.”<br /><br />Michael loved to take his kids to drive-through fast food restaurants and he placed the orders himself.<br /><br />Made the “world’s best french toasts” for breakfast, according to his daughter, Paris.<br /><br />In his 30′s, he kept a strict schedule of fasting on Sundays.  He spent most of his Sundays practicing dance moves in his home studio.<br /><br />During practicing, he often listened to Janet’s music (such as “The Knowledge,” “Pleasure Principle,” and “Rhythm Nation”) because he loved the beat of her songs.<br /><br />Had a minor fear of flying.  Despite his discomfort of flying, Frank Cascio, a close personal friend, reported this very statement made by Michael himself.  “Listen, when you’re flying with me, you don’t have to worry about the plane going down. I’m not going to die in a plane crash. No, that’s not going to happen. I’m going to die from a shot.”  [Cascio, Frank (2011-11-15). My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man (p. 123). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition].  Ironically, Michael did die from a “shot,” but not a gunshot as he probably meant it.<br /><br />Michael loved trains and often opted to travel by train instead of airplanes in order to see the countryside and relax.  He often chartered private railcars on Amtrak and also traveled with trains in Europe during his various concert tours.<br /><br />Michael owned a large Neoplan luxury touring bus, which he used many times to take trips to different parts of the country, including Arizona, San Francisco and the East Coast.<br /><br />Was a great admirer of Charlie Chaplin. He made several drawings and sketches of Chaplin and he visited Chaplin’s widow in Switzerland during his tour.  The song “Smile” was originally written by Charlie Chaplin.<br /><br />Was a great admirer of Walt Disney.  Both Disney and Michael had their own mini trains.  Michael’s was in perfect working condition at Neverland.<br /><br />Was a great admirer of Fred Astaire. Astaire called him after his television performance debuting “Moonwalk” and called Michael a “hell of a dancer.”<br /><br />Was a great admirer of Houdini and magic in general.<br /><br />Was friends with the late Doug Henning, David Blaine and Uri Geller.<br /><br />Was a fan of the Bee Gees.  He often visited Barry Gibbs at his home and they collaborated on numerous songs together.<br />Was a big fan of “The Three Stoogies” and admittedly watched their movies over and over again.<br /><br />Was a huge “Star Wars” fan.  Befriended Carrie Fisher (who played Princess Leia) through Elizabeth Taylor.<br /><br />Loved comic books and superheroes.  His favorite character was “Morph” from X-Men.  He reportedly wanted to audition to play the role “Professor Xavier” in the X-Men movie.<br /><br />Wanted to play in Steven Spielberg’s movie “Hook,” but withdrew from the project after he learned that Spielberg’s take on the Peter Pan story was different from what Michael envisioned.<br /><br />Michael had a movie production company called Lost Boys Productions. Lost Boys Production was the production company that Evan Chandler (father of Jordan Chandler who accused Michael of inappropriate conduct in 1993) hoped to get in on. Evan Chandler tried to extort money from Michael once he found out he would not be a part of Lost Boys Production.  Later, Chandler did have one of his screenplays materialized as a movie directed by Mel Brooks called “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”.  Evan Chandler died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an apparent suicide on November 5, 2009.<br /><br />Michael and his family (including young Janet, Randy and oldest sister, Rebbie) did many television skits/variety shows in the late 1970′s.  Even though Michael was not too enthusiastic about them — as he later recalled in his biography “Moonwalk” –  all episodes showcase an amazing dancing repertoire of Michael:  “I Shot The Sheriff” (1974);  “The World is a Mess” (funny choir skit with the brothers); Tap Dancing Competition.<br /><br />Played the Scarecrow in the musical “The Wiz,” in 1978.  Quincy Jones recalled that Michael was always “super-prepared” for any scenes on the set of “The Wiz.”  His Scarecrow makeup took hours to put on (which Michael endured with amazing patience and enthusiasm).  Michael knew every dance step, every word of dialogue and all the lyrics to every song by everyone in the entire production.<br /><br />He appeared in a full feature-length movie called “Moonwalker” which was released in 1988.<br /><br />He appeared in a 3-D science fiction movie called “Captain Eo” that was released in 1986 in Disneyland and Disneyworld.  Following a more than ten-year hiatus, Disney re-released “Captain Eo” after Michael’s death in 2009.<br /><br />After working on “The Wiz,” with Quincy Jones, they collaborated on Michael’s first adult solo album “Off The Wall.”<br /><br />Had a cameo appearance in The Simpsons in the episode entitled “Stark Raving Dad.“  He loaned his speaking voice but contractually he could not sing on the show nor could he use his own name in the credits.  He wrote the song “Lisa It’s Your Birthday” but did not sing the version as it appeared in the episode.<br /><br />Wrote a song called “Do the Bartman” which was performed by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson.<br />Had cameo appearance in “Men in Black” as “Agent M.”<br /><br />Appeared in a 2004 comedy, “Miss Castaway and the Island Girls” as “Agent MJ”.<br /><br />Michael referred to his music videos as “short films.”  Despite his huge success and history as a child performer, marketing his short films to the public was not easy.  MTV, the only music television channel at the time (established in 1981), did not air/play black artists’ songs.  After the huge success of his Thriller album in 1983, Michael made the first breakthrough after which MTV started playing not only Michael’s music videos but other black artists’ as well.<br /><br />“Billie Jean” was not one specific person but rather a personification of women who often claimed in history that famous people fathered their children. By his recollection, Michael laid down the entire basis for the song “Billie Jean” in 3 minutes while he was riding in a car.<br /><br />The tune of “Strangers in Moscow” appears as background music for a Sega game.<br /><br />“She’s Out of My Life” was a song hard to record because Michael broke down crying at the end of every take.  Quincy Jones ultimately decided to go with the very first take of the song because it was obvious that Michael couldn’t have otherwise recorded this song.  Tatum O’Neal later claimed that Michael probably recorded this song with her in his mind.  Michael and Tatum briefly dated in 1978.<br /><br />Proposed marriage to Brooke Shields, but she did not accept his proposal.<br /><br />Kept Post-It notes in his bedroom and bathrooms or wrote reminders/notes on bathroom mirrors with markers. Mostly they were positive motivational thoughts for him to look at. He surrounded himself with photos of children.<br /><br />Always had a picture of Shirley Temple (as a child) and Elizabeth Taylor in his dressing room.<br /><br />After the release of “Thriller” as his fame rose, his isolation was such that he had life-size mannequins in his bedroom to keep him company.  He sometimes would go out late at night desperately looking for someone to talk to in the Encino neighborhood.<br />Has numerous entries in the Guinness Book of World Records.  “This Is It” the 50-concert tour was to be another one of Michael’s greatest achievements and to be recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records.  Michael would have taken the title over from Prince (the singer).<br /><br />Won countless awards in his lifetime which are listed in 81 different categories on Wikipedia.<br /><br />Bought the ATV Music catalog in 1984 (which contains the majority of The Beatles compositions) for $47.5 million.  This music catalog currently is estimated to be worth as much as $1.5 billion.<br /><br />Loved using symbols especially the number “7”.  There are numerous websites listing ever-growing examples on how the number “7” was dominant in Michael’s life.<br /><br />“Little Susie” was written after Michael saw the picture of Gottfried Helmmwein called “Beautiful Victim.”<br /><br />According to Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s real inspiration for “Smooth Criminal” were notorious serial killer “The Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez and San Ysidro McDonald’s mass murderer James Huberty (who also sent threatening letters and stalked The Jacksons during their Victory tour).<br /><br />Accounts vary on the real inspiration behind “Remember the Time.”  Some say, Michael wrote this song for Diana Ross.  Others claim, Michael wrote the song for Debbie Rowe (his second wife).<br /><br />Loved to dress in uniforms and be photographed with police and military personnel.<br /><br />Did not wear jewelry only for photo ops or for special/publicity events.  He said jewelry got in the way of dancing.<br /><br />Michael liked to wear disguise in public just to get a bit of privacy.  This way he could visit Disneyland and spend uninterrupted time to relax.  He wore fat suits, false mustache or beard, baggy clothes, fake glasses and face masks.  He used to say he could fool everyone with his disguises, except for the women. The women would recognize his walk; they had it all down.  Another thing that would give him away were his beloved penny loafer shoes.<br /><br />Met the following U.S. presidents:  Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.<br /><br />His favorite U.S. president was Abraham Lincoln.  Michael did a lot of sketches and paintings of several U.S. presidents while he worked in an art studio with Brett Livingstone Strong.<br /><br />Had subluxation of his right hip (hip would slip out of joints when bending to 90 degrees or greater).<br /><br />Had tooth implants on tooth #18 and #19 and a root canal on tooth #13.<br /><br />Had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome on both hands.<br /><br />Admitted to two major surgeries on his nose and having a cleft added to his chin.  His very first nose operation occurred after he fell at his Encino home during dance practice and broke his nose.<br /><br />Had permanent tattoos for eyebrows and lip color due to loss of pigmentation on his face caused by vitiligo.<br /><br />Had numerous surgeries on right knee.<br /><br />Michael’s nickname for Jermaine was “Earms”.<br />Michael’s nickname for Janet was “Donk” (short for donkey).<br /><br />Quincy Jones had a nickname for Michael called “Smelly” because Michael always could smell a good deal.  Michael’s other nickname was “Caspar” given to him by Suzanne DePasse in the 1970′s.  Bill Bray, his long-time personal manager used to call him “Joker.”  Frank DiLeo regularly called him “Kid.”<br /><br />Loved professional digital cameras and was quite knowledgeable about them.  His favorite camera was the Epic RED camera which also was used at filming of the rehearsals of “This is It.”<br /><br />Last song performed by Michael  was “Earth Song” on the evening of June 24, 2009, at Staples Center during rehearsals for the “This Is It” 50-concert tour.<br /><br />Last meal of Michael was some orange juice (an unfinished bottle was found at his bedside).  Kai Chase, Michael’s chef, testified at trial that she prepared white bean soup for Michael, but he never consumed it.<br /><br />Last words spoken by Michael – according to testimony from Dr. Conrad Murray given to the police on June 27, 2009 – “Dr. Conrad, please …  I need to sleep.  Just make me sleep.  Doesn’t matter what time I get up. I can’t function if I don’t sleep.  They will have to cancel [the tour] … and I don’t want them to cancel it.”<br /><br />Medications taken close to time of death: Clonazepam, Trazodone, Diazepam, Lorazepam, Flomax and Propofol (Diprivan).<br />Referred to Propofol (Diprivan) as “milk”.<br /><br />Date of death:  June 25, 2009 at 14:26 PST. It was a Thursday.<br /><br />Place of death:  Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA  (possibly 100 North Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90077)<br />Cause of death:  Acute Propofol intoxication administered by Dr. Conrad Murray who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011.<br /><br />Met Dr. Murray in 2006 in Las Vegas.  Both Michael and his children had flu-like symptoms and one of his bodyguards referred them to Dr. Murray.<br /><br />The news of Michael death on June 25, 2009, temporary crashed prominent websites like Wikipedia, Google and AOL.<br />Michael’s memorial which was held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009, was watched on TV and online by a combined one billion people.<br /><br />Michael was laid to rest on September 3, 2009, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California at the Great Mausoleum’s Holly Terrace.  His private funeral took place after sunset with a Jehovah’s Witness service.<br /><br />Michael’s grave is closed to the public, only visitors pre-approved by the family are allowed to pay their personal respect at his gravesite.  Flowers to Michael’s interment site can be arranged to be delivered through the flower shop at Forest Lawn, Glendale.<br />Michael was buried inside a golden/bronze Promethean casket (the same kind James Brown was buried in whose funeral Michael attended in December 2006).<br /><br />LaToya described that Michael was dressed in a suit with pearl beads and wore a large golden belt.  His hair and makeup was done by long-time friend and makeup artist, Karen Faye.  He did not wear his signature one glove, but one was placed inside his casket along with a pair of sunglasses and a necklace that Paris, his daughter, gave to Michael.<br /><br />The Internet has an estimated 15 billion Michael Jackson-related sites (as of December 2011).<br /><br />MJ Radio From The Jackson 5 to Michael Jackson era. - MjTunes is an on-line radio station dedicated to stream Michael’s music exclusively.<br /><br />Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait is a website dedicated to creating a “living” art to salute Michael.  The artist David Ilan is preparing a drawing using only hand-drawn dots (pointillism).  Each dot represents one person.  One million dots are needed for the drawing to be completed.  Getting a dot is free.<br /><br />In December 2009, Kraken Opus, a British publishing company produced its premium, oversized edition of the Michael Jackson Opus, which contains 404 pages, over 300 rare photographs, various artworks, exclusive interviews with Michael’s personal friends and business collaborators on 13 x 18 inch pages each, weighing a massive 26.5 lbs. (12 kg).  Michael actually had a chance to review the final draft of the Opus in June 2009 shortly before his death.<br /><br />Jermaine wrote a book about Michael entitled “You Are Not Alone – Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes” which was released in 2011.<br />LaToya wrote a book about Michael entitled “Starting Over” which was released in 2011.<br />Michael’s mother wrote a book about Michael entitled “Never Can Say Goodbye: The Katherine Jackson Story” which was released in 2010.<br /><br />In June 1984, Michael set his hand and footprints in cement for part of the Las Vegas Walk of Fame Project – which was later canceled.  The full-size 30″ x 30″ slab – weighing 500 lbs cement slab was up for sale at an auction recently.<br />On January 26, 2012, Michael’s three children impressed Michael’s hand and footprints (using Michael’s glove and shoes to make the impression) at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.  Justin Bieber paid tribute to Michael at this ceremony and sang a little bit of “Rockin’ Robin.”<br /><br />Michael was inducted to the Walk of Fame on November 20, 1984.  His star is located directly in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.<br /><br />There are 14 different wax figures all over the world modeled after Michael.  The most recent ones were unveiled in 2009, at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood, California and on June 18, 2012 at Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong.<br /><br />THRILL THE WORLD is an annual international dance event – originally started in 2006 – in which participants (from pre-teens to the elderly) simultaneously re-enact the famous zombie dance seen in Michael’s short film “Thriller.” The dancers perform the same set choreography as seen in “Thriller” in unison at locations throughout the world with the intent of breaking world record for the Guinness World Record for Largest Thriller Dance in one location.  The next upcoming Thrill The World event is to take place on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. GMT<br /><br />Michael’s brothers announced that a new concert series, entitled The Unity Tour is set to kick off in June 2012.  The brothers plan to have Michael also be part of the concerts using his image either by hologram or video screens.<br /><br />For the 25th anniversary of the release of “Bad,” Michael’s estate [size=12pt]will not only re-release this album but will also add several unfinished and previously unreleased songs by Michael (considering as much as 20 of them)[/size].  The targetted release date is September 18, 2012.  All newly released songs will have been recorded around 1987, the “Bad” era.  One of the songs was identified as “Don’t Be Messin’ Around.”<br />
<br /><br />I hope more songs will be released!!! :bowdown: :bowdown: :Michael_Jackson_smiley_by_red

Comments

  • i thoroughly enjoyed reading that. thank you.
  • MJonmindMJonmind Posts: 7,290
    on 1340279250:
    <br />i thoroughly enjoyed reading that. thank you.<br />
    <br />You're welcome!  I really enjoyed it because it was so to the point, without having to read through so much mumbo-jumbo.
  • When did he have an appendectomy?!!
  • [size=14pt]Was the appendectomy Michael Jackson had mentioned in the autopsy report? The appendectomy was not even mentioned in the autopsy report. This is a sign to me that the autopsy report was not Michael Joe Jackson's but someone else's. This means Michael Joe Jackson is alive and the dead body was not his. Michael Jackson was wrongly identified on his death date. [/size]
  • SEHFSEHF Posts: 954
    heh
  • How credible is the author of that list? I guess they took his appendix when they took his bellybutton huh?  :TongueOutSmiley: The extra rib thing reminds me of the rumor back in the 90s about Janet having a rib removed to achieve her flat stomach. Guess she gave MJ her rib  :) Maybe we should call them Adam and Eve  :TongueOutSmiley: Ijk
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