The King moonwalks to heaven

An autopsy was scheduled for Friday,US time. No final reason for the death was given,but there were suspicions of medication having gone wrong. Authorities said it could be some days before a definite reason was identified.

In his death,and more than any of those past icons,Jackson left a complicated legacy. As a child star,he was so talented he seemed lit from within; as a middle-aged man,he was viewed as something akin to a visiting alien who,like Tinkerbell,would cease to exist if the applause ever stopped.

It was impossible in the early 1980s to imagine the final chapters of Jackson’s life. In that decade,he became the world’s most popular entertainer thanks to a series of hit records — Beat It,Billie Jean,Thriller — and dazzling music videos. Perhaps the best dancer of his generation,he created his own iconography: the single shiny glove,the Moonwalk,the signature red jacket and the Neverland Ranch.

In recent years,he inspired fascination for completely different reasons. Years of plastic surgery had made his face a bizarre landscape. He was deeply in debt. He had not toured since 1997 or released new songs since 2001. News about him included reports of strange personal behaviour,including allegations of child molestation.

A frail-looking Jackson had spent his last weeks in rehearsal for an ambitious comeback attempt and 50 already-sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena. A major motivation was the $300 million in debt run up by a star who lived like royalty even though his self-declared title of King of Pop was more about the past than the present.

“In pop history,there’s a triumvirate of pop icons: Sinatra,Elvis and Michael,that define the whole culture… His music bridged races and ages and absolutely defined the video age. Nothing that came before him or that has come after him will ever be as big as he was,” said Tommy Mottola,former president of Sony Music,which released Jackson’s music for 16 years.

Jackson “had it all. . . . talent,grace,professionalism and dedication,” said Quincy Jones,Jackson’s collaborator on his most important albums and the movie The Wiz. “His legacy will be felt upon the world forever.”

Jackson was born August 29,1958,in Gary,Indiana. His mother,Katherine,would say that there was something special about the fifth of her nine children. “I don’t believe in reincarnation,” she said,“but you know how babies move uncoordinated? He never moved that way. When he danced,it was like he was an older person.”

Katherine taught her children folk songs. Her husband,Joseph,a crane-operator who once played with the R&B band the Falcons,played guitar and coached his sons. The boys were soon performing at local benefits.

By 1968,the Jacksons had cut singles for an Indiana label called Steeltown. That year,they moved to California,and in August 1968 they gave a breakthrough performance at a Beverly Hills club called The Daisy. Their first album,‘Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5’,was released in December 1969,and it yielded the No. 1 hit I Want You Back,with 11-year-old Michael on the lead vocals. ABC,I’ll Be There and other hits followed,and the group soon had their own television series,a Saturday morning cartoon and an array of licensed merchandise aimed at youngsters.

There was a price: childhood.

“I never had the chance to do the fun things kids do,” Jackson once explained. “There was no Christmas,no holiday celebrating. So now you try to compensate for some of that loss.”

Joseph Jackson ruled the family,by most accounts,with his fists and a bellowing rage. In a 2003 documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir,Jackson said his father often brandished a belt during rehearsals and hit his sons or shoved them into walls if they made a misstep. His father,Jackson said,ridiculed him for his pug nose and adolescent acne.

He was terrified of his father,Jackson told Bashir. Onstage,he knew no fear.

“I hate to admit it,but I feel strange around everyday people,” he said on one occasion. “See,my whole life has been onstage,and the impression I get of people is applause,standing ovations and running after you. In a crowd,I’m afraid. Onstage,I feel safe. If I could,I would sleep on the stage. I’m serious.”

By 1972,Jackson had his first solo album,‘Got to Be There’,which included the title hit as well as Rockin’ Robin. His first solo No. 1 single came the same year — the forlorn theme song from the movie Ben.

In 1978,Michael made his film debut as the Scarecrow in The Wiz,a black-cast adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The movie launched a creative and commercial partnership with Wiz music director Quincy Jones.

The first fruit of their collaboration was ‘Off the Wall’ (1979),Jackson’s debut album on the Epic label. It sold 5 million copies in the US and 2 million abroad and generated four Top 10 singles.

It was with Jones (and the often-overlooked songwriter Rod Temperton) that Jackson shaped ‘Thriller’,which was released near the end of 1982 and became the best-selling studio album in history and a cultural landmark. Its effect on the music industry and the music videos that came to define the then-nascent MTV was huge.

In a Motown TV special in 1983,Jackson,then 24,electrified the nation with his Moonwalk,a dance step that created the illusion of levitation. He took the stage in a black sequined jacket,silver shirt,black fedora and black trousers that skimmed the tops of his white socks. The final touch was a single white glove,studded with rhinestones.

Not only did ‘Thriller’ smash sales records as the bestselling album of 1983,it made Jackson the first artist to top four charts simultaneously: It was the No. 1 pop single,pop album,R&B single and R&B album. It earned five Grammy Awards. Jay Cocks wrote in Time magazine that Jackson “just may be the most popular black singer ever.”

The ‘Thriller’ success enabled Jackson to negotiate what were believed to be the highest royalty rates ever earned by a recording artist. But it also put him in a cage of his own anxieties and obsession.

Jackson bonded with past pop-music royalty by marrying Lisa Marie Presley in 1994 and grabbing a major interest in the Beatles’ catalogue,an asset worth $500 million. The marriage was short-lived,however,and his wealth was imperiled by an extravagant lifestyle that included the 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley,where he lived with a menagerie of exotic pets.

Jackson became a prisoner of his own celebrity. He became so accustomed to bodyguards and assistants that he once admitted that he trembled if he had to open his own front door. He compared himself to “a haemophiliac who can’t afford to be scratched in any way.”

Then came the dark whispers about the nature of his relationship with boys.

In 1993,he was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy who was a frequent overnight guest in his home. Jackson’s attorney charged that the boy’s father was trying to extort money. The criminal investigation was closed after the boy refused to testify. A civil lawsuit was settled for a reported $20 million.

A second case unfolded in November 2003. Acting on accusations by a 13-year-old cancer patient who had stayed at Jackson’s ranch,Santa Barbara authorities arrested the star. The 14-week trial ended June 13,2005 with Jackson’s acquittal.

Jackson acknowledged in the interview with Bashir that,despite the cases,he still invited children to share his bedroom and saw nothing wrong with it. “It’s not sexual,” he insisted. “I tuck them in,have hot milk,give them cookies. It’s very charming,it’s very sweet.”

At his 45th birthday in August 2003,hundreds of fans paid $30 each or more for admission to an old downtown Los Angeles movie palace,where largely amateur or obscure performers sang,lip-synced or danced to the fallen idol’s hits. Most of the seats reserved for A-list guests went begging.

When Jackson took the stage to join in a rendition of We Are the World,he was flanked not by the likes of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder,as he was when the famous song was first recorded,but by several Jackson impersonators.

The curious public event only underscored the decline of his career.

There was intense curiosity about his physical metamorphosis. Jackson insisted his wan complexion was the result of treatment for a skin disorder called vitiligo,but that did not explain why his once-broad nose became long,sleek and pertly tipped.

He admitted to two nose operations,but cosmetic surgeons who studied his photographs surmised that he had undergone far more,possibly so many that he had destroyed the cartilage.

In 1996,Jackson married his former nurse,Debbie Rowe,who bore two of his three children,Prince Michael Jr and Paris Michael Katherine. He did not disclose the identity of the mother of his third child,Prince Michael II. He had the children wear elaborate masks whenever they went out with him.

Several months after Prince Michael II’s birth,Jackson dangled the baby outside an upper-story hotel window in Berlin to show the child to fans assembled below. He later acknowledged that he had shown poor judgment.

He is survived by his children,his parents,and siblings Maureen,Jackie,Tito,Jermaine,Marlon,Randy,LaToya and Janet.