http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/66888

The Jackson 5 became successful fairly quickly and were signed by Barry Gordy onto Motown Records in 1968, but it all came at a price. Joe Jackson pushed his sons to perfection, and often resorted to violence. After relocating to Los Angeles, the group released several number one singles. At 13 years old, Michael launched a solo career in addition to working with the Jackson 5. His first number one single was a ballad about a rat, “Ben”.

With producer Quincy Jones, Michael released his sixth solo album: 1979′s Off The Wall. In 1982, Thriller, the most successful album of all time, was released. It generated 7 Top Ten Hits, including “Billie Jean” (the song in which Michael debuted the soon-to-be-famous moonwalk on a Motown TV special). The album earned twelve Grammy nominations, and won eight.

Jackson released 5 more albums throughout his lifetime: Bad; Dangerous; HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I; the remix album Blood On the Dance Floor; and Invincible. None of these equaled the success of Thriller, partly because Michael’s child molestation allegations; first in 1993, then again in 2004. He was acquitted of all charges on both cases, but it was out of his control–Michael Jackson’s reputation was permanently scarred.

In 2008, Jackson announced that he would be performing a series of 50 concerts in the O2 Arena (London) beginning July 8, 2009. These concerts, titled “This Is It”, would be his last live performances ever. We saw the tickets sell out completely within 4 hours.

Michael Jackson, “The King Of Pop”, died suddenly of cardiac arrest on June 25th, 2009 in LA–just before the premiere of his concert series. He was only 50 years old.