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What a sad day it is. An iconic music artist has passed on. I’m sure everyone knows who he is, for he’s the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I’ve compiled some of his career milestones which I’m gonna highlight on.

Named as Michael Joseph Jackson, he is the 7th of nine children in the Jackson family, he debuted on the music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. The Jackson 5 had huge hits like “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “Blame It On the Boogie”, and “I’ll Be There”.

Starting in 1972, Michael released a total of four solo studio albums with Motown, among them is “Got to Be There” and “Ben”. These were released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and produced successful singles such as “Got to Be There”, “Ben” and a remake of Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin”.

Off the Wall Era

In 1978, Jackson starred as Scarecrow in the film musical “The Wiz”. The musical scores were arranged by Quincy Jones, who formed a partnership with Michael during the film’s production and agreed to produce the singer’s next solo album “Off the Wall”.

Released August 10th, 1979 on Epic Records, Michael collaborated with a number of other writers and performers such as Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. He also wrote several of the songs himself, including the lead single, “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”. The album spawned 5 singles in total.

Thriller Era

Thriller is the 6th studio album by Michael Jackson and is considered the best selling album of all time. The album was released on November 30th, 1982. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including funk, disco, soul, soft rock, R&B and pop. However, Thriller’s lyrics deal with generally darker themes, including paranoia and the supernatural.

Assisted by producer Quincy Jones, Jackson wrote four of Thriller’s nine tracks. Seven of the album’s nine songs were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thriller cemented Michael’s status as one of the predominant pop stars of the late 20th century, and enabled him to break down racial barriers via his appearances on MTV.

The album remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks, 37 weeks at the peak. On March 25, 1983, Michael performed live on a television special, both with The Jackson 5 and on his own singing “Billie Jean”. This broadcast debuts his signature dance move—the moonwalk.

Among the albums of Michael’s career, this album is the one that is the most significant. I’m sure everyone would recognise most of the singles and videos from this album.

Bad Era

Bad is the 7th studio album by Michael Jackson and was released on August 31st 1987. This record was released nearly five years after his last studio album. Bad is also the first, and currently the only album ever to feature five Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles.

This album sees Michael have even more freedom over his album than he did with the two previous albums, Off the Wall and Thriller. He wrote and composed 9 of the album’s 11 tracks, and co-wrote and produced another; “Man in the Mirror”.

Dangerous Era

Dangerous is the eighth album by Michael Jackson and was released on November 26th, 1991. It became his second to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Nine singles were released in total from the album.

The major single successes from the album were “Black or White”, “Remember the Time”, “In the Closet”, “Heal the World”, “Who Is It”, and “Will You Be There”.

HIStory Era

HIStory is a double album by Michael Jackson, and is released on June 20th, 1995. This is Michael’s ninth album. The first disc, named “HIStory Begins” consists of a selection of Jackson’s greatest hits from the singer’s past fifteen years, while the second, named “HIStory Continues” features new songs.

The album hsa 5 singles. “Scream/Childhood”, “You Are Not Alone”, “Earth Song”, “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Stranger in Moscow”.

One of the single “Scream”, a duet between Michael and sister Janet, who had agreed to do a duet with her brother after she felt that she “had made it to the top” and she didn’t fear that she’d “had to ride Michael’s coattails”.

Invincible Era

Invincible is the tenth and final studio album by Michael. The album art, an image of Jackson’s face, is available in five different colors – red, green, orange, blue and silver.

The album spawned three singles, “You Rock My World”, “Cry” and “Butterflies”. Being his first studio album in six years (after 1995’s HIStory), expectations were high. Invincible competed a race for the top of the Billboard 200 with some other big releases, Enrique Iglesias’s new album Escape being its biggest contender. In the end, Invincible won the top.

Invincible is generally a commercial success, debuting atop the charts in 13 countries and going on to sell approximately 10 million copies worldwide. It went double-platinum in the US. However, the sales for Invincible were notably low compared to his previous releases, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute.