Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was born and raised in Gary, Ind. His birthday was Aug. 29, 1958, and his height was 5'9". He died at age 50 on June 25, 2009. The iconic artist first found fame performing with his four brothers in the Jackson 5 when he was still a child, with the group finding fame beginning in the early '70s. Although his solo debut on Motown 'Got to Be There' was released in 1972 (it peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200; its lead single and title track reached No. 4 on the Hot 100), he truly launched his solo career with 1979’s ‘Off the Wall,’ which hit No. 3 and produced four top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including two No. 1s: the classics “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock With You.” Over the course of his career, his accomplishments on the Billboard charts were numerous: 13 of his solo singles went to No. 1, with 30 of his songs reaching the top 10 and six albums topping the Billboard 200. 1982's 'Thriller' became the best-selling studio album of all time and spent 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1983-1984, becoming the first album to produce seven top 10 Hot 100 singles, with two of them topping the tally -- "Billie Jean" for seven weeks, and "Beat It" for three. The King of Pop is also the only artist to have top 10 hits on the Hot 100 across five consecutive decades (1970s–2010s). Following his death in 2009, Jackson achieved another unprecedented feat when three of his albums claimed the top three positions on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts simultaneously. He won 13 Grammys during his lifetime, including a record-setting eight Grammys in one year. Among the Grammys he received were record of the year for "Beat It," album of the year for 'Thriller,' best R&B song for "Billie Jean," best music video short form for "Leave Me Alone" and "Scream," and more. The King of Pop collaborated with many stars during his career, including Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, sister Janet Jackson, Rockwell and even The Simpsons. ‘MJ The Musical’ opened on Broadway in 2021; it was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won four.