Personal Background
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on the 29th August 1958 in Gary, Indiana, the child of Joe, a mill worker and Katherine.
He has eight siblings - Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, LaToya, Janet and Randy.
In the early days, the family lived in a two-bedroom house on a street which was later re-named Jackson Boulevard in their honour.
Coached by Joe, the family formed the pop group, The Jackson 5, consisting of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The group went onto become one of the singing phenomenons of the 70s.
At the age of 11, in 1968, The Jackson 5 signed to the Motown label and the group released their first single. They became the first group in pop history to have their first four singles topping music charts.
While working on a film musical, The Wiz, Michael met music producer Quincy Jones, who went onto transform Michael's career and help him become the undisputed King of Pop we know today.
In 1979 the fruits of their labour were realised when Michael's first solo album, Off The Wall, was the first album to have four top 10 US hits for one artist. This was followed by Thriller, four years later, which would become the biggest selling album in history, with over 65 million copies sold to date.
In 1985 the charity single, We Are The World, written by Michael and Lionel Richie, hit the number one spot in the US. By now Michael was well on his way to becoming a musical force to be reckoned with.
But his career was not without its lows
A Granada TV documentary in 2003, titled Living with Michael Jackson, opened a can of controversy for the star when he told journalist Martin Bashir he often shared his bedroom with young child "friends".
This led to him being arrested on charges of child molestation in 2003. Even though he was cleared of all charges in June 2005, the trail impacted on his career irrevocably.
For a period he shunned the limelight and moved to Dubai, but it seemed scandal would follow him everywhere as this too turned sour when the king of Bahrain's son, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, sued Michael, over allegations of a broken music contract.
Off stage, Michael's personal life wasn't without its own complications either. He was married twice, first to Lisa Marie Presley (1994-1996) and later to Debbie Rowe (1996-1999) the mother of his children, Prince Michael Jr and Paris.
His third child, Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), was born to an unknown surrogate mother.
Family life aside, his private life also came under scrunity as various wild rumours about the star surfaced. In the 80s and 90s newspapers were full of stories claiming that Michael slept in an oxygen tent, clothed his pet chimp, Bubbles, in matching oufits and that he had offered to buy the Elephant Man's bones.
When he started to appear in public wearing a surgical mask, rumours also began to emerge about his appearance, particularly with regards to the thinning of his nose and alleged plastic surgery failures.
This year was tipped as the comeback of the century for Michael. After years away from the stage, he thrilled fans everywhere when he announced a series of comeback concerts in London, starting in July.
But this was not to be.
Michael suffered a suspected heart attack at his LA home on Thursday the 25th June.
He was pronounced dead just before 10.30pm, British time, after being taken to hospital in a coma.
His brother, Jermaine, told reporters: "My brother, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday, June 25, at 2.26pm.
Michael may be gone, but he certainly won't be forgotten.
A look at his music success is proof of this.
As mentioned above, his album Thriller has sold 65m copies and is to-date, the best selling album of all time. His other album successes include Bad selling 28m, Dangerous 29m and HIStory 18m.
As Michael himself once said: "My goal in life is to give to the world what I was lucky to receive: the ecstasy of divine union through my music and my dance."
Latest Tributes
G.O.A.T GREATEST OF ALL TIME - Michael was truly a gift from god,may he rest in peace.R.I.P - from Kyndra
Legend - Michael Jackson was one in a billion, he had true star quality and more talent than most of us could even dream of. - from Alan
Latest Memories
Ana - "Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight.
Here one day, gone one night."
Michael, you have "Gone Too Soon" but while I'm alive you will never be forgotten. Although you are not with us anymore I know that:
"You are there,
You are there
You are there somewhere
No matter where I go or what I do
You are there to help me see it through,
So every night I say a prayer,
Just because you're there (...) Everywhere."
I Love you... May you Rest In Peace.
Yours forever,
Ana (Portugal)