Aug. 29, 1958: Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, He is the seventh child among the nine born to steelworker Joe Jackson and wife Katherine
1964: Jackson 5 established, with Michael as lead singer
1970: I Want You Back by Jackson 5 tops charts at No 1
1971: Jackson begins his solo career at age 13
1978: Jackson appears in the film version of The Wiz
Aug 5, 1979: Off the Wall, the first album by Michael, 21, is released. It produced four hits and spent eight months in the Top 10
1982: Thriller is released and tops the US charts for 37 weeks straight, with hits including Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller
1983: Jackson premieres his signature Moonwalk. The 14 minute mini-movie for Thriller becomes a huge hit
1984: Hair catches fire while he’s filming an ad for Pepsi, and he is seriously injured. Undergoes surgery for burns and is rumoured to have plastic surgery. Claimed his fair complexion is due to vitiligo, a skin disease
1987: Bad is released which is a smash hit
1991: Jackson’s controversial Black or White video debuts on TV. Releases a third successful album, Dangerous. Also that year, cruises the Caribbean with Macaulay Culkin,11 , who claimed they slept in same bed
Feb 24, 1993: Receives the Living Legend Award at 35th Grammy Awards in LA
Nov 15, 1993: Lawyers for 13-yr-old file suit against Jackson for sexual abuse. He later settles out of court
May 1994: Secretly ties the knot with Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. They divorce in Jan 1996
Nov 13, 1996: Jackson and his dermatologist’s
secretary, Debbie Rowe, already pregnant, secretly wed; they later have two children
May 1997: Blood on the Dance Floor is released but sells only one million copies
October 1999: Jackson and Rowe file for divorce
October 2001: Jackson is inducted in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The album Invincible — which reportedly cost $30 million to produce — flops
Nov 19, 2002: Dangles his third child, baby Prince Michael II (whom he calls ‘Blanket’), over a fourth-floor balcony at a Berlin hotel, shocking fans on the street
2003: The widely publicised and highly controversial Living with Michael Jackson documentary runs on American and British TV. The documentary reveals that Jackson still has sleepovers with young boys and that his third baby was the child of a surrogate mother. Jackson is furious with the piece and goes on-air to blast
