At the age of 5 Michael began his musical career as the lead singer of the Jackson 5 who formed in 1964. In the early years the Jackson 5 - Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and lead singer Michael played local clubs and bars in Gary Indiana and moving further afield as their talents grew and they could compete in bigger competitions.

In 1977 Michael made his first film debut when he starred in the musical 'The Wiz' playing Scarecrow with Diana Ross in the lead role of Dorothy.

In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world's largest selling album of all time, 'Thriller'. This album produced 7 hit singles, breaking yet again more records, and went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide. Michael was keen to use music video or short films as he called them to promote his singles from the album. The success of the video that 'The Making Of Michael Jackson's Thriller' became the world's largest selling home video combined with soaring album sales. In 1983 Michael performed the now legendary moonwalk for the first time on the 'Motown 25 years' anniversary show. This performance alone set Michael undoubtably into the realm of a superstar.

In 1984 Michael won a record breaking 8 Grammy awards in one night. The awards were for his work on the 'Thriller' album and his work on the narrative for the 'ET Storybook'.

On December 9th 1984 at the last concert of the Jackson's Victory Tour, Michael announced he was splitting from the group and going solo.

In 1987 Michael released his much awaited third solo album, titled 'Bad', and launched his record breaking first solo world tour. In 1988, Michael wrote his first autobiography, Moonwalk, talking for the first time on his childhood and his career. At the end of the 1980s Michael was named 'Artist Of The Decade' for the success of his 'Thriller' and 'Bad' albums.

In 1991 Michael signed with Sony Music the largest ever recording contract and released his fourth solo album, 'Dangerous'. He toured world again in 1992, taking his concerts to countries that had never before been visited by a pop/rock artist. Also Michael founded the 'Heal the World Foundation' to help improve the lives of children across the world.

In 1994 Michael married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock legend Elvis Presley. The marriage only lasted for 19 months, as they divorced in 1996.

1995 saw Michael release a fifth solo album, 'History', which was a double album. Michael toured again over a  2 year period. In between legs of the tour on November 14th 1996, Michael married for his second time to Debbie Rowe who was a nurse that Michael had met in the treatment of his skin pigment disorder. Together they had their first child Prince Michael Joseph Jackson JR born on February 13 1997 and a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson born on April 3rd 1998.

In 1997 Michael released the remix album 'Blood On The Dance Floor' which also contained 5 new songs linked with a 38 min film "Ghosts".  In this film Michael played 5 roles using the latest special effects and make-up artistry, combined with his dance and music.

In September, 2001 Michael celebrated his 30th anniversary as a solo artist with two concerts to be held in New York, USA. Many artists such as Whitney Houston, Usher, Destiny's Child, Shaggy and many more performed their own and Michael Jackson's past songs. Michael then reunited with all of his brothers and performed their biggest hits. Michael then went on to perform solo some of his biggest hits.

In October 2001 Michael released the album 'Invincible' releasing only 2 singles including the big hit "You Rock My World". Shortly after the album's release there were rumours of a rift with Sony Music and a clear lack of promotion of the album. The second single "Cry" was released with a very poor music video which did not feature Michael and no other singles were released.

In November 2003 a new single "One More Chance" was released both as a single and a track on a new compilation album "Number Ones".

In March 2009, Michael annouced a shock comeback tour at the O2 Arena in London to start in July 2009, intially for 10 dates but the total grew to a sold out 50 dates with over 750,000 tickets sold. All tickets sold out within minutes of being released.

On June 25th 2009 Michael Jackson died suddenly of a reported cardiac arrest. He was 50 years old.