Michael Jackson on Washed Up Celebs

Career Milestones [add new]

• 1968

  The Jackson 5 sign with Motown Records

  3
• 1975

  June 1: Jackson 5 sign a new contract with CBS Records and release hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel" and "Can You Feel It".[

  4
• 1978

  starred as Scarecrow in the film musical The Wiz

  1
• 1979

  Released first solo album, Off the Wall, which was the first album to generate four US top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".[

  5
• 1982

  Released his second album, Thriller, including "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" and is often cited as the best-selling album of all time

  10
• 1984

  January 27: suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire while filming a Pepsi Cola commercial

  -2
• 1985

  March 1: co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in Africa and the US

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• 1985

  October 1: purchased The Beatles' back catalog for $47.5 million

  2
• 1986

  diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus which make him sensitive to sunlight

  0
• 1987

  Released the album Bad which spawned seven hit singles and sold 30 million copies worldwide

  7
• 1988

  purchased land near Santa Ynez, California to build Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million

  3
• 1991

  March 1: renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million

  3
• 1991

  October 1: released his eighth album Dangerous

  4
• 1992

  founded the "Heal the World Foundation"

  2
• 1993

  February 1: gave a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey and spoke of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father

  0
• 1993

  July 1: accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old child named Jordan Chandler and his father Evan Chandler

  -5
• 1993

  September 1: Became addicted to drugs after taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him

  -3
• 1994

  January 1: settled with the Chandler family and their legal team out of court, in a civil lawsuit for $22 million

  -3
• 1994

  October 1: married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley

  -1
• 1995

  released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, which is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 18 million copies (36 million units) sold worldwide

  5
• 1996

  September 7: HIStory world tour commences and grosses $165 million

  5
• 1996

  November 14: Marries Dermatology nurse Debbie Rowe in his Sydney hotel room

  1
• 1999

  Divorces Debbie Rowe

  -2
• 2000

  listed in the book of Guinness World Records for his support of 39 charities, more than any other entertainer or personality

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• 2002

  August 1: His third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (also known as Blanket) was born as the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm cells

  1
• 2002

  November 1: Held his new born baby over the railing of a Berlin balcony, four stories above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media

  -4
• 2003

  A documentary called Living with Michael Jackson featured the singer, holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with a boy named Gavin Arvizo

  -3
• 2003

  charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit that felony, regarding Gavin Arvizo, who was under 14 at the time of the alleged crime

  -8
• 2005

  May 1: Trial ends, with Jackson acquitted on all counts

  4
• 2006

  $270 million loan secured against his music publishing holdings

  -2
• 2006

  November 15: Awarded "Diamond Award" at the World Music Awards for selling over 100 million albums

  3
• 2008

  Fortress Investments threatens to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which had been used as collateral for millions of dollars in loans

  -3
• 2008

  November 1: transfers Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC, clearing his debt reportedly gaining an extra $35mil

  2
• 2009

  March 1: Announced he will perform 50 sell out concerts to over one million people, at London's O2 arena

  2
• 2009

  June 25: Died of a drug overdose at age 50

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• 2009

  October 26: This Is It documentary is released posthumously grossing $260 million worldwide

  2
• 2010

  video game developer Ubisoft announces it will release a new singing and dancing game featuring Michael Jackson

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