Michael Jackson - The Victim

Michael Jackson, often called the King of Pop, was born August 28, 1958. The 7th of 9 children, Jackson started performing when he was 5 years old. The family singing group, The Jackson 5, launched as an opening act for music legends like Gladys Knight and Pips, James Brown, and in later years The Supremes.

Their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, hit the charts in December, 1969 with songs like "I Want You Back." The next month that song was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100!

More hits would follow including "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There."

In 1971, at the age of 13, Michael Jackson went solo. Hits included “Got to Be There” and “Ben” - about a rat.

In the 1980s he ratcheted up his recording success with music videos for songs like “Beat It”, “Billie Jean”, “Thriller”, “Black or White” and “Scream”.

Jackson grew up in a small home with a big family in Gary, Indiana. In 1968, after being signed by Motown Records, the Jacksons moved to California.

As an adult, Michael Jackson’s home was enormous and drew as much attention as he did. Jackson called it Neverland Valley Ranch. He lived there from 1988 to 2005. It had a theme park and was based on the fantasy island of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up.

Jackson was highly honored for his work. He was inducted into The Dance Hall of Fame and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He won hundreds of awards including 13 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award, The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 26 American Music Awards and AMA’s “Artist of the Century”Award. He had 13 number-one hit songs in the U.S. and an estimated sale of over 750 million records worldwide.

Michael Jackson’s personal life, relationships, dress and appearance often attracted controversy. And, there were the legal problems. Child sexual abuse charges against him were settled out of court in 1993. In 2005 he was tried and acquitted in a different case of sexual abuse allegations.

The L.A. County Coroner ruled that on June 25, 2009 Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication. By many accounts, as many as one billion people around the world watched the public memorial service broadcast live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

The coroner declared Jackson’s death a homicide. The singer’s personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Michael Jackson was laid to rest in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.