Michael's Success Summary

I am a lover of lists and statistics and have collected Michael Jackson's triumphs into one document. By no means is it the complete story of Michael. He was so much more than a list of successes. Yes, he was a singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, producer, film maker, businessman, artist, visionary, son, brother, mentor and entertainer extraordinaire. His achievements encompassed all areas of life with, perhaps, chief among them father and humanitarian.

"I feel it and I see it. I'm visionary. So, if I can give that, I do. And that's what I love to do with music, with film, with dance."                                                                                                  -Michael Jackson

Summary of Michael Jackson's Chart and Artistic Award History

There are many comments out there on the internet that dispute Michael Jackson’s artistic accomplishments. Most often they belittle Michael’s post Thriller accomplishments but I have also seen comments that say that “Off The Wall” was the last great work he did. I always rebut those comments when I see them. I have compiled a short summary of useful facts that I have that help in that process.

Global Sales Positions of Michael’s Adult Solo Albums

            #1 Thriller – 1982 (million)                                          

            #10 Bad – 1987 (34 million)

            #16 Dangerous – 1991 (32 million)

            #68 Off The Wall – 1979 (22 million)

            #69 HIStory – 1995 (22 million)

Chart Accomplishments

·        5 of 6 of his adult solo albums at #1 (Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, Invincible)

·        13 #1 singles as a solo artist, 4 more with J5

1^st in 1972, Ben, and last in 1995, YANA

9 of 13 written by Michael Jackson

·        28 Top 10 Singles as solo artist, plus 10 more with J5/Jacksons

17 of 28 written by Michael Jackson

·        36 Top 40 Hits

·        Most downloaded artist in history

·        Estimated global sales of 750,000

Awards

·        American Music Awards Artist of the Century (2002)

·        Two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1997, 2001)

·        Vocal Group Hall of Fame (1999)

·        World Music Awards Best Selling Pop Artist of the Millenium

·        Songwriters Hall of Fame (2002)

·        Dance Hall of Fame (2010)

·        13 Grammy Awards plus Grammy Legend Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

·        26 American Music Awards, most of any artist

·        13 World Music Awards

·        1990 Artist of the Decade by President Bush

·        1992 Point of Light Ambassador for humanitarian work by President Bush

·        2003 Nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize

Adult Solo Albums

·        Off The Wall-8/10/1979

- Estimated sales of 22 million

-#3 album

- Earned 1 Grammy, 5 AMA awards, 2 Billboard Awards

- Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008

- 4 singles released

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough and Rock With You at #1; Off The Wall, and She’s Out of My Life, #10

·        Thriller- 11/30/1982

-Estimated sales of 68-110 million, global best selling album of all time

-#1 album

-8 Grammys, 8 AMA awards, 14 Billboard Awards

-7 of 9 songs released as singles; all top 10

-Holds the record for having the greatest number of songs on Billboard top 10 in a single year

-Best seller for 2 years (1983-1984)

·        Bad-8/31/1997

-Estimated sales of 34 million, global #10 best selling album of all time

-Debuted at #1, sold 7 million in 4 months

-6 Grammy nominations, one win for Best Music Video Short, 1 AMA

-First album in history to have 5 #1 singles;

-Michael Jackson composed 9 of 11 songs

-10 of 11 songs released as singles: five at #1, one at #7, one at #11

                       

·        Dangerous-11/26/1991

-Estimated 32 million in sales, global #16 best selling album of all time

-Debuted at #1, sold 7 million in 2 months

- 4 Grammy nominations, one win

-9 singles released, 4 top 10, 8 reaching top 30

-Best selling New Jack Swing album of all time

·        HIStory-6/16/1995

-Estimated 22 million in sales

-#1 album, best selling multi-disc album of all time, #1 in 28 countries

-391,000 copies sold in the first week beating the Beatles previous record of 360,000

-You Are Not Alone is the only song to debut at #1

-Sold 7.5 million copies in 5 weeks

-Nominated for 5 Grammys winning best short film for “Scream”

·        Blood On The Dancefloor-5/20/1997

-Estimated 6 million in sales

-Best selling remix album of all time, peaked at #24 in the U.S.

-5 new songs of which 3 are from the short film, “Ghosts”

-One Grammy nomination

·        Invincible-10/30/2001

-Estimated sales approaching 13 million

-Debuted at #1 in the U.S. and 11 other countries

-Fastest selling album in history; 3 million copies in 5 days

-3 songs released as singles, YRMW (#10), Butterflies (#14) and Cry

-Gaining in respect in the U.S.

Solo Tours

·        Bad Tour 9/15/1987-1/24/1989

-123 concerts attended by 4.4 million people

- Largest grossing concert tour in history: $125 million

-Broke world attendance record with 504,000 people at Wembley Stadium

-Many charitable contributions in the tour cities

·        Dangerous Tour 6/27/1992-11/11/1993

-67 concerts attended by 3.5 million people

-Exceeded the gross earnings of the Bad Tour

-Proceeds donated to charity

·        HIStory Tour 9/7/1996-10/15/1997

-82 concerts in 58 cities; 5 continents; 35 countries

-4.5 million people attended shows on the HIStory Tour

-Exceeded gross earnings record of both Bad and Dangerous Tours

Summary

Many people are misinformed in regard to Michael Jackson’s post Thriller success. He was enormously successful as an adult solo artist both commercially, with estimated global sales of 750,000, and as a touring artist. He earned 13 Grammys, 26 American Music Awards, 40 Billboard awards, and 13 World Music Awards. Five of his six adult solo albums charted at number 1. 5 of those, Thriller (#1), Bad (#10), Dangerous (#16), Off The Wall (#68) and HIStory (#69), are in the top 70 albums in global sales. While Thriller is estimated to have 110 million in sales, Bad (34 million), Dangerous (32 million), HIStory (22 million) and Off The Wall (22 million) were incredibly successful commercially. Jackson had 13 # singles and 28 top tens singles with only the Beatles at 29 and Elvis at 36 exceeding this accomplishment. Michael Jackson is a two-time member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Dance Hall of Fame, and was the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century. Between 1987 and 1997, over 12 million people attended a Michael Jackson concert. The Bad Tour between 1987 and 1988 was the highest grossing tour ever but both the Dangerous and HIStory Tours subsequently broke that record. The HIStory Tour, between 1996 and 1997, was one of the most successful tours in history with 82 concerts in 35 countries with 4.5 million people coming out to see Michael Jackson. He has had Billboard hits in 6 decades with the last one, “Hold My Hand” in 2011. A remix version of his song "Hollywood Tonight" reached the top of the Billboard dance charts in 2011. And, most recently a demo entitled, "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" became a #1 seller in the Billboard physical single CD category in July of 2012.

The Artists Among Us

“You see, Lorenzo, the more gifted the artist and the closer to God he is, the more difficult it is for him to function in our earthly environment. But this is why you must protect your artists against the philistines who would exploit them. Wealthy Florentines want Donatello to sculpt for them because it gives them prestige to have one of his originals in their palazzo. It is beneath him to take vanity commissions, and yet it is necessary for him to do so in order to avoid offending the spiteful members of influential families. But such men do not understand what these artists are and why they are. You and I do. These artists are our special army, our angels who are able to convey the purest teachings of the divine through their work.”

Excerpt from “The Poet Prince” by Kathleen McGowan, March 2011

Cosimo d’ Medici describing to his grandson, Lorenzo, the artist Donatello, an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence and other gifted artists of his time.

Michael Jackson was surrounded by “philistines” who critiqued and exploited him but did not understand what he was and what he gave us. May they forever be shamed for their systematic humiliation and ultimate destruction of this gifted human being.

"When I create my music I feel like an instrument of nature. I wonder what delight nature must feel when we open our hearts and express our God given talents."                -Michael Jackson

Reflections On the Latest Tabloid Stories

I have been thinking about the uproar taking place in the Michael Jackson fan community the last few days. The fans have been outraged by the appearance in the UK tabloids of Matt Fiddes, a known liar and opportunist, who once held an umbrella for Michael Jackson for a weekend in 2001. When Michael died, Fiddes claimed a great friendship with Michael Jackson that lasted a decade. He even said that Michael asked him to donate sperm for Michael’s child and claims to be Blanket’s father. I don’t want to go into details here as there are other places where Fiddes claims have been soundly debunked.

Another source of outrage has been the re-appearance of Scott Thorson, Liberace’s ex-lover, on Entertainment Tonight this week. In 2004, he claimed to have had a very brief fling with Michael Jackson back in 1979 that was “inappropriate.” It turns out that while ET touted the segment in trailers to entice people to watch, it was basically a non-story as it was back in 2004. Thorson is a convicted felon on drug charges and burglary and has never been a credible source for the story. He claimed that he and Michael “broke up” because of Michael’s interest in porn depicting young boys. Now we all know that Michael had a large interest in heterosexual porn which was proven at his 2005 trial. While many have wished to portray Michael as gay, it just wasn’t Michael’s way. Again, we have an opportunist trying to make money at Michael’s expense.

The fans have been called to action to make comments on the various tabloid sites that picked up the Fiddes story. For the record, the National Enquirer felt the story was too incredulous to be believable and declined to pick it up. In addition, fans have been asked to complain to Entertainment Tonight and Kraft as their major sponsor. I have done neither and I have been asking myself why I have not. That is the main reason that I been thinking about this so much the last few days. I am trying to figure out how my own mind is working on this particular issue when I quickly respond to all other calls to action.

I have never read tabloids nor watched tabloid shows. I will not dignify them with my dollars in the form of my eyes watching or my computer clicking on their sites. I did not really know about Michael’s crucifixion in the press until after he died because tabloid related journalism just does not register on my radar. I now work very hard to get the truth of who Michael was out to the public by attacking what might be considered “legitimate” sources although that should be taken with a “grain of salt” too. What registers for me are the untrue allegations of criminal activity and being tried, although not convicted of those crimes legally, and convicted in the press and the eyes of the public with no real evidence at all. I feel that this is the true crime and I will work my hardest to dispel that cloud.

These two idiots, Fiddes and Thorson, have zero credibility and their stories are ridiculous. If Michael had responded to every tabloid story about him he would never have created the art he left behind. Michael was portrayed multiple times of being gay, fathering multiple illegitimate children, being a pedophile, asexual, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, and as a voodoo worshiper. The part that is always the most curious to me is how Michael could be gay, heterosexual, asexual and a pedophile all at once. Michael was a private man and was not a typical rock star man-whore bragging about all the bimbos he had conquered. Therefore, with the endless curiosity about this man, people just made up stories that weren't there.

What all this really says is that for 40 years, Michael Jackson has been the object of great interest to the public, even nearly 3 years after his death. His name will be invoked for years to come to sell the story….anything for money. In some ways, as sad as all of this is, it has become a bit humorous especially when you hear the stories of Fiddes and Thorson, for they mean so little in the legacy of Michael Jackson. They can’t prove their claims and in the case of Fiddes, he is really too cowardly to actually make good on his DNA testing threat even if he legally could. His claims are all the more ludicrous when the world is definitely starting to realize that Michael’s kids are his biologically. One look at Blanket, who Fiddes claims to have fathered, and one knows that he is Michael’s child. The Sun probably paid this guy lots of money and while they should be ashamed of themselves, it makes them look more stupid than ever. They just wasted good money on a liar.

Michael’s art and the evidence of his loving heart will be here long after the scum like Fiddes and Thorson are gone. And, for some reason, I can’t take this as seriously as other things. It certainly won’t get me to watch Entertainment Tonight, read the Sun, nor click on contactmusic.com or radaronline.com. If I do, then shame on me for feeding the beast.

Michael Is A Representative of the Light

"The first of all single colors is white ... We shall set down white for the representative of light, without which no color can be seen; yellow for the earth; green for water; blue for air; red for fire; and black for total darkness."

                                                     -- Leonardo Da Vinci

Quotes About Michael

I wanted to share these quotes about Michael.

"With his enormous talent, Michael kept giving us power, inspiration and joy. Yet he knew that the world was not kind to him for many reasons, some of it going right back to racism. That must have been so hard for him. His various attempts to be loved by the world equaled the pain he received from it. Michael, now you are free from all that. Rest well in Peace. We will always remember you and love you for what you were to us.

With love, Yoko Ono Lennon"

"[Michael] has just about everything you would want in a dancer. He is very fast, and, now that the adult musculature has come in, his whole body is “worked.” (This means that every muscle is stretched, and operating in the service of the dance. Nothing is blurred.) As a result, he has a sharp attack, and wonderful clarity. Watch him for example, in “The Way You Make Me Feel” dancing, silhouetted, alongside other men doing the same steps. You can’t see the faces, but you know which one he is. He dives into a step more intently, and shows it to us more precisely, than anyone else."

Joan Acocella, The New Yorker

“Once every several centuries of mankind God sends somebody special, a wake-up call; somebody to enlighten the people in the way to be; somebody to excite the people; somebody to bring people together, and I think Michael was a gift from God that He sent to show people how to be, how to love.” \

- Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett

‎"Nowhere will his contribution be more obvious and his influence more strongly felt than in the world of dance. No choreographer of the last 30 years has been unaware of Jackson's achievement. He rewrote the vocabulary of dance for everyone, from kids competing in talent shows to the royal ballets of Europe.

If the dance establishment did not often acknowledge his influence it was because there was no need. His shapes, his moves were everywhere.
Nijinsky and Nureyev also died young. They, too, were transcendent
dancing boys, but chose to interpret the choreography supplied to them...

By contrast Michael Jackson's art was astonishingly innovative. No one could dance like him, until he showed them how, and then they were never as good as he was. His concept of the dance was utterly 20th century, extravagantly multi-dimensional ...

Nijinsky may have been the greatest Spectre de la Rose, Nureyev the greatest Corsair, but these two candles pale in the light of Jackson's blazing star. The surprise is not that we have lost him, but that we ever had him at all...."
- Germaine Greer (world renown writer/art critic)

There is a very rare book about Michael called Michael Jackson American Master by C. Mecca. The author writes about why she considers Michael a master. She indicates that:

“A master is an individual who possesses the following attributes:”

1. Has control over his own life and affects the lives of others.

2. Develops his talent to the best of his ability.

3. Is concerned with the expansion of ideas and is not limited by arbitrary boundaries.

4. Has a message of proposal in his life to share for the betterment of mankind.

5. Teaches and lives by example, which is in harmony with his beliefs.

6. Is a philanthropist and a humanitarian by putting back into the environment in ratio equal to and that which he uses.

7. Realizes that he is a result of nature.

8. Abides by and has a clear understanding of the laws of the universe.

9. Enhances the world by his very presence.

10. Believes and uses the invisible power of intuition, inspiration and thought.

11. Is a manifestor for our day and age.

12. Has a thought process based on truth and, therefore, is free of making false decisions and judgments.

“No one individual exemplifies the twelve characteristics of the master in their entirety more than the man, Michael Jackson.” – C. Mecca