Michael Jackson: Life, Death and Legacy (FULL MOVIE)

[Music] Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine, and I just wanted to say I love him so much. As Michael Jackson's daughter broke down at his memorial service, millions of fans around the world shared her pain. The pain continued as debate raged over what was the cause of the singer's premature death.

Two years on, and after a six-week trial in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of the 50-year-old singer. The court found Murray guilty of giving Michael Jackson a fatal dose of Propofol, a powerful anesthetic normally only administered in hospital. "No competent physician would give these drugs without having emergency airway equipment present." During the trial, 49 witnesses and more than 300 pieces of evidence were presented to the court. "We, the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the defendant Conrad Robert Murray guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter." Conrad Murray was jailed for four years and labeled "Dangerous" by the judge. He will lose his medical license. It brings to an end the final chapter in the extraordinary saga of Michael Jackson's life and unexpected death.

This is a look at the true story behind the singer who's been officially recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time. Nobody demands the attention that Michael Jackson does. So, you're talking about someone who's not just a great artist, great writer, great performer, but he was a visualist as well. He was incredible. There was something that just radiated life in his work, life and all of its extremes. We'll be examining Michael Jackson's extraordinary life and shockingly premature death, and what made him the man he [Music] was.

Over the past 40 years, no other celebrity has been as respected or as reviled as Michael Jackson. Probably the most famous pop star of all time, Michael Jackson had exceptional talent, but he lived a controversial life and died a controversial death. During Dr. Conrad Murray's trial, an audio tape of Michael Jackson sounding heavily sedated a month before his death was played in court. It was discovered on Murray's cell phone and was used by the prosecution to prove that Michael had put his life in the hands of his doctor. "You believe my show? I want to say, I never seen nothing like this in my life." In his closing argument, the prosecution said the doctor caused the star's death on June 25th, 2009, through negligence, depriving Jackson's children of their father and the world of a genius. The defense argument that Jackson was a drug addict who caused his own death by giving himself an extra dose of Propofol was overthrown. "Of course, I think that his death could be prevented if he had a good physician. I just believe, believe he was in the wrong hands. My friends in the medical profession were shocked when they heard that Michael had been using this drug because they told me they never let it be used outside of hospital conditions. To take it in a domestic situation is to invite a tragedy. Dr. Murray violated the most basic um aspects of the of the doctor-patient relationship. It was gross neglect. Someone like Michael Jackson should have had a proper doctor." With Dr. Murray behind bars, some anger about what happened in the star's final hours was combined with a feeling of relief that allegations that Michael had taken his own life had been thoroughly disproved. "He had so much going for him. He wouldn't have done it for his children, which meant everything to him. He, he, there's no question that that Michael would ever have have killed himself." Of course, despite his tragic early death, the legend of Michael Jackson, the man who became known as the King of Pop, is destined to live on.

So, what was it about Michael Jackson's contribution to music, dance, and fashion, and his much-publicized personal life, that caused him to be such a global phenomenon? Michael Joseph Jackson was born in the industrial city of Gary, Indiana, on the 29th of August, 1958, the seventh of nine children. His father, Joseph Jackson, a steel mill worker, recognized his children's musical talents and organized a family band made up of Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, and Marlon. In 1963, when Michael was just five, he also joined the group. Joe was a firm disciplinarian who scheduled a strict regime for Michael and his brothers, and their relentless hours of practice left very little time for normal childhood activities. "Did you meet Joe? I've met Joe a few times and, um, well, he's, um, he's the father of Michael, but they are so totally different, um, like chalk and cheese. If you look at his background, he's come from basic, he was a welder in a very poor town in Mid-America and, uh, has been catapulted through on the back of his children into some huge stardom. Michael is, is, is probably like the complete opposite." Michael described his relationship with his father as turbulent. Joe was so determined his sons would be successful that in rehearsals, a fumbled note or a misstep could lead to harsh physical punishment. Michael himself talked of the horror of, uh, being beaten by his father. "Whipped" was the word, and how his father would sit there as they were rehearsing with a belt, waiting to smack them if they got it wrong. But then, on the other hand, he called his father a genius for instilling in them the discipline to present this slick stage act. "From my analysis, I believe that Michael was a very sensitive, very, very sensitive kind of individual. So, even though you have really strict parents, there are some children that can handle that strictness, but there are other children it really affects them. People respond to that kind of abuse differently, and with some of the other brothers, I think that, you know, it didn't impact them the same way psychologically that it did Michael. It really hurt him, and he carried it throughout the rest of his life. You know, his father drove him and pushed him, but never treated him like a son. Every time he would speak about his father, his face would contort. You could see that he was really, really stressed about his experience with his father. It definitely had a damaging effect on him. It really did." Michael later said he was made to work too hard for a child, but also recalled singing and dancing with real joy as a youngster. "He did discuss, um, his childhood with me, and I think that he's been quite open about his childhood in terms of his relationship with his father. I think what the public doesn't know is that he forgave his father for some of the hurt that was caused, and at the end of his life, he was very much on good terms with his father. So, I think that a lot of the things that happened a long time ago, and, you know, Michael forgave. I think if Joe didn't do what he did, there would have been no Michael Jackson. I'm not one of these people that say, you know, point the finger at the father. He took a very poor family, took a talent that he saw, and he gave it to the world."

By the time he was eight, Michael had emerged as the group's lead vocalist. The Jackson Brothers changed their name to the Jackson 5 and toured clubs all over the American Midwest. Joe Jackson was always very, very certain that he was going to turn his children into stars. "I think it was probably pretty disturbing to him in many ways that Michael was the brother who very clearly was the most talented, because he was never particularly close to Michael, and he always probably gave Michael the harshest treatment." Michael was already showing a remarkable range and depth for such a young performer, impressing audiences with his great dancing and ability to convey complex emotions. After winning a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You," the Jackson 5 were signed by Berry Gordy to the legendary Motown record label. "When I first heard him sing Smokey Robinson's, uh, 'Who's Loving You' at 10 years old, he sung it like he felt he had been here. He had known the song for 50 years. The pain, the torture, he could put that into music and lyrics and feeling. You know, Michael was just absolutely brilliant, brilliant." The group was an instant sensation. Their debut single, "I Want You Back," rocketed immediately to number one in the States and sold over a million copies. "When you put the needle down and 'I Want You Back,' you were floored. First of all, the thrilling piano riff, and then that wailing melisma from [Music] Michael. So charismatic, and then he lands on the first word [Music] 'When,' and he had us at the first word. We already were owned by this extraordinary young talent." "'I Want You Back' is just the classic pop song. Uh, you know, just bursts right out of the speakers, and there's so much vibrancy to the to the record. It was a little bit, a little bit of soul, but also what was referred to as bubblegum pop." "Baby, give me one more chance." When you heard that song, you completely started singing along. You couldn't. It was infectious. It wasn't just about it being catchy, but it was also the vocal delivery was fantastic by this little man with his brothers behind him. It was just like, 'Wow, how did they do [Music] that?' Everybody was just fanatical about them. I mean, you wanted your hair like them, you wanted to wear the same clothes. I mean, you just didn't even want to go to school anymore. I mean, that's how it was for us. We were obsessed. He transcended color, all barriers. Everybody just loved [Music] them." But Michael, the youngest and the lead, was only 11 years old. But the record label claimed he was even younger, saying he was just nine to make him appear even cuter. The Jackson 5 demonstrated the traditional paradox of child stars: kids' energy combined with unbelievably professional dance moves. "It was obvious that, uh, Joe, the father, had instilled in them the necessity to be visually as well as musically appealing, and of course, those giant afros helped, and the colorful shirts, and the bell-bottom trousers. They were the real deal, and they were instantly imitated across the culture." Jackson Mania swept the nation, and within a year of their debut, the Jackson 5 were among the biggest names in popular music. All four of the Jackson 5's first singles reached the number one spot in the United States and were also international hits. Most agreed that it was Michael, with his extraordinary versatile voice and smooth dance moves, who was the principal reason for the Jackson 5's amazing international appeal. "Michael, even at that early age, had emotional insight. Whether this was because he was the youngest brother and had been subjected to what we are told were brutalities by the father, whether he had this loneliness that he said he did. He was emotionally aware before most young people, and he could invest a lyric with an emotional delivery. As a kid, Michael was always beyond his years. He was an innovator. He was, uh, a genius at what he did."

Having the experience of being a child star led to his strong friendship with Mark Lester, who had made his name as a child actor in the title role of the 1968 film *Oliver*. "Michael started at the age of five. I started at the age of five. So, you know, we were always kind of comparing. Obviously, Michael's fame was infinitely more than mine, but, you know, having been in the spotlight at such an early age, and we used to share memories about our early times. He said, you know, when these teeny-bopper magazines came out in the States, there's one called *Tiger Beat*, I think, and *17*. There were four people that used to feature, and one of them was Michael, who obviously dominated. Donnie Osmond, uh, David Cassidy, myself, oh, and Jack Wild. So there were five who, not always, but were kind of the ones that were were shown most in these magazines. And Michael would pick up these magazines, and quite often there would be a page of Michael, and the next page would be me. So he's kind of thought there was some, some sort of parallelism between us. He did tell me that he enjoyed the film *Oliver*, and it was his favorite musical, and it remained his favorite musical all his life, which was kind of odd coming from Michael, who has dominated the pop charts for so long and made so many wonderful records, for him to tell me that this was his favorite music was something else. It was quite an honor, really."

In 1972, Michael got his first taste of solo success with the title song to the film *Ben*, which was a hit worldwide. Throughout these early days, it was clear Michael was using every opportunity to prepare for his future. When he wasn't performing, he was to the side of the stage in the Apollo, in the Regal, and he was watching people like James Brown, and people like Smokey Robinson, and Jackie Wilson, and he was watching and learning and picking things up. And so he was such a student, uh, of his craft that, um, when it was time for him to branch out on his own, he had a lot of ideas.

By 1975, after 13 albums and countless top 10 hits, Motown and the Jacksons were to part company. With a fresh start at Epic Records and renamed simply The Jacksons, the journey was far from over. The hits just kept on coming. In 1977, Michael Jackson starred in a feature film, *The Wiz*, a remake of *The Wizard of Oz* featuring an all-black cast. Michael played the Scarecrow, and Diana Ross played Dorothy. It was on the set of *The Wiz* that Michael was introduced to Quincy Jones, which led to Jones producing Michael's first astonishing and original solo album, *Off the Wall*. The first single released was "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." [Music] "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" went straight to number one. There's just so much energy in it. Rhythmically, it's complex, and it's just amazing the kind of [Music] craftsmanship. His mother actually was concerned about the title of the song because it could be interpreted sexually, and, and Michael told her, you know, people will think what they want to think, you know, and so he kind of wanted to leave it open like that and just kind of be a bit coy with him. [Music] "Where we are." "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" was a really significant turning point for Michael Jackson because it proved that he was the solo Jackson. [Music] Now, when that song came out, and he was just on his own, and that, that video, you can never forget that video, because there's nothing else in the video except for him in a suit dancing. [Music] *Off the Wall* established Michael as an artist of undeniable talent and a star in his own right. It went platinum, selling over 7 million copies. The album's success led to Michael's nine-year partnership with Quincy Jones. Their next collaboration was the album *Thriller* in 1982. The first single released, "The Girl Is Mine," did not suggest great things. It was a nice pop song, a duet with Paul McCartney. Got to number two, I think. Million-seller, but not a classic. Then "Billie Jean," and the ground moves beneath us. "Billie Jean" is probably Michael's most famous song. It became this big hit with a very unusual theme. Um, it's a darker song. It's a song about distrust and anxiety and paranoia. "She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene." "I don't mind, but what do you mean?" "I am the one." Michael was beginning to write songs that, that maybe got people to dance still, but also that were exploring some of the things that he was experiencing. "The 'Billie Jean' story, from my memory, was to do with all the fans that used to come to see them, especially in the Jackson 5 time, and I think Michael was really shocked at the way people were so psychopathic about [Music] them. He had an amazing, um, amazing creative mind that he would take this fanaticism that was aimed at him and turn it into this kind of story in a song." "Just that 'I am the one' with 'Billie Jean,' you just got this classic bass line, and then you just have this amazing, the strings, and the kind of atmosphere of it. Sometimes Michael doesn't get the credit that he deserves as a composer, but this was a song that Michael had very, um, close to finished at his home studio, but then they brought it in and just polished that and perfected it." "My son, the 'Billie Jean' video was impressive because you could see it was an actual film set, and he, every time he would walk on the steps, the lights would come on. He's practiced these dance steps till he knows them in his sleep. He mastered everything. The timing was impeccable. It was incredible how he was able to take a set and turn it into something that you couldn't get your eyes off from. From the time he was walking down the street past the buildings, you were captivated. I, it's quite a simple idea, you think about it, but he executed it in a way that had you [Music] mesmerized. It's a historic hit for a variety of reasons. It forced MTV to play videos by black artists. Walter Yetnikoff, who was the head of CBS at the time, said, 'If you don't put 'Billie Jean' on, you're not getting our videos.' Because 'Billie Jean' was such a big hit, and MTV had to recant. And ever since then, of course, there have been black artists on MTV." "Beat It," the third single from *Thriller*, with its Van Halen guitar solo, managed to broaden Michael Jackson's appeal, bringing in rock fans. The title track, "Thriller," was released as the fourth single, written by Rod Temperton, the writing talent behind several of Michael Jackson's songs. "It was in a class of its own. It's an 18. You've got Rod Temperton, who's an amazing writer. You've got Quincy Jones, the most incredible producer of all time, but then you've got this incredible artist, Michael Jackson. Three incredible musicians who are who are just at the top of what they do. This is what created *Thriller*. You knew from the very first introduction, the minute you hear that, you're hooked. It's just incredible. It's such a powerful intro. It's chilling." The video was unprecedented for its time, with a duration of over 14 minutes. John Landis, who's this renowned director, comes in. He's done horror, but with kind of a, a satiric edge to it. And so he comes in, combines his talents with Michael Jackson, and you get, you get this video, um, that becomes a phenomenon. [Music] Prosthetics created by visual effects artist Rick Baker and dazzling choreography made for an impressive video. It was so popular that a documentary, *The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller*, became the world's largest-selling home video. "Everybody was obsessed. You walking down the street, everyone was dressing like Michael Jackson, everyone had the same clothes on. I mean, we're talking everyone was 'Thriller.' Everyone became Michael Jackson. That's how big a phenomenon it was." "You'll realize there's nowhere to run." One memorable part of the single is the distinctive spooky voice of horror movie actor Vincent Price. "They had begun recording, and Quincy Jones said, 'You know what? If we brought in Vincent Price,' and Michael didn't know who he was at the time, but once Quincy kind of familiarized him, uh, Michael was all on board, and they brought in Vincent Price, and I think it took one or two takes for 'No mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller.'" The album *Thriller* became a huge hit, reaching number one in the United States and the United Kingdom at the same time. It remained in the top 10 in the US Billboard Chart for an entire year. An incredible seven of the nine songs were top 10 [Applause] singles. "Michael's ability to fuse different musical influences was unique. He was drawing from such a rich, diverse background, um, so he was fusing things that normally wouldn't be fused. It's one thing for for Michael to be mimicking James Brown. It's another thing for Michael Jackson to be fusing James Brown with, you know, Fred Astaire or Charlie Chaplin. When you see it in his short films, and when you hear it in his music, you can kind of see how he's bringing different elements together." Today, *Thriller* retains its position as the world's best-selling record of all time, with an estimated 110 million copies sold worldwide.

During the 1980s, Michael Jackson was as famous internationally as many of the world's leading political and religious figures. By the age of only 25, *The New York Times* summed him up as a musical phenomenon, stating that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson, and then there's everybody else." Michael Jackson is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. His awards include eight Guinness World Records, including one for *Thriller* as the world's best-selling album, 13 Grammy Awards, and 13 number one singles in his solo career. Michael was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard and received a further accolade when he was presented with the "Greatest Artist of the Decade" award by President Bush at the White House.

Those who performed or recorded with Michael often spoke of how impressive he was to work with. "Michael was looking for three males and a female, and, um, so four of us went in together, and the four of us had worked together in studio situations before. We had auditioned for him, and we were videotaped, and he liked us. He's completely tuned in to what he's doing, as well as being tuned into what you're doing behind him. And that's nice for a singer because, um, he can appreciate what we do because it's what he does, and he has an ear for that. And if you do something that he likes, then he, he comments on it, and you don't always get that with with really big people, you know, he could be just tuned into what he's doing and then split, but he's not. You know, he knows exactly what's going on, and he appreciates what's making his show exactly what he saw in the very beginning." It was at the 25th anniversary of Motown in 1982 that Michael, singing "Billie Jean," unveiled his now-famous moonwalk. "He was reinterpreting the song in new ways, uh, and allowing people to experience it, uh, both sonically and visually." It received worldwide media coverage. By this time, MTV, which had in the past been reluctant to give airtime to black artists, was scoring its top ratings with Michael's videos.

A bizarre firework accident in 1984, when Michael was performing "Billie Jean" with his four brothers for a Pepsi Cola commercial, resulted in Michael suffering second-degree burns to his head. Plastic surgery was required to restore his appearance. Brian Oxman, the Jackson family lawyer, claims the medication prescribed to Michael Jackson during this time led to his long-term addiction to painkillers. "When he burnt his hair at the Pepsi commercial, he started using painkillers. Then he then fell from a stage and broke his leg. He also cracked a vertebrae in his back, and those things have caused him terrible pain."

In 1987, the album *Bad* was released. *Bad* is the last of the trilogy produced by Quincy Jones. By the time *Bad* comes around, Michael's self-image has changed. With *Off the Wall*, he wanted to make an important hit album. After *Off the Wall*, he felt the work underrecognized and was hungry for mass acceptance across the pop world. He achieved that with *Thriller*. So now he's beginning to worry about his personal image, and so he poses on the sleeve of *Bad* looking like a tough guy. In that respect, *Bad* was the beginning of the personality cult of Michael Jackson. The title track, "Bad," was actually intended as a duet with Prince. Michael had already written the song, and Prince really liked it, and Prince said that he, you know, it'd be a number one hit, but he felt like it was set up for Michael to win. You know, 'cause they were going to do this big music video where they're kind of having a dance-off, and, you know, all this kind of drama to it. So Prince backed out, and Michael ended up doing it as a solo, and, uh, it was a number one [Music] hit. "Michael's new, edgier look took some admirers by [Music] surprise. It was a huge change for everyone. We couldn't believe his image had changed that much. Gone with the suits, and his hair had like, Jerry curl, you know, like a wet look, and he had on this leather jacket, you know, with, you know, very rock star, and we'd never seen Michael look hard like that, you know. It was like he looked like he was this rock man." "At the time, I, I have to be honest, when I heard 'Bad,' I was a little bit like, 'I don't know if I'm feeling him doing that.' But what made me change my mind was the video. 'Cause when I saw the video, I was just like, 'Wow, this is great.' 'Cause they're in the subway. You can't help but watch that, and that made the song better for me."

Visual. By now, Michael Jackson was at the peak of his fame, with the *Bad* Tour attracting huge media attention the world over. Before taking to the stage in the UK, Michael presented Prince Charles and Princess Diana with a £300,000 check from the proceeds of his Wembley concerts for the Prince's Trust, a charity supporting disadvantaged children. Michael presented Princess Diana with two custom-made *Bad* World Tour jackets, one each for her young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

In 1988, Michael Jackson set up, built, and conceived, I guess, Neverland, which is obviously the place where he would go on to live for most of the rest of his life. Here was a growing man at the peak of his success who felt the need to live in a huge amusement park named after the mythical island in J.M. Barrie's novel *Peter Pan*. Neverland was Michael's fantasy theme park. It had a Ferris wheel and other over-the-top amusements, built on a 3,000-acre ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Neverland was maintained by 54 full-time staff. It was a child's dream world. Michael even had a pet chimpanzee. "I was invited to Neverland. The gates open, the wooden gates opened. It's like this Yellow Brick Road, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Disney World all combined, you know. It was just, it was an escape. There was a time we went over to to Neverland, my little girls were about six and seven then, and we spent a week with Michael in Neverland, and we went on all the rides, we went around the zoo, we had our own cinema, we could see whatever films we wanted to see. And at the end of the, um, at the end of the week that we were there, I said to the girls, I said, 'Okay, we've been here for a week. What's the best thing you like about Neverland?' And my two girls, both at exactly the same time, said, 'Michael.'" This was a man who, having the money to do anything with his property, chose to make it look like a child's home. Obviously, he had created a paradise for children, but not just other children, him, the child, as well. Michael would invite children, especially sick children, to spend the day there, hoping to create warm childhood memories for his many young visitors. "The thing that struck me about Neverland, it was packed with underprivileged children from around the world, and there was coach loads, and it cost so much, millions to run."

Throughout his life, Michael Jackson was a passionate supporter of charity. In 1992, he set up his own charity foundation that he called "Heal the World," the name of a track from *Dangerous*, the album he had just released. "Are we blind to the fact that our children are raging against the indifference, crying out against the abandonment, thundering against the neglect? Heal the Kids is about doing something about making a difference, and trying to help adults and parents realize that it is our power to change the world that our children live in." "He did so much for charity. I mean, this was a tireless giver. He was a total, absolute giver. What they would try to do in the media, they would try to say that, you know, his charity ran out of money, and you'd hear stories like that. It's not being run properly. They haven't really gone into how much he has done regarding terminally ill children, cancer-stricken kids. I mean, this is someone who's done so much. You don't see that side of him very often. They don't say much about it in the media, and I, I think that's sad. Michael gave so much. I think he's the most generous entertainer that's ever lived. I think that's in the Guinness Book of Records. He's second to Bill Gates as a person, um, for for all that he's given." "Michael, it's now my great pleasure to present you with a check for $1 million. This represents the money Pepsi Cola pledges to raise in Europe this summer, with our best wishes for Heal the World." [Music]

In America, the song "Black or White" was the most successful track from [Music] *Dangerous*. What people often forget with the "Black or White" video is that it was Michael's most controversial video, and it was censored. "About my baby, it don't matter if you're black." You have this main part of it that most people are familiar with, you know, where it's kind of a celebration of diversity, and I told about equality, and it's either or. What happens after the end of the main music video is a black panther sneaks off of the stage, and then Michael's conveying kind of the darker side of the song and of racism. And Michael Jackson just unleashes this raw expression of indignation, and, you know, conveys violence. He's breaking in windows, you know, there's this like sexuality to it, but it's an aggressive sexuality. And so people didn't know what to make of it." "When we first, um, saw *Dangerous* and saw Michael's image completely change again, and he had become even whiter, I think everyone was very, very concerned, and everyone was starting to think he didn't like being black anymore. Then he comes out with the song from *Dangerous* called 'Black or White,' and we suddenly went, 'Well, for goodness sake, you've gone whiter, and then you've put out a song called 'Black or White.' What's going on here?'" Many people thought that Michael Jackson, over a period of time, had been bleaching his skin. So this was a real statement for him because he was essentially responding to those criticisms through song and saying, "Why does it matter if I'm black or white?" It's only later on, obviously, way down the road, what, 15 years later, you find out that he had Vitiligo, which is a serious skin condition where you completely lose pigment. "He definitely had Vitiligo, um, which, you know, the, the interesting thing about that is that a lot of people didn't believe him, and, you know, it took really until he died, and the autopsy report actually indicated that he had Vitiligo." "Stars were all about mystery. Then it's not like now where, you know, everything about an artist. The artist was supposed to be an enigma. And I don't feel that they thought it was the right thing to tell the public what was really going on with Michael. Imagine being somebody that grows up in front of the world, and you have this pretty unusual skin condition, and people are saying things like, 'You are ashamed of your race? You don't want to be black? You're trying to be white?'" Michael's appearance had altered so much, it was clear the changes weren't all to do with his skin condition. "If, if you're going to understand why Michael Jackson would have plastic surgery, you've got to understand that he was a human being, and he was subject to the insecurities that we all have. And when at an early age he was frequently criticized by his father, it hurt him. And having been told numerous times his nose was too big, when he could afford to not have it so big, he made it smaller. All of those experiences when he was young contributed to this kind of desire to change his physical appearance. And he was also an artist, and he kind of began to treat his face as a work of art. You know, he had this kind of various ideals of perfection that he was trying to achieve, physically." Michael Jackson's dramatic change in appearance prompted all sorts of media speculation. There were rumors that he and his sister La Toya were the same person, and that he was trying to make himself look like Diana Ross. "It's been said that Michael Jackson underwent plastic surgery to make himself look like you." "I don't think so. Is that true?" "No. I, well, I don't think he has. No one's ever told me. He's never told me that. I don't think so." "But is it unnerving for you to have a young man that's undergone plastic surgery to make himself look like you?" "Well, I don't think he's trying to look like me. I really don't. I think he wants to look like what he perceives as makes him feel happy about himself, you know. I don't think he's trying to look like me. I do think he's quite beautiful, though, by the way." "So many people really don't know him, and they don't give him a chance, and they're so ready to criticize. And I think what happens is when you see genius, and when you see a talent that is just unstoppable and untouchable, the first reaction people have is to criticize it because it scares them, it threatens them, and it sort of, um, in order to augment their own self-worth, they feel that they have to belittle him." "Back up. You get all you want."

In the summer of 1993, Michael Jackson's life was turned upside down when he was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy. The accusations of child abuse at his Neverland Ranch were immediately denied. The case was settled out of court for a reputed $20 million, and no formal charges were brought. "Now, if, if this really went on, do you think a father would accept money that that would make it okay? That that would make everything all right? It doesn't make any sense. I know that if that were my son, I'm sorry, I don't care if you gave me a billion dollars, I want to see you either behind bars or dead for doing that to my son or my daughter. It, it's crazy. The guy was after money, that's what he wanted. It was just after this."

In May 1994, he married Lisa Marie Presley, whose father was one of the few men who could rival Michael's worldwide fame. "The marriage to Lisa Marie Presley was completely fascinating. I mean, it dominated the tabloid agenda, both in the UK and in the US. Here was the biggest music star of the last decade, undisputedly marrying the daughter of the biggest music star of all time, Elvis Presley. At the time, he was in the midst of these allegations. All of a sudden, people were very, very concerned about the way that he looked. He was incredibly gaunt, incredibly white, looked medically enhanced, and not in a good way. So why would this young, beautiful, up-and-coming daughter of a famous celebrity decide to enter into this marriage? Someone who's Michael Jackson, the biggest star in the world, he can't really just walk down the road and go out with anyone, can he? You got to think about it. His demographic would have to be someone like, you know, Lisa. I think that's probably why, in his mind, it would have been okay, 'cause she would get his level of fame and notoriety and everything else. I mean, it was completely fascinating, and I think to this day, no one really knows what the situation was between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. She hasn't spoken about it much, and it was a very bizarre chapter in both of their lives." Despite media speculation about the credibility of the relationship, Lisa Marie and Michael publicly denounced rumors and declared their love was genuine. The marriage was short-lived and ended on amicable terms in 1996.

Within a year of the separation, Michael's association with his dermatologist's assistant, Deborah Rowe, led to an announcement that she was pregnant with his first child. "Michael had wanted kids for a long time. In fact, he wanted kids with Lisa Marie Presley, which is one of the reasons why they got a divorce. And with with Debbie Rowe, she came to Michael and said that she would give him a child, and that she would essentially be a surrogate mother and and provide Michael what he always wanted, which was, uh, to have children." Soon after this, the couple were married in Australia. Deborah gave birth to a son, Prince Michael Jackson Jr., followed by a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine. But the relationship was not to last. By autumn 1999, the couple announced their intention to divorce, with full custody of the children going to Michael. In 2002, Michael announced the birth of another son, Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket, and to this day, the mother's name remains a mystery. [Music]

The single "You Are Not Alone" from Michael's album *HIStory*, released in 1995, remains commercially one of Michael Jackson's most successful songs. "Goodbye." The lyrics to "You Are Not Alone" from his first album since the child sex abuse allegations managed to link the incidents of Michael's recent past and media obsession with him with a feeling of [Music] isolation. "You are not alone." "As one of those songs that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. I think a lot of people when they heard it interpreted it as a love song, but it was also a song where it conveyed a certain degree of isolation, the toll of a life in the [Music] spotlight." "I'm here to stay." "It was a real Michael Jackson ballad in the true sense of the word, and it did become a huge hit for him, I guess, really against all odds, because the music video was incredibly strange. I mean, it featured Michael Jackson almost naked under the sheets with his wife Lisa Marie Presley, and it was a very odd music video, but the song has been one of Michael's most enduring [Music] years."

Michael's music was increasingly dealing with the world issues he saw as important. "You, you start to see with the *Dangerous* album, with the *HIStory* album, a lot of the songs, you know, it's no longer about relationships or dancing. You know, Michael's tackling big social themes." "It was very interesting, actually, because the release of *HIStory* did not go down well. It was a greatest hits package combined with a new album, and there are a whole load of stunts which were really derided, for example, Michael Jackson deciding to send a massive statue of himself down the River Thames in London, despite him being still caught up in all of these allegations of child abuse. But actually, I always felt like *HIStory* was probably his most underrated album ever. I mean, some of the songs to come from *HIStory* are completely iconic. They Don't Really Care About Us, Earth Song, Scream, You Are Not Alone. It was a huge album, but by that point, it almost didn't matter what Michael Jackson released. There were enough questions about him as a person that actually his music was again overshadowed."

All through his life, the more Michael tried to protect his privacy, the more fascinated the press became with him, and the more absurd the stories became. "99.9% of what's written about him is was false. I read that his nose went missing. I think it was in The Daily Mirror. That's, I mean, it's absolutely crazy. But I think what it is is that perhaps there's an ounce of truth in what's written, but it's totally embellished. You know what the media is like. It's called propaganda. They take anything and they blow it out." "We're family. You saw the way we grew up in the two-bedroom house. Family is more important than all the success and anything, and we're always going to hold on to to that. Their whole thing is to divide and conquer and to separate us. We're family. We're family. We have children. We hurt just like everyone else." "He was very hurt by, um, the misreporting in the press. But I think his defense mechanism was actually was not to read them. Don't let it. You know, they can say, they're going to say whatever they're going to say anyway, so just don't read. Don't get involved with it. Because I said to him one day, I said, 'Why don't you just sue them?' And he said, 'Mark, if I was to sue everyone that wrote something about me that was untrue, I'd be in court every single day.' So it just wasn't worth it for him, so he just decided to let it go."

In 2001, *Invincible* became the last album of new material that Michael Jackson released during his lifetime. Though it received mixed reviews and suffered from the fallout of a dispute with Sony, it still managed to make it to number one in 11 countries, including the US. But as time went on, Michael's life as a musician was almost eclipsed by the endless gossip surrounding his lifestyle. Curiosity and controversy were his constant companions. An incident in 2002, which was circulated around the world, showed Michael holding his baby out of a Berlin hotel window for his chanting fans to see. It created uproar. "I was in the room when it happened. When I saw it on the camera, I thought, 'Oh God, that looks really awful.' But actually, below the window of the hotel is a ledge that comes out quite a way, and if Michael had held the baby quite firmly, anyway, and it was just a gesture of to say, 'This is my new child,' you know, and then it got, he got absolutely slammed for it. But there, that baby was in no danger at all, ever. And in fact, when we didn't think anything of it until after he'd done it, and the fans were all clapping and cheering, until, till the next day when, um, it came out in the papers, and we, and then I saw the news clip, and I thought, 'Well, yeah, that does look a bit, um, scary.' It was foolhardy. Therefore, we must ask ourselves, why did he do it? And the answer is that the feelings he had which motivated him to do it were greater than even his concern for the child. And that is, 'I want to present to you my new cub,' as in *The Lion King* at the beginning, the circle of life, when the new cub is held up. Of course, in this case, it happened to be over the balcony, which was really dumb. But he didn't think about that. He didn't, I'm sure he didn't look down and think, 'Oh, is there a balcony there or not?' He was just holding the kid up." The incident naturally led to all sorts of speculation in the press about Michael's abilities as a father.

Much worse was to come. In 2003, he was accused of sexually abusing another boy, and this time he was charged and taken to court. As Michael professed his innocence, on the surface, he appeared to be handling the situation well, but the lengthy trial took its toll. "I would like to thank the fans around the world." "Can you speak up, please?" "I would like to thank the fans around the world for your love and your support from every corner of the earth. My family, who's been very supportive. My brother Randy, who's been incredible. I want to thank the community of Santa Maria. I, I want you to know that I, I love the community of Santa Maria very much. It's my community. I love the people. I will always love the people. My children were born in this community. My home is in this community. I will always love this community from the bottom of my heart. That's why I moved here. Thank you very much." "When I first met Michael, he had control in his life, and I think the control started slipping away. 2003 onwards, when he sank deeper into despair over the false accusations. In the last few few weeks, a large amount of ugly, malicious information has been released into the media about me. The information is disgusting and false." "It took a lot out of him. That, I mean, he didn't eat very well, sleeping very badly, and, uh, that probably took 10 years off him, I should think." "Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court. I deserve a fair trial like every other American citizen. I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told." [Music]

When the trial began, hordes of Michael supporters held vigil for him outside the courthouse. When Michael arrived at court, he jumped on the top of his car and started dancing. The pressure was enormous for him. "I mean, of course, we knew that he was innocent of all charges, but, you know, a lot of innocent men have been found guilty, and evidence can fall one way or the other. So the stress of three months of going to court every single day. He looked thin. He looked anemic, almost. I mean, he, it was just, I think that really was probably the worst thing in in his life as far as his health goes and and his mental state." The child sex abuse trial was something that Michael Jackson had always wanted to avoid. This was his worst nightmare. He was pretty clear to those around him that he thought a trial of this kind would kill him, and the effect on his health was really significant. "I think we all remember those pictures of Michael Jackson."

Turning up in court in his pajamas or just not turning up at all, he was in uh terrible discomfort during the entire trial proceedings. He's going to go home, recuperate, rest, and relax, and he'll be back on Monday, and he's looking forward to being here. He went to the emergency, and he went to the emergency room this morning, and he was given medications, so he'll be back on Monday, and we all thank you so very much. You take care.

There was very limited sympathy for him. I mean, the tabloid headlines the day he did turn up to court in his pajamas was "Banana in Pyjamas." I think the world felt, for the first time at least the world of the media, that actually maybe these years and years and years of managing to get around the law, however he had done that, had finally caught up with Michael. Like to let the world know that I'm behind my son. I don't believe any of this stuff that's being written about him, 'cause I raised him and I know him, and that's just a statement people are making. We support our brother wholeheartedly, and um, um, we stand by by his side, and there is, we're in the process of planning a trip with the whole family to visit him.

On June the 13th, 2005, Michael Jackson was found not guilty and completely cleared of all charges. There was no African-American on the jury. There were so many search warrants, so many months of investigation, so many million dollars, and they didn't even get an alcohol charge. They put it in to get something, they didn't even get that. It didn't go to show how guilty he was, it went to show how innocent he is, how clean he is. They went through his house with a fine comb, and um, the lady that brought the charges later went, ended up in jail for fraud. So, you know, I mean, Michael was a victim.

It's thought that the anxiety caused by the trial had a serious detrimental effect on Michael's health, and this stress, along with the constant pain he felt with his back and other ailments, led to a dependency on prescription drugs. The man was in pain, and there was no question about it. He needed to have certain medications, but the problem becomes the overuse of medications, and that's something which people, I think all people, find very difficult to control. He simply wasn't able to control it.

Over the years, Michael's friends claim they did their best to help him overcome his dependency. "I warned him many times. I shouted at him on several occasions, and I actually told him verbally, 'Michael, this will kill you. Michael, you will die.' And when I went into his bathroom, I saw lots and lots of pill boxes, um, of various different medication, um, in there. There was Demerol, there was Paxil, Zoloft. Demerol is a painkiller, and Paxil and Zoloft, they're anti-depressants." When I saw these things in the bathroom, I wasn't thinking, 'Oh, you know, he's a drug addict or anything like that.' I was thinking, 'Maybe he's sick,' and I wanted to know. But, and I kept on asking him, "What, what's happening?" and he was like, "No, everything's routine, you know, it's all okay."

In the years following the sexual abuse trial, despite being cleared of the charges, Michael in many ways appeared a broken man. There were then numerous reports that Michael Jackson was having financial problems, and he was no longer enjoying the same level of success with his music. The world wasn't prepared to see beyond Michael's eccentricity and the scandals that had overshadowed his life.

Michael Jackson is an incredible artist, you know, and artists aren't always normal, you know. In fact, some of the greatest artists are very eccentric, very unique, very different. And Michael was a great artist. He, uh, lived his life in a different way, in an unusual way. But when we go back to those songs, when we go back to those videos, when we go back to those albums, we find, uh, just an incredibly rich, diverse array of art that deserves attention.

Michael's enduring appeal was proved in March 2009 when he announced a number of comeback concerts at the O2 Arena in London. "London welcomes the King of Pop, Mr. Michael Jackson." "These will be my final show performances in London. This is it, and see you in July." Michael Jackson's announcement of 10 concerts here is certainly a coup for the O2 Arena, and if those concerts go well, the expectation is that he'll add many more dates. The questions still remain about whether the Michael Jackson of today can still cut it live on such a big stage.

"It's a staggering show. That's what Michael Jackson does. And so therefore, you're talking about absolute, the top of energy, and he has to be, you know, almost plugged into glucose, 'cause that's the only way he's going to get through it." Well, money was a huge factor for Michael Jackson over his final years. He was broke. He had lived well beyond his means. So the idea behind these farewell concerts that he was very passionate about was not only that he could go out in the way that he wanted to on stage, but also that he'd make the millions and millions of dollars which he desperately needed.

Thousands of fans from all over the world converged on the O2 Arena to buy tickets, proving that the megastar's appeal was as strong as it had ever been. "We came from the west of Ireland yesterday, or on Wednesday morning, and we've been queuing since. It was so hard to get the tickets. I just, for, I just took the risk and just come down here, spend the night, and I just don't care. When you're looking forward to something, you don't really suffer. We had rain, our tent got flooded, but just 'cause we knew that we were going to see Michael, none of that stuff matters. 'Cause we're here for Michael. We'll do anything."

"Let me state this: the man came back, sold out a bigger tour than he's ever done in his heyday. It sold out 50 dates, I think, something like a million tickets in 4 hours. So he was very loved, and he was very supported. I don't think he has to prove anything to pull it off. I mean, he's a legend. He is. I mean, Michael Jackson's going to turn up and do his shows, and everybody will see that, you know, the next chapter."

There were conflicting reports on the state of Michael Jackson's health in the lead-up to the concerts. "The last time I saw Michael was at the conference, um, at the O2. You know, they say he looked high, they say he looked sedated. I would say he looked that he was focused." "The last time I saw Michael was in March 2009, and to me, he did look unwell. He did. He looked a lot thinner than I'd ever seen him before, and I don't think he looked particularly healthy. He just seemed frail to me." Michael Jackson weighed the correct for his height. He had the best dietician that you can get.

The initial announcement was of 10 concerts, which were going to be held at the O2 Arena, a massive venue in East London, and after they sold out, they just kept adding dates. I don't think it was reasonable to expect somebody of 50 to do 50 concerts in 6 months. I just think that that's too hard. He just didn't have enough time to prepare for it, you know, and so much was riding on that, and it put an enormous strain on him, enormous strain, and I just don't think it was very fair on him, and I think in some respects it was quite irresponsible, very irresponsible.

After Michael announced the concerts, he stayed in London, and my family came up, and we spent the weekend with Michael before he flew back to the States. He was in a really good, positive mood. I mean, he was in such a positive frame of mind, best I've seen him for a long time. He told me his children had never seen him perform. They'd seen obviously video and DVD footage of him on stage, but they'd have never actually seen him live. So this was something he was not only doing for his fans, but mainly for his children.

I pulled him aside and said, "Mikey, why now?" Okay? And he said to me, he said, "Because, you know what? My kids are old enough, and I'm still young enough to do what I do, and I want them to see me, you know, in my prime." But the children never would see him perform. The world would never see the comeback Michael Jackson had promised.

"Fire paramedic 33, what is your emergency?" "Yes, sir. I need to, uh, I need an ambulance as soon as possible, sir." "Okay, sir. What's your address?" "It's 100 North Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles, California, 90077." "You said Carolwood?" "Carolwood Drive, yes." "Yes."

On June 25th, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the 100 block of Carolwood at 12:21 and 18 seconds. Unfortunately, at the time, the dispatcher answered the phone call, and never once did the caller ever identify to the Los Angeles Fire Department that the person that needed our help was Michael Jackson. "And what's the problem?" "Exactly what happened?" "Uh, sir, I have a, we have a gentleman here that needs help, and he's not breathing. He's not breathing, and we need to, we're trying to pump him, but he's not, he's not." "Okay. How old is he?" "He's, uh, 50 years old, sir." "50. Okay. He's unconscious. He's not breathing." "Yes, he's not breathing, sir." "Okay. And he's not conscious either." "He's not, he's not conscious, sir." "Okay. All right. Do you have any, is he on the floor? Where's he at right now?" "He's on the bed, sir. He's on the bed." "Okay. Let's get him on the floor." "Okay. Okay. Let's get him down to the floor. I'm going to help you with CPR right now." "Okay."

When our paramedics heard that CPR was being conducted on the bed, gave explicit, direct, emphatic direction for that patient to be moved from the bed and CPR to be done on the ground. "Okay. Okay. Let's get him down to the floor. I'm going to help you with CPR right now." "Okay. We need them get, we need, yes, we're already on our way there. We're on our way. I'm going to do as much as I can to help you over the phone. We're already on our way." "Did anybody see him?" "Yes, we have a personal doctor here with him, sir." "Oh, you have a doctor there. Dr. Murray said that he would take full responsibility for the patient. What that does for us is that now the doctor becomes the highest level of a medical authority. If he would have denied, we would have asked him to step aside, and the paramedics would have been the highest medical authority to give care to Michael Jackson." "He's not responding to anything." "No, no, he's not responding to CPR or anything." "Oh, okay. Well, we're on our way there. If your guys are doing CPR, you're instructed by a doctor. He has a higher authority than me, and he's there on scene." "Um, did anybody witness what happened?" "Um, no, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here." "Okay. So did the doctor see what happened?" "Uh, um, doctor, did you see what happened?" "Sir, sir, you just, uh, um, if you can please, uh, we're on our way. We're on our way."

The question is, why did it take Dr. Murray so long to dial 911? Only Dr. Murray can answer that question. Obviously, fast response saves lives. Why Dr. Murray took so long, and whoever long he noticed that Michael Jackson was down, it's unexplainable to us. I'm just, I'm just passing these questions on to my paramedics. They're on their way there, sir. Thank you, sir. "He's pumping, he's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything, sir." "Please, okay, okay, we're on our way. We worked 45 minutes because, as paramedics, we call it the golden hour. Obviously, we try to tell the community when someone is pulseless and non-breathing, you call 911 immediately wherever you live. We're less than a mile away, and we'll be there shortly. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Okay, sir, call us back if you need help. Thank you, sir. Bye." "Yes, sir."

The singer Michael Jackson is reported to have died about three hours ago. He was not breathing when paramedics arrived. They performed heart massage, and then they took him to the UCLA Medical Center in the city, where he is said to have gone into a deep coma. He was pronounced dead a short time ago. The singer had been due in London for a series of concerts during the summer.

"I am somewhat numb, I'm shocked at the passing of Michael Jackson. You know, it's like a dream, a bad dream. He was so much like a son to me. It's just hard to realize that Michael Jackson is not here. Unless you are a fan of Michael Jackson in the way that so many millions of people are, and the way that I am, you can't begin to understand the loss that we're feeling. I don't know, I can't stop crying. He meant so much to me. It's hard to deal with it, and it's still hard to believe."

I think you saw when Michael Jackson died, uh, something that maybe certain people didn't expect, which is that there was this huge outpouring across the world. There were just generations of Michael Jackson fans that were celebrating his life because his work resonated for them, and it resonated across cultures, it resonated across age groups, across generations. Michael's work was able to cross divisions and reach people.

After a small private funeral, Jackson's death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and it was reported that as many as 1 billion people around the world watched his public memorial service. The star-studded, emotional ceremony took place at the Los Angeles Staples Center.

"It saddens me that there are so many people in Los Angeles who, when he died, claimed to be his friend, and yet, where were they? Why didn't they help him? I think we drove him to a lot of things. The world could have done more to appreciate him, to let him know, 'Enjoy yourself. We love you. You're good. You're very good.' It's sad that we wanted so, so much from the man that we kept saying, 'More and more and more,' rather than saying, 'Hey, no more from you. Rest up. Enjoy your life.'"

Michael had been rehearsing in LA right up to the night before he died, getting set for his upcoming London shows. So there were serious questions about what had caused him, a man who appeared so fit, to die so unexpectedly at the age of just 50. Just the night before he died, Jackson was here at the Staples Center in LA rehearsing for his upcoming London shows, and by all accounts, it was a pretty energetic performance, running through 10 or 11 songs and dances, after which Jackson's manager says the singer came up and put his arm around him and told him, "I am so happy. This is really our time."

At these rather less glamorous studios, Jackson had a tough schedule for the last few months. People here who watched him rehearse said he was thin and frail, but he seemed fit. He was, you know, up to par. He was at his best, and he was ready to, um, to come back and just wow us all away. A documentary featuring Michael preparing for the "This Is It" tour, the comeback that was never to be, shows an energetic performer. He wanted to come back badly, in a great way. He was a perfectionist, so he wanted these concerts to be close to perfection, and that creates stress, that creates anxiety. He reportedly had once said to Lisa Marie Presley, "I have this terrible feeling I'm going to go the way your old man did," meaning die young. But actually, he really did go the way of Elvis, which is that they both had an incredible number of drugs in their body.

I thought that for the past 15 years, Michael had obviously been on a downward trajectory in terms of his relationship with reality and his perception of himself. What really was the shocker was the revelation of the extent of the drug use, which no responsible physician would have allowed. Within hours of his death from cardiac arrest, police became suspicious about the doctors who provided Jackson with a steady supply of prescription drugs. Though it was over 7 months before Dr. Conrad Murray was arrested, and another 18 months before he was brought to trial. Within 6 weeks, Murray had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to the maximum jail term of 4 years, bringing some kind of closure for Michael Jackson's family and many fans the world over. The court has determined that the appropriate term is the high term of four years.

Of course, Michael's musical legacy will live on. Just as Dr. Murray began his jail sentence, Cirque du Soleil embarked on a 47-city "Immortal" World Tour celebrating Michael Jackson, the most elaborate of many tributes that have followed the singer's death. Another sign that despite his troubled life, Michael Jackson will always be remembered for his extraordinary musical genius.

You're talking about someone who's not just a great artist, great writer, great performer, but he was a visualist as well. He was incredible. Nobody creates the attention, demands the attention that Michael Jackson does. Michael Jackson doesn't just come along once in a century or a lifetime. He only comes along once. We had the benefit of enjoying him while he was here, and we would enjoy him forever through his music. Music. There was something genuine, there was something exuberant, there was something that just radiated life in his work, life in all of its extremes. Even when Michael Jackson sang a cliché, he could inject it with life, and that was his gift.