- Michael didn't know how to read music. He composed entire songs out of humming, beatboxing, and his recorder. He would often record the tunes (sometimes in the middle of the night), and when in the studio, play it to someone. They play their instruments accordingly to how they hear it in the recorder and Michael will tweak it to how he hears it in his head. Sometimes, Michael will sing the melody to them.
- Really odd one, but incredibly revealing. Thriller is the first music video to incorporate a storyline. We all know the plot of the iconic Thriller Short Film. A couple watches a movie, the girl gets scared, and when they leave to go home, monsters from the movie came alive. That’s it. Before this revelation, all music videos just had musical artists singing or dancing to some backdrop. Don’t believe me? Try searching for one with a storyline before Thriller.
3. A controversial one, he’s not a pedophile. If you don’t believe me, read the extensive literature on it. I can’t possibly encapsulate it into a Quora answer. Each case since Jordan Chandler, to Gavin Arvizo, to Robson and Safechuck, all falls apart when you look at them closely. Ask yourself this, why didn’t Brett Barnes, Macauley Culkin, or Cory Feldman accuse Michael? What do they all have in common? They’re not financially unstable. That’s it. All three of them are successful in their own right. Robson used to be a dancer-choreographer, when he was successful, defended Michael at the 2009 trial. When his career failed (sadly after Michael passed away), goes on national television and said he got molested. You tell me what to believe.
4. He thoroughly understood the media. People often have this sense that Michael is very naive, childlike sort of character, and a bit eccentric. What if I told you, he knows that. He knows how he represents himself in your mind, yet he continues to persist in making music, not backing down. Despite the tabloids writing for decades about nonsense, he perseveres. One of my favorite quotes of his is “I’m a person, not a personality”, which incorporates my point so succinctly. He knows what you think, and guess what, he doesn’t care. His music speaks for him. His manager Frank Dileo during 1987 in an interview says “He’s a little more blase about it than I am, I mean he just sort of shrugs [the tabloids] off”.
5. Even before it was cool, Michael was vegetarian. He doesn’t consume meat and has a Zoo in his Ranch at one point. Although I am a fan, there are things I question about Michael, having a Zoo is one of those things hah. There’s something about keeping animals domesticated that just irks me. Anyway, he walks the talk and doesn’t eat meat. According to his autobiography, his favourite cuisine is Mexican. In “Remember the Time” written by his bodyguards in the later years of Michael’s life, apparently, he has hot sauce stocked up. Like, boxes of them. Guess you really don’t stop till you get enough.
6. This is a terrible one, but I thought I should mention it. He performed an entire show whilst being high on drugs. Which if you think about it, is pretty fucking phenomenal. How many artists do you think can go on stage high nowadays and keep a tune. Besides Snoop Dogg maybe. In his part tribute, part anniversary show in 2001, Michael attended with his long time friend Elizabeth Taylor. He turned up late, drugged on medication, and still performed an entire show without anyone noticing. Not “anyone” in the literal sense, but the audience still enjoyed themselves and the show went on spectacularly. The performance with NSYNC collaborating on stage actually wasn’t even rehearsed. He just improvised it. Full concert below.
7. In many ways, he predicted the Coronavirus. I know this is an exaggeration but remember all those masks he wore? Part disguise, part health fanatic. Apparently, Michael and his brothers grew up in a very strictly clean household. They were taught about hygiene at a young age, and not to touch public doorknobs or to always wash their hands. Ex-bodyguard Matt Fiddes in an article that Michael always warned “Matt I can't get ill, I can't let my fans down. I've got concerts coming up. I'm on this earth for a reason. I mustn't damage my voice, I've got to stay healthy, I don't know who I'm going to encounter today, I don't know what I might pass on.”. He wasn’t a prophet of course, but he knew germs and viruses could fuck you over. Wear face masks people, be like Michael.
8. Towards later in his career, he was more interested in making movies than making music. Michael delved into more works related to films and cinematography than music. Ever wondered why there was a decade gap between 1991 Dangerous and 2001’s Invincible album? I won’t count 1995’s History album as that wasn’t really a fully new album with new songs. Many of them were his previous hits with one or two new songs. During this time, Michael invested heavily in doing films. He was a big stakeholder of Sony, who at the time owned Spiderman along with some other MCU characters. Michael reportedly wanted to play Spiderman in a brand new movie. Of course, this didn’t follow through, but he did make some cameos in Men in Black and had Captain EO (which turned into a Disney ride), along with Moonwalker.
9. A sad one coming up, Michael has no friends. This is the truth of his life later towards the end. The glory 80s and 90s were behind him, the 2000s were just him hiding from the public, fighting Gavin Arvizo Case, fighting his Company Sony, and so he left for the Middle East. Be honest, if this was you, you’d leave for the Middle East too. He hung out with a Middle Eastern Prince for years, living in his home, and once he returned to the United States, he had no friends left. No one sent gifts, no one rang his doorbell, believe it or not, the only people outside his gates were die-hard fans. People who follow Michael all over the world. People who knows Michael more than you and me and Michael know them too. He appreciates their presence. No one reached out, not Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Wade Robson, or Elizabeth Taylor, no one. Just him, living in a rented mansion that he didn’t even own, with his kids and two bodyguards. A long excerpt from a book ahead…
According to Remember the Time written by Bill Whitfield “I sat there with all these people getting up on stage and talking about what a great friend Michael was and how much he meant to them, and the only thing I could think was: Where were they? Where were they when days went by and the phone didn’t ring? When he couldn’t sleep at night and had no one in the world to talk to? Or when it was Paris’ birthday and no one showed up to watch her open presents, except the nanny and a couple of security guards? Where were they when he was getting turned out of hotels and his kids were living out of suitcases and we didn't even have money to put gas in the vehicles? Where were these people then?” About the memorial service.
10. This is a hard truth, but This is It concert was torture for Michael. He did not want to do it and wanted nothing to do with that show. The sad reality of Michael at this point is that he’s in debt way over his neck, more than he knows what to do with. He was basically owned by the Production Company AEG Live. They had convinced and in many ways, coerced him to do it to settle all his financial debts. The return concert at the O2 Arena had him perform 50 shows, with initially Michael only agreeing to 10. The extra 40 shows were added to meet the high demand as the first 10 sold out like hotcakes. His Ex-bodyguard Bill Whitfield wrote in his book on Michael “That film they made rehearsals? Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the documentary? I’ve never seen it. I can’t watch it, because I know what was going on behind the scenes. I know everything that was happening”, regarding Michael being pushed beyond his limits, rehearsing day in day out, spending his little free time with his kids. Barely sleeping.
Do you want to know what killed Michael Jackson? It’s not Propofol, and it's not Conrad Murray. Michael died in 2005 after he won the trial. It cost him everything. Working day in day out and not sleeping was just the nail in the coffin. If it was you, you’d die too.
11. The last mind-blowing fact:
There will never be another.
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