Michael Jackson

CTL-E-5237 · Person · musician · 1958–2009

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Michael Jackson (born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana; died June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, California) was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer — the child star who became the figure history calls the King of Pop. He made his professional debut in 1964 singing with his brothers in the Jackson 5, who signed with Motown Records and topped the charts with “I Want You Back” and “ABC” while he was still a child. He began his solo career at Motown in 1971; his breakthrough, Off the Wall (1979), fused soul, disco, and pop. Thriller (1982) became the best-selling album of all time, and its videos helped break racial barriers on MTV and remake the music video as an art form. His moonwalk and stagecraft set the template for the modern pop performer. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with the Jackson 5 in 1997 and as a solo artist in 2001.

The record

• Also known as: Michael Joseph Jackson

Notes

Staged 2026-10-15 under CTL-GOV-006; Gate A clear; Gate B met (Britannica plus a published specialist music encyclopedia). CTL treatment: Off the Wall scored 85 in the 2026-10-01 critical pass; CTL Archive Short #08 published on YouTube 2026-10-02; subject of 17 CTL research files per the 2026-10-15 corpus gap scan. Statistic carried: 13 Grammy Awards, incl. 8 for Thriller (Britannica, checked 2026-10-15). Jackson 5 Motown signing year omitted from the abstract — sources split 1968/1969 (see red team).

Relationships

• Motown Records — recorded for
  The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records (Britannica dates the signing to 1969); Jackson began his solo career at Motown in 1971 and released his first solo albums for the label.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Michael Jackson” — https://britannica.com/biography/Michael-Jackson (primary source)
• Donald Clarke, Encyclopedia of Popular Music, “Jackson, Michael” — http://donaldclarkemusicbox.com/encyclopedia/detail.php?s=1911

Watch the Short

• Michael Jackson — Off the Wall (1979)

CultureTechLens Shorts on YouTube — the citable record is this page.

Record CTL-E-5237 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 2 sources (1 primary) · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: PPL-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.