How Michael Jackson Changed Music

Creative commons credits: victorgrigas, Abi Skipp

Sources/further reading:
You Are Not Alone: Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes
By Jermaine Jackson
Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story
By J. Randy Taraborrelli

0:00 Early Life
1:40 The Jackson 5
6:01 Early solo career
11:01 Off The Wall
14:16 Thriller
20:52 Bad
24:25 Dangerous
29:09 HIStory
32:56 Invincible
37:24 Legacy

#michaeljackson #musicdocumentary #behindthemusic

Today, Michael Jackson’s legacy is mixed. On one hand, he’s still the King of Pop for his overwhelming influence on modern pop music. Few in history have single handedly have had such an impact on culture. His songwriting, music, and singing and dancing style inspired multiple generations. At the time of the release of this video, Jackson had sold around 400 million copies of his albums worldwide, making him possibly the highest-selling solo artist in history.

On the other hand, Jackson had a messed up personal life. At best, it was weird. At worst, it may have been as dark as it can get, man. In recent years, his reputation has further been tarnished by more allegations of sexual abuse of minors, as seen in the documentary Leaving Neverland.

And so, despite his enormous success, Jackson will likely always be one of the most controversial public figures in history. Now, that doesn’t mean we can’t love his music. Because his music, well…it CONTINUES to make the world a much better place.

[mattbeatgoeson]

What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?

[okaydmuzikkk]

The fact that Michael jackson did off the wall, thriller, bad between the ages of 21- 30... that is WILD!!! Hit after hit after hit after

[ghandibanks]

Michael Jackson is one of those few musicians who still cast a big shadow in the pop culture/music realm.

[bonecanoe]

One fan Michael never lost was me. He was an eccentric soul, a tortured person, and made some decisions that were questionable at best, but I don't believe he ever knowingly harmed children. He was fighting his own demons after a childhood that none of us could really understand, but he always tried to help others. As you said, he never abandoned his brothers even after his fame far outgrew theirs, and I truly believe he cared about children because deep inside he was trying to heel his own childhood self.

[Michael_Jackson]

No one can ever say that Michael Jackson will be forgotten. He was literally the most famous person to ever live

[eversonserpa.]

Michael's legacy is only mixed in the USA or maybe the UK.
Around the world he is still as beloved as he was during the 1980's.

[ayaanbretmitchell]

Something about this man. He was exceptionally special. He had a massive effect on so many people over so many generations and over so many demographics it's unreal. What he achieved in the 80s was so high no one still has even got anywhere near. His fame was soooo massive you had Presidents, head of countries, police, journalists, everyone wanting to get near to him and get his autograph

[Sttephy]

He had extreme HIGHS, and extreme LOWS. What a life. His music will live on forever, w/ his brothers and without.

[kevinklayer]

A few important things to consider about the child sexual abuse allegations:

The evidence from the 1993 allegations, collected over the span of a year, was presented to two California grand juries. Getting indictments from a grand jury is a relatively easy thing to do. As the saying goes, "A grand jury can indict a ham sandwich." The burden of proof is fairly low. All that the evidence needs to show is that it is reasonable to suspect that a crime may have been committed. Yet the evidence from 1993 was not compelling enough to result in a single indictment from either grand jury. This means two separate panels of experienced judges did not find it reasonable to believe that a crime was committed based on the evidence.

Michael did not want to settle the 1993 case initially. However, the family of the alleged victim sued Michael Jackson in relation to the allegations, and the civil proceedings were slated to happen before any criminal proceedings. Long story short, this jeopardized Michael's constitutional right to a fair trial and to not incriminate himself in a criminal procedure. Despite Jackson's lawyers petitioning the judge, the dates would not change. Against Michael's wishes, his insurance company settled the civil lawsuit. The settlement did not impact the criminal proceedings in any way.

The "Living With Michael Jackson" documentary in 2003 was deceptively edited, and the final film cut out several important clarifications that Michael made about many things, such as his plastic surgery, his personal life, his children, and, most importantly, the allegations.

As stated, he was cleared of all fourteen indictments in 2005. The trial featured many witnesses from the prosecution, including the alleged victim and his family, fired staff and maids from Neverland, the 2003 doc interviewer, and many others, including the 1993 alleged victim's mother and sister. Again, the result was a firm "not guilty". This was not just a simple aquittal made in passing by a jury swooned by Michael's star power. It was a resounding vindication, with the jury not being able to find enough evidence for even the misdemeanor alcohol charges, let alone the child molestation charges. This was due to most of the prosecution's witnesses being unreliable, with many of them selling out patently false stories to tabloids.

The HBO "Leaving Neverland" film is very apparently one-sided, not even giving a minute to defend Michael Jackson. It is hardly an objective piece, as most of the assertions are hearsay with little to no evidence to back them up. The accusers from that film are currently in a lawsuit with Jackson's companies, claiming that they facilitated abusez so we will see how that goes. Michael's estate is also pursuing a lawsuit against HBO for a breach of contract, but that case is most likely under seal, so we will probably not hear about the outcome of that case.

Take these into consideration as you will.

[freebandz]

Michael Jackson was many things, an icon, a father, a troubled soul, a humanitarian, an abuser was not one of them. Hopefully one day his legacy won’t be tainted by the greed of others and industry agendas.

[TheBlackQueen]

I understand that this video was meaning to take a neutral stance on the Child Abuse Allegations, but I heavily urge anyone interested in finding out the truth to do some research because there is PLENTY of evidence that disproves many aspects of the accusers' testimonies. It's too much to really put in one comment but I'll sum it up best I can.

Jordan Chandler, the original 1993 accuser, did not accuse any molestation until his father Evan Chandler (whom was divorced from the custody-held mother) extorted a confession out of him after kidnapping him from her and putting him in a dentist chair, feeding him Sodium Amytal, a type of laughing gas that is known to induce false memories under hypnosis. He had been trying to get him to confess for months at this point despite Jordan not once saying anything inappropriate happened. It got so bad that his mother was nearing the point of permanently restraining Jordan from his father, but once he got that confession, she ultimately decided that if Jordan is now saying he was molested, then it probably happened. But did they go to the police? Nope. They went straight to Jackson and demanded I believe $100 Million. When he refused, they went to the media and continued to pressure him into a payday. What does it say about a family whose child was abused that would rather take a hefty price than lock up the man that abused them? After the CIVIL trial was settled (which was a decision pushed by his insurance companies and lawyers because he would have lost a lot more money had he cancelled the rest of his tour to fight the case), the Chandler family refused to follow up with a criminal trial, letting free their supposed monster pedophile to the public, so long as they got paid. And to TOP IT ALL OFF, Jordan Chandler, upon reaching age 18, immediately emancipated himself from his family and there are some unconfirmed claims from credible sources that he admitted he lied. But that isn't to be put on Jordan's head, if true. Evan Chandler was the man that extorted the "confession" from him and used his alleged abuse for capital gain. It's no surprise that only a year after Jackson died, Evan Chandler would commit suicide, though admittedly, it is rather shitty to speculate and assume the reasoning for such suicide, but whatever it was, I'm comfortable saying he deserved it.

Then we have Gavin Arvizo, the 2005 accuser, and I really don't even need to get into this one because there is so much to talk about as it was described as "a circus", for how many witnesses the prosecution pulled in that claimed the worst of the worst, and then crumbled under cross examination, things they claimed being immediately disproven, such as Jackson's Ex-Bodyguards and Maids (whom had stolen from Jackson prior and were successfully sued) and other witnesses all claiming they saw 5 boys molested. Three of those boys were Macaulay Culkin, Brett Barnes, and Wade Robson (more on him later). The 4th was Jordan Chandler, who didn't show up to court, and the 5th was a man named Jason Francia, who claimed he was tickled inappropriately. However, he had previously denied any inappropriate behaviour and only recently changed his story after being offered huge paydays from tabloids, as did his mother. But onto Gavin Arvizo, who claimed he and his brother were given alcohol in soda cans, shown pornographic magazines, and that Jackson masturbate him, the brother echoing these claims. Sounds damning, yes? ...The brother crumbled under cross examination and admitted he was lying under oath. That, for most, would be the end of the case... and yet it continued. There was also fabrication of evidence being taken place IN COURT! I shit you not, the prosecution attempted to tamper with state evidence by presenting the "Nude Children Magazine" (which btw was not a pornographic magazine, but rather a coffee table book of art photography that was likely gifted to Jackson by a fan) to Gavin Arvizo out of it's protective sleeve, letting him hold it, and then weeks later, presenting the same magazine to the court, arguing it was the magazine they were shown, and the proof were the FINGERPRINTS HE ONLY JUST PLACED. Also, the magazine's issue date was after the alleged abuse so that was another huge L. They had also brought in Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife, in hopes she would speak for the prosecution, but instead spoke in defense of Jackson. The trial was scheduled for 6-7 months, but it took only about 4 to complete. Anyone watching the trial knew that this was insanely bogus, and the prosecution had next to nothing for themselves.

Oh, and one last thing about those first three boys that were supposedly molested, those were Jackson's first three witness, all claiming they were never touched.

Wade Robson and James Safechuck are the last two main accusers with any sort of attention. The former, Wade Robson, you may recall, was a witness for the DEFENSE in 2005, but around 2012, he changed his story and claimed he had been molested at Neverland for a 14 week stretch of time in 1992. His timeline doesn't add up to Jackson's timeline, who was on his Dangerous World Tour at the time and had no 14-week stretch where he was there during the alleged abuse. His story had been changed numerous times in fact, with his reasonings for lying under oath changing from "He didn't know it was abuse at the time" to "He knew but he thought he would get in trouble" to "He was told it was an expression of love" to "He wanted to protect his friend". He had only started coming forward about alleged abuse after his career as a dance choreographer began plummeting. His last stint was to choreograph for the Cirque Du Soleil performance "Michael Jackson: One", but he was rejected from that position. Not too long after, he gave his story to Inside Edition about being molested (while privately asking the Jackson estate for millions in settlement money before even making an actual court case). He also claimed that he was swayed away from dating girls because they were supposed to be together, but that is easily disproved by the fact that Jackson introduced him to his niece Brandi Jackson and subtly got them together. The bulk of his claims were released in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, a bit more on that later.

James Safechuck on the other hand, echos events and descriptions from the propaganda book Michael Jackson Was My Lover: The Secret Diary Of Jordie Chandler. This is blatant with how much he describes themes of school-like environments and events of "marriages with Michael" that were initially described in the book, by author Victor Gutierrez, relating to Jordan Chandler, the 1993 accuser. He describes being given a medallion of marriage, again, taken from the book where Michael supposedly gave a medallion to Wade, and that they allegedly had a wedding ceremony, but James claims it was himself, not Wade. So....a little about this book. It was promoted as being based of the diary of Jordan Chandler for the purposes of NOT framing Jackson as a Pedophile...but for PROMOTING Jackson as a Pedophile.... You heard right, The Secret Diary Of Jordan Chandler was a PRO-PEDOPHILIA book, and Victor Gutierrez was an open Pedophile, specifically of the propaganda group NAMBLA, which this book had circulated. The Chandler family, however, distanced themselves from this book and denied any relation to any diary or other connections to Jordan Chandler or the Chandler family. The few times he tries to add to his claims, he gets the dates horribly wrong, such as an instance where he claimed he was molested in the room above the Train Station...of which was not built until several years AFTER his alleged abuse, and of which he would have been 16 already, allegedly past his "cut off year" for Jackson. He also claimed he was given items such as the original Indiana Jones bullwhip and the Thriller Jacket, both of which are in fact NOT in his possession, nor were they ever. Both reside in their respective libraries and museums. His claims would also be featured in Leaving Neverland.

*inhales*

Now we're onto the "documentary" Leaving Neverland, released in 2019. I say "documentary" because it is only one by name. In context, there is ZERO documented evidence presented in the entire 4-hour film. The entire runtime is comprised of Anecdotes, Drone Shots of Neverland Ranch, and completely non-incriminating photos and videos, framed on an eerie backdrop to allude to a darker undertone without actually supplying any. In fact, the few points that the documentary tries to give concrete claims and timeframes, they were so easily disprovable that they were cut out of the overseas edit by nearly an HOUR less than what it was in America. This is largely thanks to the exposing of facts by YouTuber Razorfist as well as Jackson relatives Taj and Brandi, among plenty of other people coming forward to his defense. Razorfists videos on the MJ Allegations are very enlightnening, I'd highly recommend checking them out! Since then, James and Wade once again tried their case in court, and it has once again been dismissed. Leaving Neverland is based on zero ground whatsoever.

That outta be the end of my rant. I'm certain there's more to talk about but this is the gist as condensed as I could have put it (I've put it much larger in the past, this is the best I can do to articulate in detail).

[mechajay]

Michael Jackson is simply one of the greatest entertainer/artist in the world. It's just upsetting of all the crap he had to go through (and still go through) because of his success, but none of that will ever dismish his legacy.

[ifallthingsmatter]

Micha Jackson is the G.O.A.T. No one can even come close to him until today. He is intelligent, creative, talented, philanthropic, hard-working, kind, respectful, handsome, charismatic, humble and a world-class leader. People are so jealous of him that they betrayed him, made use of him, backstabbed him and eventually murdered him. Anyone who did harm to him, your soul will never rest in peace. The people didnt deserve him. RIP MJ.💔

[RetiredAccount]

Overall, this is a good video but the part about the "nude artbook" is a bit misleading and I see it frequently being posted without much broader context. If I recall, it was gifted by a fan with an inscribed message from them since it was a best seller around the time it was published. The Santa Barbara police department, with assistance from the FBI, completely searched all of his residencies and as many hard drives as possible. These raids only found regular pornography of adults. The prosecution was so desperate for any "evidence" of child pornography (which simply did not exist) that they tried to spin this as such.

[simonbarre-brisebois]

YouTubers who wants to know more information about Michael Jackson should consult the podcasts called "Michael Jackson Case for Innocence", "Red Jackson Dance" (on YouTube), "The Mjcast", and the documentaries "Square One MJ", "The Lies of Leaving Neverland”, “Michael Jackson Private Home Movies”, “Michael Jackson Take Two The Footage You Were Never Meant to See”, “Michael Jackson The Humanitarian”, and “Loving Neverland”. These multiple documents are precious and rich in information that the media refuses to adequately broadcast.

[aceNura]

Michael Jackson is the only king of pop. Pure royalty.

[Cavi]

All of the rumors and hurtful things media said about Michael are the ultimate price for worldwide stardom. Really sad how most only apologized only after it was too late.

[mattyfox_]

I've always been a fan of both Michael Jackson and Prince growing up I'm so happy to be watching this

[realer]

I love how each of his albums perfectly encapsulates the sound of the time while not sounding derivative or like they’re trying too hard to be trendy.

[TheNarutodude]

Michael had the world against him with the allegations, yet nothing surfaced against him. He was innocent in every single court case, and you know it's something when the FBI can't find anything on you.

What a tortured soul.