The Blog
Michael Jackson Lore
Long-form fan essays about the King of Pop — the music, the choreography, the costumes, the studios, and the moments that turned a kid from Gary, Indiana into the most-watched performer in history. Written by fans, for fans.
April 22, 2025 · 7 min read
Era Guide: This Is It and the Chapter That Never Happened
Fifty sold-out London dates, a rehearsal film, and the era Michael Jackson never got to perform. An original long-form guide to 2009.
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April 18, 2025 · 8 min read
Album Review: HIStory (1995) — A Greatest Hits and a Rebuttal
Half retrospective, half response record. HIStory is the most personal and most argued-about album in the Michael Jackson catalogue.
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April 14, 2025 · 8 min read
Album Review: Dangerous (1991) — The Hardest Left Turn
Michael left Quincy Jones, hired Teddy Riley, and made the most aggressive record of his career. A long-form fan review of Dangerous.
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April 10, 2025 · 8 min read
Album Review: Bad (1987) — Following the Unfollowable
How do you follow the best-selling album of all time? Michael's answer was to write almost all of it himself. A fan review of Bad.
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April 6, 2025 · 8 min read
Album Review: Thriller (1982) — Nine Songs, No Filler
The best-selling album in history, reviewed as a record rather than a statistic. What actually makes these nine tracks work.
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April 2, 2025 · 8 min read
Album Review: Off the Wall (1979) — The Record That Set Him Free
A track-by-track fan review of the album where a 21-year-old former child star stopped being a Jackson brother and became Michael Jackson.
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March 11, 2025 · 6 min read
Invincible: The Most Expensive Album Ever Made
Roughly 30 million dollars, four years of studio time, and a public break with Sony that ended Michael's relationship with his own label. Inside the making of Invincible.
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March 7, 2025 · 4 min read
The Night Michael Won Eight Grammys: February 28, 1984
One album, one artist, one evening at the Shrine Auditorium. Thriller collected eight trophies in a single night and set a record that stood for 40 years.
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March 3, 2025 · 5 min read
Super Bowl XXVII: The 1993 Halftime Show That Changed the Format Forever
Before Michael Jackson, halftime meant marching bands. After Michael Jackson, halftime meant Beyoncé, Prince, Katy Perry, and Rihanna. Here is how one performance rewrote the biggest show on television.
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February 27, 2025 · 6 min read
Dangerous: How Teddy Riley and New Jack Swing Rebuilt Michael's Sound
After a decade with Quincy Jones, Michael wanted a harder street sound. He hired the 23-year-old inventor of new jack swing and made the best-selling album of 1992.
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February 23, 2025 · 4 min read
Why Michael Jackson's Music Still Matters in 2026
New generations continue to encounter Michael Jackson's catalog through streaming, video, radio, and reissues. Here is why the recordings remain influential.
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February 19, 2025 · 5 min read
Before Off the Wall: The Jackson 5 Motown Years
Four number-one singles in a row. A 10-year-old lead singer. The Indiana family act that became Motown's last great teenage phenomenon.
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February 15, 2025 · 5 min read
Neverland Ranch and the Private Michael Jackson
He bought 2,700 acres of California ranchland in 1988 and built the childhood he never got to have. Inside the place Michael called home.
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February 11, 2025 · 4 min read
Smooth Criminal and the Physics of the 45-Degree Lean
It is not a camera trick. It is not wires. Michael Jackson patented a shoe.
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February 7, 2025 · 5 min read
Earth Song and the HIStory World Tour
The HIStory World Tour carried an environmental anthem into stadiums around the world. Here is how Earth Song became its theatrical centerpiece.
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February 3, 2025 · 4 min read
Black or White and the Largest Music Video Premiere in History
On November 14, 1991, an 11-minute short film aired simultaneously on four networks in 27 countries. An estimated 500 million people watched it.
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January 30, 2025 · 5 min read
Off the Wall: The Album That Made Michael an Adult Artist
Before Thriller broke every record, a 21-year-old Michael Jackson made a disco album with Quincy Jones that quietly invented modern pop.
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January 26, 2025 · 5 min read
Inside the Making of the Thriller Music Video
Fourteen minutes long, half a million dollars, a graveyard built in a Los Angeles studio and a horror director on loan from American Werewolf in London.
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January 22, 2025 · 4 min read
Billie Jean: The Story Behind the Bassline
Michael wrote the song in his head while driving on the freeway. Quincy Jones almost cut it. Then it became the song that broke the color line on MTV.
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January 18, 2025 · 5 min read
Top 5 Most Iconic Outfits from the Bad Tour
Buckles, leather, sequined gloves and a single rhinestone glove that became a global symbol. A close look at five looks that defined an era.
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January 14, 2025 · 6 min read
Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson: Inside the Thriller Sound
How Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson built Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad — live drums, stacked vocals, Rod Temperton songs and the Beat It guitar gamble.
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January 10, 2025 · 5 min read
The History Behind the Moonwalk Debut at Motown 25
On March 25, 1983, Michael Jackson slid backwards across a stage in Pasadena and changed dance forever. Here is how that moment came together.
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Studio & stage trivia
MJ facts you can drop at the next listening party
The moonwalk debuted on March 25, 1983
Michael performed the move publicly for the first time during the 'Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever' television special at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, while singing 'Billie Jean.' The slide itself was adapted from street dancers — Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar is credited with teaching the steps to Michael.
The 'Smooth Criminal' lean is a patented invention
U.S. Patent 5,255,452, granted in 1993, lists Michael Jackson and two collaborators as inventors of a 'Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.' Special shoes with a slot in the heel locked into a peg that rose from the stage, letting dancers tilt forward at impossible angles.
He owned the publishing rights to most of The Beatles' catalog
In 1985 Michael bought ATV Music Publishing for $47.5 million, which included around 250 Beatles songs. The catalog later merged with Sony's publishing arm in 1995 to form Sony/ATV — a deal worth billions.
The 'Thriller' video was nearly never made
Michael's label initially refused to fund the 14-minute John Landis short film. Michael paid for parts of it himself and recouped the cost by selling 'The Making of Thriller' VHS — which then became the best-selling music home video of all time.
He holds 39 Guinness World Records
Including 'Most Successful Entertainer of All Time,' 'First Entertainer to Earn More Than $100 Million in a Year' and 'Highest-Paid Entertainer of All Time.' The Thriller album alone holds the record for the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 — 37 weeks.
Facts compiled from publicly available sources including Billboard, the RIAA, Guinness World Records and reputable music publications. We are an independent fan publication and are not affiliated with the Estate of Michael Jackson.