Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009; allegedly), also known as the King of Pop or by his initials MJ, is an American singer, dancer, musician, music producer, writer, entertainer, singer-songwriter, choreographer, record producer, recording artist, poet, arranger, businessman, philanthropist, actor, voice artist, and comedian. He is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. Jackson's contributions to music, dance, and fashion – along with his publicized personal life – has made him a global figure in popular culture for over 4 decades.
Starting in the mid 1980s, Jackson's appearance began to change dramatically: His skin color became lighter, his nose and facial shape changed, and he had lost weight. The lighter skin color was caused by vitiligo, with people to falsely believe it was due to Jackson bleaching his skin. In his book Moonwalker, Jackson explained he only had rhinoplasty and had cleft put in his chin.
Since the 1980s, he had a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles (as well as other animals at his home in Neverland Ranch). Unfortunately, Jackson was eventually forced to have him sent to an animal sanctuary (since Bubbles most likely would have attacked Jackson's children), where Bubbles has lived since 2005. Jackson also owned a pet llama named Louie, a family of monkeys, and some other wild animals.
In 2005, Jackson has been reported to have touched young children inappropriately, particularly boys. However, he did not get arrested as there wasn't enough evidence or proof. Fans have defended Jackson, denying that he has done any of these allegations, proclaiming them to be completely false as he had maintained from the start to care for and help children across the world to live happy lives (unlike himself) and this was proven so by court. At the time, the media, eager for viewer ratings, jumped upon the allegations, staining Jackson's career with negative publicity.
On June 25, 2009, Jackson had died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles, California at age 50, less than 2 months before his 51st birthday. It has also been reported that Bubbles had once attempted suicide after Jackson's "death" as he couldn't live without him, but he was immediately saved before he could do so.
On March 31, 2014, it was announced that an album titled Xscape was to be released on May 13. However, before and after its release, it led to many people to believe that Jackson is alive (due to some possible clues in the album), despite the album being of unreleased songs.