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Michael Jackson (view source)

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However, the damage was done, and in the U.S. he became less known for his artistic output <ref>''HIStory'' [1995], ''Blood on the Dance Floor'' [1997], and ''Invincible'' [2001] - which still all went platinum several times</ref> than his ever-strange personal behavior. He had a brief marriage to Elvis Presley's daughter, he dangled one of his infant children over a Berlin hotel railing to show him to fans, and worst of all a ''second'' round of molestation allegations which unfolded over 2003-05 resulting in a not guilty verdict.
 
Jackson died due to an overdose of propofol on June 25, 2009, at the age of fifty, a few weeks before the start of a long-awaited series of shows in London that were to serve as a comeback. In late August, his death was ruled a homicide. His death occurred during an almost surreal two-week period between June 21 and July 4, which was densely populated by celebrity deaths including those of [[The Tonight Show|Ed McMahon]]; Sky Saxon; [[Charlie's Angels (TV)|Farrah Fawcett]] (who died on the same ''day'', no less); [[Billy Mays]]; [[Are You Being Served? (TV)|Mollie Sugden]]; [[Fargo|Harve Presnell]]; Karl Malden; and [[American Football|Steve McNair]], in what has been dubbed the "Summer of Death" or the "2009 Celebrity Death Wave". [[Kill Bill|David Carradine]] died two weeks before the beginning of this period, but is often included with these folks anyway. The doctor who administered the overdose was found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter in November of 2011.
 
His memorial service on July 7, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was broadcast live around the world, watched by up to one billion people.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y Billie Jean]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym0hZG-zNOk Beat It]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA Thriller (Long Version)] ([[Thriller (Musicsong)|Has its own page]])
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V90AmXnguw Short Version]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEhh_XpJ-0 Say Say Say] (Duet with [[Paul McCartney]])
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qLY0vbrT8Q In the Closet]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHI1yI1Ndk Jam]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4A1K4lXDo Scream]: Notable for featuring his sister [[Janet Jackson (Music)|Janet Jackson]] and being directed by [[One Hour Photo|Mark]] [[Never Let Me Go|Romanek.]]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lZ3IPVOi6Q Childhood]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyKJAtDNCw You Are Not Alone]
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* [[Bishonen]]: At his best in the mid-90's, before the surgeries became too much, his appearance could be described as this. His duet with sister Janet [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4A1K4lXDo&ob=av2e provides the most compelling evidence.]
* [[The Cameo]]: There is nothing to say here besides, well... ''[[Space Channel 5]]''. Especially Part 2. Yes, that really is his voice.
** He also appeared as himself in ''[[Men in Black (Filmfilm)|Men In Black 2]]'', and as a hidden boxer in ''Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2''.
** He also had a role in ''Miss Cast Away'', made in 2004. He was prominently featured on the cover as a selling point (but then, according to reviews, it had nothing else to offer).
* [[Celebrity Star]]: ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode [[wikipedia:Stark Raving Dad|"Stark Raving Dad"]] has Homer meeting a man named "Leon Kompowsky" who thinks he's Michael Jackson. The voice actor credited with the role was "John Jay Smith," but aside (ironically) from his singing it is Jackson's actual voice -- he was a huge fan of the show who also co-wrote [[wikipedia:Do the Bartman|"Do the Bartman"]] under a pseudonym.
** And even though he didn't sing it, the episode also gave us one of the show's Crowning Moments of Everything in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTfC-L2W1c "Lisa, It's Your Birthday".] He apparently didn't do the singing parts because Sony would not allow him to, though another story floating around is that Michael wanted to prank his family with the sound-alike singer (Kipp Lennon).
* [[Clothes Make the Legend]]: White socks; short trousers; red jacket; black trilby; single white glove; and several others.
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** Also in ''Beat it'', where he defuses gang fights by stepping in and starting to dance.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The ''Bad'' album was supposed to give him an 'edgier' image.
* [[The Dead Can Dance]]: Made famous by his ''[[Thriller (Musicsong)|Thriller]]'' video.
* [[Deliberately Monochrome]]: The videos for "Scream", "Stranger In Moscow" and the [[Talky Bookends]] of "Bad".
* [[Distinct Double Album]]: ''HIStory'', one disc being old "greatest hits" material, the other being new music.
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** Really, he hit most of the appearance tropes on the dark-light spectrum at some point.
** In the words of Jerry O'Donnell: "He went from a handsome black man to an odd-looking white woman. SHOCKING!"
* [[The Eighties]]: Jackson was THE '80's pop star. ''[[Back to Thethe Future (Filmfilm)|Back to the Future, Part II]]'' goes so far as to imply that he and President Ronald Reagan ''were'' the 1980s.
* [[Epic Rocking]]: ''Dangerous'' has 10 songs over 5 minutes long. The disk two of ''[[HI StoryHistory]]'' has 3 over 6 minutes (including the single "Earth Song"), and ''Invincible'' opens with the 6:25 "Unbreakable".
* [[Everythings Better With Bunnies]]: During the ''Speed Demon'' segment in ''[[Moonwalker]]'', he puts on a rabbit suit to escape his fans and later, that suit becomes sentient and he dances with it. It later [[Mind Screw|turns into a mountain]].
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys]]: Bubbles, his pet chimp.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Sparkles]]: He wore silver sequins on his glove and socks for this reason... and because with sparkly white socks, viewers could pay attention to his amazing dance moves more easily.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Spinning]]: He employed this often in his music videos and dance routines.
* [[Everything's Deader Withwith Zombies]]: ''Thriller'', of course, which features not only dancing zombies, but Jackson himself becoming a zombie.
* [[Elvis Lives]]: ''Thriller'' could oddly enough be made into a conspiracy theory, making him still around as a zombie in some fanfiction.
* [[The Faceless]]: Having a self-image problem, he often hid his face behind a hygienic mask and large sunglasses when going out in public.
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* [[Green Aesop]]: "Earth Song" and Jackson's final message in the ''This Is It'' film.
* [[Guest Fighter]]: In Ready 2 Rumble Boxing. Let's be honest, [[Mundane Made Awesome|we all wanted to use him beat the crap out of scary Russian Boxers, Shaq and Bill Clinton.]]
* [[Hyde Plays Jekyll]]: In ''[[Thriller (Musicsong)|Thriller]]''.
* [[Implausible Deniability]]: He claimed as late as 2003 that he had only had two plastic surgeries in his entire life, and that any other changes in his face were due to natural maturation.
* [[The Insomniac]]: As noted by friends and family, MJ had terrible insomnia. The problem seemed worse leading up to a performance. It may be linked to his death via the sedatives he used to fall asleep.
* [[Intercourse Withwith You]]: A few songs seem romantic, but are clearly this trope. (''Invincible''[['|'s]] "Break of Dawn" at least doesn't hide it, [[Lyrical Dissonance|despite the somber mood]])
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: With [[Elizabeth Taylor]], Diana Ross, and Macaulay Culkin.
* [[Licensed Game]]: ''Moonwalker'', his appearance in ''[[Space Channel 5]]'' and most recently [[wikipedia:Michael Jackson: The Experience|a dancing/karaoke game]] developed by [[Ubisoft]] in light of the [[Rhythm Game]] craze.
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* [[The Movie]]: ''[[Moonwalker]]'' and/or ''This Is It'' can apply.
* [[MTV]]: ''[http://www.mtvmusic.com/jackson_michael/videos/26708/billie_jean.jhtml Billie Jean]'', contrary to popular belief, was '''not''' the first video by an African-American artist shown on MTV, but its success helped bring down the channel's color barrier, and from there Jackson became one of the biggest video stars in the early '80's. The "[http://www.mtvmusic.com/jackson_michael/videos/26726/thriller_long_vers_.jhtml Thriller]" clip, in particular, was the most elaborate music video made up to that point (1983) and was regarded as a genuine event.
* [[Museum of the Strange Andand Unusual]]: Neverland could be considered one of these.
* [[My Friends and Zoidberg]]: When his parents were introduced at his funeral: "Mrs. Jackson... and Joe".
* [[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]]: This trope has caused many edit wars on this very wiki.
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* [[Nice Hat]]: His black Trilby. In several concerts, he threw it at the audience.
* [[One of the Kids]]: He identified very strongly with [[Peter Pan]]. Neverland Ranch was designed to give other kids the dream childhood Joe Jackson denied him. It was, many argue, this childlike behavior and thought patterns which led to the molestation charges due to [[Not What It Looks Like|it not being what it looked like]].
* [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname]]: His two sons. The eldest, Michael Joseph Jackson II, is known as "Prince". The youngest, Prince Michael Jackson II (i.e. his first name actually ''is'' "Prince" -- yes, it's confusing), is known as "Blanket".
* [[Our Founder]]: The trailer for his ''HIStory'' album shows him heading an army and erecting a giant statue of himself. That statue trick (it served as the cover of the album, and actual replicas of it were circulated on his tour) was criticized even by his fans as being too [[Small Name, Big Ego]].
* [[Pass the Popcorn]]: Sorta does this in the ''Thriller'' video. An animated gif featuring this scene has become a ''massive'' meme.
* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: One reason his [[Small Name, Big Ego]] reputation worsened in his final decade (1999-2009) was that he didn't tour, performed live very rarely, and only produced one full album in 2001; all his other releases were compilations of older material with a few new songs thrown in (one on ''Number Ones'', more in the box set). This is another reason the term "self-proclaimed King of Pop" was thrown around a lot when he was mentioned in the media; he wasn't doing much to maintain his throne.
* [[Police Brutality Gambit]]: He [[wikipedia:People v. Jackson#Allegations against police|claimed to have been injured and mistreated]] when he was booked on the 2003 charges, but the police in question released audio and video tape of him to disprove this.
* [[Pop Star Composer]]: In the mid 2000s, it was discovered that Michael Jackson had a hand in composing some of the soundtrack of ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Video Game)|Sonic The Hedgehog 3]]'', with most evidence pointing to the fact that most of the songs are either uptempo or [[The Jimmy Hart Version|Jimmy Hart versions]] of tracks from his ''Dangerous'' album. He is not credited in the game itself, with the official reasons being that he disliked the low-grade sound equipment used to make Sega Genesis music, but given that he had [[Memetic Molester|somewhat bigger things]] to worry about in early 1993, it's easier to see the true reasons behind his abandoning the project. He later lent his voice and likeness to another Sega project, ''[[Space Channel 5]]'', but it's not known if he provided any music.
** Despite evidence of his involvement, there has been no actual confirmation of what songs, if any, that he composed made it into the game. That said, technically it was his personal songwriter at the time, Brad Buxor who composed the songs during his involvement.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVM-l2Oku4 Shortly after his death, it was revealed that he did work on Sonic 3]
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* [[Trope Codifier]]: For the modern, plot-driven type of music video (ones previous to him were mostly just shots of the band playing), for the modern style of pop performances (one of the first to have synchronized choreographed dance while singing), and for the modern pop artist image and persona.
* [[Uncanny Family Resemblance]]: Many of the Jackson brothers looked strikingly alike when they were children. Also, back in [[The Nineties]], a [[Running Gag|running joke]] was that Michael's public appearances were actually his sister LaToya.
* [[Undermined Byby Reality]]: He is another infamous example.
* [[Used to Be Aa Sweet Kid]]
* [[Verbal Tic]]: "HEE HEE!"
** "I don't know!", "CHAMONE!", "WOOH!" and his fairly unique vocal "hiccup" style also qualify.
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