Thriller

Michael Jackson was possibly the king of pop music, and his music is possibly the most well know in the world. My issue is not with his talent, which is undeniable, my concern is the individual himself. I am aware that it might seem distasteful to criticize someone who has passed away, but criticism is not my intention. I want to look at the effects success had on Michael Jackson.

Forget your Justin Bieber's and Lady Gaga's, Michael was the biggest and the richest musician that has ever lived, he was also the most famous, this is not mere opinion as it has been recognised by the guinness book of world records. This man has contribute more to dance, fashion and music then any other individual dead or alive and this is why he saw such success.

Sadly however Michael Jackson was not perfect, his huge wealth led to the development of an addiction to spending; Michael was infamous for spending literally millions per binge and this led to his financial demise. By the end of his career he had sold 750 million records and won more awards then any other artist in history but he was tainted from constant negative press and his addiction to spending money. Michael received huge media attention when it came out that he had been having medical assistance to change the colour of his skin, and although he denied this to start of with, it became clear pretty soon that he had in fact had his skin bleached; this was an act that lost him a great many supporters, particularly in the African-american community. Such was his overall popularity that any amount of negative press would not dent the millions of fans he had over the world. Another scandle that tainted his reputation was that of Child molesting, and although nothing was ever proved, it didn't help his wavering supporters.

The addiction to spending money was the result of what was reported to be a $900 million fortune, some even claim that his bank balance alone reached levels close to this which would have made him the first billionaire musician if you take into consideration his assets and the music catalogue he owned, including all of the Beatles tracks which he reportedly paid $46 million for;however much of this was rough estimation and speculation. There was also another side to Michael; by the end of his life in 2009, he had donated £300 million to charity's across the world and although he had received so much negative media attention over his career, he funeral in 2009 was the most high profile in history, with over 1 billion viewers across the world.

To summarise: Although flawed, Michael Jackson was and is the Most successful and most loved musician ever and he has donated more money then any other celebrity. Arguably money corrupted him slightly and at times his fame hindered him, but over all he was a man that standards are now set by and that is a feat to which all can strive for.