Jackson Voted Most Influential Artist in Black Music – Choice FM

Michael Jackson [i]Choice FM’s Most influential artist in black music.. as voted by the Choice FM listeners.[/i] Michael Jackson is, quite simply, the single most successful entertainer of the 20th century. As a singer, composer, producer, arranger and musician, he’s fashioned music that is the embodiment of modern pop and has sold more recordings than any other single artist. His live concerts are presentations of kinetic energy, unbridled emotion and the highest level of showmanship. Unquestionably, he’s the King of Pop. As part of the Jackson 5, Michael was one of the most popular singing stars of the ’70s. In 1970, at the tender age of 11, he and his brothers won international success on the Motown label with four #1 hits. It was just a taste of what was to come… Moving with his brothers (then called the Jacksons) to Epic in the mid-’70s, Michael went on to make his auspicious solo debut in 1979. His ‘Off The Wall’ album included the #1 singles ‘Rock With You’ and ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’ and went multi-platinum. After recording and touring again with the Jacksons, Michael returned to solo work. His 1982 album ‘Thriller’ featured the singles ‘The Girl Is Mine’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” and is the all-time best-selling record in history – spending 37 weeks at #1 and notching up worldwide sales of more than 44 million copies to date. It made him an international icon. After completing one more album with his brothers, Michael released his 1987 album ‘Bad’ which he accompanied with his first solo world tour. Including the singles ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and ‘Man In The Mirror’, ‘Bad’ has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, making it the second all-time best-selling (non-soundtrack) album. His 1991 follow-up, ‘Dangerous’ was another chapter in the success story. Selling 23 million copies worldwide, it included the hits ‘Black Or White’, ‘Remember The Time’ and ‘Heal The World’. His second world tour, launched in Europe in June 1992 continued into 1993. 1995’s ‘HIStory: Past, Present And Future, Book I’ not only chronicled Michael Jackson’s dynamic musical career, but saw him turning a creative corner. ‘HIStory Continues’ (Disc II of the two-CD set) is the most personal album he’s ever recorded and spawned the hits, ‘Scream’ (a duet with sister Janet), ‘Earth Song’ and ‘Stranger In Moscow’. By January 1996, it had been certified six times platinum in the US alone. Having gathered a slew of new (MTV, World Music and Grammy) awards Michael embarked upon the HIStory World Tour in September 1996. Michael continued touring in 1997 and also in that year released ‘Blood on the Dancefloor – HIStory in the Mix’, containing five new songs and eight remixes, which immediately went to #1 across Europe and has subsequently become the biggest selling re-mix album ever. Now the father of three children, Michael has been hard at work on various projects including spending time in the recording studio. Source: http://www.choicefm.com/Article.asp?id=130442