Trivia

At his peak, Jackson was reportedly worth around $1 Billion.

He claimed to have given $300 million to charity, more than any other celebrity apart from Oprah Winfrey.

His 1982 album "Thriller" is the biggest selling album of all time, with confirmed sales of over 51 million, and claimed sales of over 100 million copies worldwide. His 1987 album "BAD" is one of the biggest selling albums of all time, with over 20 million copies sold worldwide. His 1991 album "Dangerous" is one of the biggest selling albums of all time, with over 20 million copies sold worldwide.

He was the first artist to generate seven top ten hits (USA) on one album with "Thriller".

Music website Amazon sold as many Jackson albums in the 24 hours after his death as in the previous 11 years.

Following the week of his death, his album sales collectively spiked over 2000%.

He held 10 different Guinness World Records.

He sold over 750 million albums worldwide.

His hit song "Bad" from 1987 was initially supposed to be a duet with fellow 1980s superstar Prince. Prince said in an interview that he did not wish to sing the line "Your butt is mine".

Macaulay Culkin is godfather to his three children.

In January 1993 Jackson performed during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. It drew the largest viewing audience in the history of American television.

His estate contains a child's mini coaster, Zipper, Bumper cars, Merry go round, octopus, Giant slide and rocking dragon.. There is also a full size basketball court, water wars section (for water gun fights) 2 Trains, (one steam train) and a zoo where he has various exotic animals including elephants, giraffes, alligators, a tiger and even an Anaconda.

He was diagnosed with lupus in 1984.

Jackson hired film director Martin Scorsese to direct the video for the "Bad" album's title track. When the 18-minute music video debuted on television, it sparked a great deal of controversy as it was apparent that Jackson's appearance had changed dramatically. Although Jackson's skin color had been a medium- brown color for the entire duration of his youth, his skin had gradually become paler since 1982, and had now become a light brown color. This was now so noticeable that the entire press took out widespread coverage on it and claimed that Jackson had bleached his own skin. In 1993 Jackson claimed that his changing skin color is due to a skin disorder vitiligo whilst on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986).

He died on the same day as Farrah Fawcett. Both were in California at the time. She died at 9:28 a.m PDT, he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. after hours of unsuccessful resuscitation.

He was asked to write and perform the songs for Batman (1989), but had to turn it down due to his concert commitments.

Upon his death, many fans left remembrances at the Hollywood star, located at 1541 Vine Street, awarded to a long time radio talk show host also named Michael Jackson. Upon hearing of this, the radio commentator said, "I am willingly loan it to him and, if it would bring him back, he can have it. He was a real star. Sinatra, Presley, The Beatles and Michael Jackson.".

He shares with Carlos Santana the record for most Grammys won in one year, with eight.

His autopsy revealed Jackson's distinctive shoulder-length locks were a wig as he had lost virtually all of his hair. His body was covered in a mass of surgery scars from at least 13 cosmetic operations.

He had an extremely good memory with many people even claiming he had a photographic memory. He could remember names, stories, and information relating to encounters with people many years before.

Michael Jackson did sketches and drawings.

His favorite song by The Beatles was "Come Together" - his version of the song is on "History - Past, Present and Future".

In October 2002 it was revealed by various international banks that Jackson was in financial debt into the tens of millions of dollars due to various unpaid loans.

Two months after his death, just before what would have been his 51st birthday, and the day of his burial, his Number Ones album surpassed Taylor Swift's highly successful album Fearless as the best selling album of 2009 at that point.

He was the first solo artist to generate four top ten hits on the Billboard charts on one album with "Off the Wall".

He was the godfather of Michael Gibb, son of The Bee Gees front man Barry Gibb.

Akon said that a reason for the This Is It series of shows was that Michael's kids had never actually seen him perform.

On 13 June 2003, the day after his neighbor and friend of 25 years Gregory Peck died, Jackson went to Peck's house to help his widow plan the memorial service. Peck had once publicly praised the singer as a model parent.

Celebrities provided varied comments after Jackson's sudden death. Madonna and Diana Ross released statements saying they could not stop crying. Jackson's former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said the singer had told her he was afraid he would end up like Elvis Presley, her father. Elizabeth Taylor, a long-time friend, said she, "can't imagine life without him." Liza Minnelli told CBS, "When the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose, so thank God we're ­celebrating him now." Jamie Foxx, stated: "We want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else.".

He had a skin disease called vitiligo.

He paid $1.5 million in 1999 for the Best Picture Oscar awarded to David O. Selznick for Gone with the Wind (1939).

He was the godfather of Nicole Richie.

He received a Presidential Humanitarian Award from President Ronald Reagan at the White House in May 1984, in recognition of Jackson's contribution to the government's campaign against drunk driving. "Beat It" was used in television advertisements.

Moonwalker (1988) was certified as the all-time top selling music video in March 1989.

His gold coffin seen at his memorial is a rare design called the Promethean. It cost $25,000 and is made of solid bronze but is 14-carat gold-plated with a hand-polished mirror finish and lined with velvet. It is identical to the coffin used to bury James Brown in 2006 - which may have inspired Jackson after he saw it when Brown lay in state.

His memorial service from the Staples Center on Tuesday, July 7th 2009 brought the Internet's second largest day ever in terms of total traffic.

He was the father of Prince Michael Jackson, Bigi Jackson, Paris Jackson.

He was found not guilty on ten counts of child molestation on 13 June 2005 due to lack of evidence.

He copied his moon walk after mime Marcel Marceau in "walk-against-the- wind" pantomime techniques.

In 1997 a survey declared Jackson the most famous person in the world, ahead of Pope John Paul II and then US President Bill Clinton.

He owed an estimated $435 million in debts at the time of his death.

Some of his favorite pastimes were water balloon fights and climbing trees. He wrote several songs sitting in his favorite tree at Neverland, which he called Giving Tree, because it was so inspiring.

His death triggered an outpouring of grief. Fans gathered outside the UCLA Medical Center, his Holmby Hills home, the Apollo Theater in New York, and at Hitsville U.S.A., the old Motown headquarters in Detroit where his career began, now the Motown Museum. Streets around the hospital were blocked off, and across America people left offices and factories to watch the breaking news on television.

He won a poll of superstars to have his image on a stamp issued by the Virgin Islands in July 1985. He asked that the Virgin Islands donated all revenue (the stamps were priced between 60 cents and $1.50) to welfare and education.

Producer Keya Morgan gave Jackson a ring that once belonged to Marilyn Monroe.

After his legendary moonwalk in Motown 25, Fred Astaire said of him: "Oh, God! That boy moves in a very exceptional way. That's the greatest dancer of the century". He also claimed that Michael was worthy of being his ''descendant''.

In January 2000 Jackson announced he was considering retiring from the music industry, citing his weariness at publicity as a reason.

On the day of Jackson's death, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) paramedics received a 911 call at 12:21 pm (19:21 UTC), and arrived three minutes and seventeen seconds later, at which point Jackson was reportedly not breathing. The recording of the emergency call was released by the LAFD on June 27, 2009. Paramedics are reported to have wanted to pronounce him dead at the scene, but a doctor insisted he be taken to a hospital. CPR was performed on the way to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where they arrived at 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC), and continued for an hour. He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm (21:26 UTC).

Jackson greeted thousands of US troops in a US army base south of Tokyo on 10 March 2007. About 3,000 troops and their family members gathered in a fitness center at Camp Zama. Jackson, after shaking hands with and thanking the troops personally for their service, spoke to the crowd gathered, saying, "Those of you in here today are some of the most special people in the world. It is because of you in here today, and others who so valiantly have given their lives to protect us, that we enjoy our freedom." Jackson also attended a ceremony at the camp for an army member being promoted and put a pin on his uniform.

The name of his 2700-acre ranch near Santa Ynez, California, is Neverland Valley Ranch. It contains Jackson's house, an amusement park co-designed by Macaulay Culkin, a private theater and dance stage, and exotic animals.