Like most child stars, Michael Jackson grew up without a childhood and it plagued him in his adult life tremendously. More than anything he longed to be a normal boy. Michael's parents raised him and his sisters in a very ridgid and strict home. The Jackson children were not allowed to visit friends or play in sports after school. Instead their father, Joe Jackson rehearsed them vigorously and began taking them to clubs to perform. At a very early age, Michael began to display signs of talent. His mother, Katherine once recalled that at just a year and a half in age, Michael would hold his bottle and dance to the beat of the washing machine. As a young child he loved to watch his older siblings sing. At age three he began singing. His grandmother said he was a joy to listen to even back then.

At age six, he sang "Climb Every Mountain" from the Sound of Music for a program at his school. Shortly after he began harmonizing with his brothers, and the Jackson 5 was born. Under the rule of their tyrantical father, the boys practiced every day. The weekends were full of travel and performing. They would often arrive home in the the early hours of Monday morning and had little time to prepare for school. As soon as school was out, it was back to the rigorous practices. In his autobiography, Moonwalk, Michael said of his childhood that it was "mostly work." The Jacksons father demanded perfect performances. Any mistakes were heavily chastized and often led to verbal and even physical abuse.

The Jackson 5 signed with Motown in 1969. Michael was 11 years old, however according to press releases at the time he was listed as age 9. This was done for publicity reasons as it was believed that the young star would be a "cuter" draw if he were two years younger. Back then it was called good "public relations." The public however was very eager to embrace him as many were enthralled by his voice and his talent. The summer of 1970, brought a grueling 45 show schedule, with 50 more performances added by the end of the year. This did not include the ridgid practice and recording schedule the boys were held to.

Michael often described his relationship with his father as "turbulent". In 1979, Michael branched out on his own and performed in the movie "The Whiz" with Dianna Ross. He moved to New York and was well out of reach from his father. He also released his first solo album "Off The Wall" and he began to seek new experiences in life. He began to enjoy outings to plays and dance clubs and developed new relationships with friends, such as Quincy Jones. With the release of Thriller, Jackson would become the greatest entertainer of all time. The album won a record breaking seven Grammys and other international awards. Today it is still one of the highest selling albums of all time.

Michael Jackson was two people divided. As the entertainer, he took the stage and commanded attention with his voice and dance moves. He was dedicated to bringing his fans perfect performances. Off stage, he was a shy, quiet and very private person. In an attempt to maintain his privacy, he limited the amount of information that was given to the press. However, this did not keep him out of the harsh public eye. He was often touted as "bizarre" or "weird" in the press. Over the years of his career, he was surrounded by speculation, rumors, and harsh criticism by the media. He explained many of his actions and attempted to disway rumors in his autobiography "Moonwalk" and in several interviews. But no matter what explanation was given, he the stories still grew. In February 1993, he did an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The show was called "Ninety Prime Time Minutes with the King of Pop". Here he explained he discussed several of the outlandish accusations against him.

Oxygen Chamber: He admitted to purchasing the hyperbaric chamber. It was donated to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, CA as a theraputic aid for burn victims. He explained why there were pictures of him in the chamber because he admitted to trying it out. He denied owning a chamber in his home and he denied using it to prevent himself from growing old. The explanation didn't matter to the media. He was touted as having his own camp circulate the rumors and story as a publicity stunt and he was accused of lying on the show. If there was one man who didn't need to use publicity stunts to attract attention it was Michael Jackson.

The Elephant Mans Bones: During the same interview he discussed and dispelled the rumors that he attempted to purchase John Merricks bones. He said he did empathise with Merrick, and that he saw his own self in the story, but that he had no need for the bones.

Elizabeth Taylor: He denied the rumor that he had proposed to the actress and she denied that she had proposed to him. Taylor felt a connection with the singer because she became an actress at age 9 and she also grew up in an abusive home with an overbearing father.

Facial Surgeries: He did admit to having facial surgeries such as rhinoplasty, twice. In 1979 he fell and broke his nose, and by accounts it had to be rebuilt. The second surgery stemmed from the first one, because it was botched. It affected his breathing and thus affected his singing, so it had to be done.

Bleached Skin: It is well documented that he suffered from a skin disorder, called Vitiligo. It is a cousin to Albinoism. When skin cells fail to produce melanin, pigmentation is lost.  Vitiligo affects one percent of the world's population which is equivalent to 40 to 50 million people.

Child Molestation Accusations:  In 1993, he was accused of child molestation.  During the grueling 13-month investigation and trial he held his head high and professed his innocence with dignity.  He did not lash out at his accusers in any way.  50 children who had been befriended by the singer were interviewed, along with dozens of his closest friends, employees, and relatives.  Neither Santa Barbara or LA authorities could produce any iron clad evidence of his guilt.  In the media, Michael Jackson was tried and conviced long before any review of the allegations began.  He was evicerated in the worst way through pen and ink.  This type of sensationalized drama is what sells.  It was later unconvered that the child only made the allegations after a highly irregular visit to his dad's dental office where he was under the influence of Sodium Amytol, which has been proven to cause false memories in those under it's influence.  Innocence doesn't sell as much as crime and scandal does.  So rumors and speculation continued to grow.

Neverland Ranch:  Michael Jackson purchased the lavish 2,800 acre property from golf entrepreneur, William Boone in 1988.  He named the property "Neverland" after the fantasy island from the story "Peter Pan".  This elaborate property contained a theme park with two railroads, a zoo, a large floral clock and other rides such as a ferris wheel, the zipper, super slide, roller coaster, bumper cars and much more.  Here Jackson hosted many vistors during the day and over night.  This was his home, but also a place where his inner child could roam free.  In 2005, Michael vowed he would not return to the ranch as he no longer felt it was a home.  Instead he felt it had been violated among the some 70 police searches that went on there. The staff was dismissed and the rides dismanteled and the exotic animals that filled the zoo were removed.  Neverland was no more.   In the days after his death construction crews and gardeners were seen going into the gates.  It was speculated that the singer would be burried there and Neverland would be revived much like that of Elvis's Graceland.  However local officals state a burial at the ranch would not be lawful and public roads would not accomodate heavy traffic from visitors.

Whether you liked him or not he was a talented individual who took the music industry to new heights, but in doing so he suffered a great personal loss to himself.  Michael Jackson loved his fans and he loved performing.  He was an exceptional true humanitarian.  He made contributions to such organizations like United Negro College Fund, Make A Wish Foundation, Dreamstreet, and DARE.  In 1991 he founded Heal the World Foundation.  While on tour traveling from city to city and country to country, Michael would often take a break to go shopping and purchase large quantities of toys, and cd's.  He would spend thousands of dollars and then visit childrens hospitals and orphanages to distribute the purchases to sick or disadvantaged children.  He didn't just drop off these items either, he would take time to visit each child.  His generosity and love of children was truely sincere.  This was evident when the visits were captured on video.  He connected with these children.  There was no malice or ill intent in these visits.  But he was repeatedly chastized in the press and called bizarre or weird for his genorosity.  Michael remanied undaunted and he continued to use his wealth to help others.  To those out there who only want to focus on the negative and they can't see how amazing of a person he actually was, I think they suffer from a blindness of the soul, and that is sad.

Many celebrities who were child actors often grow up with troubled lives.  Most don't make it past their childhood stardum and simply fade from memory as society moves on to the next most popular.  Greedy parents living vicariously through their childs lives craving riches, often loose site of the things that are most important.  Michael Jackson stood the test of time.  His talent consumed his life.  Could anyone say they wouldn't have been affected the same way?  It is hard to judge someone when you haven't walked a mile in their shoes.  When other children were learning to play sports or were hanging out with friends, he was building his talent.  He suffered under mental and physical abuse.  His childhood was stripped away and he was launched into an adult world.  While most people in this circumstance would have given up, he continued to work hard and to grow up.  Maybe now in death his suffering has finally been put to ease.

When Elvis Presley died, 80,000 people flooded the streets for his funeral.  2.5 billion people watched Princess Diana's funeral on television.  100,000 people converged on New York's Central Park for a moment of silence in memorial of John Lennon after he was killed.  On Tuesday, July 7th a televised public memorial will be held for Michael Jackson.  This is speculated to be the largest celebrity funeral/memorial in history.  His music sales have again skyrocketed in the wake of his death.  He will forever reign as the King of Pop.  No one will ever replace him.