There have been few celebrities as famous as music superstar Michael Jackson — since he was a school-age boy singing alongside his brothers in The Jackson 5 in the mid-1960s, the entertainer was securely in the spotlight for over four decades, until his 2009 death and beyond. One of the most iconic figures in pop-culture history, Jackson broke records as a singer, changed the game as a dancer and found himself at the center of more than a few controversies over the years.
Jackson joked about that very scrutiny to J Randy Taraborrelli, who penned the biography Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness. "Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars?" he said. "Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, 'I'm an alien ...', people would say, 'Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up! You can't believe a thing that comes out of his mouth.'"
However, some of these facts are just as unbelievable as "voodoo dancing". (MJ as live-action Spider-Man?!) With the new biopic Michael hitting theaters on April 24, here are 30 facts and figures about the "King of Pop" that you might not know.
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30 thrilling facts about Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXVII Halftime show in 1993, drawing an audience of 133 million TV viewers.Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images
On January 31, 1993, Jackson took the stage at Pasadena's Rose Bowl as the halftime show headliner of Super Bowl XXVII and changed the game — pun intended — forever: It was the first time that the halftime performance drew more viewers than the actual game, pulling in an audience of 133.4 million viewers in the United States. Because if there's one thing Michael Jackson knows how to do, it's put on a show!
2. Close pal Elizabeth Taylor was the first one to dub him the "King of Pop"
Michael Jackson's friendship with another Hollywood icon, Elizabeth Taylor,spanned decades — it was actually the Oscar-winning movie star who first crowned the singer with his signature sobriquet. At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, Liz was on hand to present MJ with the Heritage Award for Career Achievement, during which she introduced him as the "true king of pop, rock and soul."
MJ was reportedly a huge Sega fan, having collaborated with the video-game juggernaut on the 1990 arcade title Moonwalker. The performer further parlayed that enthusiasm with some uncredited soundtrack work for 1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a fact confirmed by Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka via X.
4. Half a billion people tuned in for the premiere of his "Black or White" music video
According to the Guinness World Records, the television premiere of Michael Jackson's "Black or White" drew an estimated 500 million people in 27 countries on November 14, 1991, the largest TV audience ever for a music video premiere. The John Landis-directed clip spanned 11 minutes, reportedly cost $4 million to make and features a starry cast including actor Macaulay Culkin, supermodel Tyra Banks and cartoon character Homer Simpson.
5. He outbid Paul McCartney himself for 250 Beatles songs, at a cool $47 million
On August 14, 1985, Jackson purchased the publishing rights to the majority of the Beatles' musical catalog — including iconic Lennon-McCartney compositions like "Let It Be," "Yesterday" and "Hey June" — for $47 million, outbidding even his "Say Say Say" pal Paul McCartney, per History.com. The rights went to Sony following Jackson's death in 2009; shortly thereafter, McCartney assured via a note on his website that he wasn't miffed that MJ didn't bequeath the Beatles rights back to the rock legend in his will.
Related: Michael Jackson’s Explosive Version of Lennon, McCartney Classic Stuns Fans on Global Beatles Day
Michael Jackson purchased 250-plus Beatles songs in August 1985, outbidding Paul McCartney himself.Dave Hogan/Getty Images
On January 31, 1970, The Jackson 5 (composed of Michael Jackson and his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon Jackson) released the 1969 classic "I Want You Back," which quickly surged to the No. 1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 list. At just 11 years and five months old, Michael was the youngest vocalist ever to top the charts, a record that remains unsurpassed to this day.
7. KFC chicken was Michael's must-have fast food while touring
In the 2007 biography Michael Jackson Conspiracy, author Aphrodite Jones detailed Jackson's mid-flight food preferences while touring, citing a 2003 passenger profile that revealed the singer's love for KFC chicken, as well as the brand's mashed potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob and biscuits with strawberry jelly. Sounds a lot better than most airplane food, huh?
Michael was world-famous for his signature dance moves, from the moonwalk to the toe stand, but one of his most confounding was a 45-degree forward lean that he and his dancers employed in the music video and live performances of his 1987 track "Smooth Criminal." To get the desired anti-gravity effect, Jackson along with Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins invented a special pair of shoes with a heel slot designed to lock onto a retractable peg. The invention was granted U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452 on October 26, 1993, according to the Smithsonian Institute.
Related: The Top 10 Michael Jackson Music Videos of All Time
9. He is the highest-earning dead celebrity of the century (yes, even bigger than Elvis)
According to Forbes, which has been tracking the highest-earning celebrity estates since 2001, Michael Jackson is the highest-earning deceased celebrity of the past 25 years, raking in a whopping $3.5 billion dollars since he passed away on June 25, 2009, from acute propofol intoxication at age 50. That figure was substantially boosted in recent years by ticket sales from the hit Broadway show MJ: The Musical, which reportedly brought in $85 million to the estate in 2023 alone.
10. He holds the record for most Grammys won in a single night
At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards on February 28, 1984, Jackson took home a record-breaking eight trophies off the strength of Thriller, the most Grammys won by a single artist in one night., per The Recording Academy. That historic haul included wins for Record of the Year (for "Beat It"), Album of the Year and Producer of the Year, which Jackson shared with Thriller co-producer Quincy Jones. Jackson's achievement would later be tied by Santana in 2000 at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Related: Michael Jackson Just Made Music History — Again
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, where the singer took home a record-making eight awards in one night.CBS/Getty Images)
According to The Game, Michael offered himself up as a mediator of sorts during the former's intense mid-2000s feud with fellow rap star50 Cent after he was kicked out of the hip hop group G-Unit. In a video interview, The Game recounted his first meeting with Jackson, during which the pop icon suggested a collaboration between the three men and told him: "I don't want you to judge me... I want to be the middleman behind you putting this situation to bed." Alas, the collab never came to fruition but The Game did release a song, "Better on the Other Side," in tribute to Jackson after he died in 2009.
12. Michael nearly played David Bowie's role in the '80s classic Labyrinth
Jackson dabbled in acting over his storied career, playing the Scarecrow in 1978's The Wiz and the titular hero in 1986's Captain EO. But he did miss out on a pretty iconic screen role: as Jareth the Goblin King in Jim Henson's 1986 musical-fantasy flick Labyrinth, a part famously played by fellow music icon David Bowie.
In 2021, Jim's son Brian revealed to ComicBook.com that Jackson was one of several big-name performers in talks for the part. "I vaguely remember the name Sting coming up. I definitely remember Michael Jackson and David Bowie...I think it would have been tough for Michael to be Michael in Labyrinth. He would have had to compromise his perfection, and then maybe that's no longer Michael, whereas David was always unpredictable.
Jackson would bring the Burmese python with him into the recording studio, a fact that displeased his frequent collaborator, Quincy Jones. “Yes, I was [scared], man,” the legendary record producer revealed in an interview with The Guardian. “He wrapped himself around my leg. He used to crawl across the console… I wasn’t very comfortable with that.”
14. And his pet chimp Bubbles bit actress Rashida Jones when she was a kid
Quincy Jones's daughter is actress-filmmaker Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation, Angie Tribeca) who, given the close relationship between her father and Michael Jackson, had many encounters with the singer throughout her childhood. One involved Jackson's famous pet chimpanzee Bubbles, who bit a young Rashida enough to leave a lasting mark. "I have a scar!" Jones showed off during a July 2024 appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.
15. His childhood crush was Diana Ross, and he regularly joked about marrying her one day
Fellow music legend Diana Ross was a regular fixture in Michael Jackson's life over the decades, from his Motown beginnings to their The Wiz days through to his 2009 passing. (She was reportedly included in his will.) That close bond reportedly started off as a boyhood crush, an infatuation that Jackson himself confirmed in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk.
"When I heard Diana Ross was getting married, I was happy for her because I knew it would make her very joyous. Still, it was hard for me, because I had to walk around pretending to be overwhelmed that Diana was getting married to this man I'd never met," Jackson shared in the book. "I wanted her to be happy, but I have to admit that I was a bit hurt and a little jealous because I've always loved Diana and always will."
Related: This ‘Brady Bunch’ Star Went on Dates With Michael Jackson: ‘I Was in Love’
Michael Jackson had a widely reported crush on close friend and collaborator Diana Ross, which he detailed in his Moonwalk autobiography.Images Press/Getty Images
Yes, though he never won, Jackson was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 and again in 2003 for his considerable philanthropic work and message of global unity. As reported by The Guardian, fans petitioned for the performer to receive a third nomination following his death in June 2009, but Nobel officials do not allow posthumous nominations.
Related: Mariah Carey ‘Upset’ Her Michael Jackson Charity Collab May Never Be Released
17. His 1987 album Bad produced an unprecedented five number-one singles
As you can probably tell by now, Michael was pretty used to making music history throughout his career and he certainly did with his seventh studio album Bad, which was released in August 1987 and produced a record five number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana.”
The charts were certainly on the performer's mind during the creation of the album, with Spike Lee's 2012 Bad documentary revealing that Jackson wrote "100 million" on a mirror to motivate himself to hit his album-sale goals. That Billboard feat wouldn't be replicated until nearly a quarter-century later by pop star Katy Perry in 2011.
In a June 2009 interview with Boards magazine, director Bob Giraldi — who helmed Jackson's 1983 "Beat It" music video — revealed that it was the singer's idea to bring in real-life members of Los Angeles street gangs, with assistance from the LAPD. "[Michael] decided he was going to include the Crips and Bloods, which I thought was insane. If you see the video, you'll see guys that look like the real deal because they are the real deal."
"The gang members couldn't dance so they formed the ring and watched," Giraldi added. "And the [dancers] all started to dance with Michael Peters and Vince Paterson. When Michael Jackson comes down and does what he does, I remember looking at the faces of all the Crips and Bloods lined up and their expressions as they listened to that music and watched those kids dance...[they] had that look like, 'You know what? With all our wars and vendettas and stuff, that's cool right there. That's something we'll never be able to do.'"
19. Michael was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame not once, but twice.
The music icon was originally inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of The Jackson 5; four years later, he was inducted again, but this time for his work as a solo artist. Fellow two-time inductees include Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Ozzy Osbourne, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicksand the four members of The Beatles, among others.
Related: Only 17 Artists Have Ever Achieved This Hall of Fame Double
20. He had a way deeper voice than he let on.
Though he was known for a high-pitched speaking voice and a smooth, high tenor singing voice, Michael actually had a very wide vocal range and could effortlessly sing at a baritone level, as his vocal coach Seth Riggs revealed in a 2017 interview with the Red Bull Music Academy. "Michael had this enormous range. He would go from low E flat to E flats and Gs above high C," he said of the performer. You can see that vocal dexterity in training sessions posted to Riggs' website, including this one with 1990s-era Jackson.
Michael Jackson, seen here during his BAD tour in 1988, had a way wider singing range than one might expect.Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Directed by Mark Romanek, the music video for Scream — the 1995 collaborative hit between siblings Michael and Janet Jackson— remains the most expensive music video ever made, according to Guinness World Records. The futuristic, nearly five-minute video reportedly cost $7 million (about $15.17 million in today's terms) and required custom-designed sets and complex CGI effects.
22. That iconic red-and-black Thriller jacket made auction history in 2011.
Speaking of expensive stuff, the most expensive jacket ever sold at auction was the famous red-and-black leather jacket memorably worn by Jackson in his 1983 Thriller video. The coat sold for $1.8 million in June 2011 during a scale organized by Julien's Auction in Beverly Hills, California, according to Guinness World Records. In today's money, that's about $2.65 million.
Rumor has it that Michael once asked NASA to send him to Mars so he could be the first artist to perform a concert on the Red Planet. That obviously never came to fruition, but the space agency reportedly did entertain the idea of flying the famous moonwalker to the moon at the height of his fame, as reported by The Week.
24. His first date was with historic Oscar winner Tatum O'Neal.
In his 1988 memoir Moonwalk, Jackson revealed that his first-ever date was with a young Tatum O'Neal, a fellow child star who is the daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal and is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award (for 1973's Paper Moon).
The talented duo dated for a few years in the mid-to-late 1970s. In a December 1982 interview with Ebony, Michael gave insight into their romance: "Tatum and I had a really serious relationship. We both are so busy that things have cooled off, but we're still real good friends."
25. Michael tried to buy Marvel Comics so he could play Spider-Man.
In the early 1990s, Spider-Man superfan Michael Jackson attempted to acquire Marvel Comics with the hopes of producing and starring as Peter Parker in a film adaptation of the webbed wonder.
The deal didn't go through, but famed comic-book writer Stan Lee discussed Jackson's superhero dreams in a 2012 interview with Moviefone: "Yes, he wanted to [buy Marvel]. He felt that would be the only way that he could play Spider-Man. [Laughs]." Though Lee conceded that Jackson would "have been very good" as the famous webslinger, he added of the franchise's eventual star: "I must say that Tobey Maguire was wonderful."
Michael Jackson performing onstage in 1987.Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Though it's inarguably the move he's most known for — one that he memorably debuted during his 1983 performance of "Billie Jean" on the Motown 25 television special — Michael didn't invent the moonwalk dance. Rather, the move was known as the "backslide" and had been publicly performed as early as the 1930s. Jackson's take on the move was created under the tutelage of Jeffrey Daniel, a dancer and member of the R&B group Shalamar, who himself had pioneered the move on programs like Soul Train and Top of the Pops.
"He would religiously work on dances every Sunday. And it was over a period of, I don't know, a few weeks because you're doing it just once a week for a couple of hours or so," Daniel told TIME magazine of their moonwalk sessions. "It wasn't so regimented, like, O.K., here's this step and this step. It was like some of it was having fun, some of it was acting goofy, moving around like Charlie Chaplin and poking faces at each other. Some of it was, we were just gelling, you know, with the dances. And some of it was concentrating on a particular move, but a lot of it was two guys just having fun and showing dances."
27. Michael was seriously considered to play Doctor Who in a Paramount movie.
In 1988, Paramount Pictures had plans for a Doctor Who feature film and, according to the book Now on the Big Screen: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who at the Cinema, Jackson was at the top of the list for potential Doctors. Michael was reportedly "quite keen" to take on the sci-fi role, but those plans didn't materialize, per The Hollywood Reporter.
According to his sisterLa Toya Jackson, Michael was buried with one of his iconic white gloves, a pair of sunglasses, strings of pearl beads and "a beautiful big gold belt, like a belt that you win being a boxer," as she revealed to journalist Barbara Waltersduring a 20/20 interview.
29. He counts Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman and Samuel L. Jackson as cousins.
We already knew that musical prowess was in the Jackson family DNA, but it looks like mom Katherine's side of the family was full of songbirds as well: Legendary performer Stevie Wonder is Michael's third cousin on his maternal side, as sister Janet confirmed in an interview with Scott Mills on BBC Sounds. Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman is also a cousin, as is actor Samuel L. Jackson.
30. Thriller is still the biggest album of all time, four decades later
In November 1982, Jackson released his sixth studio album, Thriller, and turned the entire music industry on its head. According to American Songwriter, the seminal record— which features hit singles like "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Wanna Be Starin' Something," "Human Nature and the title track — broke a record with 37 weeks at No. 1 and is still to this day considered the best-selling album of all time (according to Guinness World Records) with an estimated 67 million copies sold worldwide.
Next, Who Is ‘Michael’ Star Jaafar Jackson and How Is He Related to the King of Pop?
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