Michael Jackson’s life through the ages: a magazine cover timeline

Michael Jackson was (probably) the biggest pop star on the planet. Undoubtedly, he was a man of many talents.

Regardless of what you think about him as a person his music and impact on the world is undeniable. His evolution is undeniable, too. That’s why we’re still talking about him, and that ’s why we decided to take a look back on Michael Jackson’s history through magazine covers.

You probably already know more than you ever thought you would about Michael Jackson. After all, that’s all anyone seems to want to talk about as of recently. That being said, this is a different approach into the life of Michael Jackson. A neutral one. To be honest, it’s hard to summarize Michael Jackson’s life within the confines of a single article. But, we did our best, and this is the summary from the content we created on our blog. The summary of the summary, if you will.

If you’re interested in a more in-depth story, head over to our blog. In the meantime, let’s begin:

Fame came early for Michael, as he and his brothers became superstars at a very early age. For Michael, he was singing and performing as early as 5 years old.

It didn’t take long for Michael and his brothers to become successful, and before anyone knew it, The Jackson 5 were the only thing anyone could talk about.
During the time, major publications like LIFE, Ebony, and Right On went crazy for Jackson family coverage.

In a strange way, you can attribute the early success of the Jackson 5 to their father, Joe. Now, most of the Jackson kids will admit being absolutely terrified of their father. Some will even go so far as to say he abused them. For Joe, the success wasn’t just shared between the brothers, but the entire family. He wanted them to be famous not because he wanted them to succeed, but because he himself wanted a little taste of the pie. And so, Joe booked them gigs anywhere they were welcomed, even strip clubs.

No doubt, the band Michael had with his brothers gave him the platform he needed, but it wasn’t long until Michael began to branch out on his own. By 1972, at the age of 14, Michael already had a hit song and his own album. His career as a solo artist had begun.

A young bachelor married to music indeed, but little did anyone know what would happen next…

Of course, you could say that he was always destined for stardom, but no one could ever anticipate the way he would change the music industry.

For the rest of his life, the eyes of the world would follow Michael everywhere he went, and it all started here. Sure, he’d been in the spotlight before, but never like this.

In the early ’80s, Michael moonwalked his way into the hearts and minds of fans all around the world. His album titled Thriller gave us hits like Billie Jean, Beat It, and of course, the infamous Thriller.

That’s pretty common knowledge nowadays, but during our research, we uncovered a ton of really cool facts. For instance, did you know that Thriller was almost canceled completely? Because of Michael’s religious background, he felt guilty after consulting with his mother about the images portrayed in the music video. That’s why there’s a disclaimer at the beginning.

Every lyric he released, dance move he came up with, or person he was seen with was closely analyzed so that fans could get to know Michael better. All this in an era when the internet or social media didn’t even exist. He was the biggest star on the planet!

And as time went on, the media never let up, so we could all get a closer look into Michael’s crazy life. The media adored him, and so did his fans.

This adoration lead Michael to release two more hit albums, Bad and Dangerous in 1987 and 1991. He had more fans than ever, and the media loved him. He had taken the world by storm, and they crowned him their King of Pop.

Interestingly enough, he was actually crowned king in the village of Sanwi, in the Ivory Coast.

In 1993, Michael’s fans got a rare glimpse into his home life during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was broadcast worldwide, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wasn’t watching it.

Michael was very selective about who he gave interviews to, and he was even more selective about who he let into his home.

With the rise of tabloids and easier access to media outlets, Michael’s image began to change in the eyes of the world. No longer were we getting heartfelt interviews and magazine covers portraying him as a musical genius, but deliberate attacks on his personal life.

You can definitely see a change in Michael’s music from this point on. We began to see songs like Scream and They Don’t Care About Us, where Michael explicitly fires back at the media for the way they portrayed him. His music was not only a weapon for the good of the world but one to defend himself as well.

He also began to shy away from the spotlight that had once treated him so well. It was a very rare sight to see Michael in public without something covering his face. Because he both wanted to keep the paparazzi from taking a good picture of him, and his vitiligo prevented him from being in the sun for too long. This trend even carried over to his children once they were old enough to be out in the public’s eye. Michael was protecting them from the media that once treated him so well.

Michael tried to separate himself as much as possible from these negative media coverage by turning to music. He released yet another hit album in 2001, but it would be short-lived as more allegations would surface in 2005.

This time was a little different. This time, the world truly had their eyes on Michael as every media outlet watched him walk through the front doors of the courthouse. There wasn’t a single news station, magazine publisher, or newspaper editor that didn’t run this story. The world was watching Michael closely yet again, but for a different reason.

Eventually, Michael would be acquitted of all charges, but he would never be the same. Shortly after the trial, the famed Neverland Ranch was boarded up to anyone except Michael’s family, and we wouldn’t hear much from him until 2009.

It wasn’t until March of 2009 that the world got news of Michael’s return to the music industry. He described it as his final curtain call for the fans that had treated him so well over the years. It was regarded as the biggest comeback in history.

Unfortunately, that brisk evening in March was the last time Michael’s fans got a glimpse of him on stage. It would only be a few months later that Michael Jackson would shock the world one last time.

Once again, the media was all over Michael and his story. Not a single publication went without publishing some sort of story regarding Michael Jackson. Even to this day, Michael is all over the media.

Regardless of what you think about him, Michael Jackson left an impact with his music on the world that can’t be erased. His evolution over time is something that many people still don’t quite understand, and they possibly never will. This was our attempt to better understand the man that we called the King of Pop, and how the media portrayed him over the entirety of his life.

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Written by: Zach McDaniel and Adelina Noge.

*DISCLAIMER: All magazine covers are copyright by their respective publications.
We don’t own, sell or distribute any of the magazines shown in this video.
The images used are for educational purposes only.