Michael Jackson truly was a man, a myth and a legend — often his personal life overshadowed his talent, but he had a vulnerability about him that made us forget the controversy and get lost in the music and that’s the legacy most will remember him for. It’s just that he was so mysterious, so unlike us. (He had the power to light up sidewalks! Did that have something to do with the oxygen chamber he slept in??) We’ve found some of the best and worst of Michael’s pop culture moments — the good, the bad and the on-fire — because as much as we remember him for the music, he was always doing something above and beyond the norm and the world was constantly fascinated.
1. The Moonwalk: Where It All Began
Before the nose jobs, before any controversy, there was the Moonwalk. As a solo artist, Jackson became famous for this dance that became his signature move. We still can’t do it, but he made it look so easy.
2. Fame Begets Fame
It would be safe to say that Michael Jackson was one of the most famous men in the world. He had friends in Princess Diana, Madonna and Liz Taylor and his whole life was spent in the spotlight and he knew how to create a buzz. The video for “Thriller” was an event, the budget for the “Scream” video he made with sister Janet Jackson was record-breaking, and he got the cream of the crop to guest star in his videos — Eddie Murphy, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Naomi Campbell just to name a few. But in our early 90′s memory, no video was more epic than “Black or White,” which got a network premiere on Fox in addition to MTV, VH1 and BET and starred Macaulay Culkin and featured Slash on guitar.
3. Bubbles The Chimp
Back in 1985, the appearance of Bubbles the Chimp was just kind of bizarre. Our tolerance for weird celebrity shit has certainly increased since those days, but back then Michael earned the nickname “Wacko Jacko” as a result of his relationship with the chimp, who traveled with him and even sat in on recording sessions. [Photo: Getty Images]
4. Artist Of The Millennium
In 2000, Britney Spears presented Michael with a giant birthday cake at MTV’s VMAs and mentioned that she thought he was artist of the millennium. Unfortunately he ran with that and accepted the cake as if it were a real thing and it just got awkward from there. Was there no dress rehearsal?
5. Did He Really Sleep In A Tank?
Jackson claimed he would sleep in a hyperbaric tank to improve his health so that he could live to be 150. This story originated in the National Enquirer in 1986 and for a while there, Jackson’s name was synonymous with these oxygen tanks and just added to his bizarre reputation.
6. Pardon The Interruption
In 1996 during a performance of “Earth Song” at the BRIT awards, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker rushed the stage. While Jackson seemed unfazed by the incident, the Brit-pop singer gained notoriety for the incident and in the UK he’s still known for it. Even though the audience screamed and cheered as Cocker took the stage, he was barely a blip on Jackson’s radar.
7. “Nobody Thought This Would Last”
When Michael married Lisa Marie Presley everyone thought it had to be a publicity stunt, so at the 1994 VMA’s they decided to “prove” that their love was real with a drawn out, awkward kiss. The marriage lasted two years, and in 2005, Presley told Oprah that she felt that she was manipulated into marrying him and she thought he may have wanted to have children with her so he would have a connection to Elvis Presley‘s legacy. Watch the kiss that creeped us all out here.
8. Baby Blanket
If the secrecy surrounding the birth of Jackson’s three children wasn’t weird enough, the fact that he made them wear masks and even nicknamed the youngest one “Blanket” made things odder. In 2002 though, the apex was reached when Jackson dangled the nine-month-old Blanket out over a hotel balcony in Germany to appease his screaming fans. He later called the dangerous decision a “terrible mistake.”
9. The Pepsi Disaster
Michael endorsed Pepsi for a portion of his career and starred in several high-budget commercials for the soft drink. In 1984 while shooting a spot with his four brothers, a pyrotechnics mishap left Jackson’s head badly burned, forcing him to wear a hairpiece to that year’s Grammys where he swept the awards, winning eight statues. Though the accident injured Jackson, it also made him to butt of many unfortunate jokes.
10. Spending Spree
In 2002, British journalist Martin Bashir spent eight months trailing Jackson and in early 2003, a two-hour documentary about the daily life of the King of Pop aired on Britain’s ITV1. Revelations about Jackson sharing a bed with young boys, scenes from inside Neverland Ranch and a shopping spree where Jackson spent $6 million in one day in Las Vegas were controversial highlights. Jackson would later file a complaint against Bashir stating that he felt the interview distorted his behavior.
