Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson joined the Jackson 5 as its youngest and most electrifying member, signed to Motown at nine years old, with “I Want You Back” (1969) establishing him as a child prodigy of rare force. His transition to adult solo stardom was gradual, completed by the Quincy Jones collaborations that produced Off the Wall (1979) and then Thriller (1982) — the best-selling album in recorded music history with an estimated 66–70 million copies sold.

Thriller synthesized disco, funk, rock and pop into a genre-neutral sound aimed at maximum reach. “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” (with Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo), and the 14-minute title-track short film featuring Vincent Price redefined what the music video — recently enabled by MTV — could be as an art form. Jackson’s dancing, built from James Brown’s footwork and his own invention, made him as much a visual as sonic phenomenon.

The albums that followed — Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), HIStory (1995) — sustained his dominance while controversies accumulated. He died in 2009 of acute propofol intoxication. For this graph he is the pivot between the Motown/soul lineage and the globally dominant pop of the 1980s and beyond.