A New and Concise History of Rock and R&B Through the Early 1990s by Charry Eric;

Author:Charry, Eric;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Published: 2020-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

SUPERSTARS: MICHAEL JACKSON, PRINCE, AND MADONNA

About one dozen solo vocalists in the fields of rock, R&B, and pop had major commercial success in the 1980s (not including groups such as Journey, with vocalist Steve Perry). Five of them were in a class of their own, in terms of visibility: Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Bruce Springsteen (see figure 59).

Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958–June 25, 2009); Prince (June 7, 1958–April 21, 2016); and Madonna (August 16, 1958–) were born within several months of one another in 1958, all in the Midwest: Gary, Indiana; Minneapolis; and Bay City, Michigan, respectively. By the mid-1980s, when they were in their mid to late twenties, they were dominating the pop charts. Jackson is by far the most commercially successful artist since Elvis Presley, and the two of them are in a category of their own.

Jackson was a child star, with sixteen Top 40 pop hits on Motown as lead singer with the Jackson Five from 1969 to 1974. The group made history with their first four singles hitting #1 (“I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There”). They were not able to maintain that level of chart success and moved to Epic in 1976. Jackson released four solo albums on Motown from 1972 to 1975 with mixed chart success. His solo albums on Epic all hit pop #1 (with the exception of his first): Off the Wall (1979, pop #3); Thriller (1982); Bad (1987); Dangerous (1991); HIStory (1995); and Invincible (2001). Quincy Jones, who had an earlier career as jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and record-label executive, produced Jackson’s first three Epic albums. Jackson was unusual in the long amount of time between album releases.

Thriller is the second best-selling album of all time in the United States, with thirty-three million copies certified sold as of 2019. It won eight Grammys in 1983: album, record (“Beat It”), male pop vocal (“Thriller”), male rock vocal (“Beat It”), male R&B vocal (“Billie Jean”), R&B song (“Billie Jean”), producer (MJ and Quincy Jones), and engineering. He lost best song (for songwriting) to Sting (“Every Breath You Take”), possibly because his two nominations (“Beat It” and “Billie Jean”) split his vote.

Jackson’s style in the 1980s was the ultimate mix that appealed to a broad cross-section of listeners. Thriller in particular enjoyed widespread critical acclaim for its musical sensibilities, drawing from funk, rock, and postdisco dance music. A duet with Paul McCartney (“ The Girl Is Mine”) and guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen (“Beat It”) on the album helped broaden his appeal. Jackson’s unique talent for singing and dancing, honed since childhood and in the public eye for much of his early life, made him one of the greatest entertainers ever, probably the one with the highest global presence in the second half of the twentieth century.

Jackson from the 1980s on was surrounded by controversy on two fronts: plastic surgery on his face (and possible purposeful skin lightening) and allegations of child sexual abuse,

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