Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on Augist 29, 1958. As a child, he was lead singer of the Jackson family's popular Motown group. Michael Jackson went on to become one of the most internationally famous award-winning solo pop sensations to date. His 2009 death stirred controversy and was ultimately ruled an accidental overdose. At the age of 13, Jackson launched a solo career in addition to his work with the Jackson 5. He made the charts in 1971 with "Got to Be There" from the album of the same name. His 1972 album, Ben, featured the eponymous ballad about a rat. The song became Jackson's first solo No. 1 single.
Jackson wed nurse Debbie Rowe. The couple had two children through artificial insemination. Son Prince Michael Jackson was born in 1997 and daughter Paris Michael Jackson was born in 1998. Rowe and Jackson divorced in 1999 with Jackson receiving full custody of their two children. He would go on to have a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, with an unknown surrogate. Jackson would never get to experience the success of his comeback tour.In 1993, allegations of child molestation against Jackson emerged. A 13-year-old boy claimed that the music star had fondled him. Jackson was known to have sleepovers with boys at his Neverland Ranch, but this was the first public charge of wrongdoing. The police searched the ranch, but they found no evidence to support the claim. On June 14, 2005, Jackson was acquitted of all charges. His reputation, however, was effectively destroyed, and his finances were in shambles. Facing 10 counts in all, he was charged with lewd conduct with a minor, attempted lewd conduct, administering alcohol to facilitate molestation, and conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. On June 14, 2005, Jackson was acquitted of all charges. His reputation, however, was effectively destroyed, and his finances were in shambles.
On June 25, 2009, Jackson suffered cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home. He was rushed to the hospital after his heart stopped and CPR attempts failed, but he died later that morning. He was 50 years old at the time of his death. Jackson reportedly used the drugs, with the aid of personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray, to help him sleep in the evenings.
A police investigation revealed that Murray was not licensed to prescribe most controlled drugs in the state of California. As a result, Jackson's death was ruled a homicide, and Murray found himself at the center of an involuntary manslaughter investigation, for which he would later be found guilty on November 7, 2011. Murray was later sentenced to the maximum sentence of four years of incarceration.
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