Michael Jackson born in 1958 is an American singer, songwriter, producer, actor and humanitarian. Michael's performing talents were obvious from an early age and he joined his brothers in the group the Jackson 5 when he was 6 years old and quickly became the lead singer. By age 14 Michael was releasing solo records.
As a perfectionist
he strove to be the best and in 1982 he released "Thriller" which
catapulted him into mega success and it is still the biggest selling album of
all time. His music and dancing known all around the World.
Albums, music
videos, tours and publicity became bigger and
bigger and he's worked with some of the biggest recording artists in the
World including Diana Ross, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
In later years he
seemed to be surrounded by controversy and died suddenly aged 50 in 2009, from
cardiac arrest caused by a medication overdose.
Janet Jackson,
Michael's younger sister joined the cast of Fame in 1984 aged 18 years
old. Growing up the siblings had been
very close but Michael's success eclipsed other family members. Janet had
started performing on Family variety shows when she was 7 years old and a
number of acting roles on TV led to a recording contract.
Inspired by
Michael's success Janet wanted a taste of it too and she has stated that she
has always been very competitive with her brother. Initially the 2 would avoid
directly competing with each other and would not release albums at the same
time. Which led to silly rumours that
they were in fact the same person.
During periods where
allegations were made against Michael Janet always stood by her brother. In
1995 she agreed to work with him on "Scream", a duet to promote his
History album, bringing the siblings to dance together for first time in a
music video.
When Debbie Allen
first started her career in the early 70s she very quickly came to the
attention of Michael and the two became friends. Michael loved to dance and
worked with Debbie to learn more about different styles of dance.
Debbie has always been a strong supporter of Michael's and has presented awards to him and done a number of tributes to him over the years, including in the Fame looks at the music of 1983 concert, where she performed a medley of three of his songs from the Thriller Album.
Fame dancer Randy Allaire worked with Michael Jackson as one of the
dancers for 8 years performing as one of the back up dancers at concerts and TV
performances. Randy Said: “Through the Bad and Dangerous world tours and all of
Michael’s stage and live TV performances over eight years, I had a once in a
lifetime journey with Michael. Onstage, my experience was unique because of how
Michael integrated us in his shows. In many ways the experience for us was as
close as you can get to being a pop star without having your name on the
ticket. When you had the privilege and opportunity to work with Michael, you
wanted to do your best all the time. “Michael was a constant learner. He
studied the greats and watched and listened to everything. Michael was a firm
believer that everyone can make a difference. “As a performer, Michael had the
instrument, talent and gift, and against all odds he continued to push forward.
In life, especially when he performed, he engaged one million percent."
"Fame"
used Michael's music a few times. Firstly Lori Singer performed "Don't
Stop Until You Get Enough" on her cello during the 1982/1983 concerts.
Gene, Debbie and the dancers danced to "Can You Feel It" in season 1
and the dancers danced to an instrumental of "Wanna Be Starting
Something" in season 2. As mentioned Debbie and the dancers performed a
tribute in the Season 3 "Looks at the Music of 19832 concert and in season
4 Janet performs "I Want You Back" during the Heart of Rock N Roll
Part 2 Concert.
The Waters Family
who provided backing vocals for the Fame albums and concerts worked with
Michael providing background vocals on "You Wanna Be Startin
Something".
Randy, mi fav dancer ❤️
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