By Neda Ulaby NPR News
Dave Hogan / Getty Images
Despite recent controversies, in many minds, Michael Jackson will always be considered a pop genius.
All Things Considered, June 25, 2009 – Singer Michael Jackson, the man known as the King of Pop to legions of fans around the globe, who lived most of his extraordinary life in the public eye, died Thursday in Los Angeles after going into cardiac arrest. He was 50 years old.
It used to be that Jackson’s talent was the most compelling thing about him, says music critic Jody Rosen.
“I think ‘I Want You Back’ is one of the greatest pop singles I’ve ever heard,” Rosen says.
A Childhood In The Limelight
“I Want You Back” was the hit single that famously thrust a young Michael Jackson and four of his brothers from the Gary, Ind., talent show circuit to world fame. Their grimly focused father put Michael on stage at age 5. The child, says Rosen, somehow channeled the gifts of vastly more seasoned performers.
“He had a very gritty voice at that time, which is strange, given that as he grew older, he started to sing more and more like a pre-pubescent little boy,” Rosen says. “And when he was a pre-pubescent little boy, he was singing like a soul elder statesman.”
The Jackson 5 had four No. 1 singles in a row, as well as a TV show; the group toured constantly. This was all under the guidance of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who had a genius for crossover — molding black artists into mainstream stars. But Gordy told NPR’s Liane Hansen in 1994 that young Michael had a regular childhood.
“Oh, we played baseball every week. We did all kinds of fun things,” Gordy said. “I think it’s been overdramatized about his lack of fun, having no childhood. He had a childhood.”
That account is disputed by Jackson biographers.
Rosen says, “There are stories of the Jackson 5 on the road and all the older brothers cavorting with groupies, while young Michael Jackson — 10, 11, 12 years old — sat in a corner and hung out.”.
