African Art

Cultural impact of Michael Jackson

American singer Michael Jackson is widely regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Often considered the greatest entertainer of all time, Jackson broke racial barriers in the United States and profoundly influenced the evolution of pop music, earning him the title of "King of Pop". He is one of the best-selling music artists in history, having sold over 500 million records worldwide. Jackson's unparalleled success spans multiple decades; his albums Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995) rank amongst the best-selling of all time; Thriller remains the best-selling album in history. Guinness World Records named him the most successful entertainer of all time. His achievements in the 1980s helped desegregate popular music in the United States and introduced an era of multiculturalism globally. Through his dance, fashion, and music videos, Jackson proliferated visual performance for musical artists. He has influenced hundreds of musicians, with songs that are among the most covered and sampled in music history. His influence extended to inspiring a vast array of trends and raising awareness for social causes around the world; as a result, Jackson is widely seen as one of the most famous figures in history. Before he died, Jackson was received by over 30 world leaders. Jackson's global brand resulted in celebrity products and commemorations such as video games, documentaries, and monuments. The popularity of Michael Jackson began as a child star in the 1960s, when he was introduced as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, a band formed with his older brothers. The group was recognized by U.S. Congress for their contribution to American youth culture, and the American public embraced Jackson to a degree not afforded a child star since the height of Shirley Temple in the 1930s. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular culture and the first African-American entertainer to have a strong crossover fanbase on music television. As he became a rising solo star, his music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his album Thriller (1982), are credited with breaking several racial barriers both in the United States and worldwide, transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool.

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See also

• ▸1954
• ▸Go Gawa poetry club
• ▸Biedermeier

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.