When it comes to growing up in public, the man known worldwide as the King of Pop wrote the book. Born in Gary, Indiana, in 1958, Michael Jackson became the biggest-selling, most broadly beloved singer on the planet, but when he started his career, he was just the kid trying to catch up with his big brothers. In 1964 he started playing percussion in The Jackson Brothers, but by the time they became the Jackson 5 the following year, little Michael was already contributing lead vocals. The group became a Motown hit machine in 1970 with pop-soul smashes like “ABC”, “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There”. Michael’s undeniable vocal charisma made a solo career inevitable, and his began in 1971. He scored a few major hits early on, but he really exploded with 1979’s <i>Off the Wall</i>, a funk-pop-disco marvel that marked Jackson’s full musical maturation. Its 1982 follow-up, <i>Thriller</i>, became a full-blown international phenomenon with mega-singles including “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” and the title track, literally becoming the best-selling album ever. Following it wasn’t easy, but Jackson managed to keep his vision alive through four more albums and several more hits over the next two decades, until his passing in 2009.