10 surprising facts about Michael Jackson, the ultimate King of Pop

10 surprising facts about Michael Jackson, the ultimate King of Pop

The King of Pop's name is currently attached to West End productions and Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil spectacles while his latest posthumous studio record Xscape in 2014 – masterfully produced by Epic Records' chairman L.A. Reid – gave him a 10th UK Number 1 album.

1.Plastic Surgery

The Pepsi incident had far-reaching repercussions besides torching Michael’s hair. The grueling operations he endured afterward are said to have kicked off his addiction to painkillers and obsession with plastic surgery.Doctors have suggested that Jackson suffered from body dysmorphic disorder. It is believed that he had surgery to enhance his cheekbones, alter his lips, and lift his forehead, in addition to his numerous nose jobs. It has been reported that his father Joe used to insult Michael as a child, calling him “Big Nose,” which may have sparked the problem.

2.Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury collaborated in the 80s and recorded three tracks.

The songs were recorded in Michael’s home studio in Encino, California in 1983, when both he and Mercury were at the height of their fame. The tracks were meant to be included in an album full of their duets. However, they were never able to finish the complete album because of their differences. Mercury didn’t like Michael bringing his llama into the studio while recording, and Michael didn’t like Mercury using too much cocaine in his living room. Now both the stars are no more and the tracks were later cleared for release in 2011.

3. Michael Jackson was once married to the daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley.

Lisa Marie Presley, who is the daughter of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, and also a singer and songwriter, was once the wife of Michael Jackson. She also appeared in one of his songs’ video “You Are Not Alone”. They both fell in love as Jackson increasingly began to turn towards her for emotional support and she was able to persuade him to go to rehabilitation to recover from his drug abuse. According to Presley, after their divorce, they spent almost four years on and off trying to reconcile. 

4.Michael Jackson worked on the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but his involvement in the game was terminated because of sexual abuse allegations. However, some samples of his music made before the allegations still remain and Jackson chose not to be credited

Though, the senior staff member of the company that made Sonic 3, SEGA, stated that any involvement of Jackson was done without their knowledge and that any similarities with his music were unintentional, since no contracts or agreements were ever made with him. It is also said that Jackson didn’t want to be credited because he was unhappy with the sound capabilities of Genesis.

5. Esape Plane

 

Russell Crowe revealed about Michael Jackson’s prank calls during an interview with Graham Nortan. He said that Michael got into the habit of calling him wherever he was staying and that he would call the hotel using funny voices, even though they both have never met. When he told some of his friends about this who knew Michael, they told him that he does it all the time. 

6. Giant Robot 

Before the ill-fated “This Is It” concert series, Michael Jackson had planned a massive Las Vegas comeback in 2005. This would be no bland, tired regurgitation of the classics—Michael had a grand vision which included solar-powered costumes that would change color with the stage lights. The show would be promoted by a massive, 15-meter (50 ft) tall robot version of Michael, which would roam through the Nevada desert within view of McCarran airport. When this did not prove feasible, another plan was hatched to build a Michael Jackson–themed hotel and casino, which would feature at the entrance.

7. Michael Jackson wanted to play the lead role in Tim Burton’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and even recorded an entire soundtrack free of charge for the film. However, when the director refused, Jackson declared “If I can’t have the Willy Wonka part, they’re not getting the soundtrack”

According to music producer Marc Schaffel, Jackson recorded a full soundtrack for the movie secretly in a small recording studio in Los Angeles. He sent it to Warner Bros. executives who absolutely loved it, but didn’t love the idea of the pop icon acting in a children movie. Jackson didn’t take the news very well, and so he just shelved the soundtrack.

8. Michael Jackson was such an avid fan of comics that he once wanted to play Spider-Man and almost bought Marvel just to make that happen

According to Stan Lee, Marvel’s chairman and the creator of many of Marvel’s superhero characters, Michael Jackson wanted to buy the comics company because that was the only way he felt he would be able to play Spider-Man. Though Lee agrees that he would probably have made a very good Spider-Man, he felt Tobey Maguire was wonderful. He also said that, Marvel would have been quite different from what it is now, but not as successful because Michael wasn’t a very good businessman.

9. There are hundreds of unreleased songs of Michael Jackson that were discovered in his vault after his death.

Many of the songs Michael recorded were registered with professional agencies or offices by his company, Mijac Music. After his death, his sister La Toya Jackson found two hard disks with more than 1,000 songs that were never released before and not even registered by any agencies. It has been said that he recorded as many as 50, 

000 songs during his lifetime.

10. According to autopsy reports, Michael Jackson was bald and wore wigs to conceal it. 

By the time of his death, Michael Jackson’s health was severely deteriorated. His body was emaciated to mere 112 pounds and his stomach was completely empty except for partially dissolved pills. His body was full of several needle marks and scars. His head was virtually bald, and he started wearing wigs when he found out that his hair had been reduced to “peachy fuzz”. His body was just skin and bones, and by the time of his death he was eating almost nothing except for the pills.