14 Feb 1983
"Beat It" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and co-produced by Quincy Jones for the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). Jones had wanted an ambitious black rock 'n' roll song, however, Jackson had never previously shown an interest in the genre. Eddie Van Halen was drafted in to add the distinctive overdriven guitar solo with tapping, but initially thought the phone calls from J...
Michael Jackson Timeline
| 1958 Aug 29 | Michael Jackson Born Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana (an industrial suburb of Chicago, Illinois) to a working-class family on August 29, 1958. The son of Joseph Walter "Joe" and Katherine Est... |  |
| 1969 | The Jackson Five debut In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, the Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5.... |  |
| 1972 | Michael Jackson's first solo hit “Ben” reaches No. 1 "Ben" is a number-one hit song recorded by the teenaged Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972. The song, the theme of a 1972 film of the same name, spent one week at the top of the... |  |
| 1974 | Michael Jackson introduces "The Robot" In 1974, during a performance on "Soul Train," Jackson introduced a dance called the robot, made of moves that were mimicked on dance floors across the country. |  |
| 1978 | Michael Jackson plays "The Scarecrow" in the movie "The Wiz" alongside Diana Ross, Richard Pryor and Nipsey Russell. The Wiz is a 1978 American musical film produced by Motown Productions and Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on October 24, 1978. An urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum's The... |  |
| 1979 | "Off the Wall" solo album catapults Michael Jackson to superstar status Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by pop musician Michael Jackson, released August 10, 1979 on Epic Records. The album follows Jackson's critically well received theatrical performan... |  |
| 1982 Nov 30 | Michael Jackson Releases "Thriller" Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and c... |  |
| 1983 Jan 2 | Michael Jackson releases "Billie Jean" "Billie Jean" is a dance-pop R&B song by late American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones for the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller... |  |
| 1983 Feb 14 | Michael Jackson releases "Beat It" "Beat It" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Jackson and co-produced by Quincy Jones for the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). Jones had w... |  |
| 1983 Mar 25 | Michael Jackson popularizes the moonwalk The moonwalk or backslide is a dance technique that presents the illusion that the dancer is stepping forward while actually moving backward, giving the appearance of a person moving alon... |  |
| 1984 Jan 27 | Michael Jackson burns hair during Pepsi commercial While filming a Pepsi Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, he suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire. Happening... |  |
| 1985 Mar 14 | "Donga", Starring Chiranjeevi and Radha, Released in India Donga (Thief) is a Telegu film which was released on March 14, 1985. This film was directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy, and stars Chiranjeevi and Radha. This film is produced by T. Trivikram... |  |
| 1987 Aug 31 | Michael Jackson releases 7th studio album "Bad" Bad is the seventh studio album by Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records. The record was released nearly five years after his last studio album. 20 years... |  |
| 1988 | Michael Jackson releases "Moonwalk," an autobiography Moon Walk is an autobiography written by American musician Michael Jackson. The book was first published in in 1988, a year after the release of Jackson's Bad album, and named after Jacks... |  |
| 1993 Feb 10 | Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson Jackson gave a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his first television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his fat... | |
| 1993 Aug 17 | Michael Jackson accused of and investigated for sexual abuse In 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of abuse by Evan Chandler, on behalf of his then-13-year-old child, Jordan Chandler. Jackson and Jordan had become friends in May 1992, to the father'... |  |
| 1993 Nov 12 | Michael Jackson cancels "Dangerous" tour in Mexico City Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him. By the fall of 1993, Jackson was addicted to the drugs. His health ... |  |
| 1994 May 26 | Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley In May 1994, Jackson married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. They had first met in 1975 during one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand Ho... |  |
| 1996 Jan 18 | Lisa Marie Presley divorces Michael Jackson. Presley and Jackson divorced less than two years after getting married in the midst of Jackson's child sexual abuse scandal and, at the time, it was speculated by the tabloid media that t... | |
| 1996 Nov 15 | Michael Jackson marries Debbie Rowe During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, who bore him two children, a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as ... |  |
| 1997 Feb 13 | Michael Joseph (Prince) Jackson Jr. born to Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, who bore him two children, a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as ... |  |
| 2009 Jun 25 2:18PM | Michael Jackson Rushed to Hospital in Cardiac Arrest LOS ANGELES -- Pop star Michael Jackson has been taken to UCLA Medical Center by ambulance suffering from cardiac arrest, fire officials confirm. Los Angeles Fire Department Captain St... |  |
| 2009 Jun 25 3:09PM | Michael Jackson dies at 50 Michael Jackson, whose quintessentially American tale of celebrity and excess took him from musical boy wonder to global pop superstar to sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and fai... |  |
| 2009 Jun 29 | Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, gets temporary custody of his children On Monday, the children, ages 7, 11 and 12, were placed under the temporary guardianship of their paternal grandmother, Katherine Jackson, by a Los Angeles judge. The biological mothe... |  |
| 2009 Jul 1 | Michael Jackson Tops Charts and Breaks Records Again After Death As soon as the news of Michael Jackson’s death began to spread last Thursday afternoon, radio programmers around the country cued up his songs, and fans rushed to retail and online outlet... |  |
| 2009 Jul 7 | Public Memorial Held for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles Michael Jackson's public memorial started out more spiritual than spectacular Tuesday, opening with a church choir singing as his golden casket was laid in front of the stage and a shaft ... |  |
| 2009 Jul 15 5:00PM | Video Footage of Michael Jackson's Hair Catching Fire During the Filming of a Pepsi Ad Released Jackson suffered a setback on January 27, 1984, causing repercussions for the rest of his life. While filming a Pepsi Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, he suffered ... | |