The world lost a pop culture icon on June 25, 2009. The untimely death of the King of Pop shook the entire globe, from Mongolia to Cuba, Iceland to New Zealand. Nobody in history, certainly not in the world of music and entertainment, had name recognition like Michael Jackson.
From The Jackson 5 to Off the Wall, Thriller to Bad, Jackson was a pioneer and innovator and set a new standard in show business. His videos, album sales, chart records and world tours had a transformative effect on the industry.
The hyperbole can get out of hand when you describe icons like Michael Jackson. Before we run out of adjectives to define his timeless legacy, here are some places that together, make up a de facto King of Pop pilgrimage.
Born in Arkansas, Joseph Jackson, patriarch of the famous music family, came to East Chicago and later, Gary, Indiana, at the age of eighteen to work as a crane operator for U.S. Steel. There, he met future wife Katherine Scruse and after a failed attempt at a music career, Jackson poured his energy into grooming the couple’s nine children for stardom.
The rest as they say, is history. While the city of 100,000 people, a short 45 minute drive from Chicago, has some notable charm, Gary will forever be famous as the birthplace of Michael Jackson and indeed, the entire Jackson clan.
After Berry Gordy got wind of The Jackson 5 in 1968 and specifically, the inordinate talent of young Michael, the family relocated to The Motor City. Once there, the band would revive Motown Records and from the first strains of “I Want You Back” and “ABC”, took the world by storm.
The Jackson 5 sound – a marriage of pop and R&B, led by the powerful, clear vocals of a pre-teen Michael Jackson – was fresh and revolutionary. It came to typify a new era of Motown and indeed, music. The old headquarters of Hitsville U.S.A., graced by the likes of The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5, is now home to the Motown Historical Museum.
A New York City landmark and on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, the Apollo Theater’s contribution to popular culture is without precedent. No other music hall in the world has launched more legendary careers, from Ella Fitzgerald to James Brown, Diana Ross to of course, The Jackson 5.
Michael Jackson’s appearance at the Apollo with his brothers in the very early days of the group helped propel them to mega-stardom. After his death became public on June 25, fans spontaneously gathered en masse outside the theater and his childhood home.
Hollywood and Los Angeles contain a slew of relevant Michael Jackson landmarks. On the day of his death, the King of Pop’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was covered by a red carpet for the premiere of the Sasha Baron Cohen mockumentary Brüno. Coincidentally, a scene from the film featuring sister LaToya and referencing Jackson was cut by Universal, being deemed distasteful in the wake of the superstar’s death. As a result of the premiere, hundreds of fans mistakenly paid homage to the wrong Michael Jackson. English-born radio talk show host Michael Jackson also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Other Los Angeles landmarks that have a connection to the King of Pop include the Bel Air mansion where he met his demise on June 25. While inaccessible for now, Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson’s sprawling 3,000 acre amusement park estate in Santa Barbara County, will no doubt rival Elvis Presley’s Graceland one day as a tourist attraction.
London was to be the backdrop for Michael Jackson’s dramatic swansong. With fifty dates at O2 Arena, all sold out in a matter of minutes, the King of Pop was just weeks away from the stage before he went into cardiac arrest on June 25.
Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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