WORLD 29 August 2008 "Peter Pan" Michael Jackson turns 50. A sighting?

The eternal boy and King of Pop, Michael Jackson, turns 50. He has been an iconic figure since he joined his brothers in the family pop group at the age of seven, starting a music showbiz career spanning more than four decades. His birthday is not far behind the 30th anniversary of the Dec 1982 release of "Thriller," one of the biggest selling albums and videos of all time. The big question is whether the mainly-reclusive star will choose to surface to celebrate in public or even use the milestone to restart his career. If he does surface, he can count on an audience. An interview with the BBC in Feb 2003 attracted over 14 million viewers.

Michael Jackson paid a visit in 2006 to the Guinness World Records office in London to pick up a collection of certificates: Youngest vocalist to top the US singles chart, (aged 11, fronting The Jackson Five); First vocalist to enter the US single chart at No.1; Most weeks at the top of the US album charts; Most successful music video ("Thriller" sold over 1 million units); First entertainer to earn more than US $100 million in a year; Highest paid entertainer of all time (US $125 million in 1989 Forbes list); and Most successful entertainer of all time. He has won multiple Grammy awards, and also the Diamond Award at the World Music Awards in 2006 for selling over 100 million albums. He wrote and composed many of his own hits.

Each birthday in the past 15 years has been downhill. Fans began falling away in the millions after the first of the first child molestation allegations against him surfaced in the 1990s. Though he was acquitted of child molestation in a 2005 trial, his career has never recovered, and his present life seems defined by a variety of lawsuits against him. There is a lien on the shuttered 3,000 acre California estate called Neverland Valley Ranch and other Jackson properties.

The birthday message to Jackson on one of his remaining fan clubs for his 49th birthday reads, "Wherever you are and whatever you're doing we hope you have a great day today on your birthday." It's an essay on his present life. The pop star seems to be itinerent. He moved to Bahrain after he was acquitted of child molestation charges, but in 2006 announced he was moving to Europe, and turned up in person to pick up his Guinness certificates. He was sighted in Jul 2007 in the United States, in Maryland, with his three children.

Cosmetic surgery that makes him look like his sister, Janet, has given him a face that is easy to spot, so it can be assumed that he knows useful disguises if he wants to continue lying low. His children could be impossible to recognize as he is reported to force them to wear masks or veils in public.

They are Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., AKA Prince Michael Jackson I; who will be 11 when his father turns 50; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, who will be 10; and Prince Michael II, AKA Blanket, will be 6. Ex-wife Debbie Rowe, his former dermatology nurse, is the mother of the first two children. The mother of Prince Michael II is unknown. His other ex wife is Lisa Marie Presley. She is the daughter of Elvis, an icon of equal or even greater stature than Jackson. Aug/07

World news before it happens Foresight and insight for professionals who bank on the future

WORLD 29 August 2008 "Peter Pan" Michael Jackson turns 50. A sighting?

Michael Jackson turns 50

Michael Jackson turns 50

World news before it happens
Foresight and insight
for professionals who bank on the future