Michael Jackson: The King of Pop
Few artists have had the cultural impact of Michael Jackson.
His career began when he was still a child, singing with his brothers as The Jackson 5. Under the guidance of his father, Joe Jackson, the group performed wherever they could, eventually attracting the attention of Motown founder Berry Gordy.
The rest, as they say, is history, let’s start from the begining.
In 1969, The Jackson 5 released I Want You Back, with Michael—still only 11 years old—taking the lead vocal. It became a huge hit and was followed by ABC, The Love You Save, and I’ll Be There.
Michael was already a star before he had even reached his teens.
Michael’s second hit was ABC
You might assume ABC was Michael Jackson’s first big hit with The Jackson 5, but by the time it was released in 1970, he was already on his second album—and had already had his first hit.
A year earlier, at just 11 years old, Michael had made his mark with I Want You Back, which appeared on Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5.
Then came ABC, a song about young love and homework that perfectly captured the youthful energy of the group.
Carefully nurtured by Berry Gordy and Motown, The Jackson 5 went on to produce an astonishing run of hits, including I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, I’ll Be There, and later songs such as Blame It on the Boogie and Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).
But Michael was also beginning to develop a career away from his brothers.
Ben—and a pet rat
Released in 1972, when Michael was just 14, Ben became his first solo number-one hit.
The song was originally intended for Donny Osmond, but Donny was busy touring and couldn’t record it. Michael eventually took the song and turned it into one of the most memorable recordings of his early career.
There is also a slightly bizarre piece of trivia attached to it.
Ben was the title song from a film about a boy and his pet rat.
Knowing that makes the lyrics seem rather different when you listen to them today!
From The Jackson 5 to The Jacksons
By the late 1970s, the family band had moved on from Motown and signed with Epic Records. The Jackson 5 became simply The Jacksons, and the brothers gained considerably more artistic control over their music. The hits continued.
One of their biggest was Blame It on the Boogie, a song that remains a favourite of wedding and function bands to this day.
There’s an amusing story behind it, too.
The songwriters, Mick and Dave Jackson, weren’t related to Michael’s family at all. They were English songwriters who had recorded the song themselves with their band, Jacko.
Then The Jacksons released their own version.
For a while, radio stations were effectively faced with a choice between two versions of a song called Blame It on the Boogie, recorded by artists with almost the same name as the writers.
It’s one of those wonderfully strange moments in pop history.
For a working guitarist, though, the more important point is that Blame It on the Boogie has survived beautifully. It’s still exactly the kind of song that gets people onto the dance floor.
Here’s a video telling the story dubbed The Battle Of The Boogie.
Shake Your Body Down
Around the same time, The Jacksons released Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).
The song was influenced by funk and disco records including Teddy Pendergrass’ Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose and Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up.
This is one of the things I find fascinating about songwriting.
Great songs don’t necessarily appear from nowhere. Often, writers take ideas, rhythms, grooves and sounds they’ve heard elsewhere and transform them into something new.
Listen to the Jacksons’ Shake Your Body, then compare it with some of its influences. You can even follow the trail through later songs such as Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines.
The history of popular music is full of these connections.
And for guitarists, discovering those connections is a great way to understand how songs are actually put together.
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones
By the end of the 1970s, Michael was ready to move beyond the family group.
He had already released several solo albums with Motown, but his career changed dramatically when he began working with producer Quincy Jones.
Their first album together was Off the Wall in 1979.
The first single, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, announced that something very different was happening.
It was followed by Rock With You, another enormous hit.
Off the Wall established Michael as a major solo artist in his own right and set the stage for what came next.
Rock With You was Disco
It’s easy to forget just how much Rock With You belongs to the disco era.
Released in 1979, the song reached number one in the United States and became a worldwide favourite.
It’s also a great example of a song that sounds relatively simple until you try to play it.
The chords have some lovely movement, and getting the harmony right makes a huge difference to the feel.
That’s exactly why songs like this are so useful for guitarists. You don’t just learn a Michael Jackson song—you learn about rhythm, harmony, chord movement and how a professional arrangement works.
And decades later, Rock With You remains a fantastic choice for a live band.
Thriller changes everything
Then came Thriller.
Released in 1982, the album transformed Michael Jackson from an enormous pop star into something else entirely.
Before the title track was even released as a single, the album had already produced a remarkable run of hits, including The Girl Is Mine with Paul McCartney, Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Human Nature, and P.Y.T.
By the time Thriller itself arrived as a single, it almost seemed impossible for the album to get any bigger.
And then Michael released the video.
The Thriller video was unlike anything pop music had seen before. Inspired by horror cinema, particularly An American Werewolf in London, it was essentially a short film rather than a conventional music video.
There was even a making-of documentary.
Michael wasn’t simply releasing songs anymore. He was creating events.
The Moonwalk
If Thriller made Michael Jackson a global superstar, his performance of Billie Jean at Motown’s 25th anniversary helped turn him into a cultural phenomenon.
On 16 May 1983, Michael performed Billie Jean and introduced millions of viewers to his now-famous moonwalk.
The move itself wasn’t invented by Michael Jackson. Dancers had been performing variations of it before him, and Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar had demonstrated the move on Top of the Pops the previous year.
But Michael’s performance was different.
His timing, presentation and extraordinary control turned the moonwalk into one of the most recognisable dance moves in the world.
It became inseparable from Michael Jackson.
Eddie Van Halen played Beat It
For guitarists, though, there’s another reason Beat It is particularly interesting.
Michael wanted to make a rock song. He succeeded.
Beat It became one of the biggest tracks on Thriller, and the guitar solo was played by none other than Eddie Van Halen.
According to the famous story, Eddie recorded the solo without taking a fee beyond a couple of six-packs of beer.
That’s quite a deal when you consider that Beat It went on to become one of the most recognisable rock/pop crossover songs ever recorded.
The track also featured musicians from Toto, another reminder of the extraordinary level of talent involved in Michael Jackson’s recordings.
For a guitarist, Beat It is a perfect example of how pop, funk and rock can be brought together without one style overwhelming the others.
The golden years
The period from Off the Wall through Thriller and Bad was an extraordinary run.
Across those albums came Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, P.Y.T., Thriller, Bad, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, and my personal favourite, Man in the Mirror.
For a period, Michael Jackson occupied a position in popular culture comparable to Elvis Presley in the 1950s and The Beatles in the 1960s.
Everyone knew who he was. Everyone knew the songs. And everyone knew the dance moves.
The guitar connection
One of the things I enjoy most about studying Michael Jackson’s music is that, despite being known primarily as a singer, dancer and performer, his records are packed with great guitar playing.
Listen carefully and you’ll hear funk guitar, disco rhythm parts, rock guitar, acoustic textures and beautifully arranged chord work.
That’s particularly useful if you’re learning guitar.
A Michael Jackson song might teach you how to play a groove, but it can also teach you how to leave space, lock into a bass line, play tight rhythm parts and understand the role of the guitar within a larger arrangement.
And because so many of these songs have remained popular with audiences, they also make excellent additions to a guitarist’s repertoire.
That’s really the point of learning songs. You’re not just collecting chord shapes. You’re building a repertoire of music you can actually play.
Michael Jackson’s later years
Michael continued to release albums and perform throughout the 1990s and 2000s, although the extraordinary level of success he had achieved during the Thriller and Bad era was difficult for anyone to replicate.
His public life also became increasingly complicated, with intense media attention surrounding both his personal life and his career.
In 1984, Michael suffered serious burns when his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. He subsequently underwent medical treatment and later spoke about the pain and medications associated with his injuries.
By the time he announced his planned This Is It concerts at London’s O2 Arena in 2009, anticipation was enormous.
The residency was intended to be a major return to the stage.
Sadly, Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009, before the concerts could take place.
I was playing at Glastonbury Festival that night, and as the news spread through the festival, Michael Jackson songs seemed to be coming from every food stall and stage.
It was surreal. For a moment, an entire festival seemed to stop and remember the same person.
The Legacy
Michael Jackson’s career is difficult to summarise because it spans so many different eras.
- He was a child star with The Jackson 5.
- He became a successful solo artist.
- He reinvented the music video.
- He brought together pop, soul, funk, disco and rock.
- He worked with some of the greatest musicians and producers of his generation.
And he left behind an extraordinary catalogue of songs that are still played by bands, DJs, singers and guitarists all over the world.
For me, that’s where the Spytunes connection really comes in.
Songs like I Want You Back, I’ll Be There, Blame It on the Boogie, Rock With You, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Beat It, and Thriller aren’t just pieces of pop history. They’re great songs to learn.
And every time you learn one, you’re adding another piece of musical history to your own repertoire.
That’s what makes Michael Jackson such a fascinating artist for guitarists: behind all the dancing, videos and spectacle, there are brilliantly constructed tunes waiting to be played.
Michael Jackson Tunes | Related Pages
ABC | Chords + TAB
You can learn ABC by The Jackson 5 using chords, chord analysis, lyrics, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Ab | Ab |
You went to school to learn girl, things you never, never knew before…
Ain’t No Sunshine | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, chord analysis, TAB, video guitar lessons, and backing tracks.
| Am7 Em G5 | Am7 | Am7 Em G5 |
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, it’s not warm when she’s away…
Beat It | Chords + TAB
You can learn Beat It by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, chord analysis, TAB, and the backing tracks.
| Eb5 | Db5 |
They told him, “Don’t you ever come around here”…
Ben | Chords + TAB
Learn to play Ben by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| F | C7/E |
Ben, the two of us need look no more.
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Ben (Michael Jackson) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Billie Jean | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play Billie Jean by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| F#m G#m | A G#m |
She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…
Blame It On The Boogie | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play Blame It On The Boogie by The Jacksons using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Cm7 | Eb |
My baby’s always dancin’ and it wouldn’t be a bad thing…
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough | Chords + TAB
You can learn Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| B B11 | B11 (A/B) | B | B (Bsus2) |
Lovely, is the feelin’ now…
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus | Chords + TAB
Learn to play I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by The Ronettes using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| A | A | C#m | F#m |
I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus…
I’ll Be There | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play I’ll Be There by The Jackson 5 using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back…
Killing Me Softly With His Song | Roberta Flack + Fugees
You can learn Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack and Fugees using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Fm7 | Bbm7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers…
Rock With You | Chords + TAB
You can learn Rock With You by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Ebm9 | Ab | Bb11 | Bb11 |
Girl, close your eyes, let that rhythm get into you…
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) | Chords + TAB
You can learn Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) by The Jacksons using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 | G7omit3 G7sus4 G7 |
I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you, baby…
Thriller | Chords + TAB
You can learn to play Thriller by Michael Jackson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night…
Michael Jackson on the web
