Everyone knows the music. Not everyone knows the man behind it.
Here are seven facts about Michael Jackson that most fans have never heard.
1. He didn’t invent the moonwalk
Michael borrowed the move from street dancers and a French mime artist named Marcel Marceau. What he did was perfect it, smooth it out, and rename it. The original name was simply “the backslide.”
2. He was terrified of being alone
After long tours and performances, Michael would ask someone he trusted to stay with him until he fell asleep. Despite selling out stadiums, he couldn’t stand the silence of an empty room.
3. He had $400 million in debt after his death
One of the highest-paid pop star in history died owing hundreds of millions of dollars. Years of legal battles, lavish spending, and financial mismanagement had quietly buried him in financial debt.
4. He funded over 30 children’s hospitals anonymously
He supported 39 charities throughout his lifetime and kept most of it off the record. He never wanted credit. He just wanted the children to be helped.
He was always big on charity
5. He tried to buy Marvel so he could play Spider-Man
When Marvel filed for bankruptcy in the late 1990s, Michael approached Stan Lee with serious investors. Stan Lee later confirmed it — Michael felt a deep connection to a misunderstood hero just trying to do good.
6. He patented his footwear technology
The iconic 45-degree lean in Smooth Criminal was not training or stage theatrics. Michael held a US patent for specially engineered boots with a heel slot that locked into a hitch on the stage floor.
The iconic Smooth Criminal lean
7. Before every show he looked in a mirror and told himself he was the greatest performer alive
Not arrogance. Ritual. The man who terrified himself with loneliness needed to remind himself who he was before walking out in front of the world.
Michael Jackson was the biggest pop star to ever live, yet some parts of his story still shock people around the world. Now you know too