He was married to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley in 1994, before divorcing her in 1995 and marrying nurse Debbie Rowe in 1996. Three months after Rowe and Jackson's marriage she gave birth to a son, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. The next year she gave birth to a daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson.
The couple divorced on October 8, 1999. Prince Michael II was born on February 21, 2002. Jackson never said who the mother was. He is better known as Blanket. When Blanket was 8 months old Jackson held him over a balcony. Blanket has a towel over his head. At the time, people did not know that he was called Blanket. Jackson made a public apology after people were upset. After Jackson died, his mother Katherine was made the guardian of his children. In August 2012, Jackson's cousin TJ was made the children's co-guardian.
Bubbles (born 1983) is a common chimpanzee, known for being the one-time pet of American recording artist Michael Jackson. Jackson bought the animal from a Texas research facility in the 1980s. The animal was a frequent travel companion to the singer, whose attachment to the animal led to media mockery and, among other factors, to a public perception of Jackson as an eccentric. The chimp, for example, was permitted to use Jackson's personal toilet.
Their human-animal bond, as well as the entertainer's other alleged eccentricities, contributed to the media epithet "Wacko Jacko", a nickname Jackson would eventually come to despise. The media often focused on Bubbles, rather than on Jackson's music, and published many false stories regarding the animal. One such story was an allegation that Bubbles was not a single ape, but one of several.
Over the years, his changing facial appearance and lightening skin color attracted much attention. From childhood Jackson had afro hair. His hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1983. Jackson got second-degree burns to his scalp. Jackson started taking painkillers for the very bad pain caused by the burns. Jackson always wore a wig in his later years. His autopsy found that his scalp was tattooed black so that it blended in with his wigs.
He claimed to have had only a little plastic surgery to his face. He said that puberty, weight loss, and his vegetarian diet had changed his face. People said that Jackson bleached his skin to make it lighter. In a television interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993 he said he had a rare skin condition called vitiligo. When Jackson died, the autopsy found that he did have vitiligo. This disease made many white spots on Jackson's skin. Jackson used makeup and medication to even out his skin color to treat his vitiligo. This made Jackson appear to have a lightening skin tone. Jackson also had an immune condition called discoid lupus. Dr. Richard Strick said that this "had destroyed part of the skin of his nose". Jackson's nose was the body part that people talked about most.
Jackson was addicted to prescription drugs. In 2009 he died from an overdose of an anesthetic called Propofol. He was given Propofol for his insomnia. The insomnia was a side effect of Jackson's addiction to Demerol. Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray said that Jackson took the overdose himself.
In his autopsy, it was found that he had an and osteoarthritis. His lips were tattooed pink. He used a skin-bleaching cream called Benoquin to treat his Vitiligo.
Jackson was physically abused by his father when he was a child. He would also call Jackson "big-nose". As a teenager Jackson had acne. In "Living With Michael Jackson," Jackson told Martin Bashir how he went home and cried after a woman called him ugly because of his acne. Some medical professionals have said that they think Jackson had body dysmorphic disorder. The disorder is often triggered by appearance-related bullying. Some people think that Jackson had anorexia nervosa. In 1984, Jackson weighed 105 pounds. He was 5"9 tall. This would have made his BMI 15.5, which is very underweight. He weighed 136 lbs. when he died. This is in the healthy range.
A biographer called Ian Halperin wrote that Jackson had a rare genetic disease called Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. By the time of his death, it had damaged his lungs so he could not sing. He also wrote that Jackson's genetic disease had caused him to lose 95% of the vision in his left eye.
Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray said that he thought Jackson was "legally blind" and had phlebitis.
Jackson was announced dead at age 50 on June 25, 2009 at 2:25 pm at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. It is thought that he went into cardiac arrest, which means his heart stopped. At 4:36 pm local time, the Los Angeles coroner confirmed Jackson's death. However, he was unresponsive by 12:15, even though he was not proclaimed dead at the time of hospital arrival, he already passed on by 1pm. Jackson died just two months before his 51st birthday. Rumors and news of Jackson's death broke web records causing a cyberspace traffic jam. The circumstances of his death and the outpouring of grief which was experienced around the world were on record scales never seen before. His death gave Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Yahoo the most page views they had ever encountered. Jackson arrived at the hospital not showing any signs of life.
A memorial service was held at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. It began with a reading of a letter by Smokey Robinson of comments by Nelson Mandela, Diana Ross and other close friends of Michael Jackson who could not be at the memorial. Mariah Carey sang "I'll Be There" at the memorial service, followed by a speech given by Queen Latifah. Lionel Richie performed "Jesus is Love". Berry Gordy, Motown founder, spoke next, offering condolences. Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson also spoke, with Magic describing the event as a "celebration of Jackson's life and works" rather than a funeral. Jennifer Hudson sung "Will You Be There" accompanied by a music video. Reverend Al Sharpton then gave a speech about how Jackson kept rising and "never stopped". John Mayer played the guitar as he did in Michael Jackson's song Human Nature. This was followed by Brooke Shields speaking. Jermaine Jackson, Jackson's older brother, then performed Smile, Michael's favorite song written by comic drama legend Charlie Chaplin. This was proceeded by speeches by Martin Luther King III and Bernice King. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was the next person who spoke at the memorial service, claiming "people are innocent until proven guilty," (reminding those who accused Jackson of unproven child molestations) saying that Jackson's humanitarian efforts need to be praised. Usher then sang "Gone Too Soon," followed by a montage of old videos of Jackson himself. Shamim sang next, with Kenny Ortega introducing him afterwards. Kenny Ortega explained that Michael Jackson saw the Staples Center as his home, a reason for the funeral service to be held there. This was followed by Kenny Ortega doing a tribute to him, including "We Are the World" and "Heal the World". The service ended with speeches by members of his family, including Jermaine, Marlon and daughter Paris who broke into tears and said that "Daddy was the best father anyone could have" and also that "I will miss him" then she left the microphone and turned into Janet Jackson's arms. The memorial lasted over 2 hours.
At first, Michael Jackson's custom made quarter million dollar golden casket, nicknamed "The Promethean" was not expected to appear at the memorial service, however, due to a change in the family's plans the casket was taken to the memorial service.
Viewing parties were held all over the world for the broadcast, including at several movie theaters, in Times Square, the Apollo Theater, Raleigh, and Berlin. The broadcast was replayed a few times the next day. An estimated 1 billion people tuned into the farewell concert.