Danny Kaye

NAME Danny Kaye, born David Daniel Kaminsky. He performed early in his career under the stage names Danny Kolbin and Red (of the duo "Red and Blackie") before settling on "Danny Kaye" in 1933. (1), (2)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Danny Kaye was an American actor, singer, dancer and comedian best remembered for his manic pantomime, rapid-fire "patter songs" and tongue-twisting routines. He starred in classic films including White Christmas (1954) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), as well as Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and The Court Jester (1956). Off screen he was UNICEF's first celebrity Goodwill Ambassador, once flying a jet to 65 cities in five days to publicise the charity. (3)

BIRTH He was born David Daniel Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1911, though for most of his life he and the public believed the year to be 1913 — a discrepancy his daughter Dena only corrected publicly in 2013. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND Kaye was the youngest of three sons born to Jacob and Clara (née Nemerovsky) Kaminsky, Russian Jewish immigrants from Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine). His parents and two older brothers, Larry and Mac, had emigrated two years before his birth, making Danny the only son born on American soil. His father worked as a tailor after arriving in New York. 

CHILDHOOD Kaye grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn, attending Public School 149, which was later renamed in his honour, where he entertained classmates with songs and jokes. 

His mother died when he was in his early teens, a loss that hit him hard, and not long afterward he and a friend, Louis Eilson, ran away to Florida, singing for money to get by. 

As a boy he dreamed of becoming a surgeon, but his family could not afford to send him to medical school. 

EDUCATION He attended Public School 149 in Brooklyn and later entered Thomas Jefferson High School, though he dropped out before graduating to pursue a career in entertainment and odd jobs. 

He received no formal musical education or dramatic training, learning to perform and sing entirely by ear and practice (4)

 His real education came on the "Borscht Belt" — the Catskill Mountain resorts — where he learned his craft as a tummler, or all-purpose entertainer, from around age 13 or 14. (5),

CAREER RECORD 1933 Kaye adopted the stage name "Danny Kaye" while touring with the vaudeville dance act the Three Terpsichoreans, later joining the revue La Vie Parée on a six-month tour of Asia, where his pantomime style developed out of the language barrier.

1937 He signed with New York's Educational Pictures, appearing in a series of low-budget two-reel comedy shorts as a fast-talking Russian character, ending when the studio folded in 1938.

1939 His Broadway debut came in The Straw Hat Revue, followed in 1941 by his star-making turn in Lady in the Dark, in which his rendition of "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)" — naming more than 50 Russian composers in under 40 seconds — made him a sensation.

1944 He made his feature film debut in Samuel Goldwyn's Up in Arms, beginning a run of hit Technicolor musical comedies through the 1940s and 1950s, including Wonder Man (1945), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954) and The Court Jester (1956).

1954 He became UNICEF's first Goodwill Ambassador, a role he held until his death, combining humanitarian touring with entertainment specials such as The Secret Life of Danny Kaye (1956).

1963-1967 He hosted the top-rated variety series The Danny Kaye Show on CBS, which won four Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.

1976 He owned a share of the newly formed Seattle Mariners baseball franchise alongside business partner Lester Smith, a stake he held until 1985. 

APPEARANCE Kaye was tall and lean, standing around 5 feet 11 inches, with a rubbery, expressive face that could shift instantly from manic energy to gentle warmth. He had naturally red hair, which Samuel Goldwyn had bleached blond for his early Technicolor films because it photographed better, and a prominent nose that Goldwyn once wanted him to have altered — a request Kaye refused. (5)

Danny Kaye

FASHION On screen Kaye's look varied wildly with his roles, from the medieval motley of The Court Jester to the sharp suits of Phil Davis in White Christmas, but off screen he favoured comfortable, casual clothing suited to his hobbies of flying and cooking rather than Hollywood glamour. Contemporary profiles note he was more at home in an apron in his custom Chinese kitchen than in formal attire. (6)

CHARACTER Those who knew him described Kaye as restlessly energetic and endlessly curious, a man who threw himself completely into whatever interested him, whether cooking, flying or conducting an orchestra. 

He could also be private and complex; his wife and closest collaborator, Sylvia Fine, once described a hidden alter-ego called "Kaplan," a pompous, illiterate character Kaye performed only for family and friends, sometimes staying "on Kaplan for two hours." (1)

SPEAKING VOICE Kaye's speaking and singing voice was famous for its elastic range and speed, capable of rattling off tongue-twisting lyrics at breakneck pace without seemingly pausing for breath, most notably in "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)." 

Despite claiming he could not read music, he was said to have perfect pitch, and his vocal delivery could pivot in a moment from gibberish scat and mock-foreign dialects to tender, sincere balladry. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR His comedy relied on physical pantomime, absurd facial contortions and verbal dexterity rather than scripted one-liners, a style he first developed while performing for non-English-speaking audiences in Asia in the 1930s. 

He also delighted in private, semi-improvised comic routines, such as the "Kaplan" character, and was known for genuinely improvising much of his stage material even though his wife wrote the bulk of his songs. 

RELATIONSHIPS Kaye married Sylvia Fine, a pianist, composer and lyricist he met at a 1939 audition, on January 3, 1940, in Fort Lauderdale; she went on to write many of his signature songs and manage much of his career. 

The marriage endured until his death, aside from a separation in 1947 and 1948 during which Kaye was involved with actress Eve Arden, and the couple had one daughter, Dena, born in 1946, who became a journalist. 

Sylvia and Kaye, 1945

MONEY AND FAME By the mid-1940s Kaye was one of Hollywood's biggest box-office draws, headlining a run of lucrative Technicolor musical comedies for Samuel Goldwyn and later Paramount, and he expanded his fortune through business ventures including Kaye-Smith Enterprises, a chain of Pacific Northwest radio stations he co-founded with Lester Smith in 1958. 

His fame extended into humanitarian circles through UNICEF, and in 1976 his business group paid $6.2 million for the American League expansion franchise that became the Seattle Mariners. (7)

FOOD AND DRINK Kaye was a celebrated amateur chef with a particular passion for Chinese cuisine, studying for years under San Francisco restaurateurs Johnny Kan and Cecilia Chiang and eventually installing a custom Chinese kitchen — complete with a multi-burner wok stove and circulating ice water cooling system — in the alley behind his Beverly Hills home, which he nicknamed "Ying's Thing." 

He hosted lavish multi-course dinners there for guests including Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant and Luciano Pavarotti, and chefs who trained him signed him an honorary "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" diploma, though he was not eligible for the official French professional title. (6), (8)

MOVIE CAREER Danny Kaye made his name in a run of hugely successful Technicolor comedies during the 1940s and 1950s, a period when Hollywood seemed to believe that every mild-mannered fellow with a funny voice and an alarming tendency to get into trouble deserved his own Technicolor epic. Kaye was particularly good at playing ordinary dreamers who found themselves deposited, usually with little warning and considerably less preparation, into extraordinary situations.

His film career took off with Up in Arms (1944), followed by Wonder Man (1945) and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), which established him as one of Hollywood's most distinctive comic performers. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), he played the timid Walter Mitty, whose spectacular daydreams are rather more exciting than his actual life. The Inspector General (1949) gave him another chance to turn confusion into an art form, while Hans Christian Andersen (1952) allowed him to combine comedy, music and dance in a much more sentimental setting.

Then came White Christmas (1954), in which Kaye teamed with Bing Crosby in one of the most enduring musical comedies of the era, and The Court Jester (1955), arguably his great comic showcase. As the hapless Hubert Hawkins, Kaye rattled through tongue-twisters, disguises, swordplay and general medieval mayhem with the sort of confidence that suggests he had been born knowing precisely how to make a fool of himself in several languages.

Kaye's appeal went beyond slapstick. He was an accomplished singer, dancer and mimic, and his ability to switch rapidly between characters, accents and absurd verbal routines made him unusually versatile. His films often gave him elaborate comic set pieces, but he could also carry a musical number or a more tender scene without making it feel like a detour from the comedy. By the end of the 1950s, he had become one of America's best-known entertainers, equally at home in movies, on television and on the stage.

MUSIC AND ARTS Beyond acting, Kaye had a substantial recording career, scoring hits with songs including "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" and "The Woody Woodpecker Song" with the Andrews Sisters, and "Wonderful Copenhagen" and "Thumbelina" from Hans Christian Andersen. 

He frequently guest-conducted elite orchestras—including the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and Philadelphia Orchestra—combining serious musical direction with comedic antics like conducting with flyswatters or flyswatter batons. He did this despite being unable to read music, learning entire scores by ear and raising more than five million dollars for musicians' pension funds through his comic charity concerts. (4)

LITERATURE He loved reading classic literature, children's fables, and biographies, and he authored and narrated several children's storybook records, including collections of Hans Christian Andersen tales.

Kaye brought several literary and folkloric figures to the screen, most notably playing the title role in Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and Walter Mitty, the daydreaming clerk from James Thurber's short story, in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). He also appeared as Captain Hook in a 1976 television musical version of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan and voiced Geppetto from Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio the same year. (1), (18)

NATURE Danny Kaye’s best-documented connection with the outdoors was aviation. A licensed pilot and Learjet-qualified flyer, he travelled widely on behalf of UNICEF and flew a jet to 65 cities in the United States and Canada in five days to publicise its Halloween fundraising campaign. (4)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Alongside cooking and flying, Kaye was a lifelong, passionate baseball fan devoted to the Brooklyn (later Los Angeles) Dodgers, possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and reputedly excelling as an amateur second baseman. He recorded the novelty hit "D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O'Malley!)" during the 1962 pennant race and later became a part-owner of the Seattle Mariners. (7)

He was also an enthusiastic golfer before shifting his energy toward flying in 1959. 

SCIENCE AND MATHS Kaye's boyhood ambition had been to become a surgeon, and in adulthood he was honoured as an honorary member of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics in recognition of his charitable work and interest in medicine. He maintained a fascination with medicine and surgical procedures, often observing complex surgeries in operating rooms through his friendships with leading surgeons.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Proud of his Jewish heritage, Kaye frequently visited Israel on solidarity missions and visited wounded soldiers in hospitals during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, also conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra several times for charity. Beyond this expression of cultural and religious identity, Kaye practiced a secular humanist worldview centered on global goodwill, tolerance, and direct humanitarian action for those in need. (3)

POLITICS Danny Kaye was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson’s 1952 presidential campaign. He also joined the Committee for the First Amendment, a Hollywood organisation formed to oppose the House Un-American Activities Committee and defend freedom of expression. Most of his public service, however, was non-partisan: from 1954 until his death he served as UNICEF’s first Goodwill Ambassador, advocating for children regardless of race, nationality, colour or faith. (9)

Kaye's humanitarian profile brought him into governmental circles; he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in June 1987, accepted on his behalf by his daughter Dena. 

SCANDAL He maintained a remarkably clean public record throughout his long career, avoiding major personal scandals or tabloid controversy.

MILITARY RECORD Kaye did not serve in the armed forces during World War II, but he was active in supporting the war effort through entertainment, performing extensively for American servicemen at home and abroad in USO-style tours during the early-to-mid 1940s. He continued touring military bases and hospitals during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. (3)

Danny Kaye on USO tour at Sasebo, Japan, October 25, 1945.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Danny Kaye had a back problem that led to his being classified 4-F and therefore rejected for wartime military service during World War II. 

He continued performing through injuries, including finishing a run of the musical Two by Two on stage in a wheelchair after tearing a leg ligament. 

In 1983, Kaye underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery, during which he received a blood transfusion that left him infected with hepatitis C, a fact not diagnosed until years later. He largely recovered and continued public appearances, but the hepatitis caused intestinal bleeding that led to his final hospitalisation in 1987. (10) (11)

HOMES Kaye lived for many years in Beverly Hills, California, in a home famous for the elaborate Chinese kitchen and eight-seat restaurant he built in the alley behind it, nicknamed "Ying's Thing." He was devoted enough to it that, while filming The Madwoman of Chaillot in France, he once flew home simply to eat dinner there. (6), (8)

TRAVEL Kaye travelled extensively throughout his life, first touring Asia with a vaudeville troupe in 1934 — an experience that shaped his pantomime style — and later logging roughly 50,000 miles across ten countries during a celebrated UNICEF tour documented in The Secret Life of Danny Kaye (1956). 

As an accomplished pilot, he once flew a Learjet to 65 cities in the United States and Canada in five days to promote UNICEF's Halloween "Trick-or-Treat" campaign, a feat that earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. (4)

DEATH Danny Kaye died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in the early hours of March 3, 1987, at the age of 76. The cause was heart failure and internal bleeding brought on by hepatitis C, contracted from the contaminated blood transfusion he received during his 1983 bypass surgery. 

At his request there was no funeral service; his body was cremated and his ashes interred in the foundation of a bench at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, decorated with engravings of a baseball, an aircraft, a piano and a chef's toque. (10), (12)

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Beyond his classic motion pictures, he was a regular guest on major television specials, talk shows, and news programs, as well as the subject of numerous documentaries regarding his humanitarian efforts for UNICEF. 

ACHIEVEMENTS Awarded two Academy Awards (an Honorary Oscar in 1955 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982). 

Won an Academy Award for Assignment Children (1955), a short documentary highlighting UNICEF's global health initiatives. 

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. 

Named the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1986. 

Honored as UNICEF's first Goodwill Ambassador in 1954, serving faithfully in the post for 33 years until his death. 

Set a Guinness World Record by piloting a private Learjet to 65 cities in the United States and Canada in five days to greet volunteers and promote the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign.

Sources: (1) Wikipedia (2) Spotify Artist Bio (3) UNICEF USA (4) Jewish Virtual Library (5) IMDb (6) Silver Scenes Blog (7) Baseball-Reference (8) Forever A Pleasure (9) Library of Congress (10) New York Times (11) Los Angeles Times (12) Find a Grave

Elton John

NAME Sir Elton Hercules John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He is one of the most commercially successful and enduring musical artists of all time. (1)  

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Elton John is a legendary British singer, composer, and pianist best known for his extraordinary five-decade music career, spectacular piano-driven rock and pop melodies, and flamboyant stage showmanship. Together with his long-term lyricist Bernie Taupin, he has sold over 300 million records worldwide. He is also famous for his extensive philanthropic work, particularly through the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and his prominent role as the former chairman of Watford Football Club.

BIRTH Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, a suburban area of north‑west London. 

He was the eldest child of Stanley Dwight, a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, and the only child of Sheila Eileen (Harris); his parents did not marry until he was six years old. (2), 

FAMILY BACKGROUND Stanley Dwight played trumpet in RAF bands and favoured a disciplined, conservative lifestyle, initially discouraging his son from pursuing a career in popular music. (3)

Reginald was largely raised by his mother and maternal grandparents, and the contrast between his strict father and more indulgent mother helped shape his later rebellious stage persona. (4)

CHILDHOOD Reginald started playing the piano around the age of three, and within a year his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell’s “The Skater’s Waltz” by ear. 

As a child he did not need glasses but wore them to look like Buddy Holly; over time this damaged his eyesight and led to his lifelong dependence on spectacles. (5)

Elton John in 1971 by Bert Verhoeff for Anefo 

EDUCATION At age 11 he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied classical piano and theory and sang in the choir, often impressing teachers by playing complex pieces after hearing them once. (3)

He attended the academy for several years but was an indifferent academic student, eventually leaving formal education to play piano in local pubs and concentrate on popular music. (4)

CAREER RECORD 1964: Dwight formed the R&B band Bluesology with a group of friends, later backing prominent US soul and R&B acts, including The Isley Brothers and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells. 

1967: Dwight legally changed his name to Elton John to honor Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry, selecting "Hercules" as his middle name after the horse in the British comedy series Steptoe and Son. He also met lyricist Bernie Taupin this year, beginning their historic songwriting partnership. 

1976: Elton became only the second rock act (after the Beatles) to be honored with a permanent statue at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London, which was unveiled on March 7, 1976. He also took over as the chairman and director of Watford Football Club this year, investing heavily in their rise through the divisions.

1979: Elton John became the first Western rock star to perform in Israel when he staged a historic concert in Jerusalem. 

1986: John won his first Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for his collaboration on "That's What Friends Are For" alongside Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight. 

1987: In January 1987, he underwent emergency throat surgery in Sydney, Australia, after losing his voice on tour the previous year, requiring a four-month performance ban while non-cancerous polyps were removed. 

1988: Elton held a massive four-day "garage sale" of his personal items and stage costumes, including the iconic boots from the movie Tommy and his Statue of Liberty outfit, raising $6.2 million.

1996: John achieved a US Top 40 single for the 23rd consecutive year with "The Last Song," breaking Elvis Presley's record of 22 years.  He was also named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) this year. 

1997: John composed the music for the Disney animated film The Lion King, which premiered as a Broadway musical in 1997 and went on to become the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time, earning over $1 billion. He also released a revised charity version of "Candle in the Wind" following the death of Princess Diana, which became his biggest-selling single. 

1998: He received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and charitable works, officially becoming Sir Elton John. 

2005, Elton and his longtime partner David Furnish became one of the first couples in the United Kingdom to form a civil partnership on December 21, 2005.

2014: On December 13, 2014, Elton appeared at Vicarage Road with his family for the official opening of the "Sir Elton John Stand." 

2019: On June 22, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron awarded Elton John France's highest civilian honor, the Legion d'Honneur. 

APPEARANCE Elton John is of average height with a stocky build; his fair hair has ranged from shaggy, mop‑topped styles in the 1970s to shorter, carefully styled cuts in later decades. His most distinctive feature is his glasses, which are often oversized, unusually shaped or brightly coloured, and he frequently appears on stage in highly theatrical outfits that draw attention to his face and eyes. (6)

John in November 2019 by By TheArcadeAddict 

FASHION On stage Elton became famous for flamboyant costumes: sequined suits, feathered capes, platform boots, and novelty outfits such as Donald Duck or Mozart, often changing between multiple looks in a single concert. 

Offstage his style has grown more restrained, favouring smart jackets, shirts and tailored suits, but he still uses bold colours and statement eyewear to retain a touch of theatricality. 

CHARACTER Early in his career he was naturally shy and insecure, using his outrageous stage persona as a way to cope with fame and to rebel against his strict upbringing. (3) 

Later accounts portray him as candid, emotional and generous, capable of sharp remarks but deeply loyal to friends and colleagues, and committed to using his wealth and status for philanthropic causes. (4)

SPEAKING VOICE Elton’s speaking voice carries a south‑east English accent shaped by his Middlesex upbringing, with a slightly nasal quality and an expressive, rapid delivery. (7)

In interviews he often shifts between serious reflection and quick, humorous asides, giving his speech a conversational, almost confiding tone.  (4)

SENSE OF HUMOUR Elton John tends towards camp, self‑deprecating humour, making fun of his own excesses, temper and fashion disasters. Friends and interviewers note that he also has a sharp wit and can deliver cutting one‑liners, though usually leavened with warmth and affection. (4)

RELATIONSHIPS Elton John married German sound engineer Renate Blauel in February 1984; the marriage ended in 1988 as he came to accept being gay. (7)

Elton later formed a long‑term relationship with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish; they registered a civil partnership in 2005 and married exactly nine years later after same‑sex marriage became legal in England. 

David Furnish 2024 Https://flickr.com/photos/number10gov

Their first son, Zachary, was born by surrogacy on December 25, 2010, and their second son, Elijah, was born by surrogacy on January 11, 2013. (5)

MONEY AND FAME Decades of hit records and touring have made Elton one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with income from recording, publishing, theatre and film work as well as live performance. 

He is known for spending heavily on homes, art and clothes, particularly glasses, yet he has also donated many millions through the Elton John AIDS Foundation and other charities. (8)

FOOD AND DRINK Elton has spoken openly about his past struggles with bulimia and unhealthy eating habits,  during the height of his fame in the 1970s and 1980s. After achieving clean sobriety in 1990, he became a dedicated advocate for healthy living and fine dining, frequently hosting elaborate dinner parties for friends.

MUSIC CAREER If ever there were proof that history enjoys an unlikely beginning, it's that one of pop music's greatest careers started with a shy, bespectacled pianist called Reg Dwight playing in a band named Bluesology. Formed in 1964 with a group of friends, the outfit soon found itself backing American soul royalty such as The Isley Brothers and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells. For a group of young lads from Middlesex, it was rather like being asked to warm up for Mount Everest.

By 1967, Reg had decided that "Reg Dwight" wasn't destined to illuminate marquees around the world, so he borrowed "Elton" from Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and "John" from singer Long John Baldry. Later he added the middle name "Hercules," not after the mythological strongman, as one might reasonably assume, but after a horse from the sitcom Steptoe and Son. Pop history is delightfully full of these moments where destiny takes a sharp left turn.

That same year he answered a talent advertisement and was paired with a young lyricist named Bernie Taupin. The arrangement sounded almost absurdly simple—one wrote the music, the other the words—but it blossomed into one of the longest and most successful songwriting partnerships in modern music, proving that sometimes the most extraordinary collaborations begin with little more than good timing and a newspaper advert.

His debut album, Empty Sky, arrived in 1969, but it was the self-titled Elton John the following year, featuring the tender "Your Song," that transformed him from promising newcomer into an international star. Before long, he was producing hit albums at a rate that would have left most artists exhausted simply keeping track of them.

The first half of the 1970s became one of popular music's great purple patches. Albums such as Madman Across the Water, Honky Château, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy regularly topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was an astonishing run of creativity that made success seem almost routine—rather like discovering your neighbour casually invents a new continent every other Tuesday.

In 1979, Elton added another first to his growing collection by becoming the first Western rock star to perform in Israel, taking to the stage in Jerusalem at a time when such appearances were exceptionally rare.

His career entered another remarkable chapter during the 1990s. Songs he wrote for Disney's The Lion King helped turn the film into a global phenomenon before inspiring one of Broadway's most successful musicals. Then, following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, he re-recorded "Candle in the Wind" in 1997 as a tribute. The single became one of the biggest-selling records in history, demonstrating that music, on rare occasions, can become part of a nation's collective memory.

Even after decades at the summit of popular culture, Elton showed little inclination to disappear quietly. He received France's Legion d'Honneur in 2019, embarked on the mammoth Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, and eventually stepped away from large-scale touring. Retirement, in Elton John's case, turned out to mean making records, championing charitable causes and generally remaining far busier than most people with full-time jobs.

MUSIC AND ARTS Beyond his own albums Elton has written music for stage and screen, notably Disney’s The Lion King, which became a Broadway musical in 1997 and has since been the highest‑grossing Broadway production, earning more than $1 billion. He has also composed for the musicals Aida and Billy Elliot and participated in film and television projects, helping to bridge mainstream pop with theatre and cinema. (8)

He possesses a deeply meticulous affection for his instruments; he custom-names most of his pianos after legendary female singers, including instruments named Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, and "Blossom" (after jazz singer Blossom Dearie). (5)

LITERATURE Elton’s creative life has been closely linked to lyrics and storytelling, particularly through Taupin’s narrative approach, which turned many of their songs into miniature character studies and emotional vignettes. 

In October 2019, he published his own critically acclaimed, bestselling official autobiography titled Me.

NATURE Elton enjoys beautifully landscaped gardens and English estate flora, ensuring his primary country residences feature immaculate lawns, traditional floral arrangements, and private green spaces.

PETS Elton John is a well‑known dog lover, having shared his various homes with more than twenty purebred dogs over the years, including Cocker Spaniels, Border Terriers, Labradors and an Irish Wolfhound. 

His beloved English Cocker Spaniel Arthur was so central to his life that Arthur not only “sang” (barked) on one of Elton’s recordings, but also served as best man at Elton’s civil partnership ceremony with David Furnish, symbolising how deeply he and David regard their dogs as part of the family. (9)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS A lifelong football supporter, Elton has followed Watford FC since his youth and later became its chairman and director, investing money, time and passion in the club’s rise through the divisions. (5)

He is a noted collector of glasses and has jokingly claimed to own a quarter of a million pairs, while his husband David Furnish has said that around 15,000 catalogued frames fill one corner of their Windsor home. (6)

SCIENCE AND MATHS Elton John has sometimes joked about his lack of interest in technology and gadgets. In 2010 he famously declared to BBC Radio that he did not own an iPod, mobile phone, or computer, preferring to stay entirely disconnected from the internet except to check sports scores. (5)

His most direct link to science has come through funding medical research and treatment programmes via the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Raised in a conventional British environment, Elton John has expressed a belief in kindness, love and personal responsibility rather than in formal religious doctrine. (4)

POLITICS Elton John has avoided day‑to‑day party politics but has been outspoken on social issues, especially around public health, LGBTQ+ equality and arts funding. He has used his fame to lobby governments and international organisations for stronger responses to HIV/AIDS and better support for marginalised communities. (4)

SCANDAL In the 1970s and 1980s Elton struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and bulimia, and his erratic behaviour sometimes made headlines; he later spoke openly about these problems and his path to sobriety. (7)

He has also had occasional public feuds and legal disputes, but over time his image has shifted to that of a reformed, respected elder statesman of pop. (4)

MILITARY RECORD Elton John has no personal military record, though his father’s service as a flight lieutenant in the RAF provided an early connection to military discipline and music through service bands. (5)

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS His emergency throat surgery in Sydney in early 1987 removed non‑cancerous polyps from his vocal cords and forced him to rest from performing for four months, permanently altering his voice. (5)

After entering recovery from addiction around 1990 Elton John has remained sober, though he has acknowledged ongoing battles with weight and the lasting effects of his earlier lifestyle. (4)

HOMES Elton has owned several homes in England and the United States, often furnished with modern art, photography and designer furniture, reflecting his taste for luxury combined with comfort. His properties have served both as retreats from touring and as venues for parties and charitable events. (10)

TRAVEL Since his first tour in 1970 Elton has given more than 4,600 performances in over 80 countries, spending much of his life travelling between concerts and recording sessions. 

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Elton has appeared in numerous films and television programmes, notably playing the Pinball Wizard in The Who’s Tommy (1975) and making cameo roles and performances in documentaries and specials. 

His life and career were dramatised in the biopic Rocketman, and his songs have been widely used in film and television soundtracks. 

ACHIEVEMENTS Elton John has won multiple Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and a Tony, placing him close to the coveted “EGOT” status. 

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for services to music and charity; on June 22, 2019, he received France’s highest civilian honour, the Legion d’Honneur. 

His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" remains the second best-selling physical single in music history with 33 million copies sold.

Sources: (1) Wikipedia (2) Kennedy Center (3) iHeartRadio – 20 facts (4) National Endowment for the Humanities (5) Encyclopaedia of Trivia – Elton John (6) Vision Monday – glasses (7) IMDb Biography (8) Official Elton John site (9) National Purebred Dog Day – “Rocket Man and his Cocker Spaniel, Arthur” (10) Biography.com

Billy Joel

NAME William Martin Joel. Nicknamed "The Piano Man," after his 1973 signature song of the same name. (1)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Billy Joel is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist, one of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. He is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His best-known songs include "Piano Man," "Just the Way You Are," "Uptown Girl," "We Didn't Start the Fire," and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." He has been nicknamed "The Piano Man" and is celebrated for his storytelling songwriting rooted in the working-class experience of New York.  (2)

BIRTH Born May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York City, USA.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Joel's father, Howard (born Helmut) Joel (1923–2011), was born in Nuremberg, Germany, into a Jewish family, the only child of Karl Amson Joel, a merchant and manufacturer. In 1928, Karl Joel set up a prosperous mail-order textile company, Joel Macht Fabrik, which within ten years had become the second largest of its type in Germany. Escaping the Nazi regime, Karl, his wife, and young son emigrated to Switzerland. Following laws that prevented Jews from owning property and businesses, in 1938 Karl was forced to sell his company to Josef Neckermann for a fraction of its true value. 

The family eventually reached the United States via Cuba, arriving there in early 1939 and staying for nearly two years before being admitted to the US. 

Howard became an engineer in America but always retained a love of music, and was an accomplished amateur classical pianist. 

Joel's mother, Rosalind (1922–2014), was born in Brooklyn to English-Jewish parents, Philip and Rebecca. Joel's parents met in 1942 while both taking part in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance at the City College of New York. 

They divorced in 1957, after which Howard returned to Europe — he had never liked the United States, considering its people uneducated and materialistic. He settled in Vienna, Austria, and later remarried. 

Joel has a half-brother, Alexander Joel, born in England, who became a classical conductor in Europe and served as chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 2001 to 2014. Joel also had a cousin, Judy, whom his parents adopted and who lived with the family. 

CHILDHOOD At age one, Joel moved with his family to the Levittown portion of Hicksville on Long Island, New York. Although his parents were Jewish, he did not grow up in the religion.

As a child, Joel was bullied, which led him to take up boxing. As a teenager, he competed on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit as a welterweight, winning 22 of his 26 fights before abandoning the sport after his nose was broken. (3)

Joel saw the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show and later recalled: "That one performance changed my life ... When I saw four guys who didn't look like they'd come out of the Hollywood star mill, who played their own songs and instruments ... I said: 'I know these guys, I can relate to these guys, I am these guys. This is what I'm going to do — play in a rock band.'" (4)

EDUCATION Joel attended Hicksville High School but did not graduate with his class in 1967. He had been playing piano at a bar at night to help support himself, his mother, and his sister, and as a result had missed crucial classes due to excessive absences caused by oversleeping after late-night gigs. At the end of his senior year, he did not have enough credits to graduate. Rather than attend summer school to earn his diploma, he decided to launch his music career, famously telling school officials.

In 1992, Joel submitted essays to the school board in lieu of the missed coursework; they were accepted, and he was awarded his diploma at Hicksville High's annual graduation ceremony — 25 years after he had left the school.

CAREER RECORD 1965: Joined his first commercial band, The Echoes (later known as The Lost Souls), recording piano tracks on various demos. 

1967: Joined the Long Island blue-eyed soul group The Hassles, releasing two commercial albums that failed to chart successfully. 

1970: Formed a heavy metal duo called Attila with Hassles drummer Jon Small, releasing one self-titled album before disbanding due to an affair between Joel and Small's wife. 

1971: Released his debut solo studio album, Cold Spring Harbor, which suffered from a mastering error that sped up his vocals, leading to a commercial failure and severe contract disputes. 

1973: Signed with Columbia Records and released Piano Man. The title track, drawn from his experiences working under a pseudonym at an LA piano lounge, became his breakthrough signature hit. 

A 1973 promotional photo of Joel for Piano Man

1977: Released The Stranger, a critical breakthrough multi-platinum album containing hits like "Just the Way You Are" and "Moving Out (Anthony's Song)." 

1978: Released 52nd Street, his first album to hit number one on the US Album charts, winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. 

1980: Released Glass Houses, achieving a harder pop-rock sound and earning a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance. 

1982: Released The Nylon Curtain, a socially conscious album dealing with the decline of the American working class. 

1983: Released An Innocent Man, a tribute album to the doo-wop and vocal groups of his youth, featuring "Uptown Girl." 

1987: Became one of the first American rock acts to tour the Soviet Union under the Glasnost policy, releasing a live album of the concerts. 

1989: Scored a number-one hit with "We Didn't Start the Fire," a fast-paced historical recap of major world events from 1949 to 1989. 

1993: Released River of Dreams, his final traditional pop/rock studio album. 

1994: Launched the highly successful co-headlining "Face to Face" concert tours alongside fellow pianist Elton John, a partnership that lasted intermittently for sixteen years. 

2014: Established a historic monthly musical residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City, performing sold-out arena shows every month for a decade until concluding the run in July 2024. 

2024: Released "Turn the Lights Back On," his first original pop single with lyrics in seventeen years.

APPEARANCE Joel is of medium height and compact build. Sources differ on his exact stature; he has been variously reported as standing between approximately 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall. 

He has dark eyes and, in later life, silver-white hair. His stage presence is dominated by his piano playing rather than movement, though he was known in his prime for energetic performances. (5)

Joel performing in June 1994

FASHION Joel has favoured a casual, unpretentious personal style throughout his career. He is closely associated with his trademark Wayfarer sunglasses, which became so iconic that the character Dodger in the 1988 Disney film Oliver & Company — voiced by Joel — was designed to replicate his look, including those sunglasses. 

The cover of his 1980 album Glass Houses depicted him in a leather jacket, a deliberate riposte to critics who had labelled him a "mellow balladeer." 

Among motorcycling enthusiasts he is known for wearing a baseball cap bearing the eagle logo of the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi. (6)

CHARACTER Joel has been described as a complex, driven, and sometimes volatile personality. He is widely regarded as having a strong sense of integrity about his art — for instance, retiring from pop songwriting for decades rather than produce work he felt was substandard. 

He is known for his directness and humour in interviews. During his 1987 Soviet tour, enraged by blinding stage lights, he famously flipped his electric piano and snapped a microphone stand — while continuing to sing. He later apologised for the incident. 

SPEAKING VOICE Joel possesses a highly distinct, fast-talking, casual New York accent that heavily features the vocal inflections and rhythms typical of working-class Long Island and the Bronx. 

His singing voice spans a wide range, and at his peak was known for its emotional expressiveness and versatility — moving from tender ballads to hard rock. As he aged, the upper registers became more demanding; by 2008 he acknowledged he no longer performed certain high-key songs because they "shredded" his vocal cords. Singer Pete Hewlett was brought in on his 1987 Soviet tour to cover the high notes on his most vocally challenging songs. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR Joel has consistently shown a sardonic wit. When told he needed to complete extra coursework to graduate from high school, he reportedly told school officials: "I'm not going to Columbia University, I'm going to Columbia Records, and you don't need a high school diploma over there." (7) 

His song "The Entertainer" (1974) was written as a sarcastic riposte to the radio industry's habit of cutting songs short: "If you're gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05." 

RELATIONSHIPS Joel's love life has been turbulent and widely publicised. He has been married four times.

His first affair of note occurred when, still in the band Attila (1969–1970), he began a relationship with Elizabeth Weber, the wife of his bandmate and drummer Jon Small. Small and Joel's duo disbanded in October 1970 as a direct result. Joel and Elizabeth married in 1973. Elizabeth subsequently became his manager. Their marriage lasted until 1982. 

Joel met model Christie Brinkley in 1983 when she, along with Whitney Houston and Elle Macpherson, approached Joel while he was playing piano in the bar of a Caribbean hotel. His hit "Uptown Girl" had originally been inspired by this chance encounter. They married in 1985 and had a daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, born in December 1985. They separated in April 1994 and their divorce was finalised in August 1994. (7)

Joel's third marriage was to Katie Lee, a cookbook author and television personality, whom he married in 2004. She was some 33 years his junior. They divorced in 2009–2010. 

His fourth wife is Alexis Roderick, a former hedge fund manager, whom he married at his Long Island home in July 2015. They have two daughters together, Della and Remy. (8) 

MONEY AND FAME With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation Greatest Hits — Volume I & Volume II is one of the best-selling albums in US history, certified double diamond by the RIAA with over 23 million units sold. 

Joel has dominated the record for the most concerts performed at New York's Madison Square Garden, having given at least 150 shows there. 

His business affairs were not always smooth: in the late 1980s he sued his former manager Frank Weber for US$90 million, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and was awarded US$2 million in a partial judgment. He later sued his former lawyer Allen Grubman for US$90 million; the case was settled out of court in 1993 for US$3 million paid by Sony America. 

FOOD AND DRINK Joel has been open about a long and difficult struggle with alcohol. Although he had stopped drinking by the time of his 2025 brain disorder diagnosis, he told interviewers that he initially wondered whether his drinking history might have contributed to the condition. In a candid 2025 interview on the Club Random podcast, when asked what caused his brain disorder, he replied: "Nobody knows. I thought it must be from drinking. But you don't drink." (9)

MUSIC CAREER Billy Joel’s rise to stardom was not, it must be said, a model of swift efficiency. Most future music legends spend their youth doing one of two things: practising obsessively or getting into trouble. Joel managed both. By the age of three he could already pick out Mozart tunes on the piano, which is a mildly alarming accomplishment for someone still young enough to regard trousers as an optional extra. At 14 he began formal lessons with respected pianist Morton Estrin and musician Timothy Ford, quickly showing that he possessed both talent and a stubborn determination to make use of it.

His first bands were the sort of groups that thrive briefly in suburban garages before disappearing into the mist of history. In 1965 he joined the Echoes, a Long Island outfit devoted to British Invasion covers. Two years later, after a name change to the Lost Souls, he departed for the Hassles, a band signed to United Artists. The Hassles released four singles and two albums, all of which sold with the enthusiasm of discounted turnips.

Undeterred, Joel and drummer Jon Small formed the hard-rock duo Attila in 1969. Their self-titled album arrived in 1970 and vanished almost immediately, though not before establishing itself as one of rock’s more curious footnotes. The partnership lasted only a few months, proving that not every great career begins with a great idea.

In 1971 Joel released his debut solo album, Cold Spring Harbor. Unfortunately, a mastering error caused the record to play at the wrong speed, making him sound as though he had inhaled helium before each vocal take. It was not a commercial triumph.

Fortune finally stirred in 1972 when a live performance broadcast on Philadelphia radio station WMMR featured Joel performing a dozen songs. One of them, “Captain Jack,” became the most requested track in the station’s history. Columbia Records president Clive Davis heard the buzz and signed him. Joel moved to Los Angeles and spent six months working anonymously in a Wilshire Boulevard piano bar under the name Bill Martin. The customers, thankfully, supplied ample material for a song called “Piano Man.”

Released in 1973, Piano Man sold modestly but contained the title track that would become his calling card and the song most audiences insist upon hearing before they will leave the building. The same year he married Elizabeth Weber, who would become both his wife and business manager.

His next album, Streetlife Serenade (1974), earned mixed reviews but contained future fan favourites such as “Los Angelenos” and the ragtime showcase “Root Beer Rag.” Two years later Turnstiles introduced the touring band that would help define his classic sound.

Everything changed in 1977 with The Stranger. Suddenly Joel was no longer a promising singer-songwriter but one of the biggest stars in America. The album produced a string of hits including “Just the Way You Are,” “Movin’ Out,” “Only the Good Die Young,” and “She’s Always a Woman.” “Just the Way You Are” won Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year, while the album became Columbia Records’ biggest seller, surpassing even Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water.

If The Stranger opened the door, 52nd Street kicked it off the hinges. Released in 1978, it became Joel’s first No. 1 album and sold more than seven million copies. It also achieved the peculiar distinction of becoming the first commercially released album on compact disc, meaning Billy Joel accidentally helped usher in the digital age. That same year he began a relationship with Madison Square Garden that would eventually produce more than 150 performances.

The years that followed brought a succession of blockbuster releases. Glass Houses (1980) spent six weeks atop the charts and delivered Joel’s first US No. 1 single, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me.” A serious motorcycle accident in 1982 delayed work on The Nylon Curtain, but the album emerged later that year with thoughtful tracks such as “Allentown” and “Goodnight Saigon.” In 1983 he released An Innocent Man, a joyous tribute to the doo-wop and R&B sounds of his youth. It generated six Top 30 singles and lost the Grammy for Album of the Year only because it happened to be competing against Thriller, which was rather like entering a village baking contest against gravity.

By the mid-1980s Joel had become one of America’s defining pop stars. He participated in “We Are the World,” released the phenomenally successful Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and 2, married supermodel Christie Brinkley and welcomed daughter Alexa Ray Joel. The Bridge followed in 1986, and in 1987 he became one of the first major rock artists to tour the Soviet Union, giving concerts in Moscow and Leningrad that were broadcast live across the country. 

Below, Joel (second row, second from left) with other musicians for the recording of "We Are the World."

In 1989 Storm Front produced “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” a song that somehow transformed a list of historical references into a chart-topping hit. Behind the scenes, however, Joel was dealing with financial turmoil. After discovering major discrepancies in his accounts, he sued former manager and brother-in-law Frank Weber for $90 million.

Recognition continued to accumulate. Joel entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and released River of Dreams in 1993, after which he largely stepped away from making new pop albums. Instead, he devoted much of his energy to touring, particularly alongside Elton John. Their “Face to Face” concerts became one of the most successful partnerships in popular music, drawing enormous crowds and generating tens of millions of dollars.

The honours kept arriving. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 by Ray Charles, topped the classical charts in 2001 with Fantasies & Delusions, entered the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and received Kennedy Center Honors in 2013.

After more than three decades without a new pop song, Joel surprised fans in 2024 with “Turn the Lights Back On,” a reflective ballad that sounded less like a comeback than a conversation resumed after a very long coffee break.

Then came an unexpected challenge. In May 2025 Joel revealed he had been diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a rare neurological condition, and cancelled all remaining concert dates. His final performance before the announcement had taken place in February, when he suffered an onstage fall at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena.

Yet retirement has always seemed slightly incompatible with Billy Joel’s temperament. In January 2026 he returned unexpectedly to the stage for a surprise live appearance — proof that, after decades of false starts, triumphs, setbacks, reinventions and sold-out arenas, the Piano Man still wasn’t quite ready to stop playing.

MUSIC AND ARTS Joel's compositions are infused with references to classical music, though his work spans pop, rock, R&B, doo-wop, and new wave. His musical influences include Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and classical composers. He has said that he is "a better organist than a pianist." (7) 

His 2001 album Fantasies & Delusions consisted entirely of classical pieces composed by him and performed by Hyung-ki Joo. The Broadway musical Movin' Out, built around his songs, was a major hit and included pieces from his classical album as interludes. 

LITERATURE Though Joel famously skipped high school English exams, his lyrics are praised for their narrative storytelling style. 

He wrote an autobiography titled The Book of Joel in 2011 but withdrew it before publication, stating he realized he preferred looking forward rather than dwelling on the past.

NATURE Joel has had a lifelong connection to Long Island's coastal environment. His song "The Downeaster Alexa" from Storm Front (1989) was written to highlight the plight of Long Island fishermen struggling to make ends meet. (1)

PETS Joel is a dedicated rescue dog advocate. He has adopted at least four rescue dogs over the years, publicly championing adoption over buying from pet shops. He owned at least one pug named Sabrina in the mid-2000s. He later adopted a pug named Rosie, rescued from a puppy mill via the North Shore Animal League America on Long Island, who became a beloved family pet and featured on his social media pages. Rosie died in 2022. 

In November 2023, after eighteen months without a dog, Joel and his family adopted Bucky, a grey French Bulldog who had been found in a San Diego shelter with a severe case of mange and nursed back to health by the rescue organisation Roadogs. Joel announced the adoption on Instagram, writing: "He was at a shelter in San Diego with a bad case of mange — Roadogs rescued him and nursed him back to health and now he is part of our family." (10)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS As a teenager, Joel was a competitive amateur boxer on the Golden Gloves circuit, winning 22 of his 26 bouts as a welterweight before abandoning the sport after his nose was broken. (3)

Joel is an avid and knowledgeable motorcyclist, accumulating and customising bikes since the 1970s. He owns a collection of more than 70 vintage and custom motorcycles, which he keeps at a garage in Oyster Bay, Long Island. He has a particular fondness for Italian manufacturer Moto Guzzi, and is regarded by motorcycling trade magazines as a genuine expert rather than a celebrity hobbyist. (6) 

SCIENCE AND MATHS Joel has expressed a strong intellectual interest in history and socio-political timelines rather than the hard sciences, utilizing chronological cultural events to construct the entirety of his hit "We Didn't Start the Fire."

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Joel has described himself as a Jewish atheist, noting that he was not raised in any religious tradition despite his Jewish heritage on both sides of his family. He has said: "I was not brought up Jewish in any religious way. My circumcision was as Jewish as they got." He did, however, attend a Roman Catholic church with friends as a child, and was baptised in a Church of Christ in Hicksville at age 11. (11)

POLITICS Joel's political sensibilities have generally been left-leaning, though he rarely endorsed specific candidates. "Allentown" (1982) addressed unemployment and the decline of industrial America during the Reagan era, and Joel has spoken of his anger at the erosion of the American Dream under Reagan-era politics. 

In 1987, Joel undertook his landmark Soviet tour at his own personal financial cost of over US$1 million, citing goodwill and cultural exchange as his motivation. 

SCANDAL In 1970, Joel wrote a suicide note and attempted to commit suicide by drinking furniture polish, stating it looked "tastier than bleach." He later transformed his suicide note into a song, "Tomorrow Is Today," which appeared on his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). (12)

Joel's affair with Elizabeth Weber — the wife of his bandmate Jon Small — effectively destroyed the band Attila and caused lasting controversy. 

In the late 1980s, financial scandals engulfed Joel's business circle. His manager and former brother-in-law Frank Weber was found to have committed major accounting fraud, leading to a US$90 million lawsuit. Joel was awarded US$2 million in a partial judgment. A subsequent US$90 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Allen Grubman was settled out of court. (1)

MILITARY RECORD None. Joel did not serve in the military.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS In April 1982, Joel was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on Long Island when he hit a car that had run a red light. The bone in his left thumb was crushed and his other wrist dislocated. 

Joel has spoken openly about a history of alcohol dependency, which he has described as a long-term struggle. 

In February 2025, Joel fell backwards onstage during a concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut while performing "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," after spinning and tossing his microphone stand into the audience. In May 2025, Joel's team announced that he had been diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), a rare brain condition caused by a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain, which can affect hearing, vision, balance, and cognitive function. Doctors advised him that performing had aggravated his condition, and he cancelled 17 concerts. By July 2025, Joel reported feeling "good" and had begun physical therapy. In January 2026, he made a surprise return to live performance, his first since the diagnosis. (13) (14)

HOMES Joel grew up in Levittown/Hicksville, Long Island, New York.  After signing to Columbia Records in 1972 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for three years, including a period working under a pseudonym at a Wilshire Boulevard piano bar. 

He later returned to the New York area and has maintained homes on Long Island, including a property in Oyster Bay where he keeps his motorcycle collection. He married his fourth wife, Alexis Roderick, at his Long Island residence in 2015. 

TRAVEL Joel has toured globally throughout his career. In 1979, he participated in the historic Havana Jam festival in Cuba alongside Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and Stephen Stills. In 1987, he undertook a landmark tour of the Soviet Union — the first fully staged rock show of its kind in the country — giving concerts in Moscow and Leningrad to combined audiences possibly exceeding 100,000. The tour was the first live rock radio broadcast in Soviet history, and Joel lost over US$1 million of his own money funding it. 

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Joel provided the voice of Dodger — a streetwise Jack Russell Terrier based on Dickens's Artful Dodger — in the 1988 Disney animated film Oliver & Company, also performing the character's song "Why Should I Worry?" The character's design was modelled on Joel's own appearance, including his trademark Wayfarer sunglasses. 

He contributed songs to several film soundtracks, including Easy Money (1983), Ruthless People (1986), A League of Their Own (1992), and Honeymoon in Vegas (1992).

An extended version of his song "Big Man on Mulberry Street" featured in a 1986 episode of the TV series Moonlighting. 

The theme to the TV sitcom Bosom Buddies was Gary Bennett's cover of Joel's "My Life." 

Joel's concerts at Madison Square Garden were captured in the documentary The Last Play at Shea (2010). 

He has appeared as a guest on countless television talk shows, including The Howard Stern Show, The Late Show with Steven Colbert and The Late Show with David Letterman.

ACHIEVEMENTS Over 160 million records sold worldwide; fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States 

33 Top 40 hits in the US, including three Billboard Hot 100 number ones: "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "Tell Her About It," and "We Didn't Start the Fire" 

Five Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Album of the Year for 52nd Street (1978)

52nd Street (1978) was the first commercial album released on compact disc 

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1992 

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1999, by Ray Charles.

Honoured at the Kennedy Center Honors, 2013 

Dominates the all-time record for most concerts performed at Madison Square Garden — at least 150 shows 

"Face to Face" tours with Elton John became the longest-running and most successful concert partnership in pop music history 

Sources: (1) Wikipedia – Billy Joel (2) This Day In Music – Billy Joel (3) Ranker – 22 Interesting Facts About Billy Joel (4) CBS News (5) Britannica – Billy Joel (6) Piaggio Group – Billy Joel Loves Moto Guzzi (7) Bordowitz, Hank. *Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man*. New York: Billboard Books, 2005. (8) Biography.com – Billy Joel: Ex-Wives and Song Inspirations (9) BBC News – Billy Joel Feels 'Good' After Brain Disorder Diagnosis (10) KIRO 7 – Billy Joel Welcomes Rescue Dog Named Bucky to Family (11) Bego, Mark. *Billy Joel: The Biography*. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2007. (12) Encyclopaedia of Trivia – Suicide (13) New York Post – Billy Joel's First Live Performance Since Brain Disorder Diagnosis (14) BBC News – Billy Joel Feels 'Good' After Brain Disorder Diagnosis

Michael Jackson

NAME Michael Joseph Jackson. He was globally recognized by his honorific nickname, the "King of Pop." 

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Michael Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer who became one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. He revolutionized the music industry through his boundary-breaking music videos, pioneered complex dance moves like the "moonwalk," and shattered racial barriers on music television. His 1982 release, Thriller, remains the best-selling record album in history.

BIRTH Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, USA. (1)

FAMILY BACKGROUND He was the eighth of ten children born to Katherine Esther Jackson (née Scruse) and Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson. His siblings were Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Randy, and Janet. 

His father worked as a crane operator at a steel mill in Gary while also playing guitar in a local rhythm and blues band called The Falcons. Katherine was a devout Jehovah's Witness who raised her children in the faith. 

The family lived in a modest two-bedroom house at 2300 Jackson Street, Gary. (2)

CHILDHOOD Jackson grew up in Gary, Indiana, in conditions of relative poverty in a crowded family home. 

His talent for music and performance was apparent from an early age. He has spoken in interviews about a childhood largely consumed by rehearsals and performances, leaving little time for normal play or schooling. He later described his childhood as stolen, expressing sadness that he never experienced a conventional upbringing. 

His father Joe was a strict and at times physically abusive disciplinarian, a fact Michael discussed in interviews throughout his adult life. 

In 1965, at the age of seven, Michael and his brother Marlon joined the Jackson 5 — a band formed by their father that already included brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine — as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. (2)

The Jackson 5 in 1969 (Michael in the center)

EDUCATION Jackson received little formal education, as his touring and performing commitments took precedence from an early age. He was educated intermittently on the road with tutors. He later said he regretted not receiving a proper education and was a voracious self-taught reader as an adult, amassing a substantial personal library. (2)

CAREER RECORD

1964,The Jackson Brothers were formed by Joe Jackson, a band which included brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine. Michael was initially a backup musician playing congas and tambourine. 

1965 Michael Jackson and his brother Marlon officially joined the group as vocalists and dancers. By age 8, Michael became the co-lead singer alongside Jermaine, prompting the group to change its name to The Jackson 5. 

1968 The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records, launching them into national stardom with four consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard charts. 

1971 Jackson launched his parallel solo career while remaining a member of The Jackson 5, releasing his debut solo single "Got to Be There." 

1975 The group left Motown Records and signed with Epic Records, rebranding as The Jacksons, where Michael began taking greater creative control over songwriting and production. 

1979 Jackson released his breakthrough adult solo album, Off the Wall, produced by Quincy Jones, establishing him as a massive solo force in pop and R&B. 

1982 Jackson released Thriller, which became an unprecedented global phenomenon, dominating the charts worldwide and permanently reshaping music videos and pop culture. 

1987 He released the multi-platinum album Bad and embarked on his first solo world tour, setting world records for concert attendance. 

1991 Jackson signed a record-breaking $65 million contract with Sony Music and released the album Dangerous, featuring the hit "Black or White." 

1995 He released the double-disc project HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, which he promoted with an expansive, highly theatrical world tour. 

2001 Jackson released Invincible, his final complete studio album of all-new material, which debuted at number one on charts around the globe. 

2009 Jackson announced a series of 50 comeback concerts titled This Is It, scheduled to take place at London's O2 Arena, but passed away during rehearsals.

APPEARANCE Jackson underwent a dramatic physical transformation over the course of his career. He was born with naturally dark skin, broad features, and a wide nose. By the late 1980s and 1990s, his skin had become markedly lighter and his facial features had changed significantly, including a notably narrowed nose, a more prominent chin, and altered cheekbones. Jackson attributed his lightening skin to vitiligo, a condition that destroys skin pigmentation, and this diagnosis was confirmed by his autopsy. 

He acknowledged multiple rhinoplasties during his lifetime. His autopsy also revealed that his lips were tattooed pink and his eyebrows were tattooed a dark hue. 

In his later years he was slender to the point of frailty, and his height was reported as approximately 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm). 

Jackson at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival by Georges Biard

FASHION Jackson was one of the most influential fashion figures of the twentieth century. His signature look included a single sequined or crystal-covered glove — in fact a modified golf glove — military-style jackets festooned with epaulettes and gold braid, high-waisted black trousers worn short enough to expose white socks, and black loafers. He wore white tape on his fingers so that audience members in large venues could follow the movements of his hands while dancing, and wore white socks so they could similarly follow his feet and footwork. (2)

His red leather jacket from the "Thriller" video became one of the most iconic garments in pop culture history. 

CHARACTER Those who knew Jackson personally frequently described him as shy, soft-spoken, and gentle in private, a marked contrast to his electrifying stage persona. 

He was by many accounts deeply kind, particularly with children and with fans who were ill or disadvantaged. He was also widely described as eccentric, with unusual habits and a childlike quality that endured into adulthood — something he himself connected to his sense that his childhood had been taken from him. 

Jackson's friend and collaborator Quincy Jones praised his musicality and work ethic. Employees and associates described a perfectionist who would work tirelessly in the studio.  (2)

SPEAKING VOICE Jackson's speaking voice was notably soft, high-pitched, and gentle — quite different from his powerful singing voice, and something that surprised many people who met him for the first time. Interviewers frequently noted how quietly he spoke and how he would sometimes cover his mouth with his hand while talking. 

His vocal range as a singer spanned several octaves, and he was famous for his use of percussive vocal sounds — grunts, squeals, and rhythmic exhalations — that became part of his musical signature. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR Jackson had a playful, sometimes mischievous sense of humour that he tended to reserve for close friends and family. His long friendship with comedian and actor Macaulay Culkin was reportedly based in part on a shared silly, boyish humour. 

In interviews, flashes of dry wit occasionally surfaced beneath his characteristically reserved demeanour. 

RELATIONSHIPS Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, in a private ceremony in the Dominican Republic on May 26, 1994. The marriage lasted approximately two years; they divorced on August 20, 1996, citing irreconcilable differences. Despite the split, they reportedly maintained a cordial relationship in subsequent years.

Jackson married Debbie Rowe, a nurse who had worked for his dermatologist, in November 1996. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (known as Prince) and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. The couple divorced on October 8, 1999.

His third child, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II — nicknamed "Blanket" and later known as Bigi — was born in 2002 to a surrogate mother whose identity was never publicly disclosed.

Actor and former child star Macaulay Culkin is godfather to Jackson's two eldest children, Paris and Prince. 

MONEY AND FAME Jackson's earning power was extraordinary, and his fame at his peak in the 1980s was without precedent in the entertainment industry. He received $2 in royalties for every copy of Thriller sold, one of the highest royalty rates of its era. His 1985 purchase of the ATV Music Publishing catalog — which included the rights to over 250 Lennon–McCartney songs — for $47.5 million proved to be one of the most lucrative investments in music history, though it permanently damaged his friendship with Paul McCartney, who had advised him to invest in publishing in the first place.

Despite this, Jackson died reportedly $500 million in debt in 2009, the result of extravagant spending on his Neverland estate, legal fees, and a lifestyle of extraordinary excess. However, his estate subsequently became one of the most profitable in the world, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in the years following his death and ranking consistently among the highest-earning estates of deceased celebrities.

In 2000, The Guinness Book of World Records cited Jackson as the most philanthropic pop star in history, crediting him with donating over $300 million to charity during his lifetime. He visited hospitals and orphanages at every stop of his concert tours, distributing gifts and making donations. (3)

FOOD AND DRINK Jackson stated that he aspired to vegetarianism, saying: "What turns me off is that I don't like eating anything that used to be alive, and now it's dead on my plate. I want to be a strict vegetarian." He was reportedly vegetarian — and by some accounts vegan — during his Jackson 5 years and into the early Thriller era. However, from around the mid-1980s onward, his doctors insisted he follow a higher-protein diet including fish and chicken to sustain the physical demands of his concert schedule, and Jackson reluctantly complied. (4)

By his later career he was clearly no longer vegetarian in practice; he had a well-documented fondness for KFC fried chicken, and rapper Run-D.M.C. recalled being invited to share KFC with him during a Bad-era recording session. (5)

His pre-concert ritual included dissolving Ricola candy in hot water, a beverage he believed kept his throat clear and his voice in good condition. 

Jackson reportedly requested that wine be served to him in Diet Coke cans during flights so that his children would not see him drinking alcohol. (6).

CAREER WITH THE JACKSON 5 In 1965, at the age of seven—an age when most children are still negotiating the finer points of shoelaces—Michael Jackson and his brother Marlon Jackson were drafted into the family enterprise, a musical outfit optimistically titled the Jackson Brothers. Their initial duties were of the “stand over there and try not to drop anything” variety, but Michael rather inconveniently turned out to be a phenomenon. By the age of eight, he was not only singing but doing so with a confidence and polish that would make seasoned nightclub performers consider quieter careers. Around 1966–1967, he was promoted to co-lead vocalist alongside Jermaine Jackson, and the group sensibly rebranded itself as the Jackson 5—presumably because by then it was clear which five people you were meant to be paying attention to. 

After honing their craft on the Chitlin’ Circuit—a proving ground where audiences were generous with applause but sparing with mercy—the Jackson 5 landed a contract with Motown Records in 1968. Their debut single, “I Want You Back,” shot to No. 1 in the United States, which had the mildly astonishing effect of making an eleven-year-old Michael one of the youngest lead vocalists ever to top the charts. This was followed by “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There,” all of which also reached No. 1—an achievement so brisk and emphatic it suggested less a promising start than a complete takeover.

Not content with conquering the charts as part of a group, Michael launched a solo career in 1971 with “Got to Be There,” which climbed to No. 4. He spent the early 1970s performing the delicate balancing act of being both a group member and a solo star, which is rather like being both the lead actor and the entire supporting cast at once, and somehow making it look easy.

In 1975, the Jacksons—now without Jermaine, who stayed behind at Motown—made the jump to Epic Records, citing creative restrictions. (This is the music industry’s polite way of saying they would quite like to make their own decisions, thank you very much.) They continued as a group into the late 1970s, though by this point Michael’s solo career had begun to loom so large that it was increasingly difficult to see anything else.

SOLO CAREER If Michael Jackson’s early career suggested promise, his late-1970s and 1980s output with Quincy Jones suggested something closer to world domination—only with better choreography. The three albums they produced together—Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987)—form a kind of pop music Holy Trinity, though one suspects they required rather more sequins.

Thriller, released on November 30, 1982, did not so much succeed as proceed to abolish the concept of reasonable expectations. It was certified 20-times Platinum within two years and has since become the best-selling album in history, which is the musical equivalent of writing a modest pamphlet and discovering it has outsold the Bible. Its accompanying fourteen-minute short film, directed by John Landis, elevated the music video from a promotional afterthought into something approaching cinema—albeit cinema in which the dead are surprisingly good dancers.

The album also produced “Billie Jean,” whose video achieved heavy rotation on MTV, quietly dismantling one of the network’s more indefensible habits—namely, not playing Black artists nearly enough. Around this same period, at the 1983 Motown 25th Anniversary special, Jackson unveiled the moonwalk, a move he had learned from street dancers and, more specifically, from Jeffrey Daniel. The effect on the viewing public was immediate and profound: millions of people stood up, attempted it, and very quickly sat back down again.

On February 28, 1984, Jackson collected eight Grammy Awards in a single evening, surpassing the previous record of six set by Roger Miller. This is the sort of thing that tends to make other musicians reconsider their life choices.

The successes continued with almost suspicious efficiency. His 1995 double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I became the best-selling double album in U.S. history, while 1997’s Blood on the Dance Floor achieved the even more niche but no less emphatic distinction of being the best-selling remix album ever—proving that even Jackson’s leftovers could outperform most people’s main course.

In 1993, his Super Bowl XXVII halftime performance accomplished what had previously seemed improbable: it drew more viewers than the game itself, suggesting that, given the choice, a significant portion of the public would rather watch Michael Jackson stand perfectly still in sunglasses than observe professional athletes doing their jobs.

Even after his death, Jackson retained a knack for improbable firsts. In 2014, he became the first artist to score Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 across five consecutive decades, when “Love Never Felt So Good”—a song originally recorded in 1983 and later polished with assistance from Justin Timberlake—reached No. 9. It was, in its way, a final reminder that Michael Jackson’s career did not so much follow the rules of pop stardom as rewrite them, preferably with a dramatic flourish and a well-timed spin.

MUSIC AND ARTS Jackson had a deep engagement with music across genres, drawing on soul, R&B, funk, pop, rock, and dance. He was a highly visual artist with a strong instinct for spectacle, working closely with directors, choreographers, and designers on his videos, stage shows, and public appearances. 

Jacjson co-wrote many of his biggest hits, including "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." He was famously unable to read sheet music and did not play instruments in a conventional sense, but composed by vocalising every element of a track — melody, bass lines, drum patterns, horn parts — with such accuracy that studio musicians could transcribe and perform them. 

The costumes he wore at the end of his concerts had to be made smaller than the outfits he wore at the beginning, since he sweated so much during performances that he physically diminished in size.  (2)

LITERATURE Jackson published an autobiography, Moonwalk, in 1988. It was edited by Jacqueline Onassis, the former First Lady, in her capacity as an editor at Doubleday publishers. 

Jackson was a keen and wide-ranging reader and amassed a large personal library at Neverland Ranch.  In 1984, a US library reportedly accused him of owing over $1 million in overdue book fines, with officials offering to waive the fines if he returned the books autographed. He amassed a large personal library at Neverland Ranch. (2),

NATURE Jackson had a deep affinity for the natural world and incorporated nature imagery extensively into his work, most notably in the short film for "Earth Song" (1995), in which environmental destruction is central. 

His Neverland Valley Ranch was extensively landscaped with gardens, trees, and flowering plants, and he kept a wide variety of animals on the property. (2)

PETS Jackson's most famous pet was Bubbles, a chimpanzee he acquired in the early 1980s and who travelled with him extensively, appearing in photographs and interviews. Jackson treated Bubbles with an attention and affection that attracted wide comment. (2)

Jackson with his pet chimpanzee Bubbles in 1986

Other animals at Neverland included a ram called Mr. Tibbs, a python called Crusher, and a llama called Louie. 

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Jackson's consuming passions were music, dance, and film. He was an avid collector of art, memorabilia, and antiques, and spent lavishly on items that caught his fancy. He loved watching and re-watching classic films and cartoons.

Jackson had a particular love of amusement rides; his Neverland Ranch featured a full amusement park with rides that he helped design with the input of friend Macaulay Culkin. 

He had a lifelong dream of experiencing ordinary activities that his fame made impossible, including grocery shopping; in 2003, a friend who owned a mall with a supermarket closed the entire complex for a day so that Jackson could fulfil his wish of pushing a basket around a supermarket like a regular person. The shop was staffed by friends and family posing as fellow shoppers and employees. (2)

SCIENCE AND MATHS Jackson held a patent (US Patent 5,255,452, granted 1992) for a special stage shoe device that, used in conjunction with a slot in the stage floor, allowed him and dancers to achieve an extreme forward lean that appeared to defy gravity. The system was employed in the "Smooth Criminal" video and live performances. It represents one of the more unusual intersections of popular entertainment and mechanical engineering. (7)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Jackson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his mother Katherine and was an active member of the faith into his adult life, attending Kingdom Hall meetings with his mother up to four times a week when he was at home, and conducting door-to-door evangelism twice a week as late as 1984 — by which point he was the most famous entertainer in the world. (2)

He formally disassociated from the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1987, reportedly in response to objections from the church to the occult imagery in the "Thriller" video and other aspects of his work. 

In later years he expressed broader spiritual beliefs without committing publicly to a specific faith. 

POLITICS Jackson was not publicly engaged with conventional party politics. His political statements tended to be expressed through his music — most explicitly in songs such as "Black or White," "Earth Song," and "They Don't Care About Us,"  — addressing themes of racial injustice, environmental destruction and poverty.

He was awarded the honorary title of King of Sanwi by the small Ivory Coast kingdom of Sanwi, which observed two days of national mourning upon his death. (2)

SCANDAL Jackson faced child sexual abuse allegations on two major occasions. In 1993, Jordan Chandler's family alleged that Jackson had abused the thirteen-year-old boy. No criminal charges were filed and the civil case was settled out of court for a reported $23 million, with no admission of guilt.

In November 2003, an arrest warrant was issued following allegations by Gavin Arvizo. Jackson was charged with multiple counts of child molestation. After a lengthy and highly publicised trial, he was acquitted on all fourteen counts on June 13, 2005. Jackson consistently denied all allegations of abuse. 

MILITARY RECORD Michael Jackson never served in the military. However, he frequently integrated stylized military uniforms, epaulets, and armbands into his stage costumes and public wardrobe as a symbol of structure and visual authority.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Jackson was an extraordinarily athletic and disciplined performer, capable of sustaining intense dance routines throughout lengthy concerts. 

He suffered serious injuries on January 27, 1984, when pyrotechnics accidentally ignited his hair during the filming of a Pepsi commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. He donated his $1.5 million legal settlement from Pepsi to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California, which named its Michael Jackson Burn Center in his honour. (2)

He underwent at least three rhinoplasties during his lifetime. His autopsy confirmed he suffered from vitiligo, explaining the progressive lightening of his skin, as well as lupus. 

In the years before his death he became increasingly dependent on prescription medications, including powerful sedatives. His autopsy also revealed his tattooed lips and eyebrows, and showed he was in a significantly weakened physical state at the time of his death. 

HOMES Jackson grew up in a small two-bedroom house in Gary, Indiana. 

His most famous residence was Neverland Valley Ranch, a 2,700-acre estate in Santa Ynez Valley, California, which he purchased in 1988 and developed into an extraordinary private fantasy world featuring an amusement park, a zoo, a private railway, a cinema, and elaborately themed gardens. 

After the 2005 trial he largely abandoned Neverland and spent his final years living in rented properties. At the time of his death he was renting a mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. The contents of this property were subsequently sold at auction for nearly $1 million. (2)

TRAVEL Jackson toured globally throughout his career, performing on every inhabited continent. His tours were among the most elaborate and technically ambitious in entertainment history. He visited hospitals, orphanages, and children's facilities at every tour stop. 

Jackson was reportedly an anxious traveller in private, among his habits being the insistence that wine be served to him in Diet Coke cans on flights so his children would not see him drinking alcohol.  (2)

DEATH On June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who had been hired only weeks earlier, attempted to resuscitate him without success. Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 PM at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He was fifty years old. 

His death was ruled a homicide caused by acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication. It was reported that his last words were a request for "milk," his alleged nickname for propofol, the powerful hospital anaesthetic he had been using as a sleep aid. His autopsy confirmed the cause of death and revealed evidence of the tattooing on his lips and eyebrows.

When news of his death broke, it was reported that Twitter was generating more than 456 tweets per second and that internet traffic increased by up to 20%, significantly slowing global internet performance.

Jackson's public memorial service was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009, and was broadcast live by most major television networks worldwide. More than 1.2 million people entered a lottery for the 17,500 public tickets available. 

Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 29, 2011, and sentenced to four years in prison. He served less than two years due to California prison overcrowding and good behaviour provisions.

Despite reportedly being $500 million in debt at the time of his death, Jackson's estate became one of the most profitable in the world in the years that followed, consistently ranking among the highest-earning estates of deceased celebrities.  (2)

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Jackson appeared extensively in film, television, and other media throughout his career. His short films — what he preferred to call his music videos — were landmark productions, including "Thriller" (1983, directed by John Landis), "Bad" (1987, directed by Martin Scorsese), "Black or White" (1991, directed by John Landis), "Scream" (1995, with Janet Jackson, directed by Mark Romanek, the most expensive music video ever made at over $7 million), and "Smooth Criminal." 

Jackson appeared in the theatrical film The Wiz (1978) alongside Diana Ross. His 1988 autobiographical film Moonwalker was released directly to home video and cinema in some markets. He was the subject of Martin Bashir's controversial documentary Living with Michael Jackson (2003). In 2026, a biographical feature film simply titled Michael was released, telling the story of his life and career, produced with the cooperation of the Jackson estate. 

His waxwork appears in five Madame Tussauds museums around the world; only Elvis Presley and Madonna have more figures, with six each. (2)

ACHIEVEMENTS Thriller remains the best-selling album in recorded music history

First Black artist to have a video in heavy rotation on MTV

Record eight Grammy Awards won in a single night (February 28, 1984)

First Super Bowl halftime performer to draw a larger audience than the game itself (1993)

HIStory is the best-selling double album ever released in the United States

Blood on the Dance Floor is the best-selling remix album of all time

First artist to score Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits in five consecutive decades

Cited by Guinness World Records in 2000 as the most philanthropic pop star in history, having donated over $300 million to charity

Holder of a US patent (1992) for an innovative stage performance device

Sources: (1) Wikipedia: Michael Jackson (2) Encyclopaedia of Trivia: Michael Jackson (3) Billboard: Michael Jackson (4) YouTube: Michael Jackson Wanted To Be A Vegetarian (5) Reddit: Was Michael Jackson a vegetarian? (6) Smooth Radio: Michael Jackson Facts (7) Google Patents: US5255452A