Discover surprising facts about the life of Michael Jackson

14 years ago, the world said goodbye to Michael Jackson. Considered the King of Pop, the star died at the age of 50, weeks before debuting his new tour, due to a cardiac arrest. In honor of the singer, the Lorena.R7 separated some curiosities about Michael's life, such as the Neverland ranch and the supposed inspiration in Mara Maravilha in the video for “They Don’t Care About Us”. In fact, Mara Maravilha spoke exclusively about her relationship with the King of Pop. Check it out below:

Thriller

“Thriller” (1982) is the best-selling album in the world, even though it was released more than 40 years ago. In total, more than 70 million records were sold. The success of the project gave the album two commemorative re-releases: In 2008, titled “Thriller – 25 Super Deluxe Edition” and in 2022, called “Thriller 40”.

Michael's other musical works are also among the best-selling albums in the world, they are: “Off The Wall” (1979), “Bad” (1987), “Dangerous” (1991) and “History: Past, Present and Future – Book I” (1995).

Inspiration in Mara Maravilha

Since last year, internet users have pointed out similarities between the “Jesus Christ”released by Mara Maravilha in 1993 and “They Don’t Care About Us”released by Jackson in 1996. Both clips were recorded in Bahia and have similar points in their aesthetics and settings, like Pelourinho, for example. Furthermore, “Jesus Christ” and “They Don’t Care About Us” have the special participation of the Olodum Group.

_{Clip “Jesus Christ”. (Video: Reproduction/ YouTube)}

_{Clip “They Don't Care About Us”. (Video: Reproduction/ YouTube)}

“I started imitating him, he will always be an inspiration! She sang since she was in the Jackson Five. I even re-recorded the song 'Got To Be There', which became ' Quando Eu Puder ', directed by Arnaldo Saccomani… and yes! I see many similar ones in the videos for 'Jesus Christ' and 'They Don't Care About Us'. I remember wanting to go to his house, so, on a trip to the USA with my late mother, I said: Mom! We went to Michael Jackson's house and she said I was crazy! (…) After almost two hours driving around California without speaking English and already nervous, she said: 'There won't be any money left for us to go back!', and I believed we were close to getting there, but my mother gave a way for the driver to understand that he had to go back to the hotel… I was crying for a couple of days!”, revealed the Brazilian artist.

_{Mara Maravilha and Rodrigo Teaser, one of Michael Jackson's main covers. (Photo: Reproduction/ @tecalamboglia_fotografia)}

In fact, Mara was one of the few artists to pay homage to the King of Pop on social media.

Neverlend

Taking as inspiration the call “Never Land” from the film “Peter Pan”the Neverlend ranch touches the imagination of the King of Pop's fans to this day. This is because at the time he lived there, Michael had an amusement park and a mini zoo. Furthermore, the luxurious mansion has several hiding places and secret passages. The star lived at the property until 2005, when he was acquitted of child sexual abuse charges.

World Vitiligo Day

Michael Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and in honor of the famous man, World Vitiligo Day is celebrated every year on June 25th. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, the singer spoke for the first time about the disease: “I have a skin disease that destroys skin pigmentation. It’s something I can’t do anything about (…)”he said.

Rodrigo Teaser

Rodrigo Teaser is one of Michael Jackson's main covers and the similarity between the two is impressive. Rodrigo performs the show “Tribute to the King of Pop” around the world and has sung in countries such as Brazil, USA, Chile, Mexico and Malaysia. In fact, the artist performed shows in São Paulo on the 23rd and 24th of June and, in Rio de Janeiro, on the 25th of June. In one of the presentations in São Paulo, Mara Maravilha attended the show and said: “I eternally love Michael and being with Rodrigo Teaser heals not only my heart, but that of all the true admirers and fans who eternally love Michael Jackson”.

_{(Photo: Reproduction/ @tecalamboglia_fotografia)}

Success on Spotify

Even 14 years after his death, the star remains one of the most listened to singers on the streaming platform. On Spotify alone, there are more than 37.2 million monthly listeners. “Billie Jean” is Michael's most played song, with over 1.4 billion plays.

Documentaries

To date, four posthumous documentaries have been made about the singer's life. They were: “Michael Jackson’s This Is Tis” (2009), “Bad 25” (20212), “Michael Jackson: The Last Photo Shoot” (2014) and “Michael Jackson's Journey from Motorcycles to Off Wall” (2016).

Assumptions

After Michael's death, speculation arose about the veracity of the famous man's death and many fans believe that he is alive and that he supposedly appeared at his own wake.

Featured Photo: Michael Jackson. Reproduction/ Instagram/ Getty Images