Michael Jackson first became successful as a child fronting the Jackson 5 with his brothers. The Jackson 5 became one of the most memorable acts on Motown Records. The label would become the cornerstone of 60s and 70s pop music.

However, when Jackson entered his adulthood, he wanted to branch out on his own. This led Jackson to become the King of Pop, making memorable albums like “Off The Wall,” “Thriller,” “Bad,” and “Dangerous.”

Jackson’s reign as the King of Pop was set in stone thanks to a performance on a television special celebrating Motown’s 25th anniversary. It was a performance that almost didn’t happen and one Jackson admittedly wasn’t happy with.

‘Thriller’ Made Michael $134 Million In Two Years And It Became The Biggest-Selling Album Of All Time

When Jackson released the “Thriller” album in 1982, he aimed to do something different from what he usually heard from other artists’ albums.

“If you take an album like Nutcracker Suite, every song is a killer, every one,” Jackson told Ebony. “So I said to myself, ‘Why can’t there be a pop album where every…’—people used to do an album where you’d get one good song, and the rest were like B-sides. They’d call them ‘album songs’— and I would say to myself, ‘Why can’t every one be like a hit song? Why can’t every song be so great that people would want to buy it if you could release it as a single?’ So I always tried to strive for that.”

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Jackson also continued his musical partnership with Quincy Jones, who he first teamed up with on “Off The Wall.”

“Working with Quincy was such a wonderful thing,” he said. “He lets you experiment, do your thing, and he’s genius enough to stay out of the way of the music, and if there’s an element to be added, he’ll add it. And he hears these little things. Like, for instance, in “Billie Jean,” I had come up with this piece of the bass lick, and the melody, and the whole composition. But in listening, he’ll add a nice riff.”

The success of the “Thriller” album was so massive, it led Jackson to earn $134 million in just two years. This came from album sales, touring, and other sources. It became the biggest-selling album of all time. When reflecting on the album’s success, Jackson told Ebony he was grateful he made history.

“I’m very proud that we opened doors, that it helped tear down a lot,” Jackson said. “Going around the world, doing tours, in stadiums, you see the influence of the music. When you just look out over the stage, as far as the naked eye could see, you see people.”

Michael Changed The Game And Became The First Black Artist To Be Played On MTV

The music video for “Billie Jean” was a monumental moment for Jackson and music history. While the video itself isn’t remembered as much as its accompanying live performances, it was still the topic of much conversation.

The video was the first video MTV ever played by a Black artist. While the moment was game-changing, it didn’t happen without a fight, as Jackson himself revealed to Ebony in 2007.

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“They said they don’t play [Black artists],” Jackson said. “It broke my heart, but at the same time it lit something. I was saying to myself, ´I have to do something where they… I just refuse to be ignored.´ So yeah, ‘Billie Jean,’ they said, ´We won’t play it.´”

However, when the president of Jackson’s record label, Walter Yetnikoff, threatened to pull all of their other artists off MTV, the channel gave in.

“But when they played it, it set the all-time record,” Jackson recalled. “Then they were asking me for everything we had. They were knocking our door down. Then Prince came, it opened the door for Prince and all the other Black artists.”

“They came to me so many times in the past and said, ´Michael, if it wasn’t for you, there would be no MTV,´” Jackson remembered. “They told me that, over and over, personally. I guess they didn’t hear it at the time…but I’m sure they didn’t mean any pure malice [laughter].”

Michael Cried Backstage After He Performed On The ‘Motown 25’ Special

Jackson was hard at work on the “Thriller” album when he received a request to appear with his brothers on a television special. The 1983 special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, would be a celebration of Motown’s 25th anniversary.

The special would also be the first time all the Jackson brothers reunited since their departure from the label in the 1970s. While the rest of the Jackson brothers moved to Epic Records, Jermaine stayed at Motown.

Jackson wasn’t sure about performing on the show, since he wanted to focus on his solo career. However, he requested that if he performs with his brothers, he would also be allowed to perform his new song “Billie Jean.”

The performance would go down in history and featured Jackson performing his signature moonwalk for the first time. The moment set off Michael-mania and boosted sales of the “Thriller” album.

It is now seen as the moment where Jackson officially became the King of Pop. However, Jackson later revealed to Oprah Winfrey that he cried backstage after he finished the performance, saying he was “unhappy” with it.

“But then I was walking to the car there was this little boy who was like 12,” Jackson recalled. “He was this little Jewish kid and he said, ‘You’re amazing! Who taught you to dance like that?’ And for the first time I ever felt like I did a good job. Because I know children don’t lie, and I just felt so good about it.”