A life in pictures: Michael Jackson

Born in Gary, Indiana in 1958, Michael Jackson began performing at the age of four and spent the rest of his life as a public figure.

The Jackson 5 - Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael - were formed by their father Joe, a blues guitarist

Jackson went solo with the album Off The Wall, but it was Thriller, which sold over 40m copies, that made him a superstar

Michael Jackson's albums Bad and Dangerous sold millions but failed to capture the public's imagination like Thriller

Jackson wed Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis's daughter, in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in 1994

Jackson is famous for his charity work, here he is seen with a burns victim at Budapest Children's Hospital

Jackson married Debbie Rowe in 1996, she is the mother of his two children Prince and Paris. The couple divorced in 1999