Six years after his last studio album and after spending much of the late 1990s out of the
public eye, Jackson released Invincible in October 2001 to much anticipation. To help pro-
mote the album, a special 30th Anniversary celebration at Madison Square Garden oc-
curred in September 2001 to mark the singer's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared
onstage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984. The show also featured per-
formances by Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, 'N Sync, and Slash, among other artists. In
the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Jackson helped organize the United We Stand:
What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert
was aired on October 21, 2001, and included performances from dozens of major artists,
including Jackson, who performed his song "What More Can I Give" as the finale. Invinci-
ble was a commercial success, debuting atop the charts in 13 countries and going on to sell
approximately 10 million copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in
the US. However, the sales for Invincible were notably low compared to his previous re-
leases, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no support-
ing world tour and the label dispute. The album spawned three singles, "You Rock My
World", "Cry" and "Butterflies", the latter without a music video.
Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born in
2002.The mother's identity is unknown, but Jackson has said the child was the result of ar-
tificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm cells. In November of that
year, Jackson brought his newborn son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in
Berlin, as fans stood below. Holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over
the baby's face, Jackson briefly extended the baby over the railing of the balcony, four sto-
ries above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apolo-
gized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake". Sony released a compilation of Jack-
son's hits on CD and DVD. In the US, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA; in
the UK it was certified for shipments of at least 1.2
million units .
Fans show their support for Jackson after he is ac-
cused of child molestation in 2003.
In a series of interviews with Martin Bashir, broadcast
in 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson was
seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrange-
ments with Gavin Arvizo, 13, who later accused him
of sexual abuse. Shortly after the documentary aired,
Jackson was charged with seven counts of child mo-
lestation and two counts of administering an intoxicat-
ing agent in relation to Arvizo.
Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature. Elizabeth
Taylor defended him, saying she had been there when they were in the bed. "There was
nothing abnormal about it," she told Larry King. "There was no touchy-feely going on. We
laughed like children and we watched a lot of Walt Disney. There was nothing odd about
it."
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26