Happy Birthday, Michael Jackson

GARY, IN (WCMH/AP) — On this day in 1958, pop superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana.

The musical superstar died in 2009, just as he was preparing for what would be a series of 50 concerts starting July 13 at London’s famed 02 arena.

Jackson had been spending hours and hours toiling with a team of dancers for a performance he and his fans hoped would restore his tarnished legacy to its proper place in pop.

The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” ”ABC” and “I’ll Be There.”

His 1982 album “Thriller” – which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” ”Billie Jean.”

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie.

Jackson’s 13 No. 1 one hits on the Billboard charts put him behind only Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey, Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.