Michael Jackson: Life, Death and Legacy

Ever since I was born...

Daddy has been the best father...

...you can ever imagined.

And I just want to say I love him so much.

As Michael Jackson's daughter broke down at his memorial service,

millions of fans around the world shared her pain

and the pain continued

as debate raged over what was the cause of the singer's premature death.

Two years on and after a six-week trial in Los Angeles,

Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray,

was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of the 50-year-old singer.

The court found Murray guilty of giving Michael Jackson...

...a fatal dose of propofol.

A powerful anesthetic normally only administered in hospitals.

No competent physician...

...would give these drugs without having emergency airway equipment present.

Good morning again, thank you.

It broke off actually.

-Did you do that? -No, I did not.

-No? -No.

We, the jury in the above-entitled action,

find the defendant, Conrad Robert Murray,

guilty of the crime of involuntary manslaughter.

Conrad Murray was jailed for four years

and labeled "dangerous" by the judge.

He will lose his medical license.

It brings to an end the final chapter

in the extraordinary saga of Michael Jackson's life

and unexpected death.

This is a look at the true story behind the singer,

who's been officially recognized

as the most successful entertainer of all time.

Nobody demands the attention that Michael Jackson does.

You're talking about someone who's not just a great artist,

great writer, great performer,

but he was a visualist as well.

He was incredible.

There was something that just radiated life in his work,

life in all of its extremes.

We'll be examining Michael Jackson's extraordinary life,

and shockingly premature death.

And what made him the man he was.

Over the past 40 years,

no other celebrity has been as respected

or as reviled as Michael Jackson.

Probably the most famous pop star of all time,

Michael Jackson had exceptional talent.

But he lived a controversial life

and died a controversial death.

During Dr Conrad Murray's trial,

an audiotape of Michael Jackson

sounding heavily sedated a month before his death

was played in court.

It was discovered on Murray's cellphone,

and was used prosecution to prove

that Michael had put his life in the hands of his doctor.

When people leave my show,

I want them to say,

"I've never seen nothing like this in my life."

In his closing argument,

the prosecution said the doctor caused the star's death on June 25th, 2009,

through negligence.

Depriving Jackson's children of their father

and the world of a genius.

The defense argument that Jackson was a drug addict,

who caused his own death by giving himself an extra dose of propofol

was overthrown.

Of course I think that his death could be prevented

if he had a good physician.

I just believe he was in the wrong hands.

My friends in the medical profession were shocked

when they heard that Michael had been using this drug

because they told me they never let it be used

outside of hospital conditions.

To take it in a domestic situation

is to invite a tragedy.

Dr Murray violated the most basic...

...aspects of the doctor-patient relationship.

It was gross neglect.

Someone like Michael Jackson should have had a proper doctor.

With Dr Murray behind bars,

for some, anger about what happened in the star's final hours...

...was combined with a feeling of relief

that allegations that Michael had taken his own life...

...had been thoroughly disproved.

He had so much going for him.

He wouldn't have done it, A, for his children,

which meant everything to him.

There's no question that Michael would ever have killed himself.

Of course, despite his tragic early death,

the legend of Michael Jackson,

the man who became known as The King of Pop,

is destined to live on.

So what was it about Michael Jackson's contribution to music,

dance and fashion,

and his much-publicized personal life

that caused him to be such a global phenomenon?

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in the industrial city of Gary, in Indiana,

on the 29th of August, 1958.

The seventh of nine children.

His father, Joseph Jackson, a steel mill worker,

recognized his children's musical talents,

and organized a family band made up of Jackie,

Jermaine, Tito, and Marlon.

In 1963,

when Michael was just 5, he also joined the group.

Joe was a firm disciplinarian

who scheduled a strict regime for Michael and his brothers.

And their relentless hours of practice

left very little time for normal childhood activities.

Did you meet Joe?

I've met Joe a few times.

And?

Well, he's the father of Michael,

but they are so totally different, like chalk and cheese.

If you look at his background, he's come from...

Basically, he was a welder in a very poor town in mid-America,

and has been catapulted

through on the back of his children into some huge stardom.

Michael is probably, like, the complete opposite.

Michael described his relationship with his father as turbulent.

Joe was so determined his sons would be successful,

that in rehearsals, a fumbled note or a misstep

could lead to harsh physical punishment.

Michael himself,

talked of the horror of being beaten by his father.

"Whipped" was the word.

And how his father would sit there, as they were rehearsing,

with a belt waiting to smack them if they got it wrong.

But on the other hand, he called his father a genius

for instilling in them the discipline

to present this slick stage act.

From my analysis, I believe that Michael was a very sensitive...

Very, very sensitive kind of individual.

So even though you have really strict, strict parents,

there are some children that can handle that strictness.

But there are other children, it really affects them.

People respond to that kind of abuse differently,

and with some of the other brothers

I think that, you know, it didn't impact them

the same way psychologically that it did Michael.

It really hurt him, and he carried it throughout the rest of his life,

you know, that his father drove him

and pushed him, but never treated him like a son.

Every time he would speak about his father, his face would contort.

You could see that he was really, really stressed

about his experience with his father.

It definitely had a damaging effect on him. It really did.

Michael later said he was made to work too hard for a child.

But also recalled singing and dancing with real joy as a youngster.

He did discuss his childhood with me.

And I think that he's been quite open about his childhood.

In terms of his relationship with his father,

I think what the public doesn't know is that he forgave his father

for some of the hurt that was caused.

And at the end of his life,

he was very much on good terms with his father.

So I think that a lot of the things that they happened a long time ago

and, you know, Michael forgave.

I think if Joe didn't do what he did,

there would have been no Michael Jackson.

I'm not one of these people that say, you know, point the finger at the father.

He took a very poor family,

took a talent that he saw,

and he gave it to the world.

By the time he was 8,

Michael had emerged as the group's lead vocalist.

The Jackson brothers changed their name to The Jackson 5

and toured clubs all over the American Midwest.

Joe Jackson was always very, very certain

that he was going to turn his children into stars.

I think it was probably pretty disturbing to him in many ways

that Michael was the brother

who very clearly was the most talented

because he was never particularly close to Michael

and he always probably gave Michael the harshest treatment.

Michael was already showing a remarkable range and depth

for such a young performer.

Impressing audiences with his great dancing

and ability to convey complex emotions.

After winning a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits

and James Brown's "I Got You,"

The Jackson 5 were signed by Berry Gordy

to the legendary Motown record label.

When I first heard him sing Smokey Robinson's "Who's Loving You,"

at 10 years old,

he sung it like he felt he had been here.

He'd known the song for 50 years.

The pain, the torture, he could put that into music,

and lyrics, and feeling.

You know, Michael was just absolutely brilliant, brilliant.

The group was an instant sensation.

Their debut single "I Want You Back"

rocketed immediately to Number 1 in the States

and sold over a million copies.

When you put the needle down on "I Want You Back"

you were floored.

First of all, the thrilling piano glissando,

and then that wailing melisma from Michael.

So charismatic.